Have you ever been to a job interview and felt completely overwhelmed when you sat in the “hot” seat? Have you ever felt so nervous that you were oozing buckets of sweat even before your interviewer asked you those tricky intricate questions? Well, it may not be your fault for feeling like this. It may have something to do with the cunningness of your interviewer. It is likely that your interviewer may have arranged his office furnishings to raise his own status and power, and, in doing so, lowered yours. Just look at the chairs around your office and then look at the executive ones and you’ll see the difference.

Here’s how it works...

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Food days, potlucks, international feasts, share days…no matter what you call it, these gluttonous events remain a serious work hazard.  OSHA should have a workplace regulation that bans these (and vending machines while they’re at it).  As we spend more time sitting in our cubicles, our natural tendency is to find a way to relieve the boredom.  Why else would we look forward to the monthly food day with as much anticipation as a long weekend?  Ok maybe not quite that much enthusiasm.

As summer rolls in with full force, many of us find ourselves scurrying around trying to start that 10-day diet or at best, a half-hearted attempt to stick to the one you were already on.  Then enter the food day at work, complete with macaroni and cheese, lasagna, homemade chicken strips (who can pass up homemade??), potato chips, brownies, cookies, cake…I could go on forever.  If you are one of the fortunate ones that does not know what I’m talking about, it’s time to say a little prayer to the employer gods, thanking them for not bestowing this travesty upon you.

However, for the rest of the real world that is plagued by this necessary and unfortunately delicious evil, here are a few suggestions to help you through the food days...

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Here's how the story usually goes:

"I HAD to leave.  My boss was determined to make my life miserable."

In my experience, both personal and secondary, I have discovered that in the majority of cases, the failure of the relationship lies on the employee, not the boss or the organization.

People who tend to get 'unlucky' and experience this misfortune over and over again, usually can use a little self-reflection.  Start with these questions...

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You always hear about how over 50% of marriages are doomed to fail from the start. To anyone who is happily married, the statistic sounds grossly exaggerated.  With several friends and acquaintances on the brink of the big 'D-word,' I've been thinking about the parallels and differences between the relationship we have with our significant other and the relationship we have with our jobs.  Each couple seems to head for Splitsville for different reasons, yet there is a consistent theme: they all try to force it to work for too long.

We human beings seem to have a very difficult time 'quitting while we're ahead.'  

Win $200 at the roulette table?  Give it all back.

Talk about selling your home? While you were talking, prices have dropped.

Get laid off after years of ignoring signals?  Exactly.

Your relationship with your employer isn't all that different than a marriage (with less sex).  You'll have butterflies in your stomach as you court one another; times when you take each other for granted; and occasional flare up; and lots and lots of ups and downs.

There's one major difference: You are NEVER married to your job.  EVER.

You're just long-term dating, just like Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell.

On of the reasons a lifelong commitment rarely works is that, like many spouses, you employer can never truly be trusted.  Just look at their track record.  Layoffs, reorganizations, shakeups, threats, and more.  And let's be honest, you've been known to call in sick when you're not, swipe supplies and use the Internet on company time.  Where's the trust? Where's the love?  No wonder the divorce rate is so high,

Since you are NOT married to your employer...

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It's not just horror movies that give folks the willies. From natural disasters to a floundering economy, there's no shortage of workplace fears. Since going to the office is such an integral part of our lives, and an anxiety-provoking one at that, I think it would be interesting to discuss common work terrors.

Here are a few common ones that have hit the Jobacle inbox over the years. Check them out and please tell the U.S. News community what freaks you out in the comments section on their Website.

GETTING FIRED: The economic downturn has certainly added fuel to the fire. How will you break the news to your family? Pay the mortgage? Find another job? This is the powder keg of panic, potentially leading to a bevy of unpleasant, catastrophic thoughts.

PUBLIC HUMILIATION: Whether you stumble during a presentation, spill coffee on your pants, or drop an F-bomb within earshot of your boss, no one wants to be embarrassed—especially in front of people you are forced to see on a daily basis.

GETTING STUCK: Feeling trapped is a state of mind. From never-ending meetings to jammed elevators to extreme weather, the thought of having to spend an extra minute in that dimly lit office, against your will, is nauseating.

Read the rest of my post at US News & World Report.

This article proclaims to describe "20 of the Best Cities in the World for Telecommuting". Not only does the article suffer from a seriously awkward title (how about "The 20 best cities for telecommuting"? See, that wasn't so hard.) it also has some serious flaws in its choices. I mean, Mexico City? Really? I'll live in Mexico City if I want to die from an upper respiratory disease or lose my sense of smell, but not if I want to telecommute. Also, when talking about Canada, the author espouses that Vancouver BC is "one of the largest cities in the state." Yes, in the state. Edit much?

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Let’s face it, we humans are greedy. We always want more, and the neurotic nature of our species has kept us ahead of all the others. Personally I think this is OK, because if we were not like this, then we would more than likely be happy, but would be relegated to somewhere in the bottom half of the food chain; something more akin to a hedgehog. Those fellas look happy don’t they, with their little spikes and all. Anyway, as I was saying, let’s embrace our perfection-seeking-self-centred-nature, and use some interesting techniques, which may give you an advantage over others in the work related arena.  

Stick your tongue out

This may sound a bit strange upon the initial reading of this statement, but rest assured the men in the white coats are never wrong. Many years ago researchers (by researchers I mean NLP practitioners, cold readers, and con men) discovered that in an occupational, educational, and examination setting, people in a position of power are less likely to approach someone who looks like they are working whilst sticking their tongue out. This knowledge can obviously be used in the office if you wish to appear busy at work, and will simultaneously act as a boss deterrent. So yeah, stick your tongue out and keep away that annoying boss. Keep going...
 

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On the first day of my very first job out of college, my new boss offered a piece of advice: “Be careful of making any personal relationships with your co-workers.”  She was telling me this for good reason; the program I had joined was a fast-track to management, and she didn’t want me to have to manage my friends once the program had finished.  However, the finality of her words stuck through me for that first year at the job, and I slowly evolved into a robot at work.  I was functioning at maximum speed, obliging the polite “hellos” and “how was your weekend,” but always keeping my colleagues at arm's length.

When promotion time rolled around and I moved up to supervisor, I immediately relaxed.  It became easier to befriend some of my fellow supervisors, and I quickly learned the line between boss and friend with my employees.  To my surprise, the more engaged and involved I became with my co-workers, the quicker my career accelerated...

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So there we were, gathered around the pool table, frosty beers in hand.  It was only the second time in years that we decided to meet like this, outside of the grey hallways of work. It was happy hour.  And much to my dismay, it was quite therapeutic to speak freely with minimal risk of getting caught.

Many of those HotMonsterBuilder sites like to post regularly on the perils of mixing alcohol and coworkers.  While it can easily be a recipe for a cocktail I like to call a 'pink slip,' if you have the discipline to stay in control, you can get a much better bonus then 2-for-1 drinks.

Here are some of the benefits of attending happy hour with your coworkers...

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Yesterday was like any other day at the office. It was boring, dull, and as flat as a small black dog squashed by a large yellow steam roller. So, a couple of the guys and I got together in an effort to escape the nightmarish reality of work. However, we realized that some of our usual pranks had become void of excitement, and the boredom we were experiencing had robbed us of our jouissance. To overcome this, we decided to make a prank call to our CEO.  But much to our dismay, this proved to be rather difficult, as the company we work for is a Fortune 500 one, and you cannot just call up his secretary and get transferred. So, after a lot of trial and error we finally got hold of the CEO’s personal cell number. We called him up, said the word 'PENIS,' hung up, and giggled like little school girls.  

Here’s how we got his number...

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