When the going gets tough, job hunters get creative . . . or is it desperate? With the weakest job market the US has seen in decades, some unemployed Americans have invented ways to set themselves apart, though staffing professionals are divided on whether or not the tactics used are professional.

According to CNN Money, here are a few ways job hunters have tried to attract attention.

• Jacob Share, 33, sent his resume to his family and friends and offered a $150 prize to the person who led him to a job. Jacob happily reported, "It only took one friend's forward beyond that initial mailing to get a referral that lead to the ultimate job offer."
• Peggy Greco, 53, is looking for a job as a private duty registered nurse. She wears a T-shirt printed with her Web site and contact information and wears it while bike-riding.
• Kelly Kinney, 29, landed a few interviews by wearing a shirt with her resume on the front and cover letter on the back.
• Other methods: renting a billboard, printing contact information on cocktail napkins, and wearing a sandwich board.

While some staffing experts support unconventional job searches, others think they can be unprofessional and time would be better spent tailoring a message to each employer and position. What do you think?

Source

This episode of Maxed Out puts faces on the word denial. Gillian (25-years-old) and Ed (27) collectively earn $93,000 a year, they estimate they are $47,000 in debt, and they're moving to a new condo in nine months with a mortgage that's $100,000 more than their current condo. Ed says whenever they do save something, they spend it because it seems like a waste to put the money toward their credit card debt. Find out how much the couple underestimated their debt-load and how they got into money trouble when you read more

A personal office would be a dream come true for many of us — living the good life with the door closed! OK, so having an office wouldn't solve every workplace qualm, but research shows that your argument for one could be stronger than you may have thought.

There are plenty of factors that make us irritable at work, and it turns out that the layout of our offices could be partially to blame. Research has shown that the lack of personal space that's a given with open-plan offices "caused high levels of stress, conflict, high blood pressure and a high staff turnover." Besides high blood pressure, research suggested that workers in open-plan settings are more prone to exhaustion and the flu.

Worker productivity can take a hit with this type of layout because noisy co-workers break concentration. Researchers added insecurity as another reason why open-plan offices aren't good for employees — everyone can see what's happening on your computer screen and what you're saying on the phone. What are your feelings toward the way your office is set up?

Source

Among the glitz and glam of Sunday's Golden Globes were tiny doses of reality: The job website Monster.com premiered a commercial from its new advertising campaign during an awards show break. The humorous commercial made light of job hunting, but it also served as a reminder that so many people need jobs right now.

While the unemployed are certainly a target, Monster's campaign to promote its redesigned site is also aimed at attracting passive job seekers who are currently employed. In fact, three of the site's new features are aimed at passive seekers: Career Snapshots describe various careers and their growth prospects; Career Mapping allows users to enter their current job and the type of job they want, and Monster proposes a transitional plan; and Career Benchmarking is a transparency tool that asks users for career, education, salary and benefits information and compares them with other workers in the same field.

Even if you're not interested in a new job, the Career Benchmarking tool seems like it could be useful. Will you peruse the revamped job site?