Here are the top 15:

1. Social worker
2. Special events coordinator
3. Probation officer
4. News reporter
5. Music ministry director
6. Membership manager
7. Fundraiser
8. Commercial photographer
9. Assisted living director
10. Minister
11. Marriage/family therapist
12. Curator
13. Substance abuse counselor
14. Film/TV producer
15. High school teacher

What would you add to the list? Besides your own job, of course.

Stressful jobs that pay badly [CNN Money]

(Photo: helgasms!)

Avaya went ahead and kept him on payroll anyway, and for the next several years it pumped a total of $470,000 into his bank account. The company finally caught onto the error in February 2007 and sued Anthony, who pleaded guilty, the AP reports.

Turns out Anthony's free money came at quite a price. He's pleaded guilty to one count of theft and prosecutors are recommending he pay the company back and serve six years in prison.

The takeaway here is that if you're getting checks from a company you don't work for, you'll want to take care of the situation before it gets out of hand.

Man took pay from NJ company he never worked for [AP via San Francisco Chronicle]
(Photo: HCVIII)
(Thanks, Rhys!)

"As my PA you will receive an email once a day by 9:00 am with a task list for that day and a time estimate for each task," Cooper wrote in the job listing, which was first reported by the student newsmagazine, Georgetown Voice. "Important tasks will be bolded on the list and must be done that day (even though everything on the list should theoretically be finished on a daily basis). At the end of the day you will send me an email telling me what tasks are incomplete or that all tasks have been completed."

The Washington Post verified that the student, Charley Cooper, is enrolled at Georgetown. He is a sophomore double-majoring in finance and management, and considering a career in either finance or entertainment. Or maybe both. He will pay his PA $10-$12 per hour and provide a car.

Cooper's photo on Facebook, no longer public, was described as "a man in a striped polo shirt holding a champagne flute." No word on the popped or non-popped status of his collar. [Edit: Gawker has the picture, and the answer.]

Georgetown student advertises for a personal assistant [Washington Post]
Georgetown sophomore seeks personal assistant, takes premature self-importance to whole new level [Vox Populi]
Meet the Georgetown University Sophomore Who's Hiring a Personal Assistant

(Photo: purpleslog)

In an economic downturn, after all, companies cut back first on new hiring, meaning fewer entry-level jobs for recent high school and college graduates.

When today's unemployed finally do get jobs in the recovery, many may be dissatisfied to be slotted below people who worked all along-especially if the newcomers spent their downtime getting more education, says Richard Thompson, vice-president for talent development at Adecco Group North America, which employs more than 300,000 people in temporary positions. Says Thompson: "You're going to have multiple generations fighting for the jobs that are going to come back in the recovery."

Only 46% of people aged 16-24 had jobs in September, the lowest since the government began counting in 1948. The crisis is even hitting recent college graduates. "I've applied for a whole lot of restaurant jobs, but even those, nobody calls me back," says Dan Schmitz, 25, a University of Wisconsin graduate with a bachelor's degree in English who lives in Brooklyn, N.Y. "Every morning I wake up thinking today's going to be the day I get a job. I've not had a job for months, and it's getting really frustrating."

Possible solutions proposed by experts? Job training programs, a lower minimum wage for young workers, apprentices, and trainees, and for young people to cross their fingers and hope that actual economic recovery comes doon.

The Lost Generation [BusinessWeek]

(Photo: Jay Adan)

[Economist Heidi] Shierholz said the economy faces a "jobs gap" of almost 10 million — the 7.2 million jobs lost plus the roughly 125,000 per month that would have been needed since the recession began just to keep up with population growth.

To close that gap and get back to pre-recession levels in two years would require more than 500,000 new jobs per month, a pace of job creation that hasn't been seen since 1950-51, Shierholz said.

Most analysts expect the nation to keep losing jobs through this year and the unemployment rate to peak above 10 percent by the middle of next year, even as the economy starts to recover.

So cheer up, America. The worst in the job market is yet to come.

Job competition toughest since recession began [USA Today]

(Photo: rchris173)

The amendment was in response to the case of Jamie Leigh Jones, the former Halliburton/KBR employee who allegedly was raped by coworkers in Iraq's green zone and imprisoned by her superiors. When she returned to the U.S. and sued her former employer for claims relating to the rape, the company tried to force her into arbitration instead of court.

Last month, a court held that Jones's case couldn't be compelled into arbitration. With this amendment, victims will no longer have to sue to be able to sue for sexual assault and discrimination claims.

The passage of this amendment is a good step toward ending forced arbitration, a secretive, unfair, and lawless system that companies force on consumers, employees, and franchise owners. A larger bill, the Arbitration Fairness Act, would ban these forced arbitration clauses from these types of contracts.

Senate OKs Measure Related to KBR Assault Claim [Houston Chronicle]

Since the legalization of prescription pot in Colorado, the publication has decided that they need someone to find the best dispensaries and keep an eye on the, um, scene.

Keep in mind this isn't about assessing the quality of the medicine on site; it's about evaluating the quality of the establishment. After all, we can't have our reviewer be stoned all the time.

The perfect candidate will be a talented writer who's not about to play favorites — and, of course, someone who has a state medical marijuana ID (or the ability and need to obtain one). Compensation will be meager — and no, we can't expense your purchases, although that would be pretty cool.

We suppose the legal restrictions mean that giving free samples to the press is not a valid option.

Calling all potential pot reviewers: Westword wants you! [Westword] (via Romanesko)

(Photo: Caveman 92223 - Great to be Home)

The suit alleges that while dancers were treated in many ways like employees, the club gave them independent contractor status. They had many of the responsibilities of being an employee, without their employers fussing about pesky things like minimum wage and overtime laws, Social Security, and worker's compensation.

The lawyer, Tod A. Cochran, of Boston, said he believes strip clubs in Massachusetts routinely violate state labor law by misclassifying dancers as independent contractors to avoid paying minimum wage, overtime, Social Security, workers' compensation, and other benefits. Customers, he said, should be "outraged that the club isn't sharing any of its profits with the workers and is exploiting [the strippers] by not only not paying them but by charging them a fee.''
...
The club had argued that selling alcohol was its main business, not putting on strip shows, and that performers were independent contractors who provided extra entertainment akin to televisions and pool tables at a sports bar. [Suffolk Superior Court Judge Frances A.] McIntyre scoffed at that in her ruling, saying, "The dancing is an integral part of King Arthur's business.''

Yes, we're quite sure that everyone visiting that establishment is doing so for the alcohol. And comparing human beings to televisions and pool tables speaks to the respect that this establishment clearly has for its dancers.

Strippers' lawsuit challenges independent contractor status [Boston Globe]

(Photo: brettneilson)

These observations come from a new Pew Research Center report, which looks at current workforce trends and predicts what may happen in the near future. So why are people over 55 staying at their metaphorical desks? For many of them, it's not because of the hit their investments have taken—it's because they want to stay engaged and relevant.

When asked to identify specific reasons for working, older workers emphasize psychological and social factors: "to feel useful"; "to give myself something to do"; "to be with other people." Younger and middle-aged workers are much more inclined to cite classic pocketbook considerations: "to support myself and my family"; "to live independently"; "to qualify for retirement benefits"; "to receive health care benefits."

Meanwhile, fewer Americans between ages 16 and 24 are employed or looking for full-time work, and they are generally remaining in school because of the number of jobs that currently require college education of some sort. Or because school is a much safer place to be than the job market right now.

Recession Turns a Graying Office Grayer [Pew Research Center] (via Consumer Reports Money)

(Photo: Hitchster)

Their list of "passe" resume features:

1. You've forced it to fit onto one page.
2. You list an objective.
3. You write "References available upon request" at the bottom.
4. You attach it to your email as a Word document.
5. You list every job you've ever had in chronological order.

Wait, the "objective" didn't die in the '80s?

Can you think of any others? That can be very field-specific, it's true, but what are the definite signs that someone isn't in touch with what the hip resume-slinging kids and recruiters are into today?

Five Signs Your Resume Is Passe (via Lifehacker)

...whew, that was painful. She did, however, win a wrongful termination lawsuit and $17,000 in compensation.

The specific e-mail which led to the firing advised her team how to fill out staff claim forms, specified a time and date highlighted in bold red, and had a sentence written in all capital letters and highlighted in bold blue. It stated: "To ensure your staff claim is processed and paid, please do follow the below checklist."

Her boss deemed the capital letters too confrontational for her co-workers to read after they woke up from naptime. Writing a message in capital letters is widely held to be the equivalent of shouting.

Wait, wait a minute. Either something is very wrong with this story, or Fox buried the lead here. There's a job that includes naptime? An office job?

Anyway, we're not sure whether this whole incident is a giant leap forward for workplace internet decorum, or a leap back.

Woman Fired for 'Shouting' in E-Mail [My FOX NY] (Thanks, The Observer!)

(Photo: i_yudai)

The manufacturing work done in Indiana will move to Mexico and another location yet to be named.

Whirlpool to Cut About 1,100 Jobs [ABC News]
New jobless claims and total benefit rolls drop [AP]
INSTANT VIEW: Consumer confidence hits four-month low [Reuters]

(Photo: MShades)

Staffing company Robert Half International runs the site Resumania to catalog amusing errors. A few examples:

Education: "Studied public rations."
Work history: "Faxed documents to attorneys over sees."
Objective: "To get an opportunity to proof what I know."
Job duties: "Assist callers and answer heavy phones."
Job history: "Grocery store catchier."
Additional skills: "Computers and off ice machines."
Experience: "Detailed-oriented saleman."

The site showcasing these typos also has some really delightful examples of obnoxious statements made by job-seekers:

THANK-YOU NOTE: Hi, Ray. If I don't get the job, that would be 'Hi Ray' robbery. OK, yes, this is a bad pun, but I couldn't help but think about someone stealing the above salutation. Hmm, I definitely took a risk there, as jokes that bad should probably be punishable by fines.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: Numerous hardware and software certifications. I could wallpaper my entire bathroom with them, but my wife would kick me out if I did.

Sorry, kids, but humor has no place in a cover letter, and unfunny humor has no place anywhere.

Don't depend on a spell checker - print your resume out and look it over, read it out loud to yourself, and have another person look at it for you.

Tiny Typos Can Add Up To a Big X On Your Résumé [Washington Post]
Resumania [Robert Half International]

RELATED:
Don't Say These Things In A Job Interview
Take A Coffee Break Before Your Next Job Interview

(Photo: slushpup)

Yes, Alibi HQ, a company better known for providing fake invitations, conference programs, and phone screening to give people plausible cover stories, also provides employment services. They provide fake references and employment verification services. From their page:

If you're in need of Fake Job Reference services, we'll provide a local or toll free number for your previous employer or employers. We'll answer all incoming calls as the fictitious company and confirm your dates of employment, indicate that you are eligible to be rehired.

The reader who shared this with us is looking at the situation from a hiring perspective. As should you. This is why it's a good idea to double-check numbers provided to you. Reverse lookup is your friend. If there's no Yellow Pages listing for a number that your prospective renter or employee claims is a law firm....big red flag, right there.

FAKE JOB REFERENCES [Alibi HQ]

(Photo: matt512)

When officials in Stamford, Conn., posted a single position at the local sewage plant, more than 300 people raised their hands — about twice the number who would seek such jobs before the recession.

About 100 of them made the cut and were allowed to take a test and interview. The work: Drying up wastewater sludge and operating chlorine tanks.

After months of unemployment, that job sounded appealing to 26-year-old Gary Cappiello of nearby Norwalk. Cappiello had worked in the maintenance department of a Target store before being laid off in the spring of last year.

"I'm just applying for anything now — even if the job is low-paying or not a comfortable position," he said. "It's just getting to a desperate point. The bills need to be paid."

Recently, he found out he didn't make the cut at the sewage plant.

Competition is heating up for slaughterhouse jobs too. Tyson spokesperson Gary Mickelson says they've seen "an increase in the qualifications and experience of those applying."

Now hiring: Everywhere you didn't want to work [Yahoo!]
(Photo:Daquella manera)

Apparently, the career services office at Monroe College gives preferential treatment to students with good GPAs. In her complaint, Trina Thompson of the Bronx wrote:

I recently graduated with my Bachelors in April 2009. I am seeking a reinbursement of $70,000 from my tutision because the Office of Career Advancement Information Technology Couselors are not making sure their Monroe e-recruiting clients call the graduates that recently finished college for a interview to get a job placement. They have not tried hard enough to help me. I am also seeking $2,000 for the stress I have been going through looking for a Full Time job on my own.

In an interview with CNN, Thompson also noted:

It doesn't make any sense: They went to school for four years, and then they come out working at McDonald's and Payless. That's not what they planned.

Many Americans, of all ages and walks of life, have found that their lives haven't quite turned out as they planned. Even when there's no recession going on. It just doesn't occur to most people to sue anyone about it.

Alumna sues college because she hasn't found a job [CNN] (Thanks to everyone who sent this in!)
Original Filing (PDF) [CNN]

(Photo: Paul Lowry)

The programs may come through an alumni office, a career center or a service linking both. In September, Bucknell sent an e-mail message to 47 alumni at the collapsing Lehman Brothers, offering the support of the school's career counseling services, a network of 600 alumni in financial professions and a job database. In April, Middlebury College assembled an evening panel in downtown Manhattan - "Career Advice for Tough Times on Wall Street" - featuring graduates at Goldman Sachs and the Blackstone Group, as well as a career services representative from the college.

IN May, Notre Dame started face-to-face events and a coordinated Web site for undergraduate and graduate-school alumni, with links to professional networks, a career counseling hot line, job listings and a vast alumni database. Throughout the year, Lehigh presented job-skills Web seminars, usually at a lunchtime hour. The New York City alumni association of Howard University is planning career transition seminars. Northwestern is designing panels on midcareer advice and recession-era lifestyle adjustments this year.

Have you asked your school's career office for help? Tell us how it went in the comments.

Rah, Rah, Résumé! [The New York Times]
(Photo: Adam, L'Iconoclaste Banal)

Why is arriving too early a blow to your chances of winning the job? The answer is quite simple. One of the primary goals of the interview process is to determine a prospective candidate's understanding of, and ability to operate within, the norms of a professional environment. One of those norms is an understanding of how your actions impact others around you and your respect for your co-workers schedules and time. Showing up early, or late, for an interview (or for any business meeting) is disruptive to the person you are meeting. To understand this, consider what occurs when you arrive early. The people with whom you are meeting will be notified that you have arrived. From a cultural perspective, most people don't feel comfortable making someone wait for them as it is considered rude-so the person you are meeting now has two options: a) they can interrupt their schedule to meet with you early, or b) wait for the scheduled time and be made to feel anxious about making you wait. In either case, you have made a bad first impression.

Do what I do when I arrive early to a job interview: Conduct your own interview of the neighborhood. Explore the area, looking for potential sources of coffee or lunch in the area around the office.

Common mistakes. Easy fixes. (part two) [getpickd]

(Photo: slushpup)

From the NYT:

Mr. Bernanke said in his prepared comments that despite positive signs of an improvement in the economy, "the job loss rate remains high and the unemployment rate continues its steep rise." The weak job market, coupled with falling home prices and tight credit, he said, are putting downward pressure on households, undermining "the recent stabilization in household spending."

Ah well, you needed the time off to finish your novel, America.

Pace of Decline Seems to Have Slowed, Fed Chief Says [NYT]

As many readers guessed, the re-emergence of the account occurred because Jennifer no longer worked for Time Warner. Someone able to fix the situation contacted her through Consumerist, and yesterday she wrote:

Well, the nice man from AOL's "executive escalations" department cleared my account of all charges and said he'd do the same with Allied Collection Agency, so that's good. (This whole thing only wasted about 6 hours of my life). It was indeed because I left Time Warner. The dates didn't add up, which we couldn't solve for, but basically AOL doesn't inform anyone-company employee or not-that their account can change overnight from an unpaid to a paid account. Pretty reprehensible in my humble opinion. If a service is now free, it should be free, no matter what you signed up for nine years ago. I'm contacting Time Warner's benefits department to let them know they need to warn people!

Thanks again to you and your readers for helping me get to the bottom of all this.

Now all that's left to do is make sure that the collection agency actually listens to AOL. If you work for Time Warner and have a free AOL account, make sure it's put to rest when you leave the company.

Also, no matter where you work, make sure that any subscriptions and benefits you get through your employment are squared away before changing jobs.

PREVIOUSLY:
Zombie AOL Account Crawls Out Of The Grave Nine Years Later

(Photo: Maulleigh)

NCL rates as the worst jobs those that expose teenagers to the most hazardous work environments. It's a bigger problem than we realized: every ten days, a worker under 18 dies from a workplace injury; every ten minutes, a worker under 18 has to go to the hospital for a workplace injury.

That said, NCL's worst teen jobs are:

1. 1. Agriculture: Harvesting Crops
2. 2. Construction and Height Work
3. 3. Driver/Operator: Forklifts, Tractors, and ATV's
4. 4. Traveling Youth Sales Crews
5. 5. Outside Helper: Landscaping, Groundskeeping, and Lawn Service

NCL notes that the Department of Labor has restrictions on the hours and jobs that teenagers under 18 can work.

What dangerous teen jobs do you think should be on the list? Let us know in the comments.

NCL's 2009 Five Worst Teen Jobs [National Consumers League]
(Photo: frankieleon)

R. is familiar with the operations of one of Dish Network's US-based but outsourced call centers, and how their employees are treated and evaluated. He wrote to Consumerist:

Unsurprisingly Dish Network (wholly owned by Echostar) outsources much of its support to US based call centers. Although I have to applaud Dish for choosing a US based call center, the management within that call center leaves much to be desired. I'm going to provide everyone that cares to read it a brief list of the things wrong with Dish Network's call center located in upstate New York. First, allow me to explain exactly what this call center does and the kind of calls that they handle.

This particular call center's primary purpose is to handle "soft collections". The soft collections agents receive in-bound calls from Dish Network subscribers who have an outstanding balance and are attempting to contact Dish Network support. The subscriber may be calling for any of a variety of reasons such as to order pay-per-view or to change the plan to which they are subscribed. Instead of receiving the standard customer support representative they receive a soft collections agent who must attempt to solicit payment from the customer prior to fulfilling the customer's original reason for calling. This call center also handles the overflow from another general customer support call center although it makes up a small percentage of the total calls.

That is all well and good. I understand that Dish Network needs to be paid for the services they provide. What I am not okay with is how Dish Network (and this yet to be named call center) treats their agents. The employees are rated not only on whether they handle calls quickly and follow the guidelines set forth by Dish Network but also on a scale known as "CSAT" or "Customer Satisfaction". The CSAT is a direct grading scale that Dish Network receives from an automated system which calls the customer back after the customer's interaction with the soft collections agent. The automated system asks the customer to rate a variety of categories on a 0 to 10 rating scale. These CSAT scores are useless for the following reasons.

A) Many customers simply hang up or press 0 repeatedly without actually grading the experience.
B) Many customers are dissatisfied because Dish Network would not allow the call center employee to provide pay-per-view or other services due to an outstanding account balance (there is nothing the call center employee could have done better, the customer is simply dissatisfied with Dish Network in general).
C) The customer does not speak English and does not understand the CSAT survey (believe it or not the English speaking call center agents encounter multiple customers per day that only speak Hindi, Japanese, Chinese or another language the call center does not support).
D) A myriad of other reasons...

An agent's overall CSAT score is used to determine that employee's overall "worth" to the contract and whether the employee is performing satisfactorily. Repeated low grades on calls can and does result in the employee being suspended from work. The employee can also be "written up" and unsatisfactory reports entered into the employee's employment record. These scores can affect the employee's raises, promotions and even result in termination.

How fair is it to terminate or discipline an employee that has stellar "quality" scores because they do everything (and more) that is required of them by Dish Network during a call but is later rated a zero by the customer because his $300 bill wasn't waived or simply because he felt like it?

Recently, a rating of zero has even been given when all the agent did was take a customer's pay-per-view order. The customer called, got this call center due to the primary customer support call center receiving a high volume of calls, the agent answered, verified account info, placed the pay-per-view order, the customer got the pay-per-view they ordered but rated the experience a zero when the system called back. How is that the agent's fault and why should the agent suffer?

There has got to be a better way to grade soft collections reps than this. No matter how nice the person I'm on the phone with might be, the nature of the call will color the customer's perception of what happened—if the customer bothers to fill out the survey at all.

Maybe this is a cost-saving measure so management doesn't have to record and evaluate calls, but if so, it's a poor evaluation choice for this type of call center.

(Photo: boltron)

ReadWriteWeb says:

The form (PDF) is a standard waiver that allows the city to perform a background check, which is obviously a routine procedure, but in addition, the city asks prospective employees to "please list any and all, current personal or business websites, web pages or memberships on any Internet-based chat rooms, social clubs or forums, to include, but not limited to: Facebook, Google, Yahoo, YouTube.com, MySpace, etc." The form provides three lines for entering this information.

Handing over your password, of course, allows the City to poke around in all of your business — including search history and email archive.

The local TV station picked up the story and, according to city attorney Greg Sullivan they don't look at, "the things that the federal constitution lists as protected things," and maintains that no one has removed their name from consideration because of the requirement.

So why do they even need your passwords? Mr. Sullivan says the City has "positions ranging from fire and police, which require people of high integrity for those positions, all the way down to the lifeguards and the folks that work in city hall here. So we do those types of investigations to make sure the people that we hire have the highest moral character and are a good fit for the City."

My moral character says it's wrong to poke around in an applicant's personal life, but what do I know.

Want to Work for the City of Bozeman, MT? Hand Over Your Social Network Logins and Passwords [ReadWriteWeb] (Thanks, David!)

Luis Illades, an owner of the Urban Rustic Market and Cafe on North 12th Street, said he had seen a steady number of applicants, in their late 20s, who had never held paid jobs: They were interns at a modeling agency, for example, or worked at a college radio station. In some cases, applicants have stormed out of the market after hearing the job requirements.

"They say, ‘You want me to work eight hours?' " Mr. Illades said. "There is a bubble bursting."

I rolled my eyes in frustration, then realized that those paragraphs describe far too many of my college friends. Eight hours? Of work? Man, it's like something out of a 19th-century textile mill. I bet they even make you turn your iPhone off during a shift.

In all seriousness, though, this is an awful time to be looking for one's first paying job...especially with a skill set that seems more attuned to the dot-com boom.

(Photo: rollanb)

Parental Lifelines, Frayed to Breaking [New York Times]
Financial Crisis Forcing Hipsters To Be Weaned Off the Parental Teat [Gawker]

T.J. wrote to us:

[The company] states that they send you "necessary" materials to take this text and quoted me at $24 at the beginning of my call, either they are outright lying or I severely misheard the number quoted to me, because at the end of the call they told me my total was 138.97 dollars, which was already charged to my account before I could say no. To cancel the order I had to call another number, which no one ever picks up at, luckily I called a number of other phone numbers I found at their website only to be informed that I had already canceled. Which was frustrating on top of the fact they had charged my account twice with the overdraw buffer so about 280 is sitting in pending limbo in my bank account right now, and for the last week.

But here's the scam part: the post office, after being contacted directly, is not hiring, period. They have no scheduled tests in this state (Minnesota) for the future at all. As someone looking for work in this world as so many are I wanted to spread that this is the case and not to call this company and buy a package from them out of desperation for a great paying job.

If you're looking for real postal employment, check the USPS careers page. Both the FTC and the real federal employment site, USAJOBS.gov, have posted warnings about this particular scam.

FTC Stamps Out Postal Job Scam [FTC]
CONSUMER ALERT - FEDERAL JOB FRAUD [USA JOBS]

(Photo: dougmcfarland)

Fewer Americans said jobs were "hard to get," the survey found, with that measure slipping to 44.7 percent from 46.6 percent. Those saying jobs were plentiful climbed to a still meager 5.7 percent, but that was still higher than April's 4.9 percent.

"Consumers are considerably less pessimistic than they were earlier this year," said Lynn Franco, director of The Conference Board's Consumer Research Center.

Respondents claiming that "jobs are plentiful" were reached during a tropical cruise in Alaska. On a boat full of mermaids and unicorns.

U.S. consumer confidence sees biggest jump in 6 years [Reuters]

(Photo: dooleymtv)

For the real video clip of the lifeguards, click here.

"Adults vs. Teens for Summer Jobs" [ABC News]

Note that the statistics don't talk about the type of jobs, so don't pack your futon and your BA in comp lit and move to North Dakota.

(Photo: TMQ.st.louis)

When I was seven, I saved the lives of my two younger cousins who were playing on the railroad tracks. They did not notice the train coming, but I did and frantically ran to them. I was able to toss them both to safety, but I fell and my pants got caught on the rail. I have been living with one leg ever since.

Thirty surgeries and two decades later, I was doing fine as a medically trained professional, drawing blood for lab tests at the University of Southern California Hospital. I did my job just as easily on crutches as with a properly fitting prosthetic leg, and had supervisors who understood that I needed to switch between the two because artificial legs don't always fit the way they should. Padding wears down and that extra pressure causes painful blistering that can take weeks to heal, months if the blisters get infected. It also takes weeks to get my leg back when it needs to be refitted.

When staffing needs at USC changed and I had to transfer to the Tenet facility at Garfield Medical Center, my working environment turned ugly. In this day and age, when the law says employers have to accommodate the disabled, the last thing I expected to hear from my new supervisor was, "Go home and put on your leg," but it was something she told me over and over. I did what she asked for as long as I could because I did not want to lose my job, but wearing the leg on top of the blisters gave me a bad infection. Artificial limbs wear out and, at this time, I also had to get a new leg, which meant a lengthy medical review process and insurance delays to replace my basic prosthetic device which costs $34,000. Because my supervisor refused to let me do my job on crutches, I was unable to work for six months. When I returned to Garfield, my job was gone.

The only work they had for me was as a daily hire on the graveyard shift, where a new supervisor let other workers make disparaging remarks to me. When I complained to her, she said I should not take it seriously, that they were just "playing around." I could not let my situation continue, so I told the human resources department I was filing a grievance. My job performance reviews were the only thing that changed after that. They went from always good to always bad.

I thought I had an "open-and-shut case" of discrimination, so I found a lawyer and he filed a lawsuit against Tenet and Garfield. Four days later, I was fired for something I never did, mislabel specimens.

Evidence and facts matter in a court of law, but I didn't have access to one. Tenet employment contracts include a binding mandatory arbitration clause which prevented me from having my case heard before a real judge in a legitimate court. Instead, my case was reviewed by an arbitrator Tenet hired, guaranteeing I would lose and they would be protected.

I was never going to get a fair hearing, but just to make doubly sure of that, Tenet offered the arbitrator two more case to handle while she was in the process of evaluating my case. I lost, of course, but because of this treachery and the strong evidence we had, my lawyer tried to get a regular court to throw out the arbitration decision. That was a failure too.

You can ask your members of Congress to support the Arbitration Fairness Act here, you can also check out the Fair Arbitration Now website and sign a petition to ban forced arbitration.

Previously: The Arbitration Fairness Act Is In The House
Mandatory Binding Arbitration: The Worst Choose Your Own Adventure Ever
What Is Mandatory Binding Arbitration?
(Photo: mindonfire)

'Bacontrepreneurs' Building Bacon Empire [ABC]
Baconsalt [Official Site]

Now, maybe it doesn't take an expert to park cars, but I fit the "no experience" bill and I can promise you I'd scrape off a little of your paint or ease your car into a support column. My first job in the city was as a driver for a film crew, and I managed to back a rental van into the corner of a building my second week there.

Apparently someone at Icon Parking figured out that maybe this isn't the best way to instill confidence in your services, because Lansey posed a third photo showing that they've update the want ad—now in place of "no experience necessary" it reads, "Paid training."

"No experience necessary" [Lansey Brothers] (Thanks to Daniel!)

"U.S. public transit 2008 ridership highest in 52 years" [Reuters]
(Photo: Kriston Lewis)

10 Tax Deductions Freelancers Can Make [Freelance Switch via Lifehacker] (Photo: NabityPhotos)

Here's the email Christine received when she responded to a help wanted ad:

From: Hiring Manager <[redacted]@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 4:22 PM

Hello,

Thanks for responding to our listing so promptly. This job is very straight forward. Basically, you will be answering the phone, scheduling meetings, and running company errands, but we really need someone to answer the phone. When running errands we will be providing you with a company credit card.

Due to bad experiences with this in the past however, before we can send you an application, a credit score from freecreditpage.com/Free is required.

When you submit your information they will send you your credit check, and when you email us your given credit score we can send you your application. Once your application is received I will call you to schedule a face to face interview.

Finally, we have full and part time positions available, so please send us your available work hours. Best Wishes!

Sincerely,

Bryan Smith,
Hiring Manager

Christine wrote back,

I will be more than happy to furnish a credit report, at my own expense, even, but only from one of the three main credit bureaus: Experian, TransUnion, or Equifax.

Of course, she hasn't heard back from Bryan since.

Back in December 2006, quits made up 61 percent of all changes in job status. The BLS says it's goodbye to that: "Quits dropped to only 40 percent of total separations in December 2008, a new series low, as layoffs and discharges increased substantially."

Also unsurprising, the people least likely to quit their jobs? Government workers.

Not A Nation Of Quitters [NPR Planet Money]
(Photo:elijah.perez)

In 1980, Airborne Express turned Wilmington's abandoned Air Force base into a hub for overnight shipping. Eight thousand people found work at what they call "the air park." Then, in 2003 a German company, DHL, bought Airborne in an effort to win a big piece of the U.S. market. It didn't work. The merger was rocky, there were service disruptions, and customers left in droves. With last fall's economic crash, DHL was losing $6 million a day in the U.S.; layoffs started coming by the hundreds.

People who worked there for decades found themselves in DHL-sponsored meetings learning about unemployment.

Economic Storm Batters Ohio Town [60 Minutes]