Weekly Career Profile: Licensed Practical Nurse
A licensed practical nurse (LPN), working under the direction of registered nurses and doctors, cares for patients who are sick, injured, convalescing or disabled. To work as an LPN, sometimes called a licensed vocational nurse or LVN, one must complete a one-year formal training program. These programs are usually offered by vocational and technical schools or community colleges (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).
If you are thinking about becoming a licensed practical nurse, you should learn more about it. Read Licensed Practical Nurse: Career Information to get some basic details about this occupation, including earnings, job outlook and advancement opportunities. If, after reading this, you are still interested in a future career as an LPN, you should gather even more information. Interview people who work as LPNs. Then take the Should You Become an LPN ? quiz. It can help you determine if this career choice is for you.
Weekly Career Profile: Licensed Practical Nurse originally appeared on About.com Career Planning on Wednesday, February 24th, 2010 at 12:10:35. Permalink | Comment | Email this
Can Your Boss Fire You for Wearing a Religious Garment?
According to an article in the San Francisco Examiner, a Muslim woman was fired from her job at Hollister, a clothing retailer owned by Abercrombie and Fitch, for wearing a hijab (Muslim Woman Says She Was Fired for Wearing Hijab. San Franscisco Examiner, 2/25/2010). A hijab is a traditional religious head scarf. The article reports the woman was employed as a part-time stockroom worker at the store's San Mateo, California location and that she spent some time on the sales floor. Apparently higher-ups in the company didn't want her to wear the hijab in public. The Council on American-Islamic Relations filed a complaint with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on the woman's behalf.
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) is the government agency charged with enforcing all laws that protect us from workplace discrimination based on our race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability or genetic information. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is the law that makes it illegal to discriminate against a job applicant or employee, such as the San Mateo woman wearing the hijab, based on religion. The law also prohibits discrimination based on national origin, race, color and sex (including pregnancy). Your boss can fire you for wearing a hijab, but he or she can't do so legally. Religious discrimination in the workplace is illegal and if you experience it either as an employee or as a job applicant you can file a complaint with the EEOC as 3,386 people did in fiscal year 2009 (Charge Statistics: FY 1997 through FY 2009. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission).
More: Employment Law and Your Career
Can Your Boss Fire You for Wearing a Religious Garment? originally appeared on About.com Career Planning on Monday, March 1st, 2010 at 09:00:04. Permalink | Comment | Email this
Reader: What Should I Do About Political Emails at Work?
I received an email this morning from someone who had read my article Top Six Topics to Avoid Discussing at Work. The second topic on the list of topic in that article is "Politics". The person who sent me the email complained about a higher up at his company who frequently sent politically-charged emails to the company's employees. He went on to say: "I think about two-thirds of the recipients probably agree with him but not all of us do. I just don't know what I can do about it. I want to respond to all but I'm afraid I will get fired."
I agree that these emails do not belong in the workplace and I also agree that speaking up in this situation could be dangerous. I advised the email writer to set up a filter to delete the offensive messages. That way he doesn't have to read them, but he won't be doing anything to jeopardize his job. What do you think? Please share your thoughts by commenting on this post.
Reader: What Should I Do About Political Emails at Work? originally appeared on About.com Career Planning on Monday, February 22nd, 2010 at 11:47:23. Permalink | Comment | Email this
Consider Your Values When Choosing a Career
There are many factors to consider when choosing a career, aside from how much money you can make. Money, actually, doesn't play as big a role in job satisfaction as you might think. Of course we all have to make a living, but if you don't like your job, it doesn't matter much how much you get paid. What does matter a lot is how well a career choice matches up with your values — those things that are important to you. Let's say you find the following values very important: variety, collaboration and creativity. Imagine how you would feel if your job involved working alone, following strict guidelines and doing the same thing everyday. Would it matter how much money you were making? Sure, maybe you can handle a job that didn't match your values for a short time, but could you do it for several years?
Read Identifying Your Work Values
Consider Your Values When Choosing a Career originally appeared on About.com Career Planning on Friday, February 19th, 2010 at 15:31:11. Permalink | Comment | Email this
Resources to Use If Your Unemployment Benefits Run Out
What do you do when your unemployment benefits end? Unless the U.S. Senate's proposals to extend benefits come to fruition within the next few days, millions of people will need to know the answer to this question.
The About.com Guide to Job Search, Alison Doyle, has put together a list of resources to help you survive if your unemployment checks stop. These resources will also be useful to those who find that their benefits don't cover their expenses, as is often the case. Included are government assistance and non-profit and social services agencies. See What to Do When Unemployment Runs Out
More Unemployment Information:
Resources to Use If Your Unemployment Benefits Run Out originally appeared on About.com Career Planning on Thursday, February 25th, 2010 at 09:58:21. Permalink | Comment | Email this
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