Guest Post: The Saturday Job Search: 5 Productive Things to Do In Your Free Time

But while you spend your weekdays searching job boards for open positions, attending networking events, and having lunch with your contacts, Saturdays aren’t quite as productive…or are they?

Guest Post: Never Work For Free…Except Under These Four Circumstances

The temptation to hand over your precious time, labor, ideas, and energy in exchange for $0.00 dollars per hour might sound ridiculous, especially to those who are currently working and earning a regular paycheck. But for those who have been out of work for a few months or longer, your perspectives may begin to shift.

Guest Post: Five Reasons Not to Pick a Career

Just because you love Mad Men doesn’t mean you should seek out a career in advertising, or seek out a career in archaeology because you love the Indiana Jones franchise. While TV shows and movies are entertaining, they don’t necessarily offer the most accurate portrayal of what different careers are really like. (Shocking, right?)

How to Build an Entourage

Entourages are about collaboration and relationships, which means that both parties are committed to helping each other. If you meet someone who seems disinterested in you or overly interested in himself, he’ll probably never make the cut from contact to entourage member – no matter how well connected he is.

Guest Post: Lies Your Recruiter May Tell You

Recruiters are on your side. They’re out to help you, not exploit you, and they can be powerful allies during your job search process. But while you make yourself available to them and answer their questions promptly, it’s important to remember that you aren’t paying them—they’re working for their employer clients, not you. It’s their job to help their clients fill open positions as efficiently as possible, so when they have to choose between the needs of a client and a candidate, the candidate is likely to take second place. Generally, recruiters are diplomatic, respectful, kind, and pleasant to interact with.

But sometimes—there’s no harm in admitting it—they’ll tell a few white lies.

Guest Post: How to Keep Your “Unemployed” Status from Turning Managers Off

The first week that you started looking for a new position, hiring managers may not have even noticed that you were technically unemployed. And they certainly (hopefully) had the common sense not to hold this against you. But if you’ve been on the market for a few months—or years—now, things might be a bit different.