My Question of the Day: Some folks work in environments where there is a lot of down time. Would you say that during this down time it is appropriate to browse the web, check your phone, read and/or work on your own activities instead of just sitting/standing around, or should you look for other work-related things to do, even if they’re not in your job description?

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My Question of the Day: In the current economy, are you reluctant to ask your boss for a raise, even though you know you deserve one?

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My Question of the Day: Would you work a job you absolutely hated if it paid you three times as much as you make now, offered excellent medical/dental/vision benefits, had free, onsite daycare and allowed you 30 days of vacation each year?

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My Question of the Day: Sometimes the direct route isn’t the only way to get to your destination. With that in mind, would you consider working your dream job as a volunteer if there was a better-than-great possibility that you’d get hired for pay when a position opened up?

My 2 Cents: Because of my sister, I’d have to say yes, because she did this and it actually paid off for her.

My sister, Tammie Fields, majored in Radio, TV and Film in college, and she set her mind on being a television news anchor.

To this end, she had to make resume tapes and send them out to different television stations. Buying tapes, shipping materials and postage was expensive, so sometimes she worked one or two part time jobs in addition to her full time job as videographer in the Athletic Films department for the University of Oklahoma football team.

In addition to her full-time job and part-time jobs, she volunteered at the local television station, learning all she could about producing, editing and camera work. Her single-minded focus to achieve her goal of becoming a television news anchor spearheaded her resolve to do whatever it took.

When a paying position opened up, Tammie was the obvious choice for the job. Since then, she’s moved up and up in the news industry, starting her career in Oklahoma and steadily going into bigger markets. You can watch Tammie, and the other personalities at WTSP live:

Since I know first-hand that volunteering to do what you love isn’t always in vain, I would definitely consider doing it again.

Truth be told, the job I’m working now as a computer applications trainer is a dream come true, and in order to get my foot in the door I had to volunteer to teach several classes to get paying jobs. That volunteer work didn’t put any money in my pocket at the time, but it was a great investment on future returns.

If you’re interested, you can follow my sister on Twitter. Tammie’s also on Facebook.

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The commentary doesn’t have to end!

Please feel free to continue to add your comments below.

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RULES FOR COMMENTS

1. DO NOT include links in your post. There is a place for you to include one link when you’re filling out the Name/Email/Website information. Comments that include links will be deleted.

2. If your post is obviously irrelevant to the question at hand, it will be deleted. This is a tactic spammers use to simply show up on blogs.

3. Please keep your comments respectful. We can agree to disagree without attacking each other.

My Question of the Day: Have you ever been overlooked and/or denied a job for what you thought was a “silly” reason?

My 2 Cents: When I was in college, I needed to get another job, so I applied for some house-cleaning positions. On my first interview, I dressed like I would dress for any other job, and I took my resume. The family was very impressed, and the mom kept saying, “Our son doesn’t need a tutor or babysitter. Goodness, if you had been available two years ago, it would have been perfect.” I kept assuring her that I was aware that I was applying for a house-cleaning position, but she was very reluctant to take me on. Finally, she said she’d think about it, and I left. As is my custom, when I leave a job interview, I always drop a thank-you card in the nearest mailbox to the potential job as soon as I leave the interview.

Apparently, that was the nail in my coffin. The next day when the family got the card, the husband called me and told me they simply could not hire me. There was a pregnant pause and he explained the two reasons they decided I wasn’t right for the position. He told me, and I’m paraphrasing, “Well, you’re black and we’re Jewish and it just seems so stereotypical. Besides with your education and middle-class background, cleaning someone’s house is beneath you.” My response was something like, “Mr. W– (I actually remember this family’s name because their refusal to hire me was that much of a shock), I’m a struggling college student trying to pay my bills. The only thing that’s beneath me are jobs that are immoral, unethical or illegal.” His response to that, and I’m paraphrasing, “See! Just the fact that you can articulate the point like that is the reason I can’t have you mopping our floors. Thanks for your time. You’re going to be someone great one day,” and he disconnected the call.

I was stunned and stung all at the same time. I sat there with the phone in my hand until I heard the fast busy signal.

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The commentary doesn’t have to end!

Please feel free to continue to add your comments below.

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RULES FOR COMMENTS

1. DO NOT include links in your post. There is a place for you to include one link when you’re filling out the Name/Email/Website information. Comments that include links will be deleted.

2. If your post is obviously irrelevant to the question at hand, it will be deleted. This is a tactic spammers use to simply show up on blogs.

3. Please keep your comments respectful. We can agree to disagree without attacking each other.