It’s that time of year again.  Scoot on over to The Bookseller to vote for The Oddest Book Title of the Year (scroll down, the voting thingie is in a box on the left).  The contenders:

1. The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
2. Collectible Spoons of the 3rd Reich
3. Crocheting Adventures with Hyperbolic Planes
4. Governing Lethal Behavior in Autonomous Robots
5. What Kind of Bean is This Chihuaha?
6. Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter

Yes, it is a big decision.  According to The Guardian, Afterthoughts of a Worm Hunter is an early favorite.  But who could resist cracking open a tome entitled The Changing World of Inflammatory Bowel Disease?

Sorry.  The winner will be announced March 25th. Vote now!

Well, it’s been almost a year since “The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl” came out.  Yowie.

And there is one more big blast of a book promotion event coming up:  this Thursday, Feb. 25th, at Elliott Bay Books in downtown Seattle.  It’s going to be even bigger and better than usual because friend and fellow author Shari Storm (”Motherhood is the New MBA“) will be there too!

Here’s the scoop: 

WHEN: 5:30 p.m., Thursday, February 25th
WHERE:  Elliott Bay Book Company, 101 S. Main St. Seattle

Have you ever been to an event at Elliott Bay Books?  This is one of your very last chances to see and shop Elliott Bay’s original “historic” location in Pioneer Square (they’re moving to Capitol Hill in March).   We plan to make it special with wine, prizes, networking, and plenty of jobs/career talk. 

Come early (or stay late) and check out the big sale EBB is having on used books (60% off!).  If you get hungry, you can have a bite at the yummy Elliott Bay Café.

Books, food, wine, fellowship.  Sounds like a pretty nice Thursday happy hour.  Driving directions here.

Jobhunters are probably tired of hearing it.  But “You gotta send a thank you note afterwards” is still one of the golden rules of interviewing.

So it may be extra annoying to learn that a simple “thanks for your time” is not cutting it these days.  Nope, your thank you note needs to work much harder than that. 

Scoot on over to today’s post at U.S. News & World Report for some tips.

A loyal reader writes with this intriguing dilemma:

How do you respond when a manager says they understand your job can be a bit boring and repetitive?  This conversation was at an informal networking event.  I responded by saying it’s challenging in some aspects but there are interesting parts.  Is it okay to admit it is boring? 

Ah, those tricky little “innocent” questions.  You can make yourself crazy with them.  It’s hard not to feel you’re being tested.

In fact, what you actually said was a pretty good answer.

Do you want more of a response than that?  Yes?  Okay, try to keep in mind that Most Of The Time, when people are making chitchat at events, they are doing it with half a brain.  If that.  They are just talking for the sake of talking. 

But say this manager was asking because he’s really interested.  You of course have no idea why.  Maybe someone else asked him about the tasks performed at your level and he’s trying to ferret out some information.  Maybe he used to do what you do and he wants to talk about old times.  Maybe, wonder of wonders, he’s noticed your fabulousness, wants to promote you, and needs to know if you’re interested.

Maybe, maybe, maybe.  (Cue screaming and tearing out of hair.)

You can’t really know what’s in this person’s head.  All you can do is to manage the moment.  Here are two general rules: First, please always remember that you should never need to lie to please someone.  And, second, keep in mind that just because someone asks you a question doesn’t mean you have to answer it.  You can handle a situation like this numerous ways.

For example, you can give him a smile of recognition, as if to say, “You know and I know this is a deadly dull job but I’m not going to come right out and admit it,” and then go on to say something blandly diplomatic about how you understand that all tasks, no matter their level, are important to a company and should be done well.  (Note: Smiling before answering any question is always a good way to stall for time while formulating an answer.)

Or you can pull the old politician’s trick of not-answering-the-question-the-person-actually-asked-but-answering-the-question-you-wish-he-had-asked.  What do you want this manager to know about  you?  That you are eager for promotion?  Then you could just say, “Speaking of jobs, I’ve heard good things about your department–specifically about X, which is an area I’m really interested in.”

The most important thing to remember:  When networking with the upper-ups, look relaxed and confident.  You don’t actually have to be relaxed and confident.  You just have to look it. 

(True, it does all sound rather political.  But whaddya gonna do?)

Many employers nowadays are conducting interviews by telephone.  Especially initial screening interviews.

If, like Working Girl, you don’t particularly like talking on the phone you will find this a special challenge. 

 And even if you do love gabbing on your cell or land line all the day long, you may be interested in these do’s and don’ts for the phone job interview. 

Over at U.S. News & World Report today (their blog is still in business despite the snow)!

Working Girl just got word that this little blog was named one of the “30 Finest Creative Writing Blogs of 2009” by Online Colleges and Universities.  Thanks, guys!

It’s kinda cool to be included on the same list with Neil Gaiman (author of “Coraline”).

Also worth checking out are “Apostrophe Abuse” (name speaks for itself), “Blue Pencil Editing” (you can never be reminded too often about the difference between “continuous” and “continual”), and “The Urban Muse” (check out the recent thread about “should writers date other writers?”–WG has always thought no but then maybe that’s just her).

If you’re anything like a majority of Americans you may be counting the days until the economy improves  and you can find a new job.  Better than the old one.

So, in advance of that happy day, here is a primer on the best way to quit your job.  Meanwhile, hang in there.

Want to make parents of teens nervous?  Even a little P.O.’d?  Ask them the above.

They definitely do not like questioning the base premise: i.e., that whatever it costs, whatever sacrifices you have to make, you absolutely must send your kid to college. 

Working Girl loves questioning base premises.  She’s always found conventional wisdom to be, well, conventional.  And she has long wondered whether getting a college education is always always necessary.  Don’t get her wrong, WG loves learning, loves books and ivy-covered halls and all the rest, and feels that college is a wonderful thing.  But is it automatically a wonderful thing, for every young person, no matter who she or he is or what he/she wants to do in life??  Is it worth, say, huge crippling debt?

However, she has learned not to voice such heretical thoughts to her friends-with-teens because she’s always frightened by the wild-eyed looks she gets in return.

That’s why it’s impossible to resist pointing out a humble little article buried in the bowels of today’s Wall St. Journal, entitled “What’s a Degree Really Worth?“  Turns out that some of the “proof” for why you-gotta-get-a-degree is a bit suspect.   You can read it for yourself but here are a few highlights:

• The statistics you hear the most (that, over their lifetimes, college grads earn nearly a million dollars more than high school graduates) are based on some pretty crude calculations of averages.  Plus, they’re using old numbers.  Note that in 1999, average college costs were $15K a year; today they are $26K.
• Comparisons of lifetime earnings don’t take into account income taxes or the cost of college itself.  Seems like a huge oversight. 
• At least one expert thinks that the million-dollar number is really more like $279K. 
• Even the College Board has admitted that its old claim that a BA is worth $800K is ”misleading,” and has removed it from its website.

Just in case you’re not wild-eyed enough, Working Girl would like to add:  Who’s to say that people who go to college and do well there are just, by definition, people who would normally do well in life, whatever their formal education?

P.S.  One last thought: If you are in school, or plan to go to school, congratulations!  Study hard.

Update:  For some fascinating anecdotal data, check out Gina’s comment below.  Thanks, Gina.

If like Working Girl you were raised to abhor discussion of money, sex, or religion, you will find the above question intrusive. 

Even offensive.

Problem is….job hunters get this question all the time.  For example, a reader writes:

On sharing salary…I saw a friend at a networking function; he’s someone I know very well.  He mentioned they’re expanding and hiring, so naturally I threw my name into the hat.  He asked me what I’m making.  I didn’t want to say but he wanted a ballpark…I know he’s not the one who will ultimately hire but has a big influence on the decisions.  I gave the actual true figure but think maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. 

Well, what’s done is done, and you probably haven’t seriously harmed your prospects.  But in general you don’t want to give prospective employers your salary info.  You just don’t.  What does your old salary have to do with your new salary anyway?  You should be aiming for the “going rate,” based on the value you offer to this employer, which may have no correlation at all to what you made at your last job. 

So why do employers want to know your salary history?  WG’s theory is that a hiring manager’s first priority is to look for reasons to eliminate candidates.  It’s an easy way to shorten that stack of resumes.  If in your last job you made significantly less (or more) than the salary of the position they’re hiring for, into the recycling bin your application goes.

You, as job hunter, naturally want to be considered on the merits of your skills, training, experience, and potential–what you specifically have to offer to this specific employer.  You don’t want to be eliminated right off the bat just because of salary.  This is why career experts say to never be the first one to mention money.

The problem, of course, is what to do when they ask.  And they will!  So here’s a brand new Working Girl “Eternal Truth” (this one isn’t in the book): 

Just because someone asks you a question doesn’t mean you have to answer it. 

This is true in all areas of life, not only job hunting.   So check out this post for seven possible answers to the salary history question.  Nick Corcodilos, as usual, also has these wise thoughts about keeping your salary under wraps and divulging your salary history.  QuintCareers has a slightly different take. 

Chances are you’ll probably handle this question a little differently each time.  Often you need do no more than smile and change the subject.  (Try it!)  If you do find yourself blurting out a number, don’t beat yourself up.  There’s more than one path to satisfying and remunerative employment.