The constant buzz of activity, the frenetic pace of life and its streets teeming with nine million people — London is a quite marvellous place to be most of the time. But every now and again, a day spent outside the vast metropolis can be the perfect reposal.   Which is why, as a city-hardened […]

Police officers are not famous for their sense of humour or fun. And filling out self-appraisal forms for a performance review fills most of us with a mixture of dread and annoyance.   But both of these assertions have been turned on their heads after a police officer posted his 2013-2014 self-appraisal on Twitter — […]

We are halfway through the ‘decade of the virtual assistant’, owing mostly to the fact that since 2010, there has been a 156 per cent increase globally in VA job postings. In response, more and more PAs are taking the plunge and going it alone as virtual assistants – self-employed business operators providing administrative, secretarial, […]

A new survey from Workingmums.co.uk has found nearly half of working mothers feel their employer actively discriminates against them. Having questioned 2,300 mothers, it also found that nearly two thirds of women return from maternity and moved to a new role within their existing company or in another organisation. The survey also revealed that flexible […]

An executive secretary in Dubai has won a court battle to receive AED169,000 — about £30,000 — from a real estate company, which was accused of allowing the woman to work in the emirate while applying for a work visa and then refusing to pay her. The Dubai Court of Cassation upheld the verdict of […]

Got that sinking feeling at work? You’re not alone, according to experts. Stress and uncertainty at work are creating a generation of ‘iceberg employees’ whose emotions are so suppressed that they struggle to interact effectively with colleagues and customers. More hours and less pay combined with growing concerns over job security in an increasingly volatile […]

The toughest job interview questions of the year for both the UK and America have been released. When we’ve got an interview, it’s a safe bet to assume we’ll prepare – often by researching the company we’ve applied to and preparing answers to typical interview questions. Recruiting companies are also now also trying to give […]

When did being busy and stressed become such a badge of honour? When did we start competing over who has more on their plate? And when did we start using “busy” and “stress” as an excuse for inconsiderate and downright rude behaviour? All questions asked by Leandra Brady-Walker in her latest blog on TheInfluencer.com, after […]

Christmas party planning can be a thankless task for the one(s) given the job. Colleagues are almost always reluctant to offer any help, but will be the first to complain if something isn’t to their taste or how they envisioned it should be. But finding the right venue can go a long way to securing […]

Is there anything more awkward than bringing up the ‘personal hygiene’ topic of conversation with a colleague who has a particular aversion to soap and shampoo? According to research, evidently not. For two-thirds (66%) of British adults, having to ‘tell a colleague they smell’ is the hardest workplace conversation, so say the academics at Cardiff […]

Female management members are effectively working for free nearly two hours every day, according to research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). According to the 2015 National Management Salary Survey, women in senior positions earn 22% less than men working in equivalent full-time roles, meaning that they effectively work unpaid for 1 hour 40 minutes […]

Almost nine out of ten people vent their anger and frustration at their co-workers, according to research by occupational health provider Health Assured. The survey of 992 employees found that nearly three-quarters (74%) claim that their manager regularly makes them angry by not leading the workforce effectively. A further 86% take out their aggression on […]

At its most basic level, mentoring is a very important tool in building interpersonal relationships in the workplace. Mentors help young people set career goals and start taking steps to realise them. Mentors are able to use their personal contacts to help others in the workplace. Mentors provide their mentees with experience and can help […]

A former executive assistant at the software company Hewlett-Packard has been sentenced to nearly two years in prison after using company credit cards to buy luxury clothing, Apple products and even a holiday to Europe. Holli Coulman, 45, worked as an executive assistant at Hewlett-Packard in California from 2008 to 2012, and used her position […]

’Just turn it off and turn it on again’. That’s the extent of the majority of people’s computer troubleshooting knowledge. In fairness, it does work more often than you would think. And then there are the problems that require a lot more work, which is what the supremely talented computer repair workers across the country […]

Writing an attention-grabbing CV can be difficult in today’s competitive job market. According to a new survey from CareerBuilder.com, 70% of employers spend less than five minutes checking a CV and nearly half (48%) spend less than two. The research also found that more than half of employers (56%) have caught a candidate lying on […]

When it comes to the recruitment process these days, increasing numbers of managers and HR people are bypassing job sites and networking events and going straight for the big one: LinkedIn. With more than 300 million members and counting, the professional networking site is filled with top recruitment managers on the hunt for the right […]

You’ve probably heard the fuss surrounding the new Microsoft Windows 10 upgrade, which is being dubbed one of the best operating systems going at the moment. Considering how much of a failure Windows 8 was, that’s not exactly hard. If you were ahead of the game at the end of July, you might even have […]