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A report published yesterday suggested that the children of working mothers were likely to be less healthy than those whose mothers remained at home. The report, based on a survey of 5 year olds across Britain, found that those whose mothers juggled family and working life watched more television and had a less healthy diet. It is the sort of report which will inflame passions, re-opening the divide between those who believe that mothers should work, and those who do not. But does it really tell us anything at all? (more…)

One of the most important questions in any job search campaign is how you want others to see you. Although it may be uncomfortable to talk of personal image, or of branding yourself, the image that you project is the one that people buy you on; and when people offer you a job they are buying you – even though you are also buying them when you accept a job. (more…)

A man goes into a field with a metal detector hoping to make a few bob by finding some scrap metal. Instead he finds a hoard of Anglo Saxon gold and gets himself a share of a multi million pound treasure trove. A woman buys a lottery ticket, just for a bit of fun, and it turns out she wins seven million pounds. Extreme events can and do happen. (more…)

I was invited into the BBC TV studios yesterday to talk about Prince Williams’s career options. He had just announced that he wanted to be more than just a royal ornament and the BBC were interested to know what else he could realistically do. (more…)

One of the biggest obstacles that career changers face is accepting just how wide a range of options they have. At Career Energy we meet people on a daily basis who want to know what careers are open to them, as an ex-engineer, ex-designer, ex- lawyer or whatever. It can be difficult to accept that the career you are hoping to leave no longer defines you, that employers will exclude you because of career choices you made at an earlier stage in your life. (more…)

In a bid to reduce the demand on public funds the CBI are proposing that students personally contribute much more to the costs of their education. Students are arguing that this would result in far fewer people entering higher education. Both sides have a case. However the real issue is not the cost of higher education, but its purpose. (more…)

This weekend we saw the first indications of how public spending cuts will impact on the working landscape. The Schools Minister suggested that education departments will save money by reducing top tier management; schools and colleges are likely to share heads and deputy heads. (more…)

We have reached the point, common to all recessions, at which economic growth is beginning to recover whilst unemployment continues to rise. History suggests that an improvement in the employment market lags about two years behind economic recovery. And this raises an interesting question. (more…)

The Centre for Social Justice have proposed that the state subsidise the salaries of low paid workers, so that they can earn more than if they were on benefits. In this way, the Centre argues, people will be encouraged to come off benefits and return to work, at a lower cost to the state. (more…)

The engineering consultancy WSP have been running an innovative scheme to encourage staff to reduce their carbon footprint. The scheme will be welcomed by environmentalists and career professionals but less so by libertarians. Libertarian environmentalists will have something to think about.

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