You feel bombarded with information, in every medium available. Facebook, LinkedIn, Brazen Careerist, email, Twitter and text messages all deliver insights, information and materials worth reading.
I feel that way too, which is one reason I wrote “Why You Need a Career Curator” for Fortune magazine.Most people need help with the oceans of blogs, websites, newsletters and books coming at them.
The article in the July 5 issue of Fortune has some great suggestions on managing all that, mostly by making better choices and using technology – Google Reader, bookmarks and more.  (The article is not yet available online but it is on newsstands.)
“You can’t digest that much informtion – the human brain can take in only so much information,” said Mary Ellen Slayter, a former Washington Post writer who now edits SmartBrief e-letters including Your Careers and Leadership.
Here’s five other suggestions for keeping the flow of information focused and usable:
1. Seek blogs and information specific to your industry, your profession. Even in career advice, you may find blogs focused on finance careers or writing careers or many other niches, Slayter said. Look too at the growing targeted social media communities – some focus on a profession, others on a city. Before you sign up for another RSS feed, blog or e-letter, ask yourself: “What value will this bring me?” and “Why do I need this now?”

2.  Look for ideas and insights backed up by research. Seek accuracy and currency and some research-based writing, says Cuyahoga County Public Librarian Bonnie Easton. Ask yourself: “Where is their authority? Where are they getting information from?”

3. Use lists and tags to track different topics. These work on Twitter, on Google Reader and even in your email in box. Once you have different tags and lists set up you need to decide how often to review them. Some may require 10 minutes a day; others may be once a week quick run-through.

4. Just say no. Go through your e-mail inbox and look for e-letters and other regular materials that you seldom or never open. Those are the first to go. Then consider which ones feel like a chore and don’t deliver any “aha!” or “good idea” boosts. Unsubscribe from one or more of those. And then look at what else comes in regularly that could come out without much loss.

5.  Develop places and processes for saving. The valuable articles and insights could be parked someplace for later reading – perhaps  Google Documents, a Word file or a section of your blogs. Or create a system within your organization for stashing and sharing the best stuff. “That gave me a place to go back and find them,” said Erin Young, a user experience consultant in Austin, Texas. Then she left the company – and now she uses GoogleDocs.
“Occasionally you find a gem, and it’s easy to lose that gem,” she said.
Remember that you too could be part of the overload and career information clutter if you’re not careful. So use Twitter thoughtfully. Post responses when you have something valuable to add to the discussion, not just so your name shows up. Blog posts need to “create a unique contribution,” Young said.

And above all, Young and I both believe it’s important to use social media sites such as LinkedIn to nurture your in-person relationships, not to drown them.

As a business development tool, gratitude and thank you notes sound soft and unlikely — but may make a difference.
As a way to set yourself apart from the other job candidates, they certainly work.
As a way to encourage lasting relationships with clients or colleagues, they can be remarkably effective.
And as a way to cultivate a more positive attitude and gratitude, say thank you to the thank you notes you send.
My pile of thank you notes and appreciations brings me joy for years after I received them. They came from former interns, people I’ve profiled and staffers whose jobs I have saved or created.
So when I interviewed Heidi Kallett for the Washington Post Capital Business, her message of thank you notes as a tool to build your business immediately resonated with me. The article which is out this week explains much of her thinking and approach to them.
So I decided to look further at thank you notes, and what others say about them. On LinkedIn, I found many endorsements.
“The thank you note has more purposes than to simply show courtesy and professionalism, it extends the interview. I always tell my workshop attendees that the interview is not complete until you have sent the thank you note.,” Bob McIntosh wrote in a LinkedIn Answer recently. McIntosh is a career trainer for Career Center of Lowell, Mass., and points out thank yous allow you to  correct any miscomunications that might have crept in.
“Taking the time to send a Thank You shows a lot of class and consideration,” Jason Shinn wrote on LinkedIn. He’s a business and employment lawyer in metro Detroit and has invested in them. “There are plenty of opportunities where a little appreciation for someone’s time/assistance is warranted.”
Next I did an online search and found more fans at university career centers and career coaches. Many give many sample thank you notes, which are good for starters but shouldn’t become your de facto approach to sending appreciations.
Then I returned to Heidi Kallett, a past President of the Junior League of Northern Virginia
who writes more than 100 thank yous a year to her clients, vendors and others connected to the Dandelion Patch shops. She learned to write thank you notes from her mother and has been developing her skill for years. I asked her to share her best advice in developing a thank you note habit. She suggests:
1. Choose a pen that you enjoy writing with-- ballpoint or roller ball? Blue or black? Fine or Medium point? Everyone has a preference, so find yours -have it at the ready.
2. Come up with several collections of stationery. The glittered high-heels don’t work for interview follow-up, but would be greatly appreciated by your BFF when thanking her for your birthday gift. Typically professional correspondence is either soft white or white in color with a tasteful and simple design – or only your monogram.
3.Avoid the text tokens. When writing a professional thank you note, stay away from any smiley or frowning faces, the emoticons that pop up in text messages.
4. As a habit, try to find 5-10 minutes a week to write notes of gratitude. Keep a post-it note or journal with your list of friends, associates that you’d like to personally thank. Writ notes all at one sitting– trust me, it is easier to do them all at once than to write one a day.
5. Always keep a roll of stamps ready. You don’t want any excuses as to why these notes can’t make it into the mailbox.

Very helpful advice for getting motivated to send thank yous.

Finally, I came up with a few techniques of my own for making your thank you note memorable and enjoyable:

• Make it timely. Send a note within 48 hours of the event or the favor. Don’t wait longer than a week. That will make it easier to write and it will have more impact if it arrives promptly.
• Make it personal. Don’t try the “one size fits all” thank yous. Tailor it to the person you’re thanking or the occasion you’re noting. Include specifics from shared jokes to insights you picked up.
• Make it true to you. Your personality needs to shine through in the notecards and even the stamps. Some people will never send thank you notes with angels or flowers to their corporate clients. Yet I have – and will again. Some prefer the crisp pinstripes and sincerely signature that match their dress code and approach. Others will sign off with fondly or peace.  Make yours match your professional persona.
• Make it joyful. Consider how good it feels to receive something upbeat in the mail. Think about the good things that will grow from your connections. Think about your thank you note bringing smiles and good feelings for years to come, pinned up on a bulletin board or stashed away with memorable letters and card.

Feel the gratitude and joy of the thank you note as you write them. And then feel hopeful that they will be seeds well planted that will bear fruit for you or your business.

Exceed expectations.
It’s the easiest recipe for success around, yet it’s not as simple in practice as in theory. Instead, you could get so caught up in workplace drama, social media connections or personal dreams that you forget the advice of  Dale Carnegie, the author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and the creator of a huge training company. Said Carnegie: “Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.”
The persistence especially paired with critical thinking and creativity really can raise you up. My latest article in the Washington Post offers pointers to recent graduates and others who are stuck in a barista job when they know they should be the coffee shop’s marketing director. Turning a basic job into something better starts with your ability to excel.
So how do you do that, especially if you’re 23 and worried about your college loans and career path?  Here’s five approaches to help you “underpromise and over deliver” no matter what job you landed:
UNDERSTAND WHAT’S EXPECTED. Know the basic requirements of the job – and the measures of success that will be applied to you and your boss. Sometimes these are not what they seem:  Pizza sales may be the mainstay of the business, but if your shop owner has decided to diversify into salads and sandwiches, those may be the measures that really count.
Ask for a written job description. Ask coworkers for the real story. Ask questions about expectations – “What are the best ways to spend any extra time when things are slow?”  “What’s a benchmark of sales you’d like me to hit?” and “What else is expected of me?”  Then after you’ve been working for a few weeks, ask them again – and different ones again.
A CAN-DO, CREATIVE ATTITUDE.  Your attitude determines your altitude, as the saying goes. So choose one that will help you fly. Among the best: enthusiasm and energy, confidence, creativity, a willingness to take on new work, a willingness to do the dirty work, persistence, good humor and helpfulness.
Now you may not have these as natural parts of your personality. Then fake it. Put them on like you put on your comfortable sneakers or your apron.
INTENSE FOCUS.  Some young people think because they have an easy job – scooping Italian ice and selling lemonade for example – they can just take it easy, chat with friends and go with the flow or just hang out and daydream. They forget instructions; don’t watch the weather or disappoint customers. They forget to focus. It’s a big mistake.
To impress your boss, concentrate on all the big and little details of the job. Focus on making things run smoothly and making your mark.  By paying careful attention, you may come up with some great ideas to improve sales, or engage customers or organize the shop. By focusing on your job like a professional soccer player focuses on the game (World Cup or regional league), you will improve your game – and eventually be a star.
EXTRA HOURS.  You may have a 7 hour 15 hour a week job. Yet you know that if you could work 20 hours, you’d really shine.  So do it – even if you aren’t paid for most of the extra time.
That’s how my former Newsday intern Julie managed herself – and managed to write more cover stories and feature articles than anyone else on an academic internship ever had. She chased stories on the weekends and stayed late to come up with better examples and quotes. She was amazing and impressed us with her efforts and her results. At the end of the internship, she had an excellent portfolio, some great experience – and excellent references.  (Julie now works for a National Public Radio station and from what I can tell still is a star.)
AMAZE THE BOSS. And if you can, impress the boss’ boss while you’re at it.
This is the most difficult to do, especially if you work for a boss who’s been around a while, or who has a cynical perspective or who has very high expectations, as I do. Small things – like bringing her coffee with the right amount of cream or a chocolate truffle – won’t work. Big things – like landing a new six-figure client or solving a situation that has dogged her for a month – will.
As a boss of Mity Nice, the Italian ice cart business I co-own, I’d be amazed if one of my teen employees hit $50 an hour in sales for two or three shifts in a row. And I’d be amazed if someone spent a couple of hours recruiting friends and others to our Facebook page – and doubled or tripled our count. And I’d be thrilled if someone discovered shortcuts for opening more quickly and efficiently, and taught everyone how to manage this feat.
In summary, you need to be a star in your starter job while reaching up for the step-up job and demonstrating your stellar talents for it. You need to exceed expectations.

If you missed the university graduation yet want to encourage the graduate, we have another shelf of great books to inspire and advise graduates.

Some of them show up in my short Washington Post article this weekend – recommended by a bookseller at Politics & Prose in D.C.  among others. Others show up here, recommended by Nicola Rooney, owner of another independent book store in Ann Arbor, and by Martha Finney, a former journalist and author. A couple come from the Books for a Better Life Award, given annually to exceptional self-help and motivational titles.

Finney, a former business writer now writes books such as “Rebound / A Proven Plan for Starting Over After Job Loss ” and “HR from the Heart / Inspiring Stories and Strategies …..” Finney also runs team-building workshops and speaks and consults on employee engagement.

Self-Reliance and Other Essays, by Ralph Waldo Emerson.  The  American philosopher tells us that it’s necessary to think for ourselves and not abandon our sense of right and wrong, especially facing external, societal pressures to take the easy route. “Although he lived and wrote in the 19th Century, his thoughts about independence and individualism are as relevant and inspiring today as they were when the ink was still fresh.”

Leaving Microsoft to Change the World: An Entrepreneur’s Odyssey to Educate the World’s Children, by John Wood. This wonderful story shows the power an individual has to make a difference to millions of strangers, with more than a little bit of help from his friends. Said Finney: “If I were to give this book to a new graduate, I hope its lessons would inspire my young friend to stay hopeful, energetic, observant, grateful, and passionate about the world.”

Find Your Calling, Love Your Life, by Martha I. Finney and Deborah Dasch.  This is a hopeful, inspiring collection of interviews with ordinary Americans who discovered who they are and their place in the world through adventures in finding their right life’s work. Although out of print, Finney is kindly offering a free ebook. Request a copy from her: martha@marthafinney.com.

The Books for a Better Life awards, given annually by the the National Multiple Sclerosis Society’s New York Chapter, include several worth considering. These winners are from this year’s awards and include book descriptions culled from Amazon.com and various book reviews:

Strength in What Remains by Tracy Kidder, Random House, won in the inspirational memoir category. It tells the story of a medical student who flees the horrors of war-gorn Africa and arrives with $200 and delivers groceries to well-to-do New Yorkers. The New York Times called the book “one of the truly stunning books…this year.”

Connected: The Surprising Power of Our Social Networks and How They Shape Our Lives By Nicholas A. Christakis M.D. and James H. Fowler won the psychology award. Book describes the science of our connections – and how they spread happiness, weight gain and political views.

Nicola Rooney owner of Nicola’s Books in Ann Arbor is a former engineer who says her choices “reflect my analytical tendencies. Choosing a career is too important to leave just to touchy feely.” Her choices:
Discover What You’re best At by Linda Gale, Fireside Books. The premise: You enjoy doing things you are good at, so for a happy career, pick one that matches your skills.  The book sets out several tests to pinpoint your skill set, then using the reults guide in the back, it groups the type of career path that utilizes those skills. For anyone who is uncertain which direction to take, this book give some great pointers and may broaden your outlook into new areas.

What Color is Your Parachute by Richard Bolles,  Ten Speed Press. Now in its 40th year, still probably the best, most practical, proven method for organizing your job search. It’s useful for new job seekers, as well as mid career job shifts.  The book is updated every year to reflect the current job market, but is solidly based on experience and covers much more than just resume writing and interview techniques. (Elmer aside: See my Washington Post interview with Bolles from a year ago for a sampling of his  search strategies thinking.)

Do What You Are:  Discover the Perfect Career for You through the Secrets of Personality Type. By Paul Tieger and Barbara Barron  Little Brown  This one counterbalances the first one,with its focus on the good match between your temperament and your job equaling a rewarding outcome.  The book explains Personality Types, using the Myers-Briggs system.  Myers -Briggs tests are conducted by professionals, but the ideas in the book are valuable in general for instilling some structure into planning your career.  It offers suggestions on career paths likely to suit your personality.

I will suggest a few books myself, and serve up a few more suggestions from my experts, in my third post on inspiring graduates books that will be posted by Wednesday.

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My thanks to Martha Finney and Nicola Rooney for their contributions to this blog. I am friendly with both of them, but have no business relationships. Nor do I earn anything from the sale of any of these books.

Work is work – even if it’s a paycheck from people who pushed you out the door  just months ago.

More workers are hearing “You’re rehired” these days, from employers eager to rebuild their ranks and bring in proven talent. So if you’re looking for your next gig you may want to look back at your last two gigs.

Among those laid off and back to work in the last six months, 57 percent boomeranged back to their former boss or workplace, CareerBuilder reports.

More than two-thirds of those still looking for jobs said they’re willing to be rehired by a former boss, though one in five say they’d return only if offered more money than before.

Despite such aspirations, not every employer will welcome back laid off staff with gusto – and some have policies or practices that prohibit their return. Others may bring back some staff, but others are less welcome, either because of their work history or the way they departed.

Because of lawyers and legal restrictions, some employers are unwilling to give a direct answer to the question – “Am I eligible for rehire?” said David Miles, managing partner of  The Miles Lehane Companies / OI Partners.  His firm offers career transition and coaching services from its headquarters in Leesburg, Va.

Still, the candidate must ask the question and  carefully watch the response. Enthusiasm means you’re more likely to see doors open while a “send us your information” or other basic reply that any candidate would receive may indicate you’re not eligible or not really welcome, Miles suggests.

If you’re intent on a return gig, here’s five tips for getting rehired from Miles and me:

1.  REVIEW YOUR REVIEW. Pull out your last performance appraisal and notes from your boss. They will give you a sense of how you were judged. You may have made lots of progress on arriving to work on time or shushing your sassy mouth since that review was written, but the record of it will still be reviewed. Even if your boss left the organization after you did, your employee file sleeps somewhere in Human Resources and someone will wake it up.

2.  STAY IN TOUCH. ” Chances of being rehired improve when the individual has maintained an ongoing but positive communications with the company,” Miles said. The best approach may be this: “sometime shortly after all the paperwork is signed off at termination, a person should write a a positive note to HR and/or their supervisor thanking them for the departure package and expressing a desire for rehire if the situation turns around.” Then touch base every month or so, inquiring about career possibilities and expressing a zeal to work there again.

3.  BUILD YOUR TALENTS. Ramp up  volunteering and educational opportunities – and if there are areas that you know your boss thought needed work, spend some time there. Consult. Mentor someone. Learn to tango or Twitter. Make sure you stay current in your field through a professional association, contract work or other ways. Said Miles: “This is a real big one.  If a rehire candidate can not speak to why are they viable today, they will have a problem returning to the position.”

4.  GROW YOUR NETWORK. Make yourself known to the new executives by a volunteer leadership role in a trade organization or by sending some market research or ideas for strengthening the brand. Take a short-term contract assignment at your former employer – especially if it puts you in front of new managers.

Show up at the happy hour your team frequents occasionally – but only arrive when you feel confident and upbeat about yourself. Check in with contractors, retirees who still consult with the organization and interns you hired.  If it seems appropriate, show up at company open houses or annual meetings – and call yourself a proud alumni. Introduce yourself to brass in other departments – often you may land a second chance in a different area than where you worked previously.

5.  EXPRESS EAGERNESS. ” Do verbalize your passion for what you do and how the absence focused you more on how much you enjoy your professional area,” said Miles, who has worked in career arena for decades.  Wear the company T-shirt to charity fundraisers or races. You may even want to develop an elevator pitch that is promote yourself as an adjunct member of the team or someone who’s sitting on the sidelines ready to be called back to the game.  Prepare for the  interview, addressing your reason for returning and what advancements you’ve made in the months you’ve been away. Express some empathy for the company and its managers who also suffered from the downsizings, Miles said. “This rehire interview is really critical, so practice for it.”

About half of all employers at least occasionally rehire former staffers, OI Partners research last fall shows. The main reasons for re-recruiting people let go: They have demonstrated skills and they know the organization’s culture. Many think it’s less risky than hiring new staff.

One-fifth of employers say they never rehire laid off crew, and 29 percent rarely do – among those unlikely to encourage boomeranging are government agencies and health care.

What won’t work for a return engagement?  If you expressed a lot of anger as you were laid off, that could taint your tracks back. This “depends on what level of anger and how abusive the language was,” Miles said. “Intensity matters here” as does the number of people who knew of your outburst of displeasure.

Other issues could sidetrack your return too, including questions about your ability to change and adapt to a new environment or a leaner, harder working approach.

If you want to check on your reputation and residue, quietly ask a couple of friends at the office if they will recommend you for a job – and what hesitations they have in doing so.  Be clear you want their candid feedback as well as their support in returning. Ask only those who you are certain have strong standing and careers themselves. It does no good to be endorsed by someone whose future or judgment is questionable.

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Read the CareerBuilder.com media release on returning to an old employer here.

ABC News’ columnist Michelle Goodman has a piece on going back to your former employer.

To learn more about David Miles and his company, check the corporate website here.

Graduates this year are leaving commencement and entering a work world that has challenges and opportunities, holes and hopefulness, continuity and lots of change.

So they may need extra guidance on establishing their careers and navigating the complexities of being the new kid in a company that laid off one in five workers just months earlier. Or they may take a job they don’t really like, just to land safely. (The acceptance rate rose sharply among college graduates this year, and one fourth of them have jobs waiting for them, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.)

If you know a graduate and are wondering what to give her or him, I’ve asked some creative and smart people who love books to recommend their best picks for young adults. The books are a mix of career, business and life titles – some old and some new. And the blog post comes in two part, with a second helping of ideas including some of my choices.

The selections and  commentary come directly from my respected colleagues and from an independent bookstore in Ann Arbor that I appreciate. I hope they will prove valuable for high school and college graduates, though they are aimed primarily at the university departures.

Here then are the great books for grads, part 1:

Barbara J. Winter, author of Making a Living Without a Job and a woman who leads seminars on being “joyfully jobless” also calls herself a “passionate reader” and intrepid traveler. Barbara Winter’s picks:

1. ROADTRIP NATION by Mike Marriner and Nathan Gebhard. The book began with a conversation between two college friends who realized they had very few ideas about career options. They set off on a cross-country trip to interview people doing unique and interesting things and along the way got excited about their own futures.

2.  A WHOLE NEW MIND by Daniel H. Pink is subtitled Why Right-Brainers Will Rule the Future. Pink makes a strong case for preparing for the future by learning to think like a creative innovator. And he shows us how to do that.

3. MAKE THE IMPOSSIBLE POSSIBLE by Bill Strickland is the inspiring and astonishing story of the author’s courage to dream bigger and make his Pittsburgh ghetto a better place to live. Along the way, he impacts thousands of lives by helping others do the same. He shows us that a nurturing environment can erase years of bad lessons.  (I heartily recommend this one too.)

4 .College grads will  find plenty of encouragement in a new book called DELIVERING HAPPINESS by Tony Hsieh, the founder of Zappos. It’s an inside look at how this Harvard grad become a successful entrepreneur and inspiration to employees.

Jim Pawlak has a varied background: He worked for Ford Motor Credit for a decade, then wrote about job search and careers for several newspapers, including the Detroit Free Press, where I helped him launch his writing career. He still writes Biz Books for newspapers including the Dallas Morning News. Pawlak’s picks:

5.  101 THINGS  I LEARNED IN BUSINESS SCHOOL by Michael Pries, Grand Central Publishing, $15.  It’s Business Basics 101 – ideal for the liberal arts grads who haven’t taken business courses.  Good guide to understanding how business does business.

6. FULL THROTTLE: 122 STRATEGIES TO SUPERCHARGE YOUR PERFORMANCE AT WORK by Greg Steinberg, John Wiley & Sons, $22.95.  Find your passion.  Create your path.  Make the committment.  Enjoy your journey.

7. MOJO – HOW TO GET IT, HOW TO KEEP IT by Marshall Goldsmith, Hyperion Books, $26.99. When you’ve got your mojo working, you’re in the make-it-happen zone.  You push boundaries.  Without mojo, you remain in your let-it-happen comfort or danger zone.

Rachel Pastiva, manager of Crazy Wisdom, an independent bookseller and tea room in downtown  Ann Arbor, is surrounded by books on subjects ranging from natural health to world religions to careers. Her  Crazy Wisdom recommendations for grads:

8. DIY U: EDUPUNKS, EDUPRENEURS AND THE COMING TRANSFORMATION OF HIGHER EDUCATION by Anya Kamentz. Not a light read by any means, this book is a serious look at the cost of higher education and why it needs to change. I  recommend this book as a gift to high school graduates or any graduate considering further education. It’s a good primer on higher education in the United States that will inspire students to actively contemplate what they want from their future.

9. GUARDIANS OF BEING words by Eckhart Tolle and art by Patrick McDonnell. While  this is a great gift book for anyone, t will particularly resonate with animal lovers and dog lovers. Whimsically illustrated by the creator of the comic strip Mutts, this book reminds us how to live in the moment. This is Pastiva’s personal favorite. This is not a book to read once! Each reading of this beautiful book offers new insight and inspiration.

10. YOU MAJORED IN WHAT? MAPPING YOUR PATH FROM CHAOS TO CAREER by Katharine Brooks, ED.D. This is a great title for students graduating college who are looking for guidance on what career path to pursue. Unlike any other book on careers, this book helps the reader map out his/her unique path by assessing not only education, but life experiences and other interests.

A big thanks to Crazy Wisdom and Rachel Pastiva, Jim Pawlak and Barbara Winter for generously sharing their time and wisdom. While I’m friendly with all three and actively support independent booksellers, I have no business relationship with any of them or in mentioning any of these books.

It’s 3:51 a.m. and I’m wide awake. I’ve answered two questions on LinkedIn and done some work on my Brazen Careerist profile. Now I’m ready to find another task to undertake.

Insomnia comes into my nights fairly regularly. So I’m starting to make use of the time – often two or three hours that always seem to start around 3 a.m.

This is the first time I’ve written a blog post, but I have written a lot of emails and provided some Answers on LinkedIn. As I hope you know, the Answers section is a great place to showcase your expertise and provide someone some insights, information, connections and well, answers.

If you’re actively managing your career, you  too can use this night time window of time to your advantage. Here’s seven ideas for insomniac career success:

1. Build your network. Send requests to connect to five former colleagues on LinkedIn or Facebook. (I’m actively building my LinkedIn profile and presence so if you already know me, please be in touch.)
2. Upload a new photo of yourself to your profiles. Your old one may not be professional enough, or give the vibe you want.
3. If you’re worried about something, do some research and reading so you feel more prepared. I’ve done this lately on my seasonal teen-jobs and Italian ice business Mity Nice, and I always feel better when I’ve done some due diligence.
4. Write a couple of Twitter posts. Send one and save a couple for tomorrow, when you’re tired and can’t think of anything worthwhile to say. Better yet, answer someone’s Twitter query with something helpful or funny.
5. Update your Success file with a few recent accomplishments, praise notes, etc.  If you don’t have one of these, it’s so worthwhile. It is similar to a resume but more eclectic: Use it to record and recall your successes – very useful when you’re asked to tell about yourself or need to boost your confidence.
6. Set up a Google alert on a career topic that’s crucial right now. And if you haven’t already, set up another to watch for any mentions of yourself. (If you have a common name, come up with a second or third term to make sure it’s not the woman across the country or in the next city who shares your name.)
7. Write a thank you note to two people who helped you recently. Yes, I mean pen to note card and while you’re at it, send your Mom or Aunt Lil a card telling them how much you love them.

And if you’re still not feeling ready to return to bed, read a chapter in a a career or self-help book. I like Adaptability by M.J. Ryan and just finished Donald Miller’s A Million Miles in a Thousand Years and appreciate his message of changing your life like you’d revise a manuscript or story. These books may not put you to sleep, but they will put you in a better frame of mind.

And yes, when the yawns come, give into the need for sleep. First though, set your alarm back 20 minutes, and add a few extra spoonfuls of coffee to your machine.

Turn it on today.  It’s Tuesday -  and it’s the most productive day of the week.

That’s the view from the executive suite, and a 2008 Accountemps survey of 150 top managers at major companies. Some 57 percent picked the third day of the week  – yes, that’s Tuesday — as the day staffers really work at peak performance.

Mondays don’t make it because of all the catch-up and meetings, though they used to rate higher on productivity measures.

Forget about Fridays – those are the days when weekends beckon and some staffers are already missing.

And the other weekdays garnered barely one in 10 productivity picks.

Tuesday also was named the most productive day in Accountemps surveys in 2002, 1998 and 1987. The reason officials give: Tuesday’s efforts establish momentum for the rest of the week.

At Ruby Tuesday’s on Wisconsin Avenue in Washington, Tuesdays are one of the busiest days. “Tuesday is a day when they come out for lunch. Lunch is like the Wilson Bridge at the height of rush hour,” said assistant manager Mike Burke. “Everybody is trying to get into one space at one time.”

So staff move fast -  and customers mostly eat fast so they can get back to work and rev up their output.

If you’re looking to use your Tuesday wisely, consider the advice from Alicia Hicks, a B2B sales expert who writes SellingWoman. She suggests filling the day with “client meetings you are excited about, the kind where you have the best likelihood of leaving with a signed contract.”

Or consider the advice from Accountemps, when they proclaimed Tuesday’s importance:

• Sharpen your focus. Cluster tasks that require similar efforts or resources into one timeframe.
• Plan your day. Map out your desired accomplishments each morning.
• Don’t delay. Procrastination doesn’t work, so start chipping away at the chores.

My favorite productivity tool is a to do list – right there on a yellow pad I see everything I hope to accomplish for a day or two. And I’m also partial to a couple of productivity blogs, though too much time on them can eat into my productive Tuesdays or Thursdays. One I like is Stepcase’s LifeHack. Or check out a couple more Accountemps’  Tuesday  productivity tips here.

This posting was adapted and rewritten from a Working item I created for the Washington Post. I hold the copyright to these. In the interest of being more productive and thoughtful about reusing my writing, I am offering some of them on WorkingKind.

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After Hurricane Katrina hit, an “enormous wave of good will and generosity flooded” VolunteerMatch with people and projects.  So the nonprofit that matches people with non profit organizations and assignments itself posted some volunteer positions, for people with tech skills.

Chad, an Intel veteran, showed up, and volunteered full-time for about two months. He loved  VolunteerMatch and so when a job opening came up, he said, “I want it.”

“He got the job from the volunteering bench. We all knew how smart and committed he was,” recalled Greg Baldwin, president of San Francisco-based VolunteerMatch.  Baldwin acknowledges that Chad’s story is “one in a hundred.” A more likely scenario, he said, is someone who is actively volunteering for one nonprofit ends up referred to another with an opening, perhaps even before the job is posted.

I wrote about this job-hunters benefit of volunteering for CareerFocus in a piece titled  ” Volunteer your way to new work.”  It provides some useful advice and suggestions to those who want to make their generosity pay off.  (You can see the article by opening this rather large PDF and looking in about three pages, or searching for the term “volunteer.” CareerFocus is produced by Washtenaw Community College in Michigan.)

Baldwin, of course, believes volunteering belongs on your resume – whether you’re working or not. And so do many employers and hiring managers, especially those who are active volunteers themselves.

Truth be told people who work part-time are much more likely to help out at a non-profit, school or religious organization than are unemployed individuals, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.  Maybe that’s because they haven’t realized the value of volunteering to their career as well as their community.

Volunteer assignments can be used right on your resume to show how you developed new skills or kept your current ones sharp. Integrate it into the paid work area if you’ve had a significant assignment or volunteered for more than one day a week at an organization. Label the assignment pro bono but you don’t have to make that a prominent piece.  Or create a separate category and call it Community Work or Pro Bono Projects.

A third approach, for those who are less actively volunteering:  Place it in the Interests section at the bottom of the resume. Definitely show volunteering ahead of hiking or baseball or mushroom gathering.

“It definitely matters. We don’t distinguish between paid work and unpaid work generally,” said Tracie Spinale, the Smithsonian Institution’s academic program manager who helps hire 1,300 interns a year. She likes to see previous internships, and also volunteer work at local museums or science centers.

Other employers like to see community service and volunteering as a a way to develop leadership skills, add to your connections or make you a well-rounded individual.

“The people who get jobs are the people who are busy,” said Baldwin, who with his staff volunteers once a month at places such as Habitat for Humanity. “People seek those associations where people stretch beyond themselves – to see some acknowledgment that you’re concerned about neighborhood or community.”

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MORE RESOURCES:

Career coach Laura Labovich offers six ways to implement a generous job search on Careerrealism.com

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has advice on moving from volunteer to paid status, and ways to combine pro bono and paying gigs.

I wrote about the value of pro-bono and between-job assignments for the Washington Post in July. See my piece http://bit.ly/aXDMDr

If you’re not sure what kind of volunteer assignment to seek, my CareerFocus article has hints, or check out this list, which I produced for the Washington Post:

• Join a cause that is timely and relevant to the industry where you want to work. Read execs’ bios or check corporate websites to see what charities they support.
• Skip a controversial cause or charity – or at least don’t put it on your resume. Among the pass on them are abortion rights, gun advocacy, some religious groups.
• Community groups, food cooperatives, neighborhood associations can be valuable, as can chambers of commerce and business groups. They may introduce you to your next employer.
• Kids and pets are  safe popular areas, as is a professional organization or association.

It’s easy to get discouraged when you’ve fallen off your career track and feel the weight of your misstep on your reputation and your resume.

Yet so many famous and successful people have been fired, screwed up their careers and otherwise needed to stage a comeback.  Harvey Mackay featured dozens of amazing people – from Michael Bloomberg to Larry King to tennis great Billie Jean King in his book “We Got Fired!…. And It’s the Best Thing that Ever Happened to Us!”  It came out a few years ago and I still refer to it as a powerful reminder that sudden departures can open doors.

My recent Washington Post article gave some advice oncareer comebacks.

One of the experts for the piece is John A. Sarkett, who compiled two books “Extraordinary Comebacks” and “Extraordinary Comebacks 2.”  He’s an marketing and public relations firm owner in the Chicago area who blogs about comebacks.

He believes the one essential trait of the 450 people in his two books is simple: “They never gave up.”

“Some forge ahead with great family support, others don’t have that, in fact they have instead the derision of their family (restaurateur and Food Network star Paula Deen).  Some of our comeback stories are genius visionaries, some are very ordinary people.  But they all have desire,” Sarkett told me.

As part of our email interviews, Sarkett provided these seven smart actions for making your way back:

1. PERSIST. Don’t quit.  It took Sir Edmund Hillary two attempts to climb Everest, Perry eight times to reach the North Pole, and various authors scores and sometimes hundreds of tries to get their works published. “Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense.”  Sir Winston Churchill.
2. WORK HARD. Great “comebackers” use every hour in the day: Food Network star Paula Deen barbecued late at night; boxer George Foreman out-trained younger fighters to win the championship.  You may find your comeback  in the effort you make.
3. UNDERSTAND TRANSIENCE. Don’t extrapolate temporary setbacks into permanent defeat.  It won’t last. Lance Armstrong was given a tiny chance to survive cancer, yet he won seven Tour de Frances.   Churchill again:  “When you’re going through hell, keep going.”
4. CHANGE DIRECTION. Sylvester Stallone was stymied as an actor, so he wrote Rocky after seeing the Wepner-Ali fight.  Quincy Jones was a talented trumpeter, but after a stroke, he had to quit. He transformed into a renowned music producer.
5. DEVELOP SUPPORT. Stay away from  nay-sayers, even if they’re famous or going to be. Hang out with friends who won’t let you quit.
6. STAY HUMBLE. Attitude  is everything.  When tennis master Andre Agassi fell from No. 1 to No. 141 as he abused drugs including crystal meth , he started over, back to the minor leagues, upped his training.  It set the stage for greater things.  Attitude – not image – is everything.
7. DREAM BIG. Your effort and ideas are worth many times what you may imagine.  Fred Smith wrote a college paper that got a “C,” as the story goes, then turned it into $40 billion FedEx.  J.K. Rowling wrote her ideas about a fictional boy.  Harry Potter sold 100 million copies, and $4 billion movie box office, and counting.  You too can more than you imagine.  Dream big.

These “to dos” were edited down from Sarkett’s original list and they are valuable even if all you can muster is following three of them.

Sarkett also thinks Tiger Wood’s fall from grace after an accident and disclosure of his string of affairs carries an important message for anyone who’s making it today. Woods showed up in Sarkett’s first book after rebuilding his golf swing. Now he has a bigger comeback to stage. The lesson: “No matter where you’re at, you’re not more than one day’s drive from a comedown and that life is nothing but a series of comebacks strung together.”