How much money do you make each year?

Gasp. (crickets)

Did she really just ask me that?

In asking you this question I just violated the near-universal societal norm: Inquiring about another person’s salary is a strong social taboo. According to survey by glassdoor.com, 34% feel uncomfortable sharing compensation details with their spouse/partner, 67% would prefer to not have the conversation with their best friends, and 76% feel uncomfortable disclosing salary information to their financial advisor. The latter would make financial planning particularly difficult, don’t you think?

If you want to stand out on LinkedIn, you need something more than the standard plain vanilla resume. Here are five ways
to bring your LinkedIn profile to life:

1. Use LinkedIn's applications. You may not realize that there is much more you can do with LinkedIn, besides entering your education and job experience. If you have not yet done so, go to LinkedIn's "More" tab and find LinkedIn's Applications. Here you will find tools that will allow you to:

Some things are universally disliked, such as root canals, paying taxes, annual performance reviews. Root canals might be avoided if you brush, floss, and have generally good dental hygiene. Taxes and performance reviews are, unfortunately, inevitable for most.

I don’t know anyone (either employee or supervisor) who looks forward to the annual performance review meeting. Most people insert curse words as descriptive adjectives of the practice. The kindest sentiments are often neutral, uttered from those whose performance review meetings symbolize the perfunctory paperwork standing between them and their annual bonus and pay increase.

Are you a member of a global team or leading a global team? If so you may be interested in this FREE webcast I will be conducting for the Human Capital Institute on the influence of cultural differences on the productivity of global teams.

The webcast is live this September 30th at noon (EDT) but will be recast on October 1, 3, or 4.

If you are interested, please register directly through the Human Capital Institute.

Paula

I appreciate the many career-related questions that are sent to me via email at paula@paulacaligiuri.com. I cannot answer all of them, but I will do my best to write blog posts to address the themes.

One question that I routinely do not answer (OK, dodge) is the “overqualified” question.

I am of the mindset that worrying about being overqualified in this current job market is a bit like worrying that you are too wealthy to retire. In this employment reality, marketable, world-class skills rule. A real issue is whether "overqualified" is a code word for either "too expensive" or some form of age discrimination. Those are real.

Each case is different, very different. Let's consider the question from Jenny:

Dear Paula,

(If you would like background music for this graduation-themed blog post, please click this link.)

As a professor at Rutgers University, I have the annual springtime privilege of participating in the graduation ceremony with my faculty colleagues and our graduating students. The cap defies every hairstyle, the gown is heavy (and is particularly warm in an over-crowded gym), and the hood chokes, regardless of how carefully I anchor it in the front. The ceremony is long. Parking is maddening.

Despite the practical challenges of this annual ritual, Pomp and Circumstance is still inexplicably exhilarating for me and I can count on the fact that each graduation will deliver at least one incredibly powerful moment (strong enough to fully erase any memory of mild annoyances for another year).

Unless you signed a contract that limits your outside employment, work for an employer with an outside employment policy, or are, in fact, in a religious order that does require a real vow of poverty you may earn, in theory, as much money as you want.

This free agent mentality is forcing us to ask ourselves some ethical questions about dual or outside employment. Let's start with the most basic question: Would you feel disloyal to your employer if you earned income from a different source?

Wiley Publishers just sent me an advanced copy of a professional trade book I wrote with my colleagues Dave Lepak and Jaime Bonache entitled Managing the Global Workforce. The primary audiences for the book are Human Resource (HR) professionals and students in HR courses. (My Rutgers Master of HRM students who have already graduated just breathed a collective sigh of relief. Could you hear it?)

Here's an amusing publishing question for you: How could a book that has not yet been released be available to purchase "used" from Amazon.com? Talk about an industry with a short life span. Yeesh.