Do you check email on vacation? If you do, you’re not alone. Surveys report that more than half of employees check email while they are on vacation.

The bigger question is whether you should take the time to check your email while you’re on vacation or otherwise not working. If you do, a vacation can turn into a “workcation” when you get bogged down in email messages that need a response.

Should You Check Email While On Vacation

There are two schools of thoughts on the topic of working when you’re not supposed to be. The first says it’s important for a vacation to be exactly that. No work, no work-related communications, email, phone or otherwise.

The second says that if you check email occasionally you’ll be able to stay on top of what’s happening at work, can deal with any situations that can’t wait, and won’t have an overflowing In Box when you get back to work.

Employer Expectations

Another issue is employer expectations. Many employers expect employees to stay connected and to check-in at least every once in a while – even when they’re off the clock. In fact, I spoke to someone recently who was told by her boss that she should have checked email while she was away and next time it would be a good idea to bring her laptop with her or check-in via her phone.

For me, it’s much easier to stay connected than to have to deal with hundreds of email messages after I get back. For others, it’s easier to ignore them and deal with them in a batch after they get back.

Regardless of what you decide about staying connected while you are away, it is important that both you and your supervisor are clear on what work-related activities you are doing, if any. It’s also important to follow through on what you decide. Don’t say you will be checking in if you aren’t sure you’ll have Internet access or you really need to be disconnected to enjoy your vacation. It’s worse to have your boss think you’ll be checking and you don’t, than not to check-in at all.

Consider your role at the company, your responsibilities, the pros and cons of staying in touch with your office, and what impact your decision may have on how the company regards you. If it’s common practice for employees to stay in touch, you may not want to be the only one who opts out.

If you do decide to stay connected, here are some tips on the best way to check email while on vacation.

Vacation Email Tips

Talk to Your Supervisor. Before you head out of the office and out of town, discuss your vacation plans with your supervisor so you are both clear on what is expected and what your plans are.

Just Say No. If you’re going somewhere where Internet access is iffy, if you’re traveling internationally, or going on your honeymoon, for example, or another vacation where it’s important to take a real break from work, it’s fine to say you’re not going to be available. This way, the company can plan on coverage while you’re away.

Plan Email Checks. When you do decide to check your email, don’t check it all day on your phone. Plan on spending a little time each day – either early morning or in the evening – to get caught up. Check your email once a day and ignore it the rest of the time or you will end up not having a vacation at all.

Set Up an Out of the Office Vacation Auto-Reply. Consider setting up an out of office auto reply message. That way the people who email you will know you’re away and won’t expect an immediate reply.

Skim Your Messages. Skim your email messages, delete the junk, reply to only those that need an immediate response and save the rest for when you get back.

Don’t Feel Guilty. If you do decide you are actually going to be on vacation and you are not going to check with the office, don’t feel guilty. You are supposed to be on vacation and disconnected, after all. It’s not a vacation if you end up working all day.

What’s most important is balance and what is best for you. As I mentioned, it’s less stressful for me to stay in touch and not to have to deal with a ton of work to get caught up when I get back. For others, it’s more important to have real down time from work and to not to have to think about it.

Master the art of interviewing and learn how to get the job you really want. That’s the objective of a new book, (Hudson House Publishing), by long-time career coach and national expert, Ellyn Enisman. “Job Interview Skills 101: The Course You Forgot to Take” is the how-to guide for new grads and college students, seeking employment.

“This book empowers college students and recent grads to successfully prepare for, and compete in the job market,” says Enisman, who has nearly 30 years of experience in career counseling and coaching on both the corporate and collegiate level. “It provides a proven process and is a step by step guide for learning interviewing techniques that help students and new grads prove their value to a potential employer.”

The 200-page, soft cover provides a complete blueprint for students and grads to help increase their confidence and take control of their future. Well-organized for quick navigation and fast reading, the book includes the following information and a great deal more:

? The 7 interview types and how to prepare for them
? What the interviewer really wants to know when they ask, “Tell me about yourself” or “Why should we hire you?”
? The 3 most important questions you must ask in every interview
? 3 mistakes college grads make that can kill the interview…and how to avoid them
? How to create your own personal, powerful stories that demonstrate to the interviewer why you are the best candidate for the job
? How to decode the job description to find clues to what questions you’ll be asked
? Simple tools to help you prepare flawless interview answers to the toughest questions.

“Job Interview skills 101: The Course You Forgot to Take”, has become a great resource for my career development instructors and students. With a competitive job market right now, it is crucial our graduates come out with the knowledge and skills for effective interviewing techniques. This book has enhanced our instruction thus helping our students obtain gainful employment. I highly recommend the book to other professionals involved in job development and career counseling work”. Katrina Gobins, Director of Placement, Ridley Lowell, -business and technical institute.

Job Interview Skills 101 retails for $32.95 and is available at major bookstores and online at amazon.com, bn.com and at: www.jobinterviewskills101.com.

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In our 7th and final career break audio on tips for using LinkedIn if you are unemployed, networking author Diane Crompton has some advice.

Many of those out of work have a hard time figuring out these new online tools they need to be on. Hopefully these tips will help. (download mp3) 1 min

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Share your status for a couple of reasons…

View all our Linkedin tips for unemployed series.

We are the firm we are today because of the unique perspectives and contributions of all our associates. We believe that an inclusive group of associates is the best way to serve the varied and individual needs of our clients.

At Edward Jones, we refer to our diversity initiatives as inclusion. This represents more than a simple wording change. “Diversity” is a way for us to recognize and celebrate our differences. “Inclusion” provides direction on how these unique points of view can be understood and used for the good of the firm and our associates.

Now is an exciting time at Edward Jones as more and more women join our ranks as Financial Advisors. The individual reasons vary, but when asked, most point to the independence, ability to make a difference in people’s lives, unlimited earning potential and our “people first” philosophy.

A unique financial services firm, our business starts with a personal, face-to-face meeting between a Financial Advisor and an individual investor. Today, we operate a network of more than 10,000 branch offices in two countries and we have progressive plans for continued growth. So there’s never been a better time to join.

Green jobs are growing substantially according to several recent studies. Now a new job search engine called Green Job Spider, aims to aggregate those jobs as the ‘Google for green jobs’.

With more than 50 green job boards currently scattered across the web, job seekers are having a hard time finding and applying to this fast growing job market. Green Job Spider will enable them to search for these jobs under one interface. The site will also help green candidates learn about the types of green jobs and where they are through its blog and podcast.

The job search engine will be one of the first of its kind to focus exclusively on a specific niche. To date, most of these job search sites focus on all types of jobs nationwide but Green Job Spider will offer a more targeted experience for those who want a green job. Its crawler will index for jobs from solar to wind to biofuels. Job listings will be indexed nightly and all sources of green jobs will be hand selected to ensure quality.

“The time is right for a service of this kind” says Chris Russell, the site’s founder. “Green jobs are growing and the current method of finding them is too fragmented”. Russell is a ten year veteran of the online job search space. His company, AllCountyJobs.com LLC, is a well established player in the niche job board business.

Green Job Spider will also target green employers and recruiting firms who have jobs online. Listings can be indexed through an XML feed or spidered via web page. Pricing will consist of a flat monthly subscription fee with unlimited clicks. At launch it currently indexes about a dozen green job sources. Efforts are underway to index the remaining green job boards.

The site is powered by job board software provider, JobMount. Currently in BETA the site is located at http://www.greenjobspider.com/

Green Job Spider is a division of AllCountyJobs.com LLC.

Please welcome the newest show to the JobRadio.FM lineup, Barclay Brown’s The Job Stalker. His latest is now playing in the stream. But you can download it right here. Or click to listen”

There’s never been a better time for a new approach to job hunting. Whether you’ve just been laid off, have been job hunting for many months or are just looking to improve your career–if it involves finding a job, The Job Stalker show is for you. The host is Barclay Brown, who has been teaching job search and career development techniques since the 80s, along with his full time technology career. In terms of job hunting, he’s been there and done that—many times. Going beyond the conventional wisdom and ordinary guidelines, The Job Stalker takes a fresh, new direct approach to finding the job of your dreams!

A listener emailed in to ask the following;

I am 65 and have a BS in Economics plus a year and a half of law school with some 25 to 30 years of experience as a contracts administrator/manager in the EPC engineering, procuremnent and construction both domestically and overseas. For the last 2 years I have been un and underemployed, my question is that I am contemplating gettiing a MBA in Supply Chain Managment and I was hopeing you could give your input on what the next 5 to 8 years could be for someone with my education and experience and especially with an supply chain MBA.

If you have some thoughts feel free to comment for him.