It's often kept rather hush hush, but looking busy is one of the greatest skills a worker can have, and not surprisingly many employees go to absurd lengths to create the appearance of industry. I've done it myself. At one of my first internships, there wasn't always a ton of work to go around.

After a long break it sure felt good to be back to school, as it turned out the first day back was bloody jokz! Here's the run down:

5:50am

How many times do you have to remind someone not to reply-all or forward emails willy-nilly?

It’s fun to live in times like these when you can open up your browser and read articles with titles like Why the Jobs Report Is So Ominous. It really brightens up the day and puts a spring in one’s step

Basically, I agree to with much of the 10 most annoying phrases list compiled by Oxford University researchers, but to be fair, there are a lot of Americanisms that I personally would add to the mix.

Remember when you wrote the first draft of your resume and saved the filename as resume08.doc? And then when you edited it for a different job application, switching up a bunch of stuff, and hit save? And then when you needed the old version back, but you’d saved your new changes over it?

I feel pretty lucky to have worked in the type of jobs where formal performance reviews are not part of the agenda. When friends of mine complained about their reviews at investment banks or large-scale tech companies, I often failed to display the appropriate

Because I have the anthropological pleasure of living with three girls in their mid-twenties, I often witness extended debates about the true meaning of a guy’s e-mail sign-off. For example: does “best” mean he just wants to be friends? Why would he say “chat soon”—does that mean he will call or I should call?

This post is republished from last International Caps Lock Day, October 22, 2007. DEAL WITH IT!!

HOW IS THIS DAY DIFFERENT FROM ALL OTHER DAYS? TODAY IS