As the saying goes, you spend half your life at work so you better be doing something you like. But with working hours getting longer and longer employees are increasingly eyeing each other up for a boost to their job satisfaction!

So, can it ever work...the office romance. Or is it just a gamble. A risk not worth taking. A fast track to your P45? We couldn't decide so we packed the camera and put it to a public vote...

I recently read a brilliant book called The Black Swan and in it the author talks about some career advice he got at business school. He was told to do something scalable. This meant pick a career whereby the same amount of work could have vastly different results, like writing a book. It takes the same amount of time and effort to write a book that sells a million copies as it does to sell 1. By pursuing scalable careers you are therefore open to a situation in which the rewards for your work can be massive without actually having to work 'harder'. Financial trading is another example. Make a trade and the same effort has gone into it whether or not you make a million or nothing at all. This is all in contrast to more predictable careers whereby you're paid by the hour. A dentist for example, or a lawyer. As you're paid by the hour you can only earn more by working harder and/or for longer and given there are only 24hrs in a day there is a pretty set limit to the rewards you can achieve.

This strikes me as a pretty useful way to think about different graduate jobs. Especially as those that are suscepitible to scalability and those that aren't have other distinctions worth noting. One of the big things that the author observes is that scalable careers tend to be populated my giants and minnows. For every best selling author there are thousands of unknown writers. And unfortunately he makes a very persuasive argument that it's more likely to be luck than talent that separates the two. Non scalable careers on the other hand tend to be more middle of the road, with outcomes slightly less impacted by random events. 

So what kind of job would you want? One where your hard work could reap huge rewards or none. Or one in which you plod along doing very nicely thanks?

The author recommends sticking to non scalable careers. You can earn a healthy living (not many dentists on the poverty line) and your life and success is much more predictable. A quick survey of the CareerPlayer team has us in the scalable camp. Sure you might end up a small impoverished minnow but the excitement, the possibility of beating the odds and becoming a giant...we couldn't concentrate without it.

A bit off topic but a fascinating article from WIRED on what caused the credit crunch. Any readers considering a graduate job in banking or finance may want to swat up, it'll make brilliant interview fodder.

Email. Handle with care! from careerplayer.com on Vimeo.

The Kamikaze email...who hasn't done one?

We've had some shockers in our time...most recently sending a prospective Client a Valentines love note most definitely meant for someone else. Still it certainly broke the ice and rather luckily paved the way for a brilliant meeting. I think we're onto something!

If you find yourself in a heart stopping, IT begging, delete frenzy...you might find this little guide from videojug handy.

I've always wondered to what extent you can follow advice like this. It's obviously the goal for most job seekers to find something they love but will everything else always take care of itself? The impoverished musician who never makes it springs to mind. They may be doing what they love but is it delivering them the kind of life they love? And is there a risk of your favourite past time being ruined when it becomes your job?

Perhaps Terry Jones, a career advisor at Kings College (part of The Careers Group), has a point when he describes choosing a career as a pragmatic decision. Trying to find something that meets more of your goals than it fails to meet. This particularly struck us whilst speaking to hundreds of professionals about their careers, as it became clear that most jobs have a downside. There always seemed to be a flip side to the best bits of a job whether that be 5am starts, lots of travel away from home, low pay, huge stress or anything else. So whilst doing what you love is the goal, it's worth checking that the day to day reality is something you can cope with.

What do you think? Is that pragmatic or just a bit negative? If you really pursue something you love will you be so naturally passionate and driven that everything else will just slot into place?

Following on from the last post i thought i'd have a quick peek through our video library to see what other business tips i could find. Managed to dig out quite a few which is handy as i'd be rather worried for our success if we didn't have any!

They're pretty short but i'll post a few of them to see if any strike a chord. Here's the first little nugget from Tanya Livesely, MD of The Talent Business...



No running allowed! from careerplayer.com on Vimeo.

I wonder how many of us could stick to that? Anyway must dash stroll off in an orderly and statesmanlike fashion.