IT Tech Skills, Stress from the Office, Career Change Tips, Happier & Innovative Workplaces, and more!

Michael Clark got out of jail in 2013. But he arguably got his first true taste of freedom when he landed a full-time job. “Just having something positive to do is very important,’’ says Clark, who once dealt drugs. The 24-year-old said that earning $20 an hour doing construction work has enabled him to get his own apartment in Brooklyn. But finding a job took years…

The devil you know is, presumably, better than the devil you don't. That's why so many of us stay stuck in a job, an industry, or a lifestyle that's not working out. But making a career change doesn't have to be intimidating. Ask an expert who's done it (or counseled hundreds of people who've done it) and they'll tell you it's about breaking down the transition into bite-size pieces and never letting fear be your guide. Below, we've listed practical tips on changing careers…

Have you ever heard of “the ketchup question”? Writer Dexter Thomas explained it well in his story for the Los Angeles Times about tech’s diversity problem, where he starts off asking, “Where do you keep your ketchup?”. If you’re like most people in the U.S., odds are that you keep your ketchup in the refrigerator. But depending on where you grew up, you might keep it in the cupboard. Imagine that you reach for the ketchup bottle and find it empty. You need a substitute sauce, and you grab whatever is nearby. If that bottle is…

With today's technology, we have more ways to communicate than ever before. But that doesn't guarantee effective communication in every situation – including, or perhaps even especially, in the workplace. According to an annual survey from employee communication and engagement company Dynamic Signal, which interviewed 1,000 workers using independent market and advertising research firm Survata, 80 percent of workers feel stressed because of ineffective company communication…