Getting fired is humiliating and frustrating. It's a blow to your ego and self-worth, not to mention bad news for the future of your career.

But does a termination forever banish you to the fringes of the working world?

Working mothers have never had it easy, unless they're wealthy actresses with a slew full of nannies. Women are expected to meet corporate America's demands and be the main caregiver their children's lives. Not only that, some may be caring for elderly parents. That may be why more women are giving a thumbs down to 40 hours a week and looking for "part time jobs for mom," according to a recent survey by the Pew Research Center, as reported on CSMonitor.com.

The survey said that when working moms were asked about their "ideal" work situation, a slim 21% cited 40 hour a week jobs, this was down from 32% in 1997. In contrast, 60% of 2007's respondents said "part-time jobs for mom" were "ideal," up from 48% ten years earlier.  Interestingly, 19% of working moms in this year's survey preferred not to work outside the home at all. Of course, working part time may not be a financial option for moms. What is the solution?

What would your salary look like if you worked part time?  Find out with the PayScale Salary Calculator.

Is a computer worth more to a company than a female executive who makes six figures and has loads of client relationships?

It might be, according to a New York Times article on Sylvia Ann Hewlett's recent book, "Off-Ramps and On-Ramps," about women re-entering the workforce after time off to care for children, parents or other reasons.

“If a $2,000 desktop computer disappears from an employee’s desk, I guarantee that there’ll be an investigation,” Maury Hanigan, a consultant, tells Dr. Hewlett, adding that “if a $100,000-a-year executive with all kinds of client relationships” quits “to stay home with the kids — there’s no investigation.”

Name: Scott Pactor
Job Title: Criminal Defense Attorney - Attorney at Law
Where: San Diego, CA 
Employer: Self-Employed
Years of Experience: 6
Education:J.D. Hastings College of Law, San Francisco; B.A. American University, Washington D.C.   
Salary: See the PayScale Research Center for criminal defense attorney salaries.

Criminal Defense Attorney Salaries

If you're interested in criminal defense attorney salaries or have ever wondered what's it's really like to work as a criminal defense attorney in California (or anywhere else), then you don't want to miss this Salary Story. San Diego criminal attorney Scott Pactor gave us the inside scoop on criminal defense attorney salaries and the attorney jobs California and other states have to offer. This interview is court-mandated reading!

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), "Hard Case: Job Market Wanes for U.S. Lawyers", reported on the large number of law school graduates suffering under large debt with surprisingly low salary prospects.

If only these prospective law students had been reading this blog. They would have understood the difference between median and mean, and that only 10% of students can be in the 90th percentile of salaries :-)

While the Wall Street Journal focused on the somewhat misleading marketing done by second tier law schools, in truth there is plenty of data available, e.g., from PayScale's research center, on just how low the typical median starting lawyer salaries are.

In this post, I'll look at lawyers salaries: the top, the bottom, and the middle. Yes, for specific skill sets and employers, the attorney salaries are still good. That pay just is not the typical (median) law student's experience.

Is your salary above or below the median for people like you? Find out with the PayScale Salary Calculator.

In a column earlier this year, I examined some of the average college grad income predictions made by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). So how has the class of 2007 actually done in the “real world?” Well, NACE recently issued its most recent and final 2007 Salary Survey which shows an increased Income for college graduates in many fields.

Not surprisingly, there was increased income for college graduates in accounting. Number crunching continues to pay well; the average accounting job for college graduates gained 3%, with an average starting salary of $46,292. Business administration and management grads saw a 5.1% bump; their average salary, right out of the gate, was $43,256.

How does your salary compare to accounting careers for college graduates?  Find out with our salary survey.

The workforce is knee-deep in an anomaly: For the first time ever, four generations are side-by-side, with everyone from Millennials to the Silent Generation contributing to the bottom line.

But what is a generation, anyway, and what are these four all about?

According to Chuck Underwood, founder and president of The Generational Imperative, "Any generation ends with a significant end in America of the times or teachings or both that young kids will absorb."

Underwood, one of my sources for PayScale's September stories on Generations X and Y (links here and here) in the workplace, offered a snapshot of each generation working today.

Travelers in all U.S. metro areas are wasting more time than ever in traffic--and more gas, according to the 2007 Urban Mobility Report.

Released Tuesday, the report says traffic congestion is draining $78 billion from the economy every year, including "4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted fuel—that's 105 million weeks of vacation and 58 fully-loaded supertankers."

How can we make things better?

Cam Marston thinks American workers are changing their minds.

Older generations have worked as though employers own their time--but the up-and-coming workers believe they're the keepers of their time, said Marston, a consultant specializing in multigenerational communications.

"The baby boomers' and Matures' attitude was: The company owns my time, and I move for them as they need me," he said. "Gen Xers and Yers say, 'I own my time, and I give you what you need based on the job that needs to be done."

Meanwhile, a recent survey by the Kenexa Research Institute shows workers who telecommute--and ostensibly own their time--are the most loyal and satisfied.

Is this all pointing toward a more flexible workplace?

By: Dr. Al Lee

Forbes announced its annual list of the 25 best paying careers and the worst. Forbes drew info from the U.S. government's National, State and Metropolitan Area Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates. This 2006 data was based on a national survey of employers of various sizes, industries and occupations.

I am very familiar with these government estimates. The government does a great job with the broad forces at work (macro economics) in employment and compensation. It is a little funny that Forbes uses the government defined occupations, because the sizes of the ~800 occupations vary widely. For example, both Mine Shuttle Car Operators with 3,000 workers nation-wide and Sales Representatives with 1.5 million are "occupations".

Not surprisingly, top paying jobs in the medical field dominate the list of careers. According to Forbes, anesthesiologists had a salary increase of 5.8%. If we take a look at our PayScale research center, anesthesiologist salaries in major cities are north of $200,000; not bad for knocking someone out.

What about the worst paying jobs? Food preparation and serving workers top that lowly list of careers. According to Forbes, there was a 2.4% increase in these salaries, bringing the average salary of a food preparation and serving worker up to $15,930.

Is your salary one of the best paying careers, or one of the worst?  Find out with our salary survey.

Name: Teresa Holler
Job Title: Physician Assistant
Where: Roanoke, Virginia
Employer: Self-Employed, Holler4Yourhealth.com
Years of Experience: 12
Education: Siena College, BA in biology; Touro College, BA physicians assistant program; Alderson-Broaddus, MA in medicine
Salary: See the PayScale Research Center for median physician assistant salaries.

Physician Assistant Salaries: Physician Assistant Career Outlook

For readers who don't want to endure years and years of medical school, but still want to work in medicine, this interview with physician assistant Teresa Holler may be the right prescription. She gave us an overview of different physician assistant jobs and described the typical physician assistant education.

This interview also covers cardiology physician assistant jobs, the outlook for a physician assistant career today, and how to find physician assistant jobs. Teresa also explained what factors can affect physician assistant salaries. For those interested in physician assistant jobs or a medical career, keep reading!

Real wages fail to match a rise in productivity, that is the conclusion in a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute (as reported on Money.CNN.com). According to the study, productivity has been strong since 2000, employment has increased, but this economic growth hasn't helped workers at the middle and lower end salary ranges.

The study says that worker productivity has increased nearly 20% since 2000, but the real median hourly wage of all workers rose only 3%. The study goes on to state that worker productivity has risen 5%, since 2003, but the median hourly wage has decreased 1.1%. It's not all bad news, women have seen a rise in wages of 4.7% between 2000 and 2007, but real median wages for men rose just 1.1%.

How high has your salary risen? Find out with our easy-to-use salary survey .

In earlier columns, I examined top paying jobs for people with no college degrees; and here we go again =o). I'm not trying to put universities out of business, but this seems to be a hot topic these days. So hot that Yahoo! Hot Jobs recently compiled an interesting list of jobs in demand nationwide that only require online certificate programs.

Surprisingly a college degree is not required to be a paralegal, but you do need stamina. You're doing a lot of researching for attorneys. A friend of mine completed the UCLA paralegal certificate program and, today, is working for the U.S. Department of Justice and dating her teacher. According to the PayScale research center, the median salary for a paralegal ranges from $49,731 to $29,839 (boy/girlfriend not included).

How does your salary compare to jobs in demand nationwide? Find out with our salary survey.

Name: Christine White
Job Title: Accountant
Where: Virginia
Employer: Self-Employed
Years of Experience: 20
Education: BBA, Averett University in Danville, VA
Salary: See the PayScale Research Center for an accountant average salary.

Accountant Career Path - Accountant Average Salary

If you're interested in an accountant career path and/or an accountant average salary, this interview with accountant Christine White crunches the numbers. Christine has gone out of her way to follow her own path as an accountant by continuing her education with online accounting classes, pursuing forensic accounting, and always focusing on excellent customer service. She spoke to us about how she started her accountant career path, the responsibilities of accounting jobs, the education needed for an accountant career and how self-employment vs. working at a firm may impact an accountant's average salary.

This Salary Story also covers different jobs for accountants, including tax accountant jobs. And, if you're already taking steps toward an accountant career path, don't miss Christine's tips for how to handle the stress of tax season. Don't put this off until April 15th, read it today!

At PayScale, workers and employees from across the country and the world share their salaries with us. We tabulate this information from our salary survey to produce information people can use to determine whether they are paid fairly. Of course, we keep identities secret, only reporting anonymous and aggregate compensation data.

However, as money.cnn.com recently reported, it can be dicey for employees in the same office to share information on salary and payment among themselves. Salary information discussions can be a touchier subject than politics or religion.

Some employment contracts even have communication rules that forbid their employees from sharing information on salary and benefits.

In this post, I'll look at whether these are rules legal in the US, how employees go about finding salary information from their co-workers, and what the experts say about sharing information on salary and wages in the workplace, by both employees and employers.

Here is a hint: the easy way to find out if you're being paid what you're worth, and avoid the office politics, is to use the PayScale salary calculator.

Name: Ross Crystal
Job Title: Broadcast Journalist
Where: Los Angeles, CA
Employer: Self-Employed, Owner ShowbizExpress.Net
Years of Experience: 25+
Education: University of Miami, BA Degree Broadcast Journalism
Salary: See the PayScale Research Center for the median broadcast journalism salary.

Careers In Broadcast Journalism Occupational Outlook

For readers who are exploring careers in broadcast journalism, or who want to know more about broadcast journalism salaries, this Salary Story is one show you don't want to miss! We recently spoke to veteran broadcast journalist Ross Crystal about careers in broadcast journalism, factors that can affect a broadcast journalism salary and the different mediums of broadcast journalism.

Ross gave us insight into how the Internet is changing the traditional roles of broadcast journalists, as well as tips on how to get into the broadcast media biz. Plus, he shed light on what areas will offer the highest broadcast journalism salary. For anyone interested in broadcast journalism as a career, this interview is a must click!

The U.S. lost 4,000 jobs in August, spurring stories about a dreaded recession looming ever-closer. It's the first decline since 2003, particularly grim news given experts' prediction there would be an increase of about 100,000 jobs.

A Wall Street Journal article points out:

The timing made clear the report wasn't a result of the market turmoil but rather a symptom of the same underlying economic problems that probably stem from the housing market. And it wasn't the jobs that were cut -- much of them in construction or housing-related manufacturing like the furniture industry -- that were so worrying as the jobs that weren't created. That's a more difficult area to measure, and one that Fed officials will likely be wrestling with when they meet next week.

What does this mean for job seekers and the employment market?

The loss of jobs is bad news by any stretch, but it's too soon to tell what the true impact will be.

by Dr. Al Lee

Teacher merit pay and accountability has rarely gotten high grades from teachers in the past, especially with teachers' unions, but when a teacher incentive pay and merit pay was suggested in Minnesota classrooms back in 2007, according to The New York Times, teachers there showed a surprising display of cooperation. The teacher's union there worked with Republican governor Tim Pawlenty to compensate teachers partly on their performance in the classroom.

The plan for teacher incentive pay and merit pay involved teachers working with mentors to improve their teaching abilities and also receiving bonuses when their students improve. Minnesota's $86 million teacher "professionalization and merit pay initiative" included dozens of Minnesota school districts. During that time, teachers voted to bring teacher incentive pay and merit pay to Minneapolis. Have other states jumped on this public school merit and performance pay bandwagon?

Does your salary merit an increase? Find out with our salary calculator.

Most of us are familiar with the typical job interview question and answer routine. You're asked about your experience, skills and responsiblities in prior positions. But for those interested in working in a high tech job at Microsoft or Google, don't expect the typical interview questions, but rather some odd brainteasers, according to CNNMoney.com's tips to have a good job interview in high tech.

Let's say you want to be a coder, well, you may be asked non-computer questions such as, "How many golf balls could you place inside a school bus?"  "How much should you charge to wash all the windows in Seattle?" Or, "why are manhole covers round, instead of square?"  High tech companies like Google aren't so interested in the correct answer, but rather how you might try to solve it.

Here's a brainteaser, are you being paid what you're worth?  Find out with the PayScale Salary Calculator (don't worry, we do the math for you)

Name: Steven Shoshany D.C, C.C.E.P.
Job Title: Chiropractor
Where: Manhattan, NY
Employer: Self-Employed
Years of Experience: 11 months
Education: Undergraduate CUNY NY, Post graduate Life, Chiropractic Atlanta Ga. Doctor of Chiropractic
Salary: See the PayScale Research Center for the median chiropractor salary.

What it Takes to Become a Chiropractor

If you've ever wondered about the average chiropractor salary or what it takes to become a chiropractor, then don't miss this interview with Steven Shoshany.  This Manhattan chiropractor gave us a rare peek into chiropractic school, chiropractor jobs, factors that affect a chiropractor salary and how to become a chiropractor.

If you're interested in becoming a chiropractor, curious about the typical chiropractor salary or want to know what questions to ask a chiropractor, this Salary Story should bring your career goals into alignment!