Who doesn’t want to earn more money? No matter what your industry, you could be missing out on a larger paycheck. Sometimes, making more money is easier than you think, so don’t get stuck at your current salary. Here are a few things you can do to boost your earnings:

• Move to a more lucrative location.

Moving is a big commitment, but if you can do so fairly easily, you might be able to double or triple your salary overnight! In locations where workers in your field are in high demand, you’ll be offered more money. Of course, cost of living might be higher as well, so do your research before you move to figure out where you’ll get the most bang for your buck. Keep in mind also that some companies have overseas job opportunities on a contract basis, where you’ll be paid a much higher amount to work on a project in the Middle East, Asia, or other locations.

• Take advantage of employer education programs.

Going back to college for further education might be expensive, but your employer might provide free training in your field. In some cases, manufacturers in your field might also provide free classes, since they want to demonstrate products. For example, if you work as a hair stylist, companies that sell beauty products often offer cutting classes where they use their products in order to convince you to use them in your salon. No matter what your industry, take a few classes and you’ll be able to make more money.

• Ask for a raise.

Asking for a raise can be nerve-wracking, but if you’ve been working for over a year without one and you feel like you’re doing a better job or taking on more work, you’re justified in having this conversation with your boss. Sometimes, it is nothing person – your boss perhaps just didn’t realize you should get more money. The worst someone can say is no – so don’t be afraid to ask!

Of the many things that separate humans from animals, one of the most puzzling is our habit of staying in bad situations when we have the power to leave them. Most animals will run away after being hit, or leave a place where there is no food. The exception to this rule may be in domesticated pets, who have been bred for senseless loyalty. I find this trait charming in my own pets, and I work hard to fulfill my end of the bargain by treating them well. But somehow the same idiotic trust in the power structure does not charm me when I encounter it in a client who is miserable at work.

To put it frankly, I just don’t get it. I mean, of course, I get it. I see the equation most people make between the paycheck and the abuse. As in, “I have to stay; I need the money.” But no, in the end, I don’t get it. In all the years I’ve been counseling job seekers and unhappy workers, I have encountered very few who actually needed to stay in their jobs because of their circumstances. Most were choosing to stay rather than face the tasks – and consequences – involved in the decision to leave. Oh sure, everyone thinks they’re trapped because of their bills and debt; but how many are doing every possible thing to buy back their freedom? It’s not the debt that traps them; it’s their inertia when it comes to resolving the debt. If your child’s life were at stake, wouldn’t you sell every possession and take a second or third job? Of course you would; the question is, why won’t you do that when it’s your own life at stake?

Luckily, for most people, the solution to a stressful workplace won’t be this dire. They don’t need to go to such lengths to buy their freedom. But they do need to decide: “Am I going to accept this misery in my life?” If the answer is yes, then have at it. But if you’re ready for a change, you’ll have to make the first move. Today.

Start by getting help from outside your workplace: credit counseling, financial advising, career strategies…it almost doesn’t matter which button you push first, as long as you start somewhere. Then keep going until you’ve put this chapter behind you. You really do deserve better.

I was talking to a job seeker not long ago who had been fired from his job as a sales representative. Bummer. Like zillions of sales reps before him, the firing meant that he had to turn in his company-owned smart phone and all of the data stored there. Double bummer. He had also been home-based, so he had to give up his company-owned computer and printer. Do bummers come in triplicate? Never mind – we need four bummers for this situation because the coup de grace was giving up his company car. As he explained to me with a wry grin, he was transformed overnight from an income-earning sales professional to a car-less, phone-less, computer-less job seeker without a database of networking contacts. Now that’s really a bummer.

Okay, so if you’ve been paying attention – as he certainly is now – can you count the mistakes this person made? And can you swear you won’t do the same, should you ever fall into what must have seemed like the best employment package ever? Repeat after me: I will always back up my networking databases so I have a current copy of the information of my very own – maybe even in print. And while I’m at it, I will do the same with my important work documents and letters of praise from clients.

Here are some more vows to take: If I ever have a job where the company lends me computer equipment, I will still buy my own. Or, failing that, I will get a promise from at least two friends to borrow theirs if I should ever get fired. And here’s a big one: I will either live near public transportation so that losing the company car doesn’t ground me just when I need wheels the most, or I will save the equivalent of a car payment every month so that I can buy at least a used car with cash if I ever need to do that.

Good. I feel better knowing that you and I are a bit smarter, even though I can imagine the lessons feel like they’re coming a bit late for this unfortunate job-seeker. The bright side? He wasn’t working in one of the many pastor jobs that include housing along with the base pay. Losing your house at the same time as your job would really be a bummer.

When companies have to make budget cuts, the management has a lot of tough decisions to make. No one in any position should assume he/she is safe, even if you’ve been with the company for 20 years or do a job that you think is absolutely necessary. Lay offs usually come in rounds – they try to keep people as long as possible rather than laying off everyone at once. If you’re nervous about surviving your company’s next round of lay offs, here are some tips that can help so you aren’t trying to find a new job:

• Skip vacation time and sick days – be in the office on time every day.

Now is not the opportune time to head to the beach or otherwise leave the office unless you absolutely have to. Laying off employees is often an emotional process, and if you aren’t around, it makes you an easier target. This isn’t, of course, always the case, but if you’re in the office 40+ hours per week it won’t give them a way to avoid the emotional distress of giving you that notice.

• Stop hogging resources.

If a company is doing mass lay offs, it’s because they need to cut back on costs. Are you someone who uses more than your fair share  of resources? I don’t mean extra pens from the stock room – but are there a lot of expenses associated with your job? You can’t always cut back on spending completely, since you have to get the job done, but think about where you can cut back. For example, when you travel for business, do you fly business class, stay at nicer hotels, and eat at fancy restaurants, all on the company’s dime? Propose some travel changes that will save the company money and it might save your job.

• Talk to your boss about ways to improve.

The first to go in any business are the employees who aren’t doing very well in their assigned roles. If your performance has been down, even if it isn’t your fault, schedule a meeting with your manager (and even those above him/her if possible) and talk about ways you can improve. Showing initiative might save you from the next round of lay offs.

• Pick up some slack when people are laid off.

If you survive the first round or two, start picking up some slack. Instead of hiring new people, your company’s management will reassign tasks that are absolutely necessary to the employees they kept. Go to your boss and volunteer to take over Larry’s project or do some of the things around the office that Lisa used to do. Bonus points if this involves being trained. Employers don’t want to train someone for a necessary task and then lay them off a few weeks later only to have to train another person.

• Watch your hours.

Companies that have hourly employees (rather than salaried employees) can’t afford to be paying overtime if they are cutting the workforce. If you get your job done and are really good at it, that doesn’t matter if you have lots of overtime every week. Yes, you won’t make as much money if you cut your hours, but it’s better to make slightly less than to lose your job completely, right?

If your elderly parents are ailing, then you know there is almost nothing as logistically challenging as managing their household while also running your own. Unless, that is, you add distance to the equation – and a job search for yourself.

Job seekers with eldercare responsibilities face a number of difficult challenges. For most, it’s not so much about balancing the search itself with the family responsibilities – since it’s a relatively short-term project to find work, those logistics are not usually overwhelming. But how does one go about choosing a job that will provide enough flexibility to take mom to the doctor or help dad with his bills? There’s only so much one can do on the weekends, after all. And again, if distance is a factor, the new job is going to have to be doubly flexible.

For some people, the problem of job search comes after the hard work of eldercare has ended. They may have seen mom or dad through a final illness, having quit a job to do so. Now, several months or years later, they have a problem to solve: How to explain the gap in work, while also appearing up-to-date for the next employer?

Not surprisingly, these workers are often considering a career change. Not only has their previous profession moved on without them, but they have likely developed a new approach to life that needs to be taken into account. Some people will find they are motivated more than ever to build a career and make their mark, while others might discover a newfound drive to slow down and spend time with their families. In either case, the old profession may no longer fit the bill.

In the happiest of cases, the new career might jibe with their recent use of time, giving them something of substance to talk about in interviews. For example, candidates searching for geriatric jobs after a stint of helping their parents will have recent knowledge of the systems and services available to elderly clients. Of course, they might still need training, depending on the work itself, but the transition might seem more seamless to both the employee and the employer.

If you are currently (or expect to be) in the situation described here, know that you’re not alone. As in all job searches, focus on learning and meeting the employer’s needs and you’ll win the offer.

It’s that time of year again – graduation. Now is the time for families and seniors to pile into auditoriums to hear speeches about finding passion and pursuing vocational nirvana. Which means it’s time for me to stand up like the curmudgeon I’ve become and declare: Passion Smassion! Forget the passion and just get on with your life!

Nice message, huh? I’m a real hit on the graduation speaker circuit. Here’s the thing: I’ve had two-plus decades of counseling confused job seekers who were trying to follow their passion into the work world. Some have spent their whole lives waiting for the muse to tell them their passion, while others have chosen the profession of their dreams only to find the work is intolerable. I hate to say it, but these days I’m having that conversation most often about teaching careers than almost any other field. There’s something about helping kids while simultaneously dealing with bureaucracy that is taxing even the most passionate new educators.

Does that mean one should drop the idea of being happy with one’s work? Well of course not – what kind of career counselor say that? The problem I’ve seen is that seeking one’s passion and being happy at work seem to be almost diametrically opposed in practice, no matter how similar they may be in theory. The harder you try to be happy, it seems, the less likely you’ll actually be happy. It’s like constantly asking your date, Are we having a good time? The more you ask, the more likely you are to wreck the date.

I see the same thing happen with passion-seeking careerists. The more they poke around in their own psyches to discover their true vocational path, the less any of their choices stands up to the passion test.

You may not want to hear this, but as far as I can tell, only a small percentage of people are "born" to be something vocationally. The rest of us have talents and skills that we can enjoy and profit from developing, and which can translate into dozens of different jobs. So here’s my advice. Do yourself a favor and skip the passion question. Ask yourself instead, which skills do I enjoy using, and of those, which ones are marketable? Then strive to be happy in your job, rather than passionate about your career and see if things don’t work out better.

I know winter’s been gone for weeks in other parts of the country, but in my home state of Minnesota we still have pockets of snow on the ground. In fact, not far from my house, we have a three-story mountain of the stuff taking over the Sears parking lot, which desperate public works employees commandeered when they couldn’t keep the streets clear.

Like everyone else in my area, I’m still wearing or carrying my winter coat around, and the boots are in the car, just in case I have to trudge through slush to get to work.

And yet, despite all this, I’m still going to declare: Winter’s over – time to get some clothes that fit! I don’t mean to be offensive, but as a career counselor it’s my job to tell someone if they smell bad or have a bad haircut or need a manicure. Not that I hold impossibly high standards, because I don’t. But no way would I send a client into an interview knowing I could have helped him or her look better or sound smarter.

So in the interest of helping you nail those first impressions, I’ll mention a couple of things I’ve noticed about people coming to life after a long winter. First, those of us in the colder climes have been wearing so many layers of clothing, our arms are sticking out from our sides. I have a whole set of dress pants that are two sizes too big in order to accommodate my long underwear. Nope, not kidding. I wore a pair of those pants without the long johns last week and thought I had lost weight. No such luck. I looked baggy without the benefit of slimming down. Others in my circle have gained weight over the winter, and their clothes are looking a bit strained. I know they’re hoping to lose the weight soon but the better path would be to buy a couple of outfits that fit while working toward that goal.

What about you? Have you been wearing the same outfits for a while, without checking to see if they still look good? Fabric does shrink and fade and otherwise betray us. Take a moment to check your outfits and make sure you have at least a few that fit just the way they should. It will make a huge difference in how others see you.

Relocating for one’s work is a great American tradition. But engineering a relocation is no simple matter. Ignoring for a moment the obvious question – should you relocate for a job?

– you still have to figure out how and when to make this happen. After all, there’s more involved than simply packing the car.

For one thing, there’s the sticky issue of housing. One of the unspoken outcomes of our great housing disaster has been the loss of mobility for thousands of families – coupled with the forced mobility of thousands more. It seems like half the people who want to move can’t do it, due to being “under water” on their mortgages. When you owe more money than your home is worth, you’re almost forced into sitting still. Then there are those who could sell their houses, if they could only find buyers. And finally, there are the families who want nothing more than to stay put, but who must move due to a foreclosure.

What a mess. But suppose you do manage to relocate for work – should you rent or buy once you get there?

The answer used to be obvious. Everyone from executives to warehouse workers knew that you should rent for a while, look for the neighborhood you like best, then settle down with a home mortgage. But these days, the better answer might be to stick with the rental, for reasons relating to both the housing market and the job market. That’s because now you have more to worry about than just the price of real estate – you also have to worry that you’ll lose your job.

Ironically, for some families, the solution to problems on both ends of the relocation might come down to the same thing: Not letting go of the first home when making the move. Not everyone wants to be a long-distance landlord, but the idea has appeal when it means not having to find a buyer for the first home, while also having a safe place to return if the relocation fails.

My conclusion? Things are very complicated for relocators right now, and are likely to stay that way for some time to come. It will be interesting to see if employers step up to the plate to offer richer relocation packages, or back away from national searches altogether and look harder in their own backyards for talent.

I’ve never liked small talk, although I’ve always been good at. Bummer. It’s a law of the universe that whatever you do well you will be consigned to do repeatedly.

So off I go into every crowd, smiling and chatting, feeling like my face will freeze in a toothy grin while my head explodes from pointless chatter.

I’m not doing much to sell this concept, am I?

Well, I am exaggerating a bit. I do enjoy connecting up with folks, even if my natural introversion means that my enjoyment usually fades very quickly. Still, I have to admit that this skill does comes in handy. Since I’m comfortable talking to others, I get to meet people in all kinds of circumstances. Even sales calls are not so difficult, since I know that I’ll at least make an acquaintance, even if I don’t make a sale.

For job seekers, the value of this skill should be obvious: If you can meet more people, you can stay connected to more possibilities for job leads and helpful information. And you can do better in interviews, where half the grade comes from how well the team or manager likes you.

Mastering the art of small talk really boils down to just a handful of steps.

1. Start with an icebreaker. The obvious ones are fine: "What do you think of this weather?" Your goal is straightforward: Open the conversation, but don’t say anything too controversial. As long as you leave a spot for the other person to reply, you’re good.

2. Ask a question. Once the other person has replied, and assuming they didn’t open up a better line of conversation, you can bring things to the next level: “Are you a regular at these meetings?” or perhaps, "Can you fill me in on what I missed in the first session?"

3. Listen. Let the other person respond, and really listen to them. Then decide if there’s any chance (or reason) to bring the conversation to something more helpful, such as their advice to you about particular companies to work for. If not, just enjoy the conversation for what it is, then refocus on the meeting or whatever else you’re doing.

This is a good skill to practice every chance you get. The better you become at talking with others about nothing, the more likely you’ll be comfortable with the conversations that really matter.

Recently, the San Diego Reader reported that today’s workplace is more stressful than it has ever been in the past.

This stress is coming from a number of places: the threat of unemployment, the need to take a low-paying job to make ends meet, the lack of company expansions (making promotions more competitive), and more.

Says American Psychological Association executive vice president Norman B. Anderson, “Nearly three-quarters of Americans say they experience stress at levels that exceed what they define as healthy, putting themselves at risk for developing chronic illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, and depression.”

If you feel like you’re part of this group, finding a less stressful job may be the best thing for your health. Here are some tips you can use to look for a job that allows you to feel calmer and happier:

• Apply for college scholarships and grants so you can go back to school. With more education, it is easier to find a job in the field you want, as well as easier to find higher-paying jobs.
• Consider changing your career path to choose a job relating to a hobby you enjoy. You can actually find unusual jobs like art dealing, wedding planning, being a stuntman, and more. These jobs aren’t ones that may quickly come to mind, but if you think outside the box, there are some really fun jobs out there.
• Go into business for yourself. Owning a business is certainly stressful, but for those who are stressed by the lack of control they feel as an employee, going into business might be a great option. It’s about figuring out what stresses you and looking to alleviate that.

If you are stressed out, there are a few things you can do to leave your work (and stress) at the office:

• Use your vacation days. So many Americans save up these days to take long vacations once a year, but sprinkling in long weekends throughout the year might be a better option for managing your stress levels.
• If you bring work home, keep it in your home office. Don’t work on your laptop as you watch television with your family, review papers in bed, or check your Blackberry during dinner. Have a place for your work and don’t let it invade the rest of your life.
• Talk to your boss about your stress levels. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of asking for help with a project when you’re feeling overwhelmed or trading tasks with others so that you’re all doing things you enjoy.