What was on your mind in 2017? If our stats are any indication, making more money, pursuing your passions — and quitting a bad job while the quitting was good.
This year’s most popular posts also revealed the anxieties plaguing workers. You wanted to know whether getting an education was really worth it (good news: it is) and how many other people live paycheck to paycheck (bad news: a lot).
Going into 2018, let’s look back at the posts that resonated with readers the most over the past year.
1. Why Now Might Be the Time to Change Careers
The unemployment rate stayed well under 5 percent for all of 2017. As a result, some employers started building training programs to lure talent from other industries. The goal: hire for those hard-to-fill jobs.
2. 9 Ways You Know It’s Time to Quit Your Job
Even in an environment with a super-low unemployment rate, deciding whether to quit your job isn’t easy. Jump too soon, or without thinking it through, and you could find yourself in the same old situation — with all new coworkers and a lot of added hassle. Here’s how to tell when a move is truly in your best interests.
3. Are Annual Performance Reviews Going the Way of the Pterodactyl?
Sick of annual performance reviews? A lot of employers agree with you. Companies like Deloitte and Cigna are shifting the focus of reviews from past performance to future development.
4. Here’s How Many US Workers Live Paycheck to Paycheck
Again: a lot. Even people making over six figures struggled to make ends meet in 2017.
5. How to Know If Your College Degree Will Pay Off
Workers with college degrees earn $17,500 more per year than those without, according to data from Pew Research Center. But that doesn’t mean that every degree is created equal from a financial perspective.
6. Salary Negotiation Doesn’t Have to Be a Confrontation
Scared to negotiate salary? You’re not alone. Fifty-seven percent of respondents to PayScale’s survey said that they’d never negotiated salary in their current field. More than half of those who didn’t negotiate held back because of fear. If you’re one of them, it might help to change your perspective on the conversation. It doesn’t have to be a fight.
7. 3 Reasons Why You Hate Your Job
Only 32 percent of U.S. workers are engaged at their job, according to 2015 data from Gallup. If you’re one of the 68 percent who’s meh about their daily grind, it might be time to move on.
8. 4 Research-Backed Techniques for Negotiating a Raise
Seventy-five percent of workers who asked for a raise received some kind of pay increase, according to PayScale data. Increase your chances of being one of them … with SCIENCE.
9. 7 Tips for Staying Passionate About Your Work
Time flies when you’re having fun — even when you’re in the office. These tips will help you stay engaged with your work, which in turn will make you more successful (and a lot happier).
10. This Is the Single Best Time to Increase Your Salary
Good news for people who are scared to negotiate pay raises once they’re on the job: there’s a better time to ask for more. Negotiate salary then, and add as much as $1 million to your earnings over the course of your career.
Tell Us What You Think
What blog post or news item mattered most to your career in 2017? We want to hear from you. Tell us your thoughts in the comments or come talk to us on Twitter.
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