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Member since 04/2005

Thursday, May 17, 2007

Excuses, excuses

You know that feeling when you first wake-up in the morning? Not the slow, lazy feeling you have when you first open your eyes and smile at the new day – I’m talking about the feeling of dread that overcomes you when your eyes snap open, you look at the clock and realize – you’re late for work.

A recent CareerBuilder.com survey found that 16 percent of workers say they arrive late to work at least once a week. Twenty-five percent of you admit to making up fake excuses to explain your tardiness (tisk, tisk!).

Primary causes

Bad traffic (31 percent), falling back asleep (16 percent) and getting kids ready for school/day care (8 percent) are the main reasons you guys are late to work so often.

He said, she said

Forty-one percent of men say they've never been late to work in their current position and only 22 percent lie about why they're late. Compare that to 37 percent of females who have been late to work and 28 percent who will tell a fib if they aren't on time.

Top 10 excuses

Think you're being super sly about why you were late? Doubt it - 27 percent of hiring managers say most of the time, they don't believe you. Here are some of th most unusual excuses hiring managers have ever heard:

  1. Someone was following me and I drove all around town trying to lose them.
  2. My dog dialed 911, and the police wanted to question me about what "really" happened.
  3. My girlfriend got mad and destroyed all of my undergarments.
  4. I woke up and thought I was temporarily deaf.
  5. I just wasn't "feelin' it" this morning.
  6. I was up all night arguing with God.
  7. A raccoon stole my work shoe off my porch.
  8. I super-glued my eyes thinking it was contact solution.
  9. I was putting lotion on my face when my finger went up my nose causing a nose bleed.
  10. A prostitute climbed into my car at a stop light, and I was afraid my wife would see her and think I was messing around... so I got out of the car.

Monday, December 04, 2006

This Just In: We're a Bunch of Phony Bolognies!

Well, 32 percent of us are, according to CareerBuilder's recent survey on playing hooky from the office. Cough, cough. That's right, 32 percent of workers have called in sick with a phony illness at least once in the last year. Achoo. And 10 percent have faked being sick three times or more. Cough, hack, achoo. Y'know, I'm starting to feel a little under the weather myself... think I can still catch Oprah if I head home now?

Then again, maybe I should ride out these Monday blues right here in my cube. Turns out 27 percent of hiring managers have fired employees for claiming to be sick when they're not. Ouch.

So what are the motivating factors behind the epidemic? 48 percent of workers said they needed a day off to relax, 24 percent wanted to catch up on sleep, and 20 percent took the day to run personal errands. Sounds to me like people are just looking after their mental health. An understanding boss shouldn't have a problem with the truth, but it's easy to comprehend why anxious employees might resort to Oscar-worthy phone calls in which they cough, sniffle and sneeze their way through a faux flu script.

The survey also documented some of the most outrageous excuses workers have given for not making it into the office. My favorite was one in which an employee claimed that a buffalo had charged her every time she tried to walk from her house to her car. I can only hope that lady works in a creative field, because otherwise her brilliant imagination is really going to waste.

Happy hunting!

CeeBee

(Psst - Don't forget, I want to hear from you! blog@careerbuilder.com)

(Double psst - remember to check out Poo, Peel, Pound!)