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Semtech Corp. said Wednesday that it received a federal subpoena relating to its stock options, and Monster Worldwide Inc. said it anticipates a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission probe as the scandal over executive option grants continued to grow.
Semtech, a maker of semiconductors for cellular phones, said today it received a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. attorney from the Southern District of New York. The company, which is based in Camarillo, Calif., also said two shareholder lawsuits were filed in California state court.
Monster, which operates the Monster.com job-listing service, said it is preserving all documents related to stock-option grants in anticipation of an SEC investigation. This month, Monster launched an internal company probe and received a federal subpoena.
At least 49 companies are facing federal or internal investigations for possible stock-option manipulation. As the number has grown in recent weeks, more than 60 lawsuits have been filed against the companies. At least 15 executives at the affected companies have lost their jobs.
The issue is whether executives illegally backdated the grants, increasing the value of the options by timing them at low points, thus boosting the payout.
On Capitol Hill, more lawmakers expressed interest in the stock-options investigations. At a hearing of the Senate Banking Committee on pension accounting, Sen. Michael Enzi, R-Wyo., said he was "very disappointed by the Enron-type shenanigans that are going on.
"This is wrong and must be stopped," said Enzi, who is also chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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In terms of my career, I've had an easy life. To start with, I have the 'right' accent. You wouldn't believe the number of times people have assumed I'm trustworthy and intelligent just because of the way I speak. One former employer actually admitted being swayed by my accent within a minute of the start of my interview. My gender (male, if you hadn't guessed) and skin colour (white) certainly helps with some employers too. Hard to believe it's the 21st century, isn't it?
So although I've done alright for myself, lots of it is down to being on the lucky side of people's prejudices. And on finding gullible editors. (3-1 to me!) Even so, I've had eight 'proper' jobs along the way, so I've learned a great deal about the career process. Here are my top tips for getting a job.
Job hunting
People make the same mistakes when searching for work as they do when looking for a partner. The more difficulty they're having, the less motivated they are to search. But it's all about numbers! If you're having trouble getting a job, you should apply for more, not less. You could:
sign up to every local recruitment consultancy and to Web-based ones too;
make sure the consultants don't forget you; contact them once a week to ask if any opportunities have come up;
look in local papers for job adverts;
send letters or emails, along with your CV, to any companies you think you might want to work for; and
walk in to companies and ask them if work is available.
Do your research
Before you apply to a company, you should do your research:
use the Web to learn everything you can about what your potential employer does and what their goals are;
if you're applying for an advertised post, make sure you understand what's required of the candidate. If you don't, call and ask; and
if you don't have some of the experience or qualifications an employer is looking for, give them a call to ask if they'll still consider your application. You might say that, although you don't have all the experience or qualifications they're looking for, you're highly motivated and very keen. You could then highlight some of the qualities that you do have that are in the job description.
The CV
The problem here is that you could be the ideal candidate for a job, yet be terrible at writing CVs. To write a decent CV you need good English skills, sales skills (as you're selling yourself) and knowledge of good CV structure and style. It doesn't matter if you're a great lawyer, a hard-working manual labourer or a knowledgeable marine biologist, you won't necessarily have all three of these CV-writing skills. Therefore there's potentially a lot to learn, but here are some tips to get you started:
if any of your friends are good at getting jobs, ask them if you can see their CVs. A search online for 'CV examples' might prove useful too;
tailor your CV to each individual company you're applying to by highlighting relevant experience only. For example, if you have a programming background, but you want to get into writing technical manuals for an IT company, don't just list the programming projects you've done. Instead, draw their attention to any guidance notes you've written along the way;
your CV doesn't have to be long. In fact, potential employers usually prefer you to get to the point. Don't take three sentences to say one thing; that's getting dangerously close to bureaucratic English;
in the employment history section, consider what's relevant to your potential employer only. Don't get bogged down in the day-to-day details unless the job you're applying for involves the same tasks. Usually one or two lines summarising the company and your role will do;
after this summary, say what you have achieved that's relevant to your future employer. This might be providing a good level of service to your customers, learning a new skill, or that you've simply gained a professional attitude;
if none of your previous roles are directly related to the post you're applying for, you could highlight your relevant knowledge and attributes in a 'core skills' box above your employment history. Only include skills that are relevant to the potential employer. This might be that you're hard working, or that you have a good knowledge of Microsoft Office;
people worry too much about the little things on their CV, like the fact they start too many sentences with 'I am...' or 'I also am...' It might read better if you can rewrite some of these sentences, but what matters more is that each sentence is relevant to your potential employer;
people also worry too much about hobbies. To me, hobbies are simply a talking points for the interview. One line listing three or four things you like doing in your spare time will suffice, e.g. I like reading, tennis, shopping and watching football; and
ask friends and family to read over your CV and offer suggestions.
The cover letter
When applying direct to companies, as opposed to through recruitment consultancies, you'll usually need to send a cover letter (or cover email) to go with your CV. Use the cover letter to grab their attention: you want to engage them to look at your CV and get you in for an interview. In the letter:
tell them the post you're applying for;
explain a bit about yourself and your background, making sure that every point is relevant to the post;
mention something about their company that you like which has attracted you to the role; and
don't bore them. It need only be two or three short paragraphs.
Interview
Like writing CVs, being good at interviews is usually a completely different skill to the skills required in the job. This is because most interviewers aren't properly trained to conduct interviews, so they don't know how to learn about you properly. I find that doing well in an interview generally only proves that you're good at interviews. However, that won't stop them hiring you! Here are some tips:
the quicker you and the interviewer are relaxed the better, so break the ice with a joke. It doesn't even have to be funny to relieve some tension. It could be about your journey, e.g. "It felt like the traffic was moving backwards", or about the area: e.g. if it's posh and beautiful, say: "I was expecting something a bit more upmarket"...Like I said, it doesn't even have to be funny;
try to think of the interview as more like a conversation. I know it's not easy, but once you've broken the ice with your very droll joke, the interviewer will become less Jeremy Paxman and more Michael Parkinson;
think about the sorts of questions they're likely to ask about your CV and your relevant knowledge. Prepare answers that will highlight the skills they are looking for;
it's alright to be nervous; interviewers expect this; and
interviews take practice. Everyone gets turned down for roles, so don't worry about it. You will get a job! It's just a numbers game.
Negotiating your contract
People are scared to negotiate, because they don't want to offend their potential employer, but if they've made an offer then they're interested in you! The worst they can do is say: "Sorry, we can't increase the offer".
offers usually arrive by letter, or they tell you direct over the phone or in a second interview. When you get one, don't forget to add up the value of other benefits, such as the pension scheme and medical insurance; and
in three out of my last four jobs, I negotiated a higher salary simply by saying that I was expecting, say, '2,000 more, or by saying that their offer is less than my previous salary. It's perfectly OK to look and sound a little disappointed at the offer, but don't go over the top!Stand out from the crowd
What works for me is I like to take little gambles to stand out from the rest. For example, when I applied to The Motley Fool, I thought that to stand out for a company like this, I'd write my cover email in a more conversational way than a 'normal' formal letter. I wanted to sell my technical background and give the impression of someone with a reasonable command of English, whilst also showing that I'd grasped the overall tone of the website...I don't know if it worked or not; my editor will probably now tell me I was the best of a bad bunch. He's always trying to score points! (3-2)

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New research from OECD suggests shows that Britain actually has the highest employment rate of the G8 countries, bettering that of France, Canada, Japan, Italy, Germany, the USA and Russia.
According to the report, Britain's employment rate stands at around 72%, and it also has the second best 'inactivity' record. This should come as no surprise to Britain, which as we all know, is a country that lives to work and works to live.
'Work' must be considered differently to 'employment'. 'Employment' implies the state of having a job, with sufficient (or nearly sufficient) income to survive on without significant state welfare. 'Work' implies the actual act of working: the hours, the traveling, time management, orders from the boss and so on. Britain is employed, that much is evident from the research, but it also works hard, much harder than it gives itself credit.
Overwork
While a strong work ethic is usually healthy, it becomes counter-productive when it starts to take over: work is done to enable living, but it is not a substitute for living. People usually separate work from the rest of their lives in the same way that sleep is discounted from your usual life description, but even that distinction becomes hard when a person spends more of their awake life either going to, coming from or at work than they do 'living'. The description therefore needs a rethink: work is life, or equally applicable, life is work.
'Work' can be split roughly into two categories. The first is necessary work, that which a person does to have enough money to eat, travel, watch tv etc. The other is compulsive work. In this case, the worker pursues a career in search of some greater goal, or just merely for the sake of it; the everyday requirements of living are not an immediate problem, but the stresses, successes and developments of their job are entirely distracting. The necessary worker works purely to make money to exist on, with work merely being a necessary evil to that end, a kind of penance that is paid to earn the right to exist.
The compulsive worker also works for money (usually larger sums than the necessary worker) but is also driven by abstract aspirations, such as career success, power, authority, the sensation of being important etc. In either case, work is the main ethic of the day, be it a voluntary undertaking or a grudging sigh before entering the office for another day that was just like yesterday but slightly closer to payday.
All Work and No Play'
Work comes first in a modern Brit's life, with no siestas or July 4th to get in the way, and in this way defines our existence. The question 'what do you do' does not simply mean 'where do you work' but 'what kind of person are you? Are you winning life, or have you been relegated to the back of the pack? Is it ok for me to be seen talking to you?' What we used to call 'life' is squeezed in between work and sleep like mortar around a brick; you do not adapt your work schedule to sort out your family, you mold your family to fit your more important work-life.
This way, the kids are picked up by their unemployed uncle on Tuesdays, and the ageing parents are booked for non-consecutive Sundays. Shopping is squeezed into the lunch break, social life remains on hiatus until 6 (with the exception of covertly-sent emails, inaudibly whispered monologues and for the truly reckless, msn messenger) and bodily functions are best left until you get home.
With everyone bending daily to the work-ethic, it is ironic that so many people would rather do without it. Bank holidays are strategically placed to catch those stressed workers just before they turn crazy and show up to work with a rifle. Any excuse for a day off, any excuse' the kindest mercy is a bout of some non-threatening disease for a couple of days, or the death of a distant and barely acknowledged relative, anything to wrest a day 'off' from work. Really, it should be called a day 'on', that is, a day when you can actually 'log on' to life; time spent at work is time when your life is 'logged off', and the simple screensaver displays its lonely message: '--- will be back soon'
Busy Busy
There is no doubt that much of Britain's present power comes from its busy, busy workers. History clearly shows the economic value of a hard day's work, voluntary or otherwise. In terms of economic success for their organisers, Soviet five-year plans, Chinese sweatshops and even the Slave Trade are all brilliant methods that bring results for those holding the whip: work works. However, as these examples show, sometimes it is better to ease off from the work-ethic, but then it is not always easy to do so: life for the necessary worker is as impossible as that of a prisoner of Stalin's gulags, with the loaded gun instead replaced by hard, economic need. But if you must work to live, why kill yourself working?
No matter how many posters there are on the workplace wall, and no matter how loud your shirt or sniggeringly humorous your computer backdrop, work is no substitute for life. That is why we describe people who think nothing but work as having no life, that is, no thoughts, opinions, desires, interests or even needs outside those of 'The Job.' Trying to create a kind of pseudo-life around work doesn't work either; you may be eating, but a 'business lunch' is still work. No matter how well the day is going, wouldn't you rather be somewhere else?
The answer to reclaiming 'life' does not lie in banishing work, though; there is some dignity in labour. The answer lies in the approach. Use your time off. Conserve your energy so that when you finish for the day, you do not just get home, pass out and wake up in time to leave again. Do not dismiss dreams and opinions as 'silly'. If wanting to go to Australia or learning to play the harpsichord or playing 'it' with your kids is silly, then what do you call spending eight to nine hours a day watching the clock, fantasizing about your lunch and training yourself to recognize the sound of the boss' footsteps? Remember to live. There has been a spate of publications in recent years listing things to do and see in your lifetime, '1001 places to see before you die', '101 things to do before you're thirty', and so on. 'Work' is not one of them.
Daniel Wallis
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Do you have a work permit? Are you a U.S. citizen or resident? Are you 18 or over? Do you have a driver's license?
Those are just some of the questions employers will ask you on employment applications this summer if you are a student looking for work.
Ten high school students learned this and more in a Jobs 4 Youth workshop Wednesday at the Private Industry Council (PIC) suites at the Butte County One-Stop Center on Table Mountain Boulevard.
Instructors Bob Lackey, Elaine Hocking and Gail Smith Reed pointed out the key elements of completing applications and resumes for this new program that started this summer.
Some of the teens had worked previously, but many were searching for their first jobs and needed tips on what to do.
The instructors noted most jobs require computer skills these days for everything from putting in a time card to handling a fast food restaurant cash register. Most students also know how to type, so typing certificates can be obtained through PIC and the Employment Development Center after taking a test, they said.
Students also were advised to expand on past job duties. Don't just say you baby-sat, the instructors said. Explain your levels of responsibility such as feeding, bathing and playing with young children.
If you are bilingual and speak more than one language, list them and list other skills like building fences, landscaping, operating equipment like saws, mowers and so on. Also include volunteer activities at school, in student clubs and for organizations.
School studies such as college preparation courses, welding, general ed, woodshop and more should be mentioned as well particularly if they apply to a job you are seeking.
All of these skills are important for teenagers seeking jobs and building resumes, and the agencies involved with Jobs 4 Youth aim to give students the skills they need to get a job, according to Daryl Turner of PIC.
Jobs 4 Youth's goal is to find 100 jobs for 100 youth, Turner said, although he doubts it will obtain that number in 2006.
"We cannot promise a job for all applicants,' a flyer said, "but we can offer training on how to prepare for a job and tips on how to get one.'
PIC and the county agencies will offer support, coaching and job training for young people, officials said.
The project is being coordinated through PIC and the Oroville Cares Community Awareness Program initiated by the Community Health Alliance of Oroville (CHAO), said Jana Wilson, of the Butte County Office of Education.
Other participants include the City of Oroville, Butte Community Employment Center, Butte College, Feather River Recreation and Park District, Oroville Union High School District and even California State Parks.
The Oroville Area Chamber of Commerce also is involved, Wilson and Turner said, in trying to get employers interested in hiring youth.
In addition, Turner said the program is aimed at teens 16 to 19 who might be considered at risk, so letters were sent to families on public assistance who had teens in that age group along with area charter or alternative high schools catering to at-risk teens.
He said 25 to 30 kids had responded so far from the letters, but additional applications to the program are being accepted.
Besides the job application training, some participants in Wednesday's workshop were to be referred to job interviews Thursday afternoon, and Lackey advised the students to come prepared and be dressed appropriately.
"I don't like being mean,' Lackey said. "But I will pull you aside for a talk if you smell and need a shower. I don't want to see pants down to your knees or boxers or thongs showing.'
The students laughed at his admonitions, but they seemed to get the message clean presentable clothes and appearance are important to employers.
Other tips include listing at least three personal references such as past employers, teachers, co-workers, neighbors, etc. on applications with phone numbers, being honest about skills and legal matters and making sure resumes and applications are clean and error free as misspelled words and sloppiness will get them tossed.
There are a host of things to learn in these workshops, so participants will have plenty of information to use when they are finished.
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Friday June 16, 7:06 am ET TheLadders.com Survey Reveals that Tech Savvy Dads Stay More Connected to Their Families
NEW YORK, June 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Fatherhood, usually associated with home life, turns out to be a valued asset in the workplace for executives, according to a national survey conducted by TheLadders.com, the world's leading online service for $100,000+ jobs. The company's annual "Fatherhood In the Workplace" survey found that 79% of executive dads say being a father actually makes them a better professional.
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While other cruise ship passengers lounge in deck chairs,Douglas Ward is peering under his bed, running a finger along a deck to check for dirt, making a mental note at lunch that -- horrors -- the butter is in packets, not in "proper little iced dishes."
"I'm not really snooping," he says during a phone interview from his home near Southampton, England. "I'm observing." That's his job.Ward is author of the Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships 2006, which evaluates 269 ships, large and small, budget and luxury.
This year he bestows his five-starsplus rating on only one, and it's not one well known in the United States: Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' Europa, a 450-passenger ship with no casino.
"Details, details, details, that's what Europa cruising is all about," writes Ward, listing such amenities as personal e-mail addresses, proper cloth doilies beneath drinks, "simply superb" food and a deck steward to mist poolside guests.
So enamored is he of the Europa that he has given it his top rating for six consecutive years.
Seventeen other ships were named this year to the Berlitz Five- Stars Club: SeaDream I and II; Seabourn's Legend, Pride and Spirit; Silversea's Silver Shadow, Silver Whisper, Hanseatic, Silver Cloud and Silver Wind; Queen Mary 2 (Grill Class only); Sea Cloud and Sea Cloud II; Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony; and Seven Seas' Mariner and Voyager. In other words, you get what you pay for.
His lowest rating -- one star -- means "the absolute bottom of the barrel," like "a stay in the most basic motel." This year, the lowest was 1?stars, to Cyprusbased Louis Cruise Lines' Serenade. Among its sins: plastic chairs and cramped baths.
Before he began evaluating cruise ships, Ward, 60, worked aboard them. Starting in 1965, when he made his first transatlantic crossing as a bandleader on Cunard's Queen Elizabeth, he was employed by eight lines in various jobs.
His career as a critic -- and as president of the Maritime Evaluations Group -- was born of a 2 a.m. conversation with Cunard line passengers several decades ago. "They were complaining that there was no centralized information," he said. (At the time, most cruises were booked directly with the line, not with travel agents or on the Internet.)
That meeting led to the formation in 1979 of an association of cruise passengers. Ward left the ships and started a newsletter, which became a magazine. In 1982, the association issued its first rating report on cruise ships, the basis for the first Berlitz guide, published in 1985.
The guidebook is in its 21st year, and Ward estimates that he has spent more than 5,000 days at sea on more than 920 cruises and 152 transatlantic crossings.
Ward and his helpers do not always travel anonymously, nor do they always pay their way. "In these hard economic times, it's quite difficult," he said. But he rejects any notion that this compromises integrity. "I tell the lines exactly what I'm going to be doing. 'If you're going to [try to] buy me, I'm not interested in coming to your ship.' They know well enough to leave me alone."
He's at sea more than 200 days a year, visiting and revisiting ships. As such, he has noticed a disturbing trend of cruise lines, hard hit by Sept. 11, charging for such things as spa treatments that once were included.
Ward writes that some cruises today are more "all-exclusive" than all-inclusive. "Extras" on a seven-day cruise can easily cost a couple about $1,600, he says.
In general, Ward gives cruise ships high marks for cleanliness, low marks for coffee (too weak, except in pay-by-the-cup coffee bars) and mixed marks for cuisine and entertainment.
Food quality depends on the tab. Ward said shipboard food standards had declined in recent years, especially on U.S.-based ships. He attributes this to economics and to Americans' attitude that adequate is OK as long as there's plenty of it.
Take the buffets, he said, where an "I-paid-for-it" greediness surfaces. "Americans start at one end and go to the other," he said. "Their plate is piled high with every feasible combination. Then at the end they add a lettuce leaf."
When grading food service, Ward includes presentation. Cream, sugar and jam in little packets is a no-no. He was dismayed to find coffee mugs (not cups) and wooden stirrers (not proper spoons) at the Queen Mary 2's beverage station. "That's not five star," he said.
Queen Mary 2 gets a rating of 4 1/2-to five stars in the guide, five only in the priciest accommodations. But he hinted that it may lose a few points in 2007 when he compares the QM2 with other five-star ships. In all fairness, he said, it should be judged as an ocean liner doing what it does best -- transatlantic crossings --and not as a cruise ship carrying "track suiters" who don't care about dress and decorum.
So what does the seafaring Ward do on vacation? "I stay home," he said, "so I can play in my garden."
Beverly Beyette writes for the Los Angeles Times.
Copyright ? 2006, The Los Angeles Times
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06/17/06 - Posted from the Daily Record newsroom
Advertisement
Welcome home, Jim Benoit
'Fighting Knight' injured in Iraq gets loving greeting at Morris Hills
BY LAURA BRUNO
DAILY RECORD
The atmosphere at Morris Hills High School this week reminded teachers of the build-up to Christmas. The anticipation and excitement swelled each day, and students kept repeating: "When is he going to be here?"
Their gift arrived on Thursday at noon, when Army Spc. Jim Benoit appeared on campus, stood in their classroom and took a walk down the hallway.
Accompanied by his mother and girlfriend, Benoit arrived at Morris Hills, his alma mater, to spontaneous applause from students and staff, and a banner hanging over the entrance reading, "Welcome Home James -- Our Fighting Knight."
Inside, a surprise birthday party with stars-and-stripes balloons and cupcakes was planned. Benoit, who grew up in Wharton, was home for the first time since September, when he was severely wounded in a roadside bomb attack in Iraq. And, it was his 24th birthday.
"Here is the man of the hour and he sat over there at that desk," said Judi Ricucci, his former teacher, presenting him to a classroom packed with 70 people and more spilling into the hallway. "We are here for you next year and for always."
They sang "Happy Birthday"to Benoit, a Class of 2001 graduate, and had him blow out candles lighted in cupcakes baked by Morris Hills teachers.
The tense emotions that teachers and students said they carried all year, having followed Benoit's sometimes touch-and-go recovery since school opened, were finally released on Thursday, the last day of classes.
"I'm amazed, impressed and honored," said Lisa Klepp, who taught Benoit during his freshman year. "He doesn't say much, but his inner determination has him standing now and you know that's what saved him. It's overwhelming for me."
Over the past 10 months, a committee of students and Benoit's former teachers channeled those nervous energies into fundraising for him.
Initially, they wanted to raise $2,001, marking the year he graduated. On Thursday, a sign on the door of Ricucci's classroom bore the sum of $20,810. That number was crossed out, however, replaced with a later tally of $21,810.
But even that number was no longer accurate. By that morning, another two checks had arrived -- bringing the total to more than $22,000. One was a donation of $500 from the high school's junior class, Ricucci said.
"I didn't expect that kind of reaction from the kids," Benoit said a day later. "It was pretty overwhelming. I definitely was glad to meet all the people who are supporting me."
Benoit is known to his teachers as quiet, but possessing a steely determination. He showed that off standing for nearly 30 minutes and taking a walk down the hallway. Benoit was largely speechless while students approached to shake his hand, check out his tattoos and tell him how much he meant to them.
"I just want to really thank you for what you did for us and this country," said Chris Trosky, 18, of Wharton.
Trosky said he wasn't sure how much he raised for Benoit, but he had gone from one company to the next in Rockaway, asking for donations. A group of 90 students worked throughout the school year soliciting donations, making ribbons and posters, and sending him get-well cards.
They presented him with a birthday card on Thursday, signed by dozens of students and teachers.
"Thank you for giving us something to believe in," one wrote. "I have never heard of so much courage out of one man,"another wrote.
Benoit has been stoic in the face of 78 surgeries over six months during his recovery at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. He was driving a 9,000-pound armored Humvee in Baghdad when an improvised explosive device, or IED, exploded underneath. Benoit took the brunt of the blast across his backside.
The explosion left a wound so wide and deep that it extended from the small of his back to the top of his legs. His doctors did not expect him to survive, let alone walk and climb stairs 10 months later.
Benoit continues to undergo daily physical therapy at Walter Reed. Although doctors did not want to operate again for a couple of more months, plastic surgeons must attend to his back again next week. Some of the skin and soft tissue they took from his thigh to cover his back is not holding up well against the pressure.
Despite this setback, Benoit said he hasn't given up on his goal -- to walk with just one assisting device.
His other goal is to return home for good before the end of the year. Benoit and his mother, Missy (who took a leave from her job to stay with him at Walter Reed), hope their new home in Wharton will be ready by the holidays.
Wharton donated property on Eileen Court for a home to be built for the Benoits. They could not return to the home they lived in with Benoit's two brothers because it is not accessible for the disabled. The Eileen Court property was auctioned to Benoit and, on Thursday night, the board of adjustment approved the variance required to build on the property.
A groundbreaking could occur within a month.
The town is working with the nonprofit Homes for our Troops on the house project. On the Homes for our Troops Web site, www.homesforourtroops.org, there is a listing of the 20 individuals and companies that already have committed materials and services. They still need items such as sheetrock and siding, but Home for our Troops has been impressed by how many have come forward so soon, considering that a shovel hasn't hit the ground yet.
In addition, various fundraisers have been held, with one of the largest being a Wharton pub crawl sponsored by the Wharton Republican Club in March, which raised $15,000.
Benoit got to walk around the property for the first time on Thursday. The only evidence of what the future holds is an American flag posted on a tree.
Benoit said it was hard to picture a house there, but he did get a kick out of seeing his name and address on blueprints. It hasn't quite sunk in that the land is his.
The day he gets to move in seems far away. Sitting in his grandmother's house, Benoit said he was happy to be home in Wharton.
"All I wanted for my birthday was to be home," Benoit said.
The feeling was mutual at Alfred C. MacKinnon Middle School, where they literally rolled out a red carpet for his visit on Friday. His former teacher, Patti Bilinkas, also threw him a party and had an eighth-grader read a poem that Benoit wrote when he was in the fifth grade. Then, Benoit sat to autograph the eighth-graders' yearbooks.
"It was a good birthday,"Benoit said. "Sure beats the last one -- I got mortared."
Laura Bruno can be reached at (973) 428-6626 or lbruno2@gannett.com.
Gannett Home | Gannett Foundation | Gannett Newspapers
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As a number of corporate executives have found to their dismay, lying on a job resume can have dire consequences.
Earlier this year, the chief executive of RadioShack was forced out after it was found that he did not have the college degrees he said he had.
Other major cases have seen the chairman of gun manufacturer Smith & Wesson's parent company resign when his criminal past was revealed and an executive for Bausch & Lomb miss out on a $1.1 million bonus because he falsely said he had a business school degree.
It's important to be honest on your resume - whether you're applying for a job as company president or as a janitor - because the risk of being caught in a lie is so great it isn't worth it, experts say.
"You really don't want to lie about anything because people do check and you can get found out," said Richard C. Bayer, chief operating officer of the Five O'Clock Club career coaching and outplacement firm in New York. "If that happens, you won't get hired, or worse, you'll get fired."
Still, study after study has shown that job seekers put a lot of inaccurate information in their resumes.
The Chicago outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas found that the most common falsehoods involved education, either listing a degree from a school the applicant did not attend or inflating a grade-point average. That was followed by making up job titles, boosting salaries and mischaracterizing why the applicant left previous jobs.
A recent study by ResumeDoctor.com, a resume advisory service based in South Burlington, Vt., found that nearly 43 percent of more than 1,100 resumes it checked for dates of employment, job titles and education contained at least one significant inaccuracy. Nearly 13 percent of the resumes contained two or more inaccuracies.
Brad Fredericks, co-founder of ResumeDoctor.com, said he thinks that some applicants mistakenly believed that inflating their credentials would give them a leg up.
"I think that some job seekers feel that in order to be competitive, they need to exaggerate their background," he said.
"It's kind of like an Olympic skier who feels pressure to use performance-enhancing drugs just to stay in the race."
Another reason, he added, "is the sense that everyone is doing it, so what's the harm?"
Such tactics, Fredericks warned, "can come back to hurt you sooner or later."
He said that most large companies have procedures to verify information on resumes or on the companies' own application forms. Many smaller companies don't, he added, "either because they don't have the resources or don't realize it's such a problem and that they need to do this."
Ironically, Fredericks said, the main reason job applicants fail to get a job is not that their credentials aren't adequate, but that their resumes aren't targeted to the employer.
"Every single time you send your resume, you have to take the time to customize it to show how your background makes you fit," he said. "It has to say, 'This is what you're looking for, and this is how my background relates to it.'"
Bayer, of the Five O'Clock Club, agrees that it's important for job seekers to put a strong summary statement at the top of a resume.
"You need to make it clear at the top what it is you want to do," Bayer said. "Otherwise, you're positioned by your most recent job."
And, Bayer said, it isn't necessary to give each job equal prominence; you can highlight those you want the hiring manager to notice.
He also says job seekers should not feel uncomfortable about revealing why they left a previous job, even if it was not voluntary.
"In today's economy - with plant closings, outsourcing, downsizing, mergers and acquisitions - it's not unusual to lose a job through no fault of your own," Bayer said. "Human resource managers understand this, and should not judge you unfairly for it."

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Job interview

In the first of what promises to be multiple integrations with Fox Interactive Media (FIM) properties, SimplyHired is powering a new job search area on MySpace. The addition of the MySpace Jobs feature follows FIM's recent investment in the job listings aggregator.
Visitors to the new Careers section of the social networking site are greeted with a photo of a buff beach-bathing couple and links to searches for outdoor jobs such as swim instructor or camp counselor, internships and retail gigs that might appeal to summer job seekers.
"Given the time of year and the nature of the audience, we thought it was a really good way to start," explained SimplyHired VP of Marketing Phil Carpenter.
For now, the feature is pretty bare bones, allowing users to search based on keyword and location. However, Carpenter expects that some of MySpace's social networking capabilities to be integrated with the new offering in the future. "We see a lot of potential there," he said. MySpace users are already able to use the site's free classifieds posting feature to post or search for jobs, housing, personals and other listings that are searchable by keyword, location, and added criteria appropriate for particular categories.
SimplyHired also is using the exposure to promote its SimplyFired "Summer Job Sob Stories" contest. The company has created a SimplyFired profile page and advertised it on the MySpace Careers page.
Carpenter noted that plans are in the works for incorporating SimplyHired's functionality into other FIM sites as well. SimplyHired raised $13.5 million from FIM and Foundation Capital in April.
Harnessing online communities is becoming more and more important in the world of job recruitment. Evincing a broader social networking strategy, SimplyHired already partners with business networking site LinkedIn to enable job searchers to click directly from a job listing to the LinkedIn system to find who they may know at a given company. Recruiting and networking site Jobster last week acquired recruiting industry blog Recruiting.com, also indicating just how significant community-building could become for Internet recruitment.
Some wonder whether employers will benefit from reaching the MySpace audience; the site has a reputation for appealing to teens and young adults. The danger, opined Joel Cheesman, author of recruitment and SEO blog Cheezhead, is that MySpace could drive unqualified traffic to employers. "It's good for MySpace and it's good for SimplyHired. I just question how good it is for employers," he told ClickZ News. Continued Cheesman, "You can argue that the employers are getting screwed'.They're going to get really crappy traffic from 18-year-olds."
Cheesman suggested that SimplyHired limit the types of jobs listed in the MySpace job search, removing executive positions, for instance.
Carpenter disagreed with the characterization of MySpace's audience, however. "This is not just people in their teens and early twenties," he contended. There are job seekers to be found [on MySpace] en masse that would be really good candidates for a broad range of jobs to be found."
Job interview

K-State students looking for a last-minute summer job still have a chance to find one.
Businesses in Manhattan have opportunities for part-time employment for students hoping to make some extra summer cash. Jobs are available both on and off campus.
One place to look for jobs is through K-State's Career and Employment Services.
"CES has a part time job listing," said Jennifer Brantley, Assistant Director of Experiential Learning at CES. "The job listings consist of on campus jobs, jobs in the Manhattan area, and seasonal/out of area jobs."
If students cannot find a job they are interested in on the CES database, Brantley suggested contacting the place where they want to work.
"If they don't see a job that they are looking for, the best thing to do is talk to the organization," she said.
Many students choose to work a job off campus, such as at Wal-Mart, Target, Dillons grocery store or one of the stores at the Manhattan Town Center mall.
"We hire checkers and carry-outs and, if they're over 18, we hire people for departments like deli, produce and bakery," said Rich Lehrmen, assistant manager at Dillons, 1000 Westloop Place.
There are also several employment opportunities through the Manhattan Town Center, said Sara Van Allen, marketing manager for Manhattan Town Center, Third Street and Poyntz Avenue.
"We have over 70 merchants here at Manhattan Town Center, and they all hire part-time help, so it's ideal for K-State students, especially for those who are taking classes," Van Allen said.
There is a binder at the mall's customer service with applications to some stores that are hiring help.
"It doesn't have all the merchants, so if a student is interested in working for one particular store, its best that they check with them directly," Van Allen said.
She said good traits to have are flexibility, a good appearance and a polite attitude.
"Most often the person giving you the application is the person who will hire you, so a first impression is everything," Van Allen said.
Brantley advised students to look for jobs early, be professional, have flexibility and have resumes and references with them.
Getting a job in the summer offers good benefits that last throughout the year.
"By landing a job in the summer, its a great way for those students to be ahead of the game for fall employment," Brantley said.
It also allows students to see if they are interested in that profession.
"It provides the employer the opportunity to offer a glimpse to a college student, especially if its the industry they're interested in," Van Allen said.
Hiring college students is also a benefit for the employer.
"Students that work and go to school often exhibit a high level of responsibility, and thats exactly what an employer is looking for," Van Allen said.
She said many places at the mall are still hiring for the summer. The binder at customer services still had applications from Aeropostale, Maurice's, Hibbett Sports, Foot Locker and Chili's, Van Allen said.
"We still have plenty of applications at our customer service desk," she said. "There's always going to be positions that come open here and there."
Brantley said having a job provides students with valuable skills they will use in the future.
"It's important for students to develop transferable skills, such as customer service skills, communication skills and teamwork skills," Brantley said.
"If they have those skills, they will be more marketable when they graduate and are looking for full time jobs."
Job interview

June 12 (Bloomberg) -- Monster Worldwide Inc., Broadcom Corp., Equinix Inc. and Cyberonics Inc. disclosed inquiries into whether they improperly dated stock options, bringing the number of companies involved in the widening probe to more than 40.
Comverse Technology Inc., the world's largest maker of voice-mail software, also delayed filing its first-quarter earnings and 2006 annual report as a special committee of the board carries out a review of the grants, the New York-based company said today in a Business Wire statement.
Companies in at least four countries have disclosed federal or internal inquiries into options grants. Investigators are looking at whether grants were illegally backdated or manipulated to coincide with low stock prices, which would make the options more valuable to executives who received them. Fifteen people have resigned or been fired, and more than 50 lawsuits are pending at more than 20 companies.
Monster, the New York-based operator of the Monster.com job- listing service, said a committee of independent directors is looking into its stock-options grant methods, according to a Business Wire statement today. The New York-based company hired an outside legal counsel to assist in the probe.
In 2006, Monster used a so-called restricted stock unit program instead of stock options as incentives for senior management, the company said.
Broadcom, a maker of computer chips for cable set-top boxes, drew an informal probe by the SEC into its stock options grants, the company said in a statement distributed by PR Newswire today. The Irvine, California-based company also said a shareholder lawsuit against directors and executives alleging damages in connection with the options grants process was filed May 25.
SEC Probe
Cyberonics, a Houston-based maker of medical devices, said in a regulatory filing today the SEC informed the company June 9 that it's conducting an inquiry into the company's stock options awards.
Equinix Inc., which provides data centers for Internet companies, said the SEC started an informal inquiry into its stock option grants, according to a Business Wire statement today. The Foster City, California-based company also announced its audit committee will conduct an internal review.
To contact the reporter on this story: Rebecca Barr in New York at Rbarr1@bloomberg.net
Job interview

NEW YORK: Monster Worldwide, Broadcom and three other companies Monday disclosed inquiries into whether they had improperly dated stock options, bringing the number of companies involved in the investigations to more than 40.

Equinix, Cyberonics and Applied Micro Circuits also announced inquiries.

Also Monday, Comverse Technology, the world's largest maker of voice- mail software, delayed filing its first- quarter earnings and annual report because of "an ongoing review" by a special committee of the board related to the grants, the company said.

Companies in at least four countries have disclosed U.S. government or internal inquiries into options grants. The investigators are looking at whether grants were illegally backdated or manipulated to coincide with low stock prices, which would have made the options more valuable to the executives who received them. Fifteen people have resigned or been fired, and more than 60 lawsuits are pending at more than 20 companies.

Monster, operator of the Monster.com job-listing service, said a committee of independent directors was looking into its stock-options grant methods, according to a statement Monday.

The company, which is based in New York, said that it hired outside legal counsel to assist in the inquiry.

In 2006, Monster used a so-called restricted-stock unit program instead of stock options as incentives for senior management, the company said.

Broadcom, a maker of computer chips for cable set-top boxes, drew an informal investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into its options, the company said. The company, which is based in Irvine, California, also said that shareholders sued late last month, charging improper options grants.

Cyberonics, a maker of medical devices that is based in Houston, said in a regulatory filing Monday that the SEC informed the company June 9 that it was scrutinizing Cyberonics' options awards.

Equinix, which provides data centers for Internet companies, said Monday that the SEC had started an informal inquiry into its stock option grants. The company, which is based in Foster City, California, also announced that its audit committee would conduct an internal review.

Applied Micro, a maker of chips for networking equipment, said that the SEC had started an investigation. The company, based in San Diego, also said that it would delay filing its annual report while its audit committee carried out a review of its stock-options.


NEW YORK: Monster Worldwide, Broadcom and three other companies Monday disclosed inquiries into whether they had improperly dated stock options, bringing the number of companies involved in the investigations to more than 40.

Equinix, Cyberonics and Applied Micro Circuits also announced inquiries.

Also Monday, Comverse Technology, the world's largest maker of voice- mail software, delayed filing its first- quarter earnings and annual report because of "an ongoing review" by a special committee of the board related to the grants, the company said.

Companies in at least four countries have disclosed U.S. government or internal inquiries into options grants. The investigators are looking at whether grants were illegally backdated or manipulated to coincide with low stock prices, which would have made the options more valuable to the executives who received them. Fifteen people have resigned or been fired, and more than 60 lawsuits are pending at more than 20 companies.

Monster, operator of the Monster.com job-listing service, said a committee of independent directors was looking into its stock-options grant methods, according to a statement Monday.

The company, which is based in New York, said that it hired outside legal counsel to assist in the inquiry.

In 2006, Monster used a so-called restricted-stock unit program instead of stock options as incentives for senior management, the company said.

Broadcom, a maker of computer chips for cable set-top boxes, drew an informal investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into its options, the company said. The company, which is based in Irvine, California, also said that shareholders sued late last month, charging improper options grants.

Cyberonics, a maker of medical devices that is based in Houston, said in a regulatory filing Monday that the SEC informed the company June 9 that it was scrutinizing Cyberonics' options awards.

Equinix, which provides data centers for Internet companies, said Monday that the SEC had started an informal inquiry into its stock option grants. The company, which is based in Foster City, California, also announced that its audit committee would conduct an internal review.

Applied Micro, a maker of chips for networking equipment, said that the SEC had started an investigation. The company, based in San Diego, also said that it would delay filing its annual report while its audit committee carried out a review of its stock-options.


NEW YORK: Monster Worldwide, Broadcom and three other companies Monday disclosed inquiries into whether they had improperly dated stock options, bringing the number of companies involved in the investigations to more than 40.

Equinix, Cyberonics and Applied Micro Circuits also announced inquiries.

Also Monday, Comverse Technology, the world's largest maker of voice- mail software, delayed filing its first- quarter earnings and annual report because of "an ongoing review" by a special committee of the board related to the grants, the company said.

Companies in at least four countries have disclosed U.S. government or internal inquiries into options grants. The investigators are looking at whether grants were illegally backdated or manipulated to coincide with low stock prices, which would have made the options more valuable to the executives who received them. Fifteen people have resigned or been fired, and more than 60 lawsuits are pending at more than 20 companies.

Monster, operator of the Monster.com job-listing service, said a committee of independent directors was looking into its stock-options grant methods, according to a statement Monday.

The company, which is based in New York, said that it hired outside legal counsel to assist in the inquiry.

In 2006, Monster used a so-called restricted-stock unit program instead of stock options as incentives for senior management, the company said.

Broadcom, a maker of computer chips for cable set-top boxes, drew an informal investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into its options, the company said. The company, which is based in Irvine, California, also said that shareholders sued late last month, charging improper options grants.

Cyberonics, a maker of medical devices that is based in Houston, said in a regulatory filing Monday that the SEC informed the company June 9 that it was scrutinizing Cyberonics' options awards.

Equinix, which provides data centers for Internet companies, said Monday that the SEC had started an informal inquiry into its stock option grants. The company, which is based in Foster City, California, also announced that its audit committee would conduct an internal review.

Applied Micro, a maker of chips for networking equipment, said that the SEC had started an investigation. The company, based in San Diego, also said that it would delay filing its annual report while its audit committee carried out a review of its stock-options.


NEW YORK: Monster Worldwide, Broadcom and three other companies Monday disclosed inquiries into whether they had improperly dated stock options, bringing the number of companies involved in the investigations to more than 40.

Equinix, Cyberonics and Applied Micro Circuits also announced inquiries.

Also Monday, Comverse Technology, the world's largest maker of voice- mail software, delayed filing its first- quarter earnings and annual report because of "an ongoing review" by a special committee of the board related to the grants, the company said.

Companies in at least four countries have disclosed U.S. government or internal inquiries into options grants. The investigators are looking at whether grants were illegally backdated or manipulated to coincide with low stock prices, which would have made the options more valuable to the executives who received them. Fifteen people have resigned or been fired, and more than 60 lawsuits are pending at more than 20 companies.

Monster, operator of the Monster.com job-listing service, said a committee of independent directors was looking into its stock-options grant methods, according to a statement Monday.

The company, which is based in New York, said that it hired outside legal counsel to assist in the inquiry.

In 2006, Monster used a so-called restricted-stock unit program instead of stock options as incentives for senior management, the company said.

Broadcom, a maker of computer chips for cable set-top boxes, drew an informal investigation by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission into its options, the company said. The company, which is based in Irvine, California, also said that shareholders sued late last month, charging improper options grants.

Cyberonics, a maker of medical devices that is based in Houston, said in a regulatory filing Monday that the SEC informed the company June 9 that it was scrutinizing Cyberonics' options awards.

Equinix, which provides data centers for Internet companies, said Monday that the SEC had started an informal inquiry into its stock option grants. The company, which is based in Foster City, California, also announced that its audit committee would conduct an internal review.

Applied Micro, a maker of chips for networking equipment, said that the SEC had started an investigation. The company, based in San Diego, also said that it would delay filing its annual report while its audit committee carried out a review of its stock-options.
Job interview

Fed Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto, in a speech to a meeting of broadcasters in Orlando, Florida, said inflation exceeds her ``comfort level.' Investors said her remarks intensified speculation the Fed will raise interest rates for the 17th straight time at the end of this month.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. posted its biggest drop in three years and energy shares declined with oil prices. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell, increasing its loss for the year to 5.2 percent, after Monster Worldwide Inc. and other Nasdaq companies began investigations into whether they improperly dated stock options to reward executives.
``Investors are nervous,' said John Augustine, who helps manage $21.5 billion as chief investment strategist at Fifth Third Asset Management in Cincinnati. ``It really unfortunately goes back again to the Fed and what the Fed will do to the financial markets.'
The S&P 500 fell 15.90, or 1.3 percent, to 1236.40, erasing its gain for the year and falling to the lowest since Nov. 16. The Nasdaq declined 43.74, or 2.1 percent, to 2091.32. The Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 99.34, or 0.9 percent, to 10,792.58.
NYSE Volume
More than nine stocks fell for every one than rose on the New York Stock Exchange, the worst such ratio in eight months. Some 1.62 billion shares changed hands on the Big Board, 4 percent less than the three-month daily average.
U.S. stocks capped their worst week since April 2005 on June 9 as a report showed import prices rose twice as much as economists forecast. The Nasdaq has dropped 11.8 percent from its high set on April 19, nearly twice the loss by the S&P 500 from its five-year high set during the first week in May.
Wholesale and consumer price reports this week may give Federal officials more reason to increase lending costs.
International markets also continued their slump on interest-rate concern. The Morgan Stanley Capital International Emerging Markets Index, a measure of stocks in 25 developing countries, fell 1.8 percent to 693.51, bringing its drop for the quarter to 12 percent.
Pianalto's Comments
Pianalto, the Cleveland Fed president and a voting member of the Federal Open Market Committee, sounded more concern about inflation earlier in the day.
``The core consumer price index has increased at an annualized rate of more than 3 percent during the past three months,' Pianalto told the Broadcast Cable Financial Management Association in Orlando, Florida. ``This inflation picture, if sustained, exceeds my comfort level.'
Dallas Fed President Richard Fisher spoke in Austin, Texas, saying that ``there is some angst' about inflation among his Fed colleagues.
The Labor Department issues reports on May wholesale prices tomorrow and consumer prices the day after. Producer prices, excluding food and energy, probably increased 0.2 percent last month, after a 0.1 percent gain in April, according to economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Core consumer prices may have risen 0.2 percent, less than the 0.3 percent gain posted in April.
``What you have is a lot of people afraid that this is overkill,' said Richard Hoey, who helps manages $170 billion as chief economist and investment strategist at Dreyfus Corp. in New York. Investors are getting ``too pessimistic about what's going to happen in the future.'
Lehman Slumps
The Amex Securities Broker/Dealer Index slid 3.2 percent.
Lehman slumped even after second-quarter profit exceeded analysts' estimates. Lehman reported profit of $1.69 a share in the three months ended May 31, beating the average estimate of $1.61 by analysts in a Thomson Financial survey. Shares of Lehman retreated $3.60 to $62.01.
Merrill Lynch & Co., the world's biggest securities firm by capital, tumbled $2.45 to $68.62. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world's No. 1 securities firm by market value, declined $4.89 to $145. The company may post profit of $4.19 a share tomorrow, according to a Thomson survey.
Energy stocks slid with the price of oil and contributed the most to the S&P 500's decline. Crude oil for July delivery fell 1.8 percent to $70.36 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Exxon Mobil Corp., the world's largest publicly traded oil company, fell 56 cents to $58.24. Schlumberger Ltd., the biggest oilfield-services company, fell $2.64 to $56.58.
A widening stock-options grant scandal weighed on shares of Comverse Technology Inc., the world's largest maker of voice- mail software, and Monster, the operator of the Monster.com job- listing service.
Comverse Slides
Comverse slumped $3.09, or 13 percent, to $20.48. The company said a special committee is reviewing its option grants and it cannot file its first-quarter earnings or its 2006 annual report until that the review is complete.
Monster slid $3.40, or 8.1 percent, to $38.60. The company said a committee of independent directors is investigating company options grant methods. Monster often gave options to top officials ahead of jumps in its share price, a trend that raises concerns about whether the grants were backdated, the Wall Street Journal said, citing information from the company's government filings.
General Motors Rises
General Motors Corp., the world's largest automaker, rose 43 cents to $25.78 on optimism the United Auto Workers union may be prepared to make some concessions. The New York Times reported that Ron Gettelfinger, president of the U.S. UAW, said his members can't ride out the automobile industry crisis and should be prepared to break with tradition.
Labor experts told the Times that his remarks are meant to prepare his members to expect further cutbacks in talks that begin next year.
Ed Keon, New York-based chief investment strategist for Prudential Equity Group LLC, lifted his recommended weighing in stocks to 75 percent from 70 percent, saying that earnings and the economy will continue to expand. He cut his allocation to bonds to 10 percent from 15 percent and kept cash at 15 percent.
``This isn't Goldilocks, but I see steady growth ahead,' said James Swanson, chief investment strategist at MFS Investment Management in Boston, which manages $157 billion.
To contact the reporter on this story: Dune Lawrence in New York at dlawrence6@bloomberg.net.
Job interview

Fed Bank of Cleveland President Sandra Pianalto, in a speech to a meeting of broadcasters in Orlando, Florida, said inflation exceeds her ``comfort level.' Investors said her remarks intensified speculation the Fed will raise interest rates for the 17th straight time at the end of this month.
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. posted its biggest drop in three years and energy shares declined with oil prices. The Nasdaq Composite Index fell, increasing its loss for the year to 5.2 percent, after Monster Worldwide Inc. and other Nasdaq companies began i