Surgical technologists assist in surgery. They work under the supervision of surgeons and registered nurses as part of the operating room team. To become a surgical technologist one must complete a formal program lasting between 9 and 12 months. The program consists of a combination of classroom instruction and clinical training. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics survey researchers have a bright future. Job growth in this field will be much faster than the average for all occupations through 2018. (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

If you are considering a career as a surgical technologist, you need to learn more about this occupation. Read Surgical Technologist: Career Information to get some basic details, including information about earnings, job outlook and advancement opportunities. To learn even more, try to arrange an interview with a surgical technologist. If you don't know one, perhaps someone in your network does. Take the Surgical Technologist Quiz to find out if this career choice is right for you.

If you recently donned a cap and gown and marched down the aisle to the tune of pomp and circumstance, you may be wise to head south. That's where Business Week says recent college graduates will have the best career opportunities in the U.S., according to its recently released list of the Top Cities for New College Grads. Houston, Texas is at the top of the list followed by Washington, Dallas, Atlanta, and Austin, Texas.

Why Houston?, you may ask. Or for that matter why any city? What criteria were used to determine whether a city made it onto the list? According to the article, the ranking was based on job postings in a particular city on AfterCollege, a Web site that features entry-level jobs, as well as on city unemployment rates and the average annual pay for all occupations as reported by the U.S. Department of Labor (Top Cities for New College Grads). Read the article to find out what other cities made it onto the list.

I received an email the other day from a reader who was quite unhappy with some of my advice regarding proper workplace behavior: "I've just read some of your office behavior guides and I'm ashamed. It's people like you who try and keep the population as mindless, soulless drones."

I spend a great deal of time making sure I'm providing my readers with useful information, so I was a bit taken aback by his comments. Since I'm well-aware there are many types of work environments, I wanted to make sure I hadn't done anything silly like tell everyone they had to wear a suit to work. That might be appropriate for an accounting firm, but boy would that be weird if you worked in a flower shop.

As far as proper workplace behavior, I don't see anything particularly wrong with advising my readers, regardless of the environment in which they work, not to offend their co-workers or boss or embarrass themselves. That's pretty much one-size-fits-all advice as it should be.

Ironically, the reader is taking the advice I would have given him had he asked what he should do if he was stuck in a work environment that was unsuitable for him, for example one that required employees to dress in a certain way or even act a certain way. I would, however, remind him that civil behavior is important regardless of where he works: "The office is one of the only workplaces that tries to keep this ancient practice up and is exactly why I'm about to leave and go back to a normal working environment of the studio, where I can actually concentrate on the work I am producing and not how I'm dressed."

Congratulations, I say to him. You are doing the right thing. Two of the most important questions one should ask him or herself when considering a job offer are "Will I Be Comfortable in This Office Environment?" and "Is The Corporate Culture In Line With My Own Values, Attitudes, And Goals?"

Survey researchers work for corporations, government agencies and political candidates, designing or conducting surveys about people and their opinions. A bachelor's degree will suffice for anyone who wants an entry-level job as a survey researcher, but more technical positions require a master's degree, generally in business administration, marketing, statistics or communications. The future looks promising for those working in this field. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts that survey researchers will experience faster growth than other occupations that also require a bachelor's degree (Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Occupational Outlook Handbook, 2010-11 Edition).

If you are considering a career as a survey researcher, you need to learn more about this occupation. Read Survey Researcher: Career Information to get some basic details, including information about earnings, job outlook and advancement opportunities. To learn even more, try to arrange an interview with a survey researcher. If you don't know one, perhaps someone in your network does.