In addition to picnics and parties, three-in-ten workers have thoughts of a better career on their minds this Labor Day weekend. In a survey of more than 1,600 workers completed in August 2004, CareerBuilder.com asked respondents to evaluate their career progress to date and identify the top factors preventing them from reaching their career goals.

"Thirty percent of workers say they are dissatisfied with their career progress, which can, in turn, adversely impact overall job satisfaction," said Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources for CareerBuilder.com. "Forty-two percent of those who are dissatisfied with their career progress plan to leave their current positions, with 28 percent expecting to change jobs before the end of the year. These workers are ready to take advantage of improvements in the labor market this year to overcome career barriers and kick off their careers."

  The top five career barriers cited by respondents include:

   #1 - Lack of Career Advancement Opportunities at Present Employer
   Twenty-seven percent of workers feel their current organizations do not
   offer much opportunity to move up the company ladder.  One-in-four
   workers report they have been overlooked for a promotion this year.

   #2 - Lack of Appropriate Education, Training and Experience
   Eighteen percent of workers say they do not have the proper schooling and
   hands-on experience to reach career goals.

   #3 - Inadequate Direction from Supervisors
   Fifteen percent of workers say their supervisors do not provide effective
   mentoring and instruction to help them develop and improve.

   #4 - A Challenging Economy
   Ten percent of workers feel a challenging economy is to blame for closing
   some doors and making it difficult to advance career plans.

   #5 - Lack of Support from Present Employers
   Seven percent of workers say they don't have a solid support network at
   their organizations.

More than half of workers who are dissatisfied with their career progress are not enthusiastic about going to work each day and say they work under a great deal of stress. More than two-thirds of these workers are dissatisfied with pay and more than one-third are actively looking for a new job on a daily or weekly basis.

Haefner offers the following tips to help workers kick off their careers this Labor Day weekend:

   -- First and foremost, turn off any internal alarms or uncertainties
      about transitions that might discourage you from following through on
      your career goals.  Prepare a skills assessment of those areas in
      which you excel and recognize your strengths.
   -- Determine what has kept you from moving forward in your career sooner.
      Whether it be additional training or educational requirements or other
      factors, write down each challenge to getting your perfect job.  The
      quicker you name it, the quicker you can take control.
   -- Then look at your list of challenges and blueprint a strategy for
      tackling each solution you have assigned.  List in detail how you can
      accomplish each task and set steadfast deadlines.
   -- Establish a career action plan.  Identify which jobs represent the
      next step in your career path.  Gain necessary experience through paid
      jobs or even volunteer activities.


  About the Survey

The new CareerBuilder.com survey, "Labor Day 2004," was conducted from August 5 to August 24, 2004 of more than 1,600 workers. To collect data for the survey, CareerBuilder.com commissioned SurveySite to use an e-mail methodology whereby individuals who are members of SurveySite Web Panel were randomly selected and approached by e-mail invitation to participate in the online survey. The results of this survey are accurate within +/-2.43 percentage points (19 times out of 20).

About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is a leading online source for maximizing recruitment dollars and optimizing job searches with superior products, customer service and technology. With a unique combination of national, local and niche audiences, CareerBuilder.com makes it easy for recruiters to reach the most qualified candidates with industry-leading market research data and support. Job seekers can search for the right job from more than 500,000 continuously updated postings, representing more than 30,000 of the top employers in virtually every industry, field and location. Together with Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company , and Knight Ridder, Inc. , CareerBuilder.com includes the Web's top newspaper sites -- the most trusted employment sources in recruiting. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, call 888-670-TEAM or visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/ .

   Media Contact:
   CareerBuilder.com
   Jennifer Sullivan
   (773) 527-1164
   jennifer.sullivan@careerbuilder.com

SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com