Having a script sketched out in your head can help you navigate common workplace scenarios and use them to your advantage, writes Judith Humphrey. For instance, you can prepare for elevator chat by deciding ahead of time what relevant topics you can discuss with specific professionals that you may encounter.

Online learning is a great way for busy professionals to brush up on their skills and open up new career opportunities, writes Marian Stoltz-Loike. The flexibility and wide variety of online learning courses can help older students balance education with work and family obligations.

Don't be shy about asking how to follow up at the end of your job interview, writes Pattie Hunt Sinacole. Ask how the rest of the selection process will proceed and how the hiring manager would prefer you contact them in the future.

Seven charts show how 25 million immigrants affect the economy, in which many occupy hard-to-fill positions in construction and programming. Among the data: Immigrants earn less on average than native-born workers, and they are more likely to start a business.

Don't be afraid to show your enthusiasm for the position when you're in a job interview, writes Caroline Ceniza-Levine, who provides 10 tips for standing out to potential employers. Among them are minimizing nervous body language and starting your interview in the lobby.

You'll be less stressed during the week if you figure out what your key activities will be ahead of time, writes Lisa Quast. Among her tips for making your week less stressful are scheduling time for your most important tasks so you know which requests you can and can't accommodate, and preparing outfits and meals ahead of time.

The precursors to NASCAR lie in the high-powered, stabilized vehicles used to quickly move moonshine without getting caught by the law, writes Jennifer Billock. Nearly 15 years after Prohibition ended, NASCAR was formed to give rules and order to the informal races that had persisted.