People ease the transition into a new job if they strive to learn as much as possible about the business, listen attentively to others and treat people with respect, writes Corey Burns, director of recruiting and development at General RV Center. "By being likeable, approachable, and trustworthy, you'll find career success is much more attainable," he writes.

You can still be productive while waiting for the next meeting to start by reviewing your notes, flagging important emails and organizing your workspace, writes Kevin Dickinson. This extra 5 to 10 minutes is also a good time to decompress by taking a walk, reading or visiting with colleagues.

Networking is more successful when it becomes a habit, and that starts with disciplining ourselves to connect or reconnect with a few people each week, writes networking coach Alana Muller. We make a better impression by offering to help them reach their career goals also and thanking them for their time.

As the newspaper industry keeps shrinking, I attended yet another former colleague's send-off party. I had one myself eight years ago. More than 95% of companies offer severance pay in the event of layoffs, according to a study by Lee Hecht Harrison. The standard is a week or two of pay for each year at the company, but that can increase the further up the career ladder you are. How many weeks of pay did you receive when you were laid off? We'll publish the results in Friday's brief.

An unemployment rate under 3% has Vermont employers offering wellness benefits such as on-site yoga and employee clinics, along with more unusual perks, to recruit and retain workers. Vermont Telephone Co. offers workers a $5,000 emergency fund, Champlain Cable has tuition reimbursement and Liquid Measurement offers workers a $1,000 annual vacation stipend.

Hiring managers appreciate learning certain insights about a candidate that a resume can't express, so follow up after submitting an application to show you're motivated, writes recruiter Andrew Fennell. Use the cover letter to explain in positive terms why you're seeking a new job and why you want to work for their company.

Older employees who are new to the online job search should use job sites to find people who can help them rather than applying blind, says career coach Steve Dalton. "I have never heard of a job seeker finding a job online who didn't have a booster," says Dalton, who explains the best ways to connect with these boosters.

You'll feel less overwhelmed by work if you schedule time to chip away at major projects each day and reassess priorities every morning or the night before, writes Chonce Maddox. Assign a block of time to each task, starting with the most urgent.

A private Israeli spacecraft launched last month, and aboard the ship was an archive put together by the Arch Mission Foundation known as the "Lunar Library," containing 30 million pages of information on human beings -- including the entire contents of Wikipedia and a guide to 5,000 languages. Nova Spivack, a co-founder of the foundation, said that its purpose is to preserve collective knowledge of human civilization.