In addition to earning income, they want to use their experience to do the work they enjoy.

Some corporate executives might want to join the Peace Corps, bankers would build yachts, and mechanics would run greenhouses.

"They no longer have to worry about putting two or three children through college," says Kelley Coates-Carter, AARP Maryland spokeswoman. "They can focus on something they always wanted to do. If they're looking to transition into other careers, one of the first things we tell them is to think about their passion."

However, other boomers will not have the luxury of spending their golden years doing their labors of love. Low incomes or a lack of saving early in their careers has left them with few options as they get older.

"There are some baby boomers who will have to work forever because their employers don't have good pensions," says Mr. Frey, the Brookings Institution demographer. "There are a lot of jobs that are being phased out. They're going to be struggling to find jobs."

The nation's largest transit system ground to a halt after 3 a.m. when the 33,000-member Transport Workers Union called the strike after a late round of negotiations with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority broke down Monday night. The subways and buses provide more than 7 million rides per day.

New Yorkers car-pooled, shared taxis, rode bicycles, roller-skated or walked in the freezing cold. Early morning temperatures were in the 20s.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who had said the strike would cost the city as much as $400 million a day, joined the throngs of people crossing the Brooklyn Bridge by foot.

Although most hiring managers expect to receive a thank you note, format preferences differ. One-in-four hiring managers prefer to receive a thank-you note in e-mail form only; 19 percent want the e-mail followed up with a hard copy; 21 percent want a typed hard copy only and 23 percent prefer just a handwritten note.

"No matter which format you choose, it’s crucial to act quickly when sending a thank-you letter to your interviewer," says Rosemary Haefner, Vice President of Human Resources at CareerBuilder.com. "Twenty-six percent of hiring managers expect to have the letter in-hand two days after the interview, and 36 percent expect to have it within three to five days. Sending the letter quickly reinforces your enthusiasm for the job, and helps keep you top-of-mind for the interviewer."

Stick to three paragraphs. In the first paragraph, thank the interviewer for the opportunity. Use the second to sell yourself by reminding the hiring manager of your qualifications. In the third paragraph, reiterate your interest in the position.

Fill in the blanks. Thank-you notes are a great way to add in key information you forgot in the interview, clarify any points or try to ease any reservations the interviewer might have expressed.

Proofread carefully. Double-check to be sure your note is free from typos and grammatical errors. Don't rely solely on your spell-checker.

Be specific. Don't send out a generic correspondence. Instead, tailor your note to the specific job and the relationship you have established with the hiring manager.

A lot of people want to work for Google. I’m one of them. In order to increase my chances of ever getting noticed (let alone hired) by them I have to stand out. This website is my attempt to do so.

I've wanted to work for Google for a long time but until now I've been busy with my studies. However, I'm now only one year away from completing my Master's Degree in Computer Science at the Technical University of Munich. Upon my graduation I'll be needing a job and for me this seems the perfect time for me to start working for Google.

Whether you're just starting your career or have reached middle management, anyone can benefit from having mentors. Even CEOs have people they can bounce ideas off, and with whom they can discuss their next career move or how to handle that disgruntled shareholder who wants their heads.

If your employer doesn't have a formal mentoring program, you'll have to go it alone and find one for yourself. It could be your boss, a coworker, a person in another department or even someone outside the workplace.

Mentoring should be a two-way street. It's not all about you, your problems and your career. Think about why you need a mentor and how the mentor would benefit from spending time with you. Then approach the person, but don't come across as needy.

Realize that as you work your way up the corporate ladder, your mentors will change.

"It may be someone you outgrow. The dark side of mentorship is that they may begin to see you as a competitor. You must be able to change mentors as you grow," says Larraine Segil, a partner at consultancy Vantage Partners.

Notice of monitoring: Only two states (Connecticut and Delaware) require that employers inform workers if they are monitoring online activity, according to Jeremy Gruber, legal director, the National Workrights Institute. Federal legislation requiring such disclosure has been proposed but not enacted.

Privacy outside the office: More workers are telecommuting these days, often using laptops and other portable devices provided by their employer. But leaving the office doesn't guarantee freedom from internet surveillance.

Using the company laptop to remotely access its network is, from a monitoring legality standpoint, generally the same as working from the office, said Mark Schreiber, a partner at Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge, who advises firms regarding internet use policies.

Photocopier manufacturers are anticipating a 25% rise in call outs over the festive period because of workers abusing the machines.

Manufacturer Canon said a third of its technicians called out over the Christmas period have to deal with the consequences of staff sitting on photocopiers to make pictures of their bottoms.

In response, the company has increased the thickness of the glass on the machines from 3mm to 4mm to take the strain.

David Smith, marketing director at Canon UK, said: "People obviously let their hair down at Christmas time and the photocopier tends to get a bit of extra-curricular activity."

Office holiday parties are like blind dates: Wear the wrong shirt, tell the wrong joke or drink one too many martinis and your potentially happy future is over before it began. Each year amid the jovial flow of cocktail franks, gin-and-tonics and choruses of Fill Me Up, Buttercup, someone becomes a footnote in their company's holiday folklore, forever labeled as the guy who thought it would be funny to teach the boss's wife to dance the Macarena.

The delicate task of navigating this half-social, half-professional occasion leaves many employees wishing they could simply stay home.

But according to executive coach Marjorie Brody, the office holiday party is an ideal opportunity to raise your profile at work in a positive way and make connections that can help your career.

"Most people think it's a party, and either they don't want to go or they'll go and just eat and drink with their friends. Both of those are mistakes," Brody says. "It's a chance to be talking to people you don't normally speak to and a good opportunity to create an impression."

Although Notre Dame's Cedar Grove Cemetery has been reserved for faculty and staff since the university was founded in 1843, the "Coming Home Project," initiated this past spring in response to alumni requests, will expand the cemetery to allow for alumni burials and funeral services.

"So many [alumni] said to me, 'Notre Dame is home for us now, Notre Dame is where we gather, so this would be like coming home, if we could be buried there,'" said Rev. William Seetch, the university's alumni chaplain. The name of the project represents the sentiment behind it, he said.

Seetch emphasized the university's role in creating solidarity among family members who are geographically dispersed.

"Our society is so mobile," he said. "People no longer have the family center back where they and their grandparents and parents may have lived. As careers and jobs move away, those centers break up, and what many families have in common is the place where they were educated."

Recruitment in a variety of industries and occupations has pushed an online index of hiring to its highest level ever.

An official at Monster Worldwide says his company's Monster Employment Index indicates businesses are "more confident about the strength of the economy." He says companies are hiring based on the prediction of continued growth.

The company says hiring in the retail and wholesale trade industries for the year-end holiday season played a major role in job growth.