Hyune Hand, president of Hoover’s, the business information service, says that “instead of trying to manage a career, focus on your achievements and try to be the best you can be.”

Women make up half of today’s work force, but they must still deal with a well-entrenched double standard when it comes to gender-acceptable behavior.

Meridee A. Moore of Watershed Asset Management, a hedge fund, likes the back-and-forth of working in an open space. Private offices, she says, are lonely.

Ricardo Poma credits his relatives and his family history with inspiring him professionally.

An effective résumé is clear, concise and relevant to the job you want.

Luther S. Luedtke leads the Education Development Center, which aims to help solve economic, health and education problems around the globe.

It wasn’t an epiphany that led Peter Wilson to teaching, but the new career is fulfilling in ways he never expected.

Jana Eggers of Spreadshirt wants to know the challenges that prospective hires have overcome — and how they treat the receptionist before the job interview.

The Federal Trade Commission announced seven civil suits as part of a crackdown, which officials said deceive job seekers by falsely promising work as federal employees.

Vineet Nayar, chief executive of HCL Technologies, says he tries to tell employees “to not look up to me, but to look within.”

Paul Hogan, whose mother was a longtime caregiver for his grandmother, would eventually start Home Instead Senior Care, which now has 60,000 clients.

How to become more valuable to your employer? For starters, find ways for it to earn more and spend less.

“Every time I skated, I got better at it,” recalls Tony Hawk, who has built a five-division business out of something he loves to do.

Dianne Fuller Doherty, who advises entrepreneurs and works to create jobs, says that “as long as I am doing something of value, why not continue doing it?”

Mark Pincus, head of Zynga, a provider of online social games, says it’s important to give employees a responsibility that makes them stretch.

More high-level job seekers are taking matters into their own hands by founding their own companies.

Should you consider part-time teaching as a way to improve your finances and expand your career opportunities?

For Joseph Grano, seeing an ad while recovering from severe war wounds started a career that took him to the top of a major Wall Street firm.

Bobbi Brown, the founder of Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, says she wants to hire people who bring “energy, creativity and newness.”

Pam Lopker and her husband, Karl, found that after taking different career paths, working together took them in the best direction.