Job seekers, get ready for personality tests

More employers are using pre-hire assessments

As it turns out, your childhood misdeeds, along with whether you care about someone else’s bad day and how much you read, may have an impact on how a prospective employer views you.

To get a read on applicants, more employers are using pre-hire assessments, which can check personality, cognitive ability, and competency, among other areas. About 56% of companies are using some sort of assessment tool as part of the hiring process this year, up from 48% in 2010, according to Aberdeen Group, a Boston-based research firm.

Facebook Organizes Friends into Lists Automatically

According to information posted to the Facebook blog , the new friends list feature – labeled Smart Lists – will automatically create groups for users' friends based on things they have in common: Workplace, school, city or family.
Additionally, users will be able to create lists for close friends and acquaintances. Though these lists won't update themselves, this innovation means that you'll be able to view photos or posts from those you really care about while skimming over information from more distant connections. You'll only receive major news – like engagements – from those flagged as acquaintances.

Georgia has 3rd highest poverty rate among states

New Census data shows that Georgia's poverty rate was the third highest in the country in 2010, up two spots from last year, with more than 1.8 million residents counted among the poor.

The only states with higher poverty rates in 2010 were Louisiana and Mississippi. Nationally, 15.1 percent of Americans were living in poverty last year.

Georgia also ranked eighth in the nation in the number of uninsured residents, at a rate of 19.4 percent. Roughly 1.9 million Georgians did not have health insurance last year when the state joined a challenge to President Barack Obama's health care plan, meant in part to address rising numbers of people without health insurance.

SAT scores drop in Georgia, South Carolina, U.S.

More high school graduates are trying to go to college, if SAT results released Wednesday are any indication.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean more graduates are ready for college.

Across Georgia, South Carolina and the nation, 2011 high school graduates posted lower SAT scores on average than students who graduated a year earlier. On the other hand, no graduating class has ever had more students take the SAT than last year’s.

Ohio has country's 11th highest foreclosure rate

Ohio had one of the nation's highest foreclosure rates last month as banks stepped up their actions against homeowners behind on their mortgage payments.

Foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday that the number of U.S. homes that received an initial default notice - the first step in the foreclosure process - jumped 33 percent in August from July.

Six Things the Film Industry Doesn't Want You To Know About

You may already be a film industry cynic. Maybe you think Hollywood is a barren wasteland, devoid of creativity and originality. Maybe you’re sick of seeing talented people get ignored and vapid hacks get splashed all over the trades. Maybe you’re tired of 3D everything and having to re-buy your movies every five to ten years.

I’m not here to dissuade you of any of that. Hell no, I’m here to make it worse. Get ready, because this is some of the rottenest shit of which the film industry is capable. These are the things so terrible that Hollywood has to cover them up, lest God see their sin and smite them accordingly (and keep various government entities and lawyers off their backs, of course). If you still had any kind thoughts toward Hollywood, I suggest you prepare yourself for crushing disappointment.

NLRB costing South Carolina jobs

The National Labor Relations Board is alleging that Boeing violated labor laws by locating its new 787 Dreamliner facility in North Charleston, S.C. For years, Boeing has operated predominantly in Washington state, where it has invested billions of dollars and created thousands of jobs.

New local plant will provide 350 jobs

South Carolina's top-flight aerospace team got a boost from a hometown player Wednesday when The InterTech Group Inc. announced its subsidiary's plans for a major manufacturing facility in North Charleston that would bring 350 jobs to a region hungry for employment and new investment.

10 Things Social Security Won't Tell You

The secret of bigger benefits, and the truth about the agency's bottom line.

A Social Security spokeswoman points out that interest income from the Treasury bonds held in the trust fund will allow it to keep growing until 2022 -- even if the agency has to siphon off some money to offset any shortages in tax revenue -- and won't be exhausted until 2036, when the first Gen Xers begin retiring. But that's already one year earlier than previous projections. After that, the agency says tax income under the current system will only cover about 75% of benefit payments through 2085.