If you’re considering pulling a big prank at work, you may want to think twice. A national survey by a recruitment firm found 68% of advertising and marketing executives think April Fools’ pranks are inappropriate for the workplace. While under the guise of “team building,” certain pranks cause more harm than good. Even if your corporate or office culture embraces jokes, be aware that a misstep, even if intended all in fun, can mean you’re looking for a new job if someone takes it the wrong way, or if things go too far.

How can you evaluate a workplace prank?

Don’t be a bully. 

Every office has a few known misfits – people who don’t seem to mesh with the rest of the crowd. Choosing these teammates to be on the receiving end of your prank isn’t funny, it’s mean spirited and potentially cruel. Picking on someone known to be an outsider puts you on the same level of the grade-school bully who takes lunches from weaker kids on the bus.

Resist the urge to do anything that could cause permanent harm.

While changing a meeting time on someone’s calendar to cause them to miss an appointment may seem casual or harmless, if the event was important, the prank may escalate from mirthful to consequential very quickly.

Avoid gags that could be considered offensive. 

Stay away from anything that could be interpreted as targeted at any group or could be considered harassment. Making fun of people based on their race, religion or sexual orientation is never appropriate. Anything sexual in nature at all (a stripper, for example) is crossing the line in the office and could result in harassment charges.

Know your audience. 

If your target is the one who normally plans office pranks, and gags are common in your workplace, you’re less likely to be met with resistance, and your prank may be well received. If you work in a place where fun comes first, a well-played practical joke may be a welcome distraction. On the other hand, if it’s a buttoned-up work environment or clients frequent the office, you may want to think twice (or three times) before breaking the company’s culture with an April Fool’s joke.

Consider social media’s potential to extend – or ruin – your harmless prank. 

Maybe making your boss look a little silly won’t get you fired (if you’re lucky). However, making your boss look silly, filming it and posting it on the company’s YouTube channel or Twitter feed may very well result in termination. Be aware of the ramifications of what you do and how a single photo posted on Facebook can affect someone’s career.

“Safer” work gags.

There’s no dearth of ideas online for practical jokes at work. If you must break the monotony at work and have considered your plans in the context of advice to evaluate a workplace prank, choose something that won’t hurt anyone’s feelings and that leaves everyone involved thinking, “That was funny.”

Here are a few April Fool’s Day pranks unlikely to hurt anyone, but proceed at your own risk. 

• Mashable suggested arranging for co-workers to each bring in several changes of clothing, and to update their outfits throughout the day. While it could make a very tired co-worker think he is going crazy, it’s unlikely to cause any real harm.
• Put “Out of Order” signs on bathroom doors or on other “important” devices, such as the coffee pot or microwave.
• “Foil” or “wrap” someone’s office. Before you start, be sure he or she doesn’t have an important meeting first thing in the morning, and then cover everything in the office.
• The old “fill the drawers” trick. Ping pong balls in every drawer will be inconvenient, but is unlikely to cause any real damage.
• Balloon an office. It can be a challenge to fill an office with balloons, and clean up may be a pain, but it can be a fun –- and colorful –- prank to spice up the day.

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If you do choose to proceed with a prank, make sure to be careful and keep the end goal in mind. You want everyone remembering the prank as being fun and clever, not nasty and mean spirited.

Originally appeared on AOLJobs.com.

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Acknowledge You’re Asking for a Favor
If your organization has a “no time off” policy during certain periods or if time needs to be planned months in advance, make it clear that you understand you are asking for something extraordinary and be prepared to explain why this need does not result from your poor planning. In other words, if you decided to book a trip because the price was right, even though you knew you were working and wouldn’t easily be able to secure vacation time, you are probably out of luck and you may be burning your bridges. Depending on how firm the policy at work, if there’s a family situation or event outside of your control and planning, it’s fair to lobby for an exception to the rule in most circumstances. When you ask, explain the extraordinary circumstances and make it clear you would never otherwise ask for an exception to the rule.

Assume Everyone Needs Something
If it’s up to you to find a stand-in so you can be off, keep in mind: the first rule of negotiating anything is that everyone should walk away feeling like a winner. It’s unlikely you’re the only one in the office with an unexpected event or situation. If you need Thanksgiving off and it’s important to you, offer to work New Year’s Eve for the colleague who’s hoping to get engaged that night. If you find another person with an equally pressing need for time off and you can help each other, everyone wins.

Up the Ante
Assuming you cannot find someone to make an even swap for holiday time off, ramp up the stakes. Offer to work someone else’s holiday weekend in the future, or take an extra turn or two doing an unpopular task. For example, you could suggest you take on your colleague’s clean-up duty for the next week, or offer to work that person’s late nights for a certain amount of time. Sweeten the pot as much as necessary to sway your colleagues and you may be able to win your time off.

Plan Ahead for Next Time
If these tactics fail, it’s time to take a serious look at your work relationships. Maybe you’re avaluable employee, but are you the colleague who doesn’t give anyone the time of day until you need something, and then have no compunction about asking for a favor? Make some changes now, so next time, you’ll have a better chance of convincing your colleagues to help you out in the future.

How can you make this change? Be exceptionally considerate at work. If your automatic reply is “no” when someone asks for something that inconveniences you, start to say “yes” instead. Offer to pitch in if co-workers look swamped and you have a little free time. When people ask you to switch shifts with them, do it, even when it’s a little inconvenient for you. If you work remotely, make a point to connect with your colleagues regularly so you’re more than a name on a screen.

Become the teammate everyone knows they can rely on to help out and it will be easier to convince co-workers to step up when you need a hand or a favor down the road.

More from Miriam Salpeter
Best places you aren’t already networking
Make mistakes work for you in the office
What NOT to do to make a good impression at work

Originally published at AOLJobs.com.

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In some workplaces, dressing up is expected and considered part of the organization’s culture. For example, if you’re a teacher, and everyone dresses up as part of a “book character dress-up day” around Halloween, you wouldn’t want to be the one teacher who doesn’t play along. That will make you look uncreative at best and lazy at worst.

On the other hand, if you choose inappropriately provocative attire or otherwise misfire with your costume, you’ll be in even worse hot water. Fishnet stockings are not the best choices for a school teacher, even if your goal is to look like Fantine from Les Miserables. You may also want to think twice about donning the persona of a political figure, even an historical one. In other words, coming in as Hitler or Syrian President al-Assad isn’t likely to win favor.

Another group that may be expected to go all out for Halloween is wait staffs in casual restaurants. In that case, depending on your clientele, it’s possible you can actually embrace your sexy alter-ego and not risk your job. However, keep in mind, if you win “sexiest costume of the night,” expect that image to be a part of your workplace persona long after Oct. 31 passes.

Another factor to consider: will your costume elicit controversy and conversation you’re not prepared to manage? If you dress up as “Obamacare” or Speaker Boehner, don’t be surprised if people on the opposite end of the political spectrum have some choice comments. Just as it’s not generally a great idea to discuss politics at work, similarly, it’s not a great idea to wear your politics to work, even on Halloween.

When Dressing Up Is Unlikely to Win You Friends

Do you really want your insurance broker or attorney handing you important papers to sign while dressed as Gumby or Big Bird? The same rules go for most client-facing roles where the business at hand is serious, and the attire needs to match. Even if Halloween is your favorite day of the year, do not call your judgment into question by being the only one who takes it as an opportunity to break out of the traditional dress code to go a little crazy.

Sometimes, the role you play at work will dictate whether or not you should dress up. For example, the call center team members who never see clients may be able to have some fun on Halloween, while the front-facing sales staff need to play it more conservatively.

How to Decide How to Celebrate – Or Not!

If you’re new at work, ask your boss or a trusted co-worker if people dress up for Halloween. If you’re a sleuth, you can peruse back issues of the company newsletter to see if Halloween is depicted in past communications. If dressing up isn’t on the agenda, don’t let it put you in a bad mood; it’s possible you can celebrate the day in other ways at work by wearing a fun accessory. Just make sure you don’t distract your co-workers with a flashing necklace or by carrying around something that moans or you’ll attract the kind of attention you don’t want.

Want to know a great way to get in the spirit of the holiday in many offices? Bring in a baked good or other sweet treat to offer co-workers. As long as you’re not pushy, and recognize some people are dieting, have food allergies or aversions or don’t believe in Halloween, you can’t lose.

We are showing you how to eat, drink and be scary this Halloween season.
Read more on Halloween on AOL:

15 Frightfully Delicious Halloween Treats
11 Halloween Party Appetizers
How To Look Spooky Without Looking Scary

Originally appeared on AOLJobs.com.

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When you want to persuade someone to agree with your point of view, your first goal is to identify what that person values. Is there an emotional or strategic tactic that would appeal to your boss? You’ve decided he or she is unyielding, but what can you appeal to in order to get his or her attention? Most careerists listen to basic business speak: numbers, return on investment and profit. Before you try to convince an uncompromising boss to do something differently, make sure you’ve spent time listening and researching the most likely scenarios to connect with your target audience of one.

Kevin Weir of ActionCOACH advises that a boss’s aversion to new ideas could relate to fear. Your boss may worry that the change will have a negative impact. Even if you lost the boss lottery and work for a really tough person to sell, if you’re strategic, you can still successfully win a new fan and potential advocate. Weir suggests these four steps to sell your ideas to an uncompromising boss:

1. Identify the negative consequences of the current situation to your boss. Weir suggests you point out the consequences of the current situation. For example, how much money is the company losing using the current system? How many people hours go to waste because things never change? How much more revenue could the organization lose by continuing at the current rate? “This may take time, but at some point, he or she will start to realize that the cost of inaction is much greater than the cost of action,” he says.

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2. Illustrate the benefits of making a change. Once your boss acknowledges that the status quo isn’t ideal, it’s time to illustrate benefits of making a change. Weir suggests you raise some key questions, such as: “What will it mean for the team if we can spend less resources, but get the same results? How much more money will we make and what are the benefits to everybody, including the boss?” A rigid boss motivated by fear may begin to see a net positive benefit from risking a change. Weir says, “This is the time to start giving some ideas of your solutions, but don’t paint the entire picture as it still may scare your boss off.”

3. Present your idea last. Once the boss recognizes that making a change is the best-case scenario and acknowledges the benefits of doing something different, begin to present your ideas. “Make sure that you are more focused on the first steps to implement,” Weir says. “If you get them thinking in terms of how they are going to make this happen all at once, they will go into overwhelm mode and freeze up again. Once they take that first step, they are now more likely to take the second and ongoing steps.”

4. Reveal your idea in increments. After winning interest for the first step, unravel your idea carefully and avoid overwhelming the change-averse boss. You don’t want him or her to put the breaks on the idea or to become paralyzed by over-analyzing the situation.

Get my free white paper: 5 Mistakes Preventing You From Landing a Job This Week 

This post originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report

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1. Prioritize
Productivity experts tout this as key to successfully making it through the day, and there’s no doubt that it’s worth spending a little extra energy on the front end of your day, week or month identifying what is most important. It can make you happier at work and at home. Make sure to include time for both work and personal projects on your priority list, and recognize that you’ll need to adjust your those priorities occasionally; don’t be too dogmatic.

2. Create a Schedule
In addition to the feeling of accomplishment you can earn when you check something off, a schedule helps you keep on track with your priorities. However, don’t be overly optimistic. If you’re always bragging to friends about your 50-item to-do list, it’s time to rethink your strategy; you can’t possibly get that much done in a day. Instead, think about managing two, simultaneous lists: one to realistically accomplish in a day, and the other a longer-term plan.

3. Plan Ahead
Once you prioritize, it will be easier to plan ahead. Planning ahead isn’t just for big projects at work or at home. It can be as basic as selecting what to wear the night before or packing lunch at night instead of when you are running late in the morning. You may be surprised by how much easier it is to have things ready to go when you need them instead of always racing the clock at the last second to get things done.

4. Eliminate Extraneous Choices
Many successful people famously eliminate choices from their lives to help them get through the day. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly has 20 identical t-shirts and wears the same thing every day. President Obama has told reporters that he incorporates several routines into his day, such as eating the same thing for breakfast and lunch and rotating a few suits with matching shirts and ties. How does eliminating choices help busy people succeed? It eliminates the mental energy spent on unimportant details. Decide what choices can you eliminate from your day; it may help you store up that energy for more important decisions later.

5. Delegate Something
While not all of us have a staff at our disposal to handle aspects of our day that we would prefer not to manage, it’s possible there are untapped opportunities to delegate you have not considered, and they don’t always involve hiring someone. For example, can you ask someone at home to help out with a chore? Or, are there friends who might be willing to partner with you to get things done that would improve both of your lives? Some families share food preparation; each one provides a meal so not everyone has to make dinner every night.

If it’s feasible, consider hiring someone to help you with items on your to do list that take too much time and energy. You may be surprised by how useful it is to get professional help on a task that is draining your energy and resources.

6. Get Rid of Things
Most of us have too much stuff. Instead of designating a huge chunk of time to declutter, try getting rid of one thing you don’t need each day. Look at your desk: what files can you put away or what paperwork can you toss? At home, how many shoes are there in your closet that you never wear? Step-by-step, you can simplify your life.

7. Manage Online Time
It’s almost a cliché to suggest paring down your social media and email use to simplify your day. Social media can actually be quite useful for you professionally and personally, so don’t be so quick to eliminate it from your day. Instead, make sure you have specific goals in mind when you get online and try not to deviate from them so you won’t fall down any online rabbit holes.

8. Avoid excuses. Just do it. Or, just say no.
Instead of spending your time thinking of excuses, either make a plan to get what you need done, or say no and don’t take on extra responsibilities you can’t handle.

More from Miriam Salpeter
Traits of most valuable employees
How to make a great impression at work
Best employee qualities

Originally published on AOLJobs.com.

The post How to get more done at work appeared first on Keppie Careers.

Communication coach Marvin Brown, author of “How to Meet and Talk to Anyone, Anywhere … Anytime…,” agrees that communication is key to success at work. “Work is about relationships. With managers, co-workers, clients and customers,” he says. “To build a high-quality relationship, you need to establish trust, you need to be a great listener and you need to be friendly and easy to converse with.”

There are many ways to make a good first impression and raise your profile in the eyes of team members and bosses. Brown highlights these six key points to help you succeed on the job:

1. Communicate with intent. Don’t be lazy when you speak. While short-form communication, such as texting and tweeting, is commonplace, it’s important in the workplace to take extra time and effort to communicate specifically and to make sure what we say isn’t full of clichés, nonspecific words like “thing” or fillers that we repeat so often that we don’t hear ourselves saying them, for example, “you know” or “like.” Brown suggests: “Think before you speak. Replace vague words with descriptive words. Try to hear yourself talk so your words have more value and your ideas have content. People will pay more attention to your ideas if you can express them well.”

2. Don’t pass up an opening to engage. You never know what conversation at work will trigger an opportunity. Don’t miss any chance to engage with people on the job. “If you’re in the elevator with your boss and she says something about the weather, that’s an opening, an opportunity to engage,” Brown says.

Demonstrate that you can have a conversation. Look up from your phone long enough to make eye contact and say something intelligent. There are bound to be opportunities to interact with new people every day in a work environment, but it can be easy to miss opportunities if you’re engrossed in other things. Be ready to respond when someone casually engages in conversation with you, and don’t be afraid to approach others with a friendly question or conversation starter.

3. Be yourself. You’ve heard this advice before: “Just be yourself.” But perhaps you never believed it would help. Trying to be someone you’re not can be draining, so the best advice is to showcase your best self on the job. “New employees often try to impress by being overly charming,” Brown says. “They feel the need to tell jokes, throw around fancy words and be the life of the cubicle.” He warns that this act can easily backfire. “Forget about being super eloquent, clever or pretentious. Be simple and direct. Trying to impress others will only come across as disingenuous and fake and you may risk alienating colleagues.”

4. Use nonverbal cues to your advantage. Body language is as important as verbal language when it comes to making first impressions, giving your message impact and winning people’s trust, according to Brown. “When greeting a work associate, look up from what you’re doing, make eye contact and smile,” he suggests. When you make the effort to engage nonverbally, you make the person feel important, which helps establish a relationship.

5. Focus on names. Brown suggests: “When meeting someone for the first time, say your name while extending a firm handshake. Research shows they’re 75 percent more likely to remember you.”

Also, make an effort to remember the names of the people you meet. Don’t underestimate how impressive it is to be able to use someone’s name the next time you see him or her.

6. Take criticism gracefully. Be open to constructive criticism. Brown says there’s nothing worse than an employee or co-worker who won’t hear feedback, gets defensive and impedes progress at work as a result. “Try to listen to what the other person is saying about your work and try not to take it personally,” Brown says. “It’s even better if you can respond by saying, ‘Thank you for pointing that out to me,’ or ‘That’s really helpful. You just did me a big favor sharing that feedback.'”

Be mindful of how you communicate and how your body language and persona either invite or push away people at work. Ultimately, the better your communication skills, the more likely you are to succeed in any workplace, so don’t underestimate their importance.

Originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report.

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How can you tell if you should take a chance on a company?

Google is your friend.

Sometimes, finding the down-low about an organization is as easy as a simple Google search. Maybe you did some research early in the interview process, but they’ve been taking their time, so it’s been a while since you’ve looked anything up. Consider setting an alert for companies that interest you to receive news as Google indexes it. Try using Talkwalker.com to set up your search. Read everything published and evaluate the organization’s chances. Don’t forget to take a broad view and look up the industry and even the location before you take an offer.

If the company is owned by a parent organization, don’t forget to include the parent in your research. Also, keep an eye out for general branding concerns. Financial trouble can result if a CEO is implicated in a scandal, and that can affect an organization’s outlook. If it’s a publicly traded company, keep an eye on the stock’s performance and read up on expectations going forward.

Read between the lines at LinkedIn.

If you aren’t already “following” the company in question at LinkedIn, now is the time to get on board. (Find “Companies” under the “Interests” tool bar.) When you do, you can get a glimpse of who in your network works at the organization, and you may be able to tell if a lot of people seem to be leaving. Use LinkedIn’s “Advanced” search and find people whose “past” company is the one in question. You may need to be very patient to dig up any good information this way, but if you are really concerned, it is worth noting if leaders in the organization recently departed.

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Regardless of who is leaving or not, you can access anyone in your network who can introduce you to someone who is working in the organization, and sometimes, an inside introduction is helpful when you’re in the evaluation stage.

Network: Interview current employees.

Ask them if they’ve noticed perks are being cut back. Was the holiday party a “bring your own” this year? Has the free coffee in the break room come to a rapid halt, or how about other benefits they always took for granted? Have employees been asked to take on a lot of extra work? Or, is there a lot of increased scrutiny of each employee’s output, when no one ever cared before? Is there talk of a merger? These could be bad signs.

Read reviews.

Depending on the type of organization where you may want to work, it could be helpful to read online reviews and customer reviews. If it’s a retail or other customer focused establishment that relies on new clients, and the Yelp! reviews are poor – especially if they are trending downward – that could be a bad sign for the company.

Don’t forget to look up the organization on Glassdoor.com and see if there are reviews from current employees. Sometimes, they will comment if the company seems to be going through a rough time.

A little bad news probably doesn’t spell the end of the world for the organization, but if you see too many red flags, at the very least consider yourself warned if you do decide to take an opportunity.

Originally appeared on AOLJobs.

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What are signs you work in a toxic office?

1. Your boss is a recognized bully. 
When the senior leader’s behavior resembles a “what not to do at work” checklist, you know you’re in trouble. This could come in the form of sexual harassment, practical jokes frequently targeting one person or otherwise racist, sexist or homophobic comments. If the boss often berates employees or publicly intimidates them, and no one does anything to prevent or curb the behavior, it’s likely the office is toxic.

2. Co-workers frequently gang up on each other. 
When one person harasses another, even when they are equals, there are no consequences and no one else seems to think it is a problem, it’s difficult to get comfortable at work.

Get my free white paper: 5 Mistakes Preventing You From Landing a Job This Week 

3. It’s not unusual for co-workers or your boss to take credit for your work. 
This is not only frustrating, but it can cost you a promotion or a raise. You may be blindsided one time by this problem, but do what you can to prevent it a second time. Document your work and ideas and, when appropriate, make colleagues aware of your ideas so it’s clear what you suggested for a project.
4. You’re doing the work of three or four people without any recognition. 
Unfortunately, this is not uncommon, as companies have downsized or failed to replace people who leave. If you never earn a raise or any reward for your work, it’s likely time to look elsewhere.

5. Colleagues are insubordinate. 
If people don’t think they need to follow the rules and are generally rebellious and arrogant, flaunting their ability to do whatever they want without worrying about negative ramifications, it’s a major problem.

6. False accusations are the norm.
If you’re aware that making up stories and accusing other people of things they did not do is the norm in your company, and you begin to feel like you go to work with a bunch of kindergarteners, it’s a sign of poor office dynamics.

7. The boss is ineffective or absentee. 
“When the cat’s away, the mice will play,” or so says the nursery rhyme. If your colleagues can’t wait for the boss to go on vacation so they can have their way, it’s not a good sign.

8. Poor performers never seem to lose their jobs, while strong workers are fired. 
When the organization values and rewards people who aren’t carrying their weight, but potential leaders quickly lose their jobs, it’s possible that those in charge are threatened by competent workers.

9. Everyone operates under different rules. 
When the supervisor does not apply rules consistently to everyone in the same role, it can be very challenging for those left with the short end of the stick.

10. There is a lack of formal training plans or programs. 
If your onboarding was an introduction to your new boss and a key to your new office, it can be a sign that you’re in for a tough road. Lack of organization when you join a company could suggest problems ahead.

11. People are promoted in random, seemingly illogical ways. 
If you’re always shocked by who got promoted, because the people are generally not well regarded from your perspective, you will probably want to think about moving on.

12. Supervisors don’t communicate expectations well. 
Communication skills are so important, but many bosses fail to make their needs clear. If your boss couldn’t communicate his way out of a shoe box, you can never understand the priorities and you’re always being berated for getting things wrong, assume you’ll have many difficulties achieving your goals in the organization.

Don’t consider these problems expected behavior in the workplace. If you don’t see a way to change things at your organization or there is no support for positive shifts in workplace culture, now is a good time to look for a new job.

More advice
Signs you’re in a dead-end job
Traits of the best employees
How to snap out of your bad mood fast

Originally published on AOLJobs.com.

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Keep these tips in mind when it comes to hugging in the workplace:

Company culture and your comfort level
If your culture is very conservative and buttoned up, you’ll likely want to stick with a firm, but warm handshake and avoid hugs to make the right impression. If people are constantly embracing as if they’re reuniting with a long-lost relative, identify your comfort level, and don’t hesitate to discourage hugs if you don’t want to be embraced. The best deterrent is to make a point to extend your hand for a handshake. Of course, if you do feel harassed by the hugging culture or by a particular hugger, you can refer to policies and consult someone in human resources.

Types of hugs.
There are all types of hugs. These include the bear hug, the side hug and the quick embrace. You can assume, under most circumstances, any hug that embraces a little too long or tightly isn’t appropriate in the workplace. If you’re the hugging aggressor, make sure you aren’t going overboard. If you hug at all, avoid any hug that could be labeled aggressive or passionate; both of these hugs definitely cross the line and are inappropriate in the workplace.

If you’re a hugger, watch your colleague’s body language.
Some people just don’t feel comfortable being hugged at work. However, especially if you’re the boss, it may be difficult for them to refuse your advance. (Think: sexual harassment.) Be careful and read your colleagues’ body language. If people keep sticking their arms out at you in an effort to shake hands instead of hug and you grab them into a bear hug instead, assume you’re crossing into dangerous territory. Don’t create a toxic workplace by being overly affectionate.

People to hug or not hug.
Even if you’re a compulsive hugger, it’s best to avoid hugging subordinates. Keep your company’s sexual harassment policy in mind and remember, if you’re the boss, people may not feel comfortable asking you to stop hugging them. In some cases, you may be able to modify a hug into a warm pat on the back that may satisfy your need for a more intimate welcome and your colleague or subordinate’s need to keep some distance. Keep in mind: even a “side hug” or shoulder pat can seem a little touch-y feel-y to some people.

Extraordinary situations
While hugging isn’t a great idea at work, there are some situations where it might be considered okay to offer a quick hug as a way to congratulate or console someone. For example, if your colleague just won a huge award or promotion, or if he or she is retiring or leaving the company for good, it might be acceptable to offer a quick embrace. However, for some people, a “high five” will be more appreciated. Another situation when a hug may be okay is if someone just learned bad news and a consoling hug or quick shoulder squeeze just seems the most human response. Again – keep in mind, it may be best to console with words or offer flexibility and support instead of a hug.

Bottom line.
The safest bet is to avoid hugging in the workplace. You don’t want to face sexual harassment charges for hugs you might consider innocent expressions of affection, but that come across as too touch-y feel-y to your colleagues or employees.

More advice:
Is your boss out to get you?
Signs you are in dead-end job
Overwhelmed at work? Steps to handle it

Originally published at AOLJobs.com.

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Picking. 
Nose picking, skin, zit picking – picking at yourself should be reserved for when you’re behind closed doors. In fact, you shouldn’t put your hands near your face at all during the day. Think of all those germs you’re transferring – yuck.

Uncovered coughs and sneezes. 
Especially during cold and flu season, but really, all year long, it’s pretty gross to watch someone sneeze all over the place. Or, worse, to sneeze or hack into his or her hand and then touch virtually everything you’re going to be touching later. Lysol, anyone? Keep some tissues or a handkerchief handy and sneeze into your arm or elbow if you absolutely must. It can’t hurt to make a big show of washing your hands if you have just deposited all of your germs into them, too.

Clipping nails. 
It’s mind boggling that people think clipping nails is an appropriate activity for in public. If you don’t want to provide the means for someone to cast a nasty spell on you (don’t they always require nail clippings?), do not pull out those handy clippers in your cubicle or anywhere in public; it doesn’t matter if you’re trimming your toes or snipping your hangnails. It should go without saying, but luffah-ing your feet or any part of your body is also a no-no at work. (Yes, this does happen.)

Plucking.
Like clipping, plucking just about anything at work is a big “ick.” Don’t pull out your compact and start tweezing your eyebrows or nose hair where anyone can see you.

Flossing. 
In general, flossing is a good idea, but not in public. Seriously: no one wants to see what comes out from between your teeth, and leaving the dirty floss on the bathroom sink at work is considered especially disgusting.

Doing laundry in the restroom.
Certain things are always best when done at home, and laundry is one of those things. Wearing clean clothes is a big “yes,” but rinsing out your undergarments or other attire in the office restroom is a “no.”

Not flushing the toilet. 
No one can quite figure out why people don’t think they need to flush the toilet, but it’s high on the list of gross habits at work. Perhaps you are saving water at home, but make a habit to flush the toilet in public or the person following you into the restroom is going to get an unpleasant surprise.

Putting on your contact lenses. 
Perhaps not the most egregious of all faux pas in public, popping in your contact can make some of your non-contact lens wearing friends a little squeamish. It’s best not to do it at your desk. At the very least, go to the restroom, where you can wash your hands first.

Poor table manners. 
Unless you want people to think you were raised in a barn, make a point to eat with your cutlery and not your hands if you want to get ahead at work. Pushing food onto your fork with your fingers doesn’t count as using your silverware, either. While you’re at it, don’t eat off of your knife, either. If no one will go to lunch with you, maybe you now know why.

Heating up smelly food. 
Before you put something in the microwave, stop and think: will this food make the entire office stink? If the answer is yes, consider bringing a cold sandwich instead and you won’t burn any bridges.

Leaving a mess.
Unless your housekeeper follows you around at work, make a point to clean up after yourself. Trash, dirty coffee mugs and remains of your meals and snacks shouldn’t greet your colleagues when they visit your office or cube or frequent the staff lounge after you. While you’re at it, declutter your stuff. No one wants to look at your messy papers and files, either.

Now it’s your turn to share pet peeves in the comments below.

More from Miriam Salpeter
How to make yourself essential at work
Signs you work at a disfunctional office
How to know if your boss is out to get you

Originally appeared on AOLJobs.com.

The post Gross habits your coworkers hate appeared first on Keppie Careers.