"Jobs" news and stories

Would you have guessed that the Emmy-award-winning Rachael Ray considers her success as a multimedia personality "a combination of luck and very weird circumstances?" And wouldn't you like to know exactly what those circumstances were? After all, she went from working in her own family's restaurants to being one of the most recognized faces in the food world.

Rachael dishes up the recipe for her rise to stardom as part of AOL's Jobs Week. AOL Jobs has teamed up with AOL.com to bring you a full week devoted to providing everything you need to find a job in this tough economy: expert advice, ultimate job search guides, inspiring personal stories (from celebrity coaches such as Rachael, Donald Trump, finance guru Suze Orman and economist Austan Goolsbee), in-depth looks into the top companies and industries hiring in 2011 and much more.

And when it comes to advice, Rachael's got it. One of her mantras: Trust your gut.

See "Rachael Ray's Recipe for Career Success" at AOL Jobs.

For one lucky person in London, the 9 to 5 grind is about to be a thing of the past. Spitalfields Market, a collection of covered shops and dining venues just outside of London, has resurrected an age-old job, and they're taking applicants. The position? Beer taster.

Reps for the market call it simply, "the best job in the world." The employee would essentially stop at venues throughout the market and taste test the beers for quality. It's a role that's been around almost as long as the market itself -- almost 400 years. (King Charles I of England first gave permission for fish, poultry and produce to be sold on the site in 1638.)

Whoopie pie -- a regional Maine/Pennsylvania/Midwest cookie with two round cakes and a frosting center -- is having its moment in the sun. With recipe!

With restaurants closing left and right due to the economy, chef jobs are really, really hard to come by. Like, 300 people will apply to a single $25,000-a-year, no-benefits job.

Eric Asimov reviews the wines of Spain's Bierzo region.

The Temporary Vegetarian offers a recipe for cauliflower with raisins, almonds and capers guaranteed to woo even die-hard cauliflower haters. I happen to recall that Slashfood readers have a few cauliflower recipes up their sleeves too.

Recipe for a blood orange olive oil cake with yogurt.

The Minimalist tunnels through pork loins with a wooden spoon and stuffs them full of figs.

Eating "mountain oysters" at the International Comstock Mountain Oyster Fry. Hint: Mountain oysters are NOT oysters.

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After college, I took a job bussing tables at a very high-end restaurant attached to a very expensive country inn near my hometown. It was the kind of place where you had to stand with your arms spread at the beginning of a shift and submit to having the maitre d' inspect your cuffs and the knot in your tie (even women had to wear ties).

I'd been working there for a few weeks when I noticed that employees were throwing away massive platters of food from the wedding buffets that took place nearly every weekend afternoon -- I'm talking untouched trays of smoked salmon, artichoke hearts, blinis with caviar and mini lemon souffles. I also noticed that the wait staff would pour the remaining pitchers of fresh-squeezed orange juice straight down the sink after brunch. Finally, I asked the head waiter why we didn't just save the food to eat at employee mealtime.

"Because, if we allowed employees to eat leftover food, pretty soon you'd all be eating whatever you wanted straight out of the fridge," he told me sniffily.

What, like untrained dogs?! I gave my two weeks notice the next day.

I was reminded of that incident when I read this New York Times post, about a man fired from Whole Foods for trying to save and eat a tuna fish sandwich that was about to be thrown away. Whole Foods claimed that the man's behavior was "misconduct," which means, in addition to having lost his job, he'd be denied unemployment benefits. The man, Ralph Reece, challenged the misconduct ruling and won.

Good for him, I say. Not only is keeping employees from eating leftover food degrading and wasteful, the "misconduct" charges were, according to Reece's lawyer, souped up in order to save Whole Foods money for not having to pay unemployment. And this from a company that is supposed to be one of the best places in America to work!

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If you ever gave any thought to writing for Slashfood, this is your big chance. We're looking for a couple of food-loving writers to join our team! We are looking for:

• A weekday writer
• A weekend writer

First and foremost, you should love food, dining out and cooking. You must also enjoy writing about it and be capable of expressing yourself in a clear, engaging way. If you enjoy photography, that's a plus; we love food porn. You don't have to be a professional writer, or even have you own blog, but you should be familiar with blogs including Slashfood and other members of the food blogging community. And, all glory aside, we do pay our writers.

We need someone who can commit to blogging daily or every weekend, but we're extremely flexible about the schedule. To apply, we need:

• Three sample posts (original material, please, not links to existing posts on a blog)
• A few words about yourself and why you're interested in food or writing about food
• Your contact info
• The position you're applying for, your location, and scheduling, including a ballpark number of posts per week

No attachments, please. Put everything in the body of your email. Once your application is complete, send us an e-mail at leadsATslashfoodDOTcom.