Glenn Proctor, coach, writer, Marine and ex-editor, gives some old-fashioned advice on what it takes to be successful in one career or in making a switch. Over the years he helped people start careers with The Star-Leger and the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

A new study about workers says that a happy worker is good but a thriving worker is even better. The culture that creates this includes a civil atmosphere where all are respected.

A columnist’s blog post that it would be unfair for his colleagues to be hurt by his plagiarism does not ring with credibility. Every journalist knows that plagiarism hurts colleagues, the institution, journalism and the public.

To create, it helps to connect with other creative people. The crowd-source funding site Kickstarter.com can give you easy access to a range of inventive ideas, as well as information about how is behind them and how well they attract finding. Start or support something.

Newsrooms are going through the same kind of transition that the auto industry is wrestling with. Successful change requires radical retooling and not mere tweaks in marketing or efficiency.

Halifax Media Holdings’ bid to shackle employees it was acquiring from the New York Times Regional Media Group with a two-year non-compete agreement would have made it a career killer. It’s a bad deal for new employees, too.

People have Monday morning quarterbacked the eclipsing of the railroads, newspapers and now Kodak. The same kind of thing can happen to your career unless you think about it with the proper perspective.

Even as journalism companies continue to struggle, employers in many fields are advertising for people who have journalism skills. That is good news for anyone with a journalism degree and an open mind.

How could the word “occupy” be named the word of the year by Time magazine and banished for overuse by a university less than a month later. That illustrates the speed with which things can go over the top these days — and why it is smart to avoid buzzwords in job applications.