Richard Garriott is a robot. The creator of the Ultima series, including Ultima Online, the first massively multiplayer online game, runs his Austin company Portalarium from his home in New York. He telecommutes via Beam —a Segway-like robot with a video screen that lets him engage more directly with the rest of his team than static videoconferencing. It’s a fitting work style for the man who coined the use of the Sanskrit word avatar to mean a person’s virtual digital representation.

This year in How I Work, we interviewed over 50 developers, designers, writers, podcasters, actors, and other successful people in business, non-profits, tech, the arts, and entertainment, discussing their work habits and career paths. Every one is excellent—we reach out to our favourite people and sift through hundreds of applications a year to choose our guests—but these are some of the greatest profiles of the year, and some of their best quotes.

In the world of food media, Samin Nosrat is a palate cleanser. Though she is a fount of cooking knowledge and wisdom, neither her award winning book nor her Netflix show ever feel prescriptive.

Instead, she invites the reader or viewer to learn about, eat and enjoy food, all while radiating joy and warmth. Keeping in that spirit of generosity, she was kind enough to tell us how she takes her coffee, her favourite Trader Joe’s meal, and why eating boiled vegetables can sometimes feel like a vacation. (She also let us look inside her fridge.)

The business world can often feel like a game of musical chairs. This infographic from furniture website SeatsandStools explains the optimum seating position for a range of business situations: from job interviews to formal lunches.

You can’t jump into the mind of the person sitting across from you in an interview and know exactly what they’re looking for. But there are, fortunately, some basic qualities most hiring managers think are pretty important across the board.

Have you ever lied in a job interview? Do you think it's okay to lie in a job interview? Turns out it's a lot more common than you'd think, or at least than you'd want if you're a hiring manager, with 41 per cent of Aussies saying it's cool to lie in an interview.

You've likely heard that body language accounts for up to 55 per cent of how we communicate, but reading non-verbal cues isn't just about broad strokes. The same gesture can indicate a number of different things depending on context.

In this guide, we're going to take a look at three common situations in which non-verbal cues are especially important - detecting lies, going on a date and interviewing for a job - then explain how to interpret body language more accurately so that you can read between the lines when a person's words aren't necessarily conveying the way that they honestly feel.

How do you deal with a psychopath? What if you realise you married one? This week on The Upgrade we’re joined by Jen Waite, author of A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal, and Dr Michael Stone, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and author of The Anatomy of Evil, to talk about psychopaths, sociopaths and narcissists: How to recognise them, how to avoid them, and how to disentangle yourself from them.

Dear Lifehacker, I've recently relocated to London for a year or two and am looking to start work. Most of my applications have been via recruiters who have responded with a range of roles. I'm interviewing for a couple of jobs this week but one is about 90 minutes away in another city and the other sounds like good work but the organisation might not be the right cultural fit for me.

Just as companies have to weed out the good candidates from the bad, you need to be able to tell the good companies and positions from the ones that will just waste your time. Here are some red flags in job descriptions and interviews that can warn you about a potentially terrible job.

Dear Lifehacker, I'm thinking of moving on from my current job, but there's a problem. I have some health issues that require a weekly appointment and I currently have my appointment on a Friday afternoon. My current manager has rearranged my work hours slightly so that I can attend this appointment. My question is: if I get an interview for a new job, should I tell them about this at the interview? If so, how do I go about it?

If you've ever hired anyone for a job, you understand a whole new perspective on what makes an applicant stand out - and what makes you toss an application to the bin. Fair or not, blogger, consultant and hirer Charlie Balmer discusses honestly the mistakes that can ruin your chances with a potential employer.

Tim Ferriss is an American entrepreneur, self-help guru and author best known for The 4-Hour Workweek. His hugely popular podcast series has seen some of world's most famous people reveal the tools, tactics, and tricks that led to their success. Here are 15 of the best; from Arnold Schwarzenegger's meditation tips to the creator of WordPress' favourite productivity tools.

You got the job! Oh, but you don't want or need it any more. What do you do? What should you say?

So you didn't get the job -- bummer. It stings but the process isn't over yet. Before you move on to the next potential gig, do these three things.

A one-on-one job interview is stressful enough. Add three to five other people all sitting across from you and firing questions your way and you have some people's worst nightmare. It's no one's idea of a good time, but with a little preparation and practice, you come across as a confident, excellent candidate despite the intimidating format.

It's pretty common for interviewers to ask you to share about specific experiences or skills related to the job you're interviewing for, but if you haven't been in the exact situation or used the tool they mention, you can get tripped up. Here's what to say so that you can come across as a good candidate even if you don't have an answer that matches their specific question.

Sure, your LinkedIn profile probably has your bright and cheery face front and centre, inviting people to explore your professional experience, but don't think using the same tactic on your resume will land you a gig in the real world. In fact, some hiring managers would rather you not use any images.

Job interviews can be challenging to navigate even without the added stress of trying to diplomatically field inappropriate, invasive, or downright illegal lines of questioning. In the interest of helping future job-hunters navigate these choppy waters, we looked at some of the weirdest interview experiences and sought out expert advice on how to handle them.