If you've landed a new job to kickstart 2017, congratulations! When you're a new recruit, it can be exciting and daunting at the same time; you're eager to learn new things but you don't want to make a wrong move and step on any toes, because first impressions matter.

Here is a checklist of 10 things you should do when you start a job so that you can put your best foot forward and thrive at a new company.

If you take a long hard look into your future, what do you see when it comes to financial stability?

Moving to the country is presented as the idyllic way to escape the pressure of the city, but what is the reality for Australian women looking for to make the big move?

Starting your own business is a pretty common dream, but last year alone 424,144 registered ABNs died after the owners failed to get their startups off the ground, according to Australian Government data.

Finding success in a new business relies heavily on the ability to fill a gap in the market that enough people need or want, and with consumers spending $12.2 billion on their pets annually, this could definitely be a good market to try and find some holes in. Here are five Aussie pet startups who found success in this booming industry.

Like Rhianna says, we all have to 'werk, werk, werk, werk, werk, werk' - it's just that some of us have to work a few more jobs than others.

More and more businesses are trying to build a 'talent first' workforce. Why? Because it's becoming increasingly clear that this leads to a more productive and efficient business. 

According to the TAFE Enterprise Skills and Australian Business Report 2018, about 35% of skills required for jobs in all industries are expected to change in the next few years.

There are times in our lives when we need to leave the workforce. And while the reasons for taking a work break might be personally important, they can often be hard to explain to prospective employers when you choose to return to the workforce. What can you do to ease your re-entry to the workforce after a break?

I'll be the first to admit that blockchain isn't easy to wrap your head around. You've probably heard of it in relation to Bitcoin because cryptocurrencies are underpinned by blockchain technology. But blockchain can do so much more than that.

According to research conducted by recruitment agency Greythorn, almost half of Australian tech workers are actively seeking for new jobs while another 40% are prepared to consider a change for the right offer. And they're saying lack of training and career development are major drivers. This is unsurprising when you consider that more and more roles are now contracted rather than permanent so employers can offload the need to deliver career advancement and skill development to individuals rather than doing it themselves.

Artificial intelligence and automation are often seen as a threat to workers but that attitude isn't universal according to new data from SEEK. Although a small number of workers are still in the dark when it comes to automation many see it as a potential benefit although there are some interesting differences between different demographic groups.

Fan of HBO's Silicon Valley may remember the episode where Richard was made fun of for preferring tabs over spaces for indentation. Well, it turns out it's no joke - at least when it comes to making money as a developer. Stack Overflow's recent programmer survey revealed an interesting tidbit: devs who uses spaces make around 8.6 per cent more than their tab-tapping counterparts.

Stan Lee's passing yesterday marked the end of an era. The characters Lee created redefined the notion of what a superhero was and allowed everyone to relate to them. From the weakling who became a super man in Captain America, to the creativity and flawed genius of Tony Stark, to the anger we all bottle up with Hulk and the kid with responsibility and a gift in Spider-man, he created a new type of superhero.

Before Lee's incredible run of creativity, DC ruled the superhero roost with aliens, Amazons and other fanciful characters. But what's truly remarkable is that Lee's most famous and best work came after he was in his 40s.

I always wanted to be a writer, at least as soon as I stopped wanting to be a private detective. But from the day I landed my first writing job, I was already planning on how to get some other, better job. For years I kept daydreaming about the ever-changing dream job (usually some form of screenwriting because I’m that kind of cliché), always comparing it to my “real” job.

Now that Jeff Bezos presides over one of the most valuable companies in the world and has amassed a personal fortune of around $150 billion, folks are turning to him for advice on how he became successful. And while there's no doubt he's a very smart guy, he didn't make Amazon into the company it is today singlehandedly. He surrounded himself with highly intelligent people. Which begs the question - how does Jeff Bezos decide someone is smart?

Thinking back to the arrival of Amazon and its recommendation engine, it's easy to see that the ability for systems to look at vast arrays of data and make decisions and take action was inevitable. What has surprised many people is the way big data has been exploited by an almost infinite pool of computing power delivered by the cloud. And that (r?)evolution means many jobs that exist today will ether disappear or substantially change.

Many people work hard for a few years and then take a year or so off to travel the world before "settling down". As well as seeing the world and experiencing new cultures, some recent research has found the benefits extend to many other areas. And the good news is that once you're back, the likelihood of getting a new job quickly is quite high.

The IT sector is in the midst off a massive skills shortage and once of the areas that this is most acutely felt in is cybersecurity. Businesses, large and small, as well as government departments and not-for-profit companies are all under increased threat of cyberattack. And that means they are all looking for people to help protect and support their companies. So what does it take to kick start a career in cyber security?

It's been nearly two years since I've received a corporate pay cheque. I left that world and haven't looked back since. Was it an easy jump?

Hell no. It's been hard — very hard — but I don't regret it and still consider it one of the very best things I've ever done for myself.