Sure, social media enthusiasts like to think of themselves as “rock stars,” but as the MTV Video Music Awards proved, there’s still a long way to go before they’re the real thing. In typical fashion, Lady Gaga was the talk of the night with her “meat dress.” While we can’t think of many other offices other than the MTV stage where this qualifies as work-appropriate attire, we’re hoping this casual Friday comes and goes without any similar fashion choices. No matter what you’re wearing to the office or to interviews, here are the top five stories from the world of work you might have missed this week:

5. Lessons Learned in the Job Search: Job searching is one of the hardest things you’ll ever do. Molly Wendell outlines some tips from her colleague Mike that helped him save time and get back to work faster.

4. 5 Ways to Tell If Your Internship Is Legal, Regardless of Pay: Just because your internship is paid, doesn’t mean it’s a good opportunity. Heather Huhman discusses the five factors you should consider and why.

3. Dressing for the Interview, by Industry: There's no getting around it: In every job interview, you're going to be judged -- at least partially -- by how you look. But how you should look varies depending on your industry and the job you're interviewing for. Peter Vogt takes a look at general interview attire expectations for eight career areas so you can dress to impress.

2. How to Ace the Interview Without Saying a Word: While you’re preparing for what to say in your next interview, have you thought about preparing for what you won’t say? Shadow Nightwing explains how to prepare your nonverbal communication for your next interview.

1. 9 Steps to Responding to a Lowball Job Offer: What can you do if you receive an offer that undervalues the skills you bring to a company? First step, remember that it’s a negotiation, and apply Donna Svei’s nine tips to negotiate your job offer to get what you deserve.

Which of these was your favorite? Did you write a great article we missed? Let us know in the comments below.

For more must-read content, check out the Monster 5: Works Edition for this week’s top articles from the world of talent management.

Today is Equal Pay Day, an event organized by the National Committee on Pay Equity to call attention to the gap between what men and women earn.

Even though women overtook men in the workforce for the first time during the recession-ravaged year of 2009, statistics show that when it comes to gaining ground in earnings, we haven't come such a long way, baby. Here's a look at some of the numbers:

Half-Cent Gains: In 1963, when the Equal Pay Act became law, women who worked full-time year-round earned 59 cents for every dollar men earned. In 2008, women earned 77 cents on the dollar, an increase of just 0.4 cents -- less than a half-cent -- a year. The gap is even wider for minority women.

Difference Adds Up: On an annual basis, women earned an average of $10,622 less than men, the largest gap since 1992. Over a lifetime, that discrepancy adds up. A 2008 study by the Center for American Progress Action Fund reports that the wage gap may cost a woman an average of $434,000 over the course of her career.

Geography Matters: The wage gap can be better or worse depending on where you live, according to government data analyzed by the AAUW (formerly the American Association of University Women). For all workers over 16 of all educational levels, women fared the worst in Wyoming (with an earnings ratio of 64 percent) and the best in the District of Columbia (with an earnings ratio of 88 percent). Among college-educated workers over 25, the earnings ratio was lowest in Alaska (64 percent) and highest in Wyoming (89 percent).

Discrimination Exists: As Monster Senior Contributing Writer John Rossheim details in his article on the gender wage gap, occupational and work-life choices are two often-cited reasons behind pay inequality. However, a 2007 AAUW pay gap study of college graduates reports that even after accounting for experience, training, education and personal characteristics, "the portion of the pay gap that remains unexplained…[is] evidence of discrimination, which remains a serious problem for women in the work force." Discrimination figures on the National Committee on Pay Equity's list of the top 10 reasons behind the pay gap as well.

As many equal-wage advocacy groups point out, the wage gap is an issue for everyone, regardless of gender. With the recession putting more men out of work, more families need to get by on women's (typically lower) earnings. Lower earnings also translate into lower pension and Social Security payments for women in retirement. The proposed Paycheck Fairness Act, which passed the House in January 2009, is meant to address issues of gender-based pay inequality.

Working women, how has your salary compared to that of the men in your work or home life? Do you feel you're being paid equitably? Leave a comment below, and check out these resources:

·   How Salary Negotiation Contributes to the Wage Gap

·   Monster's Salary and Negotiation Tips Forum

Success! I have received a job offer from one of the two firms I have been interviewing with. The offer is reasonable in terms of salary and bonus, but, of course, there is more at stake than the total compensation package.

So begins due diligence, part two, where I really take a look under the hood of this company.

The Firm’s Well-Being

Let’s start with my concern about the firm’s technical commitment and support. While waiting in the firm’s lobby for my final interview, I couldn’t help but overhear current employees complain about malfunctioning or non-existent computers. Hopefully, new hires receive new computers.

When I was originally researching this company, I discovered their involvement in a significant patent lawsuit. Perhaps this is the norm in their industry, but how often does a patent issue get escalated to a state Supreme Court? That seems unusual to me for what appears to be an otherwise solid manufacturing firm.

There are bigger picture questions that linger in my mind, too. In particular, a number of skilled folks recently departed the firm in a voluntary downsizing. According to my sources, some of those depleted departments are being “held together with duct tape.” Ironically, the human resources department suffered a 100% voluntary reduction in force. So what motivated many of the key people in this economic downturn to voluntarily leave their jobs? Is there something more at work here?

My Well-Being

No job offer analysis would be complete without taking a hard look at the health insurance benefits. At first blush, it appears there is no dental coverage. Doesn’t the firm care about the whole health of its employees? Despite the fact that I have seen more impressive company-sponsored healthcare plans, it is better than paying through COBRA for coverage.

Perhaps I have been spoiled by past employers who provided both short- and long-term disability. With this firm, I can elect to buy into group long-term disability, but strangely short-term disability coverage is not offered. Fortunately, I am in good health so I don't anticipate the need for any such insurance coverage. But Murphy's Law is always at play.

My Career Advancement

Finally, the intangible: The prospect of no real professional development. While I am grateful to have this job offer letter in hand, I have to consider that this may not be a linear progression at this stage of my career. But since it’s only a niggling factor, perhaps it’s best to ignore it and just get on with my life and new routine.

If you were considering a job offer, what would you want to uncover about your new prospective employer and job?

These days, I regularly take 30-minute road trips to job search networking groups, seminars and other job-hunting activities. While employed full time, I used every single moment of my 15-minute commute to be on the phone (hands-free of course) with my sales folks or customers. I hadn’t listened to the radio in 9-plus years, much to the amusement of my stay-at-home girlfriends when comparing notes about favorite songs on the radio a few years ago. But now I routinely listen to business radio, and one term used over and over again is “new normal.” What exactly is that and how does it impact my job search?

If I distill down the term, it basically means the economy’s new center point as related to the stock market and the median salaries. In short, the stock market isn’t what it was before the economic meltdown, and most professions and jobs will not enjoy the same salary scales as previously earned.

The new normal in terms of job salaries is a big discussion topic in my job clubs. In some cases, I have heard of people taking positions at 40% to 60% of their previous pay, primarily given the need for family healthcare coverage. In other cases, I have heard of candidates securing positions equal or greater than their former salaries. Given all the information I’ve heard, it seems the new normal in pay scales can be anywhere between 40% to 120% of previously earned incomes. But everyone needs to remember that behind these figures are the rounds of negotiations and tactics employed within, both by the potential employer and the job seeker.

So what’s my new normal? Certainly, I’d value a bump up in pay, but that may not be realistic with my desire for a manageable commute. I’d also like to negotiate in some additional compensation, like company stock, as well as what used to be considered classic benefits, like a 401K plan with employer matching. So my acceptable new normal, given the competition in my field, would be an overall compensation package that might ring in at 80% to 90% of my previous pay. But don’t forget, another part of the new normal is that more responsibilities are assumed at lower-level job functions with no additional reward.

From what I hear from fellow job seekers, their new normals include longer commutes, fewer perks (if any) and less valuable benefits. I know a few folks who are going back to school for an additional degree instead of dealing with the new normal now. One is going back to school to complete her master’s in education to teach technology, and another has just taken the LSATs to pursue a law degree. Another 2 of my job club buddies are taking certification courses in fund raising to gain entry into nonprofit fund-raising roles. And yet another friend is pursuing his nursing degree.  All of them hope to move their compensation needle upwards by changing careers into other fields while still leveraging some of their experiential underpinnings from the careers to date.

While I had explored retraining or additional coursework earlier in my job search, I decided not to go down those paths given the lack of income for at least a year’s time. Now, given 5 months of job seeking and the new normal, I may see what it would take to earn my pharmacy degree. This strikes me as a rather flexible and always in-demand profession given a recent trip to the local corner pharmacy for some simple prescriptions for my sons.

How have you reconciled the new normal and your job search goals?