Prepare yourself ... the office is about to get a bit scarier. CareerBuilder.com's latest survey revealed almost one- third of workers plan to or are considering dressing up for Halloween at the office this year. The CareerBuilder.com survey, "Halloween at the Office 2005," was conducted from August 10 to August 22, 2005 of more than 2,450 workers.

Those in need of last-minute costume ideas for trick-or-treating through the cubicles can throw together the following get-ups in a matter of minutes:

   1.  A Day Off - Using black lettering, write October 30, 2005 or November
       1, 2005 on an orange shirt.  When people ask what you are, say, "A
       day off!"
   2.  Running Late - Show up to the office with messy hair and disheveled
       clothes with your pajamas showing underneath.
   3.  Vending Machine - Dress in black and fasten snacks to yourself with
       the cost of each item displayed.  To be really evil, place an "out of
       order" sign on the real vending machine and charge your coworkers for
       your snacks.  When they pay, make sure you throw their snacks on the
       ground as the vending machine does.
   4.  Office Gossip - Make up fun stories about your coworkers.  Fasten the
       stories to yourself and put the name of your favorite grocery store
       tabloid on a hat.  Hang around the water cooler and invite people to
       read the latest news.
   5.  Pink Slip - No one ever wants to be served the dreaded pink slip at
       work.  Wear a pink slip over your work clothes and chase your co-
       workers.
   6.  Post-it Note - Wear all yellow.  When people say trick or treat at
       your cube, pass out real post-it notes.
   7.  Red tape - Buy red tape and tape it all over your clothes and
       cubicle.  When people ask what you are, make them cut through some
       red tape to get the answer.
   8.  Leftover - Wrap yourself in aluminum foil and give yourself an
       aluminum swan hat.  Place a sign on your chest that says, "Anything
       left after 4 pm on Friday will be thrown away!"
   9.  Happy Hour - Wrap a tie around your head and carry around an empty
       (yes, empty) martini glass with you throughout the day.  At 5 pm,
       scream, "Happy hour!"
   10. Headhunter - Carry a mannequin or doll head around with you, holding
       it by the hair.

For those workers who like a project and have more time to prepare, consider the following:

   -- Missing Person - Wear all white and use poster board to make a hat
      that resembles a milk carton.  On another piece of poster board, place
      the picture of an employee who recently left the company and label
      them missing.
   -- Floating Holiday - Dress as your favorite holiday icon (Santa, Easter
      Bunny, Leprechaun, etc.) Place cotton around your shoes to look like
      clouds.
   -- Boss or Co-worker - There's no greater compliment than imitation, but
      remember to proceed with caution when dressing up like a colleague!
   -- Suggestion Box - Take a large cardboard box and fasten rope so you can
      wear it like a barrel.  Put suggestion on the box and take the slips
      of paper with your coworkers' suggestions.  Make sure to respond to
      them by the end of the day.


  About CareerBuilder.com

CareerBuilder.com is the nation's largest online job site with more than 20 million unique visitors and over 1 million jobs. Owned by Gannett Co., Inc. , Tribune Company , and Knight Ridder, Inc. , the company offers a vast online and print network to help job seekers connect with employers. CareerBuilder.com powers the career centers for more than 700 partners that reach national, local, industry and niche audiences. These include more than 165 newspapers and leading portals such as America Online and MSN. More than 30,000 of the nation's top employers take advantage of CareerBuilder.com's easy job postings, 14 million-plus resumes, Diversity Channel and more. Millions of job seekers visit the site every month to search for opportunities by industry, location, company and job type, sign up for automatic email job alerts, and get advice on job hunting and career management. For more information about CareerBuilder.com products and services, visit http://www.careerbuilder.com/ .

  Media Contact:
  Michael Erwin
  (773) 527-3637
  Michael.Erwin@careerbuilder.com

SOURCE: CareerBuilder.com