5T Approach for Career Conversations

In my March blog, I gave you 9 tips for starting career conversations.  Some of the most important career enhancing conversations are about getting meaningful feedback – observations of the impact of what you’re doing both successfully and things that could be done better. Do others share the same opinion of you and your workContinue reading “5T Approach for Career Conversations”

Update Your References This Month

A few months ago I posted some tips on the Care and Feeding of Your References and this month here are some more tips to get past your procrastination. May 4-8 is Update your References Week. References are people that vouch for your work. Your boss is a key person, but not the only one.Continue reading “Update Your References This Month”

Mid-Level Contentment – Is There a Problem?

“I love my job. I’m excited to get up and come to work every morning! Yet, I’m being pressure to move into management. I’ve taken the management courses and don’t want to do the administrative chores required in those roles. What should I do?” Career management is a continuous cycle of assessment, exploration, planning andContinue reading “Mid-Level Contentment – Is There a Problem?”

What’s Your Professional Development Strategy?

The most frequent responses I get to this question is #1 Strategy: keep getting a paycheck and hope to get promoted;#2 Strategy for Free Agents: Keep current contract(s) or get new clients. I consider these non-strategies. Too many people approach learning something work-related as a task they have to do to keep their jobs orContinue reading “What’s Your Professional Development Strategy?”

Ask For a Raise the Right Way

As many of us go into performance review season, we anticipate a monetary outcome. Yet 43% of us never ask for a raise. You don’t know, if you don’t ask!! Many performance reviews do not include a compensation conversation. Its important to discuss what’s going well, what to improve and what’s coming next to setContinue reading “Ask For a Raise the Right Way”

3 Reasons + 5 tips to Update Your Resume

Here are 3 reasons why September is a good time to update your resume: Its nearly time for your annual performance review and you want to position yourself or a raise. One of your contacts approaches you with a great job opportunity and needs your resume, now! You learn that your job is in theContinue reading “3 Reasons + 5 tips to Update Your Resume”

Cash or Cachet?

You find a great job opportunity but discover the salary is lower than you expected. Several years ago, I was thrilled when I could tell people I worked for The Washington Post because I no longer had to explain who, where or what they did. Then I moved briefly to a very large organization thatContinue reading “Cash or Cachet?”

Strategies for Extended Unemployment

What are they thinking?! Why are companies shunning people who have been out of work six months or more? Unemployment biases stem from employers desire to avoid making hiring mistakes. This avoidance leads to making assumptions that may or may not be based in fact. Four assumptions I’ve heard are: “If others don’t hire you,Continue reading “Strategies for Extended Unemployment”

Update Your References This Week

The first week of May is a great time to re-connect with people and enhance your career.  You don’t need to be in a job search at the moment to touch base with key people in your work-life.  A key element of effective career management is that we don’t wait until we’re in job huntContinue reading “Update Your References This Week”

Where the Jobs are for Mature Workers

With generous support from the MetLife Foundation, the Council for Adult and Experiential Learning (CAEL) has worked with seven regions across to country to identify priority industries, examine the job and career opportunities in those industries, and highlight the opportunities that are most appropriate for mature workers. Based on a U.S. Department of Labor supportedContinue reading “Where the Jobs are for Mature Workers”