Career Advice

Everyone has an opinion on the best practices for recruiting, interviewing, and resume writing. If you've been perusing job posting sites and following job alerts on Twitter, you've undoubtedly taken inventory of your resume and wondered if a masters degree or PhD would better qualify you for job listings with incredibly daunting requirements. It's an excellent answer for which there are many questions. Take a look at your industry: what's required to climb the ladder? Which rung am I trying to get to? Do my superiors have advanced degrees? How competitive is the job pool for positions you'd qualify for? Take a look at any website offering online PhD programs: what are some of the most popular courses at accredited schools? Are there enough jobs in the field to accommodate them all? Is the material entirely relevant to what you aspire to do with your life? It's become so much more difficult to land a job as an entry-level college graduate because of poor job growth. The Bureau of … [Read more...] about Questions For Your Grad School & Overqualification Answers

We all like to think we’re the perfect, indispensable employee but are we right? The most successful employees have highly effective work habits and routines. The worst of us either don’t have those routines or have poor routines instead. So which habits do you keep and which do you through away? Routines to Toss Out - Gossiping: we’ve all done it. And we’ve all enjoyed doing it. We’ve all been part of that huddle around the water cooler or over the coffee pot dishing the latest office dirt. Gossiping is not only one of the highest time wasters in a business but can also be one    of the most hurtful. The next time you’re enjoying a good round of gossip, stop and remember that you could be the next topic! - Baggage: every single employee has a life outside of work; as surprising as that may be. Bills, significant others, kids, pets; these things can all get in the way of your productivity at work. Leave the baggage at home because, without a doubt, it will wait for you until the … [Read more...] about Work Routines: The Good and The Bad

In the HBO series Game of Thrones, based on the George R.R. Martin bestselling fantasy book series A Song of Fire and Ice, fictional dynasties struggle for power, each with a goal: to rule the Seven Kingdoms. (Check out IMDB for more) If you work in an office, you have a front-row seat to watch your very own Game of Thrones. The cube farm likely has less bloodshed, and the Big Boss probably doesn't sit on a throne, but I'm willing to bet that there are several employees jockeying for power.    What makes Game of Thrones special is that it offers only a touch of magic, just enough to keep things interesting while keeping the story realistic.  With the season finale here, I’m disappointed I’m going to have to wait a year for the next season.  So in the spirit of Thrones, what can we learn from the show's characters?  What would the office be like if each character was in charge? And who beloe shoul dbe added to our list of The Worst Fictional … [Read more...] about Work Is Just Like a Game of Thrones

Projects are a vital part of an organization’s success. Projects are used to complete various tasks that the organization needs in order to thrive. Team members involved in the project are the most important part of the project. It is imperative that all team members work together and build strategies that will help accomplish the goals of the project. It is vital that the team members fully understand how to handle any conflict or situation that might occur during the project. Projects are designed to help employees work together as a team to help the organization accomplish goals or tasks to help the business succeed.  How Project Team Members are Selected Project team members are selected for a variety of reasons. The main qualification that is required to for a project team member is leadership. Leadership is a vital qualification that will allow the project to progress no matter what conflicts may arise during the completion. Project team members are selected on the details of the … [Read more...] about How to Create the Perfect Team

So you went all "Jerry Maguire", or maybe you politely put in your two-weeks notice. Either way you're without a job and it's because you said so – in as tough a job market as this you concluded getting rid of your only means of income was a good idea. The problem is, of course, getting another one has become increasingly harder to do. Unless you're starting your own business, which you very well might be trying to do, there is limited hope in successfully finding new employment right away. In the meantime you need to be aware of simple effective ways to make ends meet. Quitting your job disqualifies you from receiving any sort of unemployment benefits, so you better be prepared for when the well runs dry in a month or so. Luckily so long as you have a home computer and access to the Internet, there are a variety of ways you can earn enough scratch to get you through several months of job hunting. So if you quit without another job, consider these options... Telemarketing This … [Read more...] about You Quit Without a Solid Next Step: Ways to Stay Afloat

You may have noticed that, when you’re tired, you’re less enthusiastic about making an important decision. Fatigue decreases concentration as well as excitement. Thus, being tired usually means that you’ll make hasty decisions just so that you feel that you’ve dealt with the issue at hand. But hasty decisions are rarely good ones, are they? While this all seems like common sense, these notions are now supported by actual academic research in the field of decision-making. Even though there have been bits of research on the influence of tiredness on exam performance, creativity, and learning abilities, the latest work deals with workplace decisions with potentially far-reaching consequences. A team of Israeli scientists decided to study a large set of parole rulings that took place in Israeli courts. Shai Danziger, Jonathan Levav, and Liora Avnim-Pesso observed judges at work as they decided on the fates of convicts who asked for parole reconsideration. These decisions are typically … [Read more...] about Your Decisions vs. Your Tiredness

BBQ. Watermelon. Sno-Cones. Beach. Summer means something different to everyone, but to most of us, it means freedom. As students, there was nothing better than seemingly endless summer nights. Without the worry of class the next day, life was pretty darn simple.As adults, most professions require we that we show up at the office, regardless of the season. While summertime can be considered “lazy days,” it’s actually the perfect time to up your game and advance your career.Especially if your job tends to slow down during the summer season, use these tips to move your professional life ahead:1. Catch up on professional reading. Whether it’s a white paper or lengthy memo, reading at the beach or the park makes boring text a bit more palatable. Load up on magazines, print out lengthy blog posts you’ve pended for “later,” and download the latest biz books to your portable device.2. Make new contacts. Fewer people around the office mean more … [Read more...] about 9 Ways to Use Summer to Your Career Advantage

Graduation season is here, and that means all of you wide-eyed, fresh-faced students will be spilling into the full-time workforce. I admire your eagerness. Your zeal. Your ambition. Truth be told, I'd much rather work alongside you than the curmudgeon lifers. The influx of youth into the working world is a beautiful thing. It keeps ideas fresh, the corporate environment evolving, and every generation, if willing to play nice, gets to learn from each other. So if you’re new to the workplace, or simply starting work at a new organization, let me lend a hand. Follow these tips to ensure you make a good first impression: Take it slow. It's easy for young workers to start a job with “guns blazing.” After all, the company will be grateful for your ideas, right? Slow down, killer! When starting a new job, it’s imperative to learn the culture and get to know the lay of the land before suggesting ideas or changes. Take several weeks to learn who the influencers are and how the place works … [Read more...] about New Grads: Tips for Starting Your First Job