In today’s Wall Street Journal, Sarah Needleman writes about companies who mis-handle employee firings. It’s hard to say which is more cruel: getting a phone message, getting invited to a meeting to be told the company will be dissolved or simply ordered out on five minutes notice.
But you can’t control how a company chooses to […]

I’ve always been suspicious of the “just ask questions” school of career advice.
The idea is, deep down you know the answers to your own questions. You know what you want to do. So a good career coach will “drill down” till she helps you make your own decision.
I don’t agree.
Intuition works off information. […]

I like to listen to free teleseminars just like anyone else. I hadn’t heard of this guest, Rory Cohen, but I was intrigued by what she had to say. She talked about finding time to make career changes. She talked about getting excited about a vision and how you can sabotage yourself when you stifle […]

I’m hooked on the new PBS mini-series, Carrier, featuring portraits of men and women on board the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier on a Middle East cruise.
Although I’m hooked, I find the series painful to watch. While some sailors clearly love their jobs, and we often see the crew members having fun, you can tell […]

I just got a nice email from someone who saw my amazon review of Barbara Sher’s book, Refuse to Choose.
So I went back to the review and found a few comments, both pro and con. The review really expresses a lot of my philosophy of career change and coaching. I cover some myth of academic […]

In the Chronicle of Higher Education, a newspaper targeted to anyone even remotely connected to academia, Brandon Withrow ponders this question in an article “Not Your Father’s PhD.” You can read it here.
I would agree with those who say you’ll be better equipped to work with today’s students if you understand modern techo-tools. One of […]

Today’s New York Times included an article on willpower, written by two psychologists. You can read it here http://tinyurl.com/3pbwwp
The article, written by 2 reputable researchers, seems to suggest that willpower is like a muscle. As you get used to setting limits for yourself, self-discipline gets easier.
Researchers like to experiment with food. For example, […]

You just won the job - congratulations! You gave notice and quit your old job. Or maybe you have been looking for a long time and you finally landed the Big One. Yaay!!!
But your new job doesn’t start for another 3 weeks. What do you do?
First, be sure you have a written offer.
Don’t be […]

Q. I want to emphasize my experience, including some significant accomplishments from 20 years ago. But I want to keep the length reasonable. And some of my best success stories might sound lame, given how much technology has changed. As a librarian and information specialist, I realize technology will be relevant to my new job. […]

On a recent post, a recruiter “The Headhunter” columnist answered a reader’s question about performance reviews. “I haven’t had a review in 4 years,” the reader said. “What should I do?”
The columnist advised the reader to press the issue. If necessary, he said, “Go to the Human Resource department. It’s possible your boss isn’t following […]