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. […]

Penelope Trunk, author of Brazen Careerist, recently blogged about the dangers of bad career advice.
Mostly I would be wary of anyone who offers unsolicited advice, especially current work colleagues, family and friends, for these 3 reasons.
They’re not exactly unbiased. They have a stake in the outcome.
They have agendas about keeping you in the same place […]

When you lose your job, the first question that comes to mind is, “How will I survive financially?”
I haven’t seen much good advice for dealing with the financial side of career change, but I like this article:
http://www.fpanet.org/public/tools/jobloss.cfm#steps
Some points I especially like:

Cobra may not be your best option for health insurance.
Make at least some effort to […]

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 […]

I’ve been reading a book called Practically Perfect in Every Way by Jennifer Niesslen. Niesslen spent 2 years testing how much she could change by reading self-help books and following online programs.
You can read more about the book and see my review
here at the amazon website.
What bothered me most were the parts of her life […]

Good leaders are supposed to be compassionate, modest and always cordial. But, says Stanford University Professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, these qualities won’t help you reach the top.
In a fascinating essay, published in his new book What Were They Thinking, Pfeffer describes the skyrocket career of one Keith Ferazzi. Ferazzi didn’t just do the work and wait […]

I watched The Secret twice: first online (with several interruptions) following a recommendation by a marketing coach, then at a conference (where I fell asleep halfway through).
My feelings about the Law of Attraction: I believe if you can crystallize a goal, your subconscious mind goes to work and you get drawn to new ways to […]

When I first moved to Seattle, I was determined to get involved in networking. After four years in a small town in New Mexico, suddenly I had opportunities to meet prospects face to face.
I loved meeting new people. And connections began to happen. But at first I couldn’t help wondering, “Will all this […]

Last week a reporter from Australia emailed me, getting background for an article about careers. As it turned out, the questions related directly to my ebook on “Ten things to do when you really, really hate your job.”http://www.cathygoodwin.com/hatejob.html
An example of the career advice I shared:
Q. How do we ‘readjust’ our attitude to be […]

Last week I commented on the Apprentice candidate who quit, standing up to Donald’s harsh words: “I hate a quitter.”
This week’s decision was both easier and harder. Candidate Merisa wouldn’t shut up, even in the Boardroom.
Placed in charge of Marketing, Merisa kept pushing her ideas. Change the name of the salad. Put some […]