When I was writing my relocation book, I interviewed a psychologist to get the official mental health professional perspective. To my surprise, she talked about challenges newcomers face with (of all things) weather. I’ve always had a hard time with bitter cold. Two years in Alaska and 5 years in Manitoba — and I still […]
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Bragging 101: Personal Branding One Story At A Time
What holds you back from strong personal branding? The vast majority of professionals, business owners and executives have trouble branding themselves because they suffer from FOB syndrome: Fear of Bragging. Professionals and business owners need marketing materials that will demonstrate value to their clients. Corporate executives also get stuck because they can’t sell […]
Q. Hi Cathy. I was laid off sixteen months ago with a great severance package. Since my spouse was working, I really didn’t need to search for a job right away. How do I explain my time off? A. Gaps can be challenging to navigate — and even more challenging to explain. But when a […]
Talking Back to Barbara Ehrenreich
I’m a great fan of Barbara Ehrenreich. I loved Nickel and Dimed and enjoyed reading Bait and Switch. One of my ezine readers sent me a link to Ehrenreich’s blog, which recently discussed the gap within professions: those at the top make mega-bucks, those on the bottom hover at the poverty level. Seethe blog entry […]
Surprise: Meet Your New Job
Q. “I thought I did all my homework before taking this job – but everything has changed! I’m working 12-hour days to complete assignments they ‘forgot’ to tell me about. My customer list includes all the problems nobody else wants. What can I do? And what questions should I ask when I look for my […]
Networking for Career Change
Career advisors tend to sum up all their advice in one word: “networking.” Too old? Too big a resume gap? Bypass the hiring process through networking. Inevitably my clients groan: “Networking? I knew you were going to say that. I hate to network.” Frankly, I don’t blame them. The realities: (1) In my experience, people […]