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Using creative sources for research and support.
Coming off of a whirlwind travel weekend, Monday then hit me with the challenge of coming up with a theme for this week’s column. The few ideas I had in reserve didn’t inspire me. So I did what I often do lately when looking for help: I asked my friends on Facebook. My post, calling for any interesting career-growth related topic, yielded 27 submissions in four hours. Suggestions ranged from when to give up on a passion career and just take a job, to when to give up on a job to shift to a passion career. What to do to get noted for a promotion, to what not to do at the company holiday party...
read moreA Survey For Hope
Chances are you’re basking in the glow of a delicious holiday meal, feeling optimistic about the world around us. Or at least I hope you are. What is hope all about, anyway? According to Therese Lask, a training and organizational development specialist at Colorado State University, it’s about having goals and a belief that you can overcome obstacles to achieve them. The future seems bright to those with hope. Lask trains employees within workplaces on how to increase their feelings of hope, based on research by Shane Lopez, Ph.D. Using data gathered in schools, and combined with his...
read moreWhat not to do in an interview.
A group of hiring managers recently shared their biggest job-interview-candidate peeves. These are their replies, listed in order of frequency mentioned: “I’m always disappointed when candidates have no questions to ask me during interviews.” This frustration was mentioned several times, and conveys to interviewers that the candidate didn’t prepare for interview basics, and also that she doesn’t care much about the opportunity. Bringing along a list of questions and a notepad to record information is a quick fix for this faux pas. “Not listening to questions, and responding with...
read moreThe Importance of a Summary Section
You might be surprised to hear that many recruiters, business owners, and hiring managers do take the time to read an applicant’s summary section. Still others choose not to go on and read the rest of the document if a summary section is not included or poorly written. Yet despite this, many job seekers choose to eschew a summary section, or put it in as a sub-par afterthought. This is a bad decision. The summary section is often the first thing a hiring manager will read about you, and if it’s written poorly, it could be the last. Most people agree that the summary section should be a 4-7...
read moreTo Put or Not To Put: Resume Writing
When I wrote my first professional resume, my instinct was to include everything I’d ever done on it. This not only resulted in a poorly written resume, but it never landed me any interviews because my accomplishments weren’t relevant to the position, or didn’t include the right keywords. I thought a successful resume included everything, rather than being targeted The Hamlet reference in this article’s title (and photo) encompasses the question I learned to ask myself whenever I wrote a resume. To put or not to put, that is the question! Creating a targeted resume necessitates you...
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