Category: Professional Development

Building skills on the job

Guest Post: Grad School Increases your Marketability

by candacemoody

The Bachelor’s degree may have slowed down as a a way for a candidate to stand out. With over 30% of adults now holding a Bachelor’s degree, ‘standing-out’ with respect to education may require job applicants to have more sophisticated training. This may be true both at the beginning of a career and as you climb in an organization. In some job environments, experience can only take you so far. To be considered for executive level positions, you may need an advanced degree.

This is Not How It’s Done

by candacemoody

I was shocked to read about the emails sent by a woman who includes in her email signature “2013 International Association of Business Communicators communicator of the year.” Her name is Kelly Blazek, and she runs a 7,300-subscriber JobBank newsletter based in Cleveland, Ohio. She’s supposed to be helpful (and a great communicator) but after her condescending and downright nasty emails to young careerists became public, she’s doing a lot of damage control. What was she thinking?

What’s in a Name?

by candacemoody

But names do matter. Your name is linked to first impressions from a very early age. A survey of 30,000 teachers revealed that 49 percent make assumptions about kids based on their names, and that they perceived some names as trouble makers (hint: don’t name your rambunctious boy Jack.)

Mapping Relationships at Work

by candacemoody

When you understand where people stand and how they think, you may be able to form more productive relationships. It’s not necessarily about being liked and having friends; it’s about having cordial relationships based on respect. Those are the kind of relationships that help you get things done.

Power Surges

by candacemoody

“Power” is a word that many of us associate with unpleasant ideas: it makes us think of egocentric politicians and crazy movie villains. Somewhere along the way, power and abuse became linked in our cultural lexicon. But almost everyone has some sort of personal or positional power that they exercise in the office, even if we don’t often call it by name.

Guest Post: The 5 Hottest Job Markets (Jacksonville is #2!)

by candacemoody

In order to overcome the difficulties, some professionals are casting a wider net in their job searches and considering relocating to other areas in order to find good work. If your current location simply doesn’t have a market for your skills, that can be a great decision.

The Politics of Calling in Sick

by candacemoody

Full disclosure: I’m sniffling as I write this at work. Down the hall, I hear regular coughing, and I just finished a meeting with someone who dabbed at her nose the entire time. The odds are pretty good that one or more of us will infect an innocent bystander by our presence at the office. Why do we still come in?

Guest Post: Ready for a Career Change? Try an MBA

by candacemoody

If you’re interested in switching careers through an MBA, you’ll want to do some soul searching before you apply to a particular program. While an MBA may be an excellent vehicle for career change, it may also require a hefty investment. Therefore, it’s a good idea to figure out where you want your MBA to lead you before you pursue this degree. That process might also help you compile a stronger application essay that contains carefully planned long-term career goals.

Why Can’t We Be Friends?

by candacemoody

There are people who claim to like people they don’t trust, but I almost never believe them. For me, the word “like” implies a relaxed relationship, and I can’t relax around people I don’t trust. I suspect that liking someone you don’t trust means that you believe you’re far enough down their enemies list to escape any negative behavior.

Playing Nice

by candacemoody

I’ve written about being nice before and how it can sabotage your career and your wellbeing. It’s not that nice guys finish last; I think that if we were all nicer to each other, the world would be a better place. But what is corrosive to your soul is being nice instead of being strong – being nice in the hope that you won’t have to be strong. It doesn’t work, and it eats at your confidence and your power.