Work, success, and meaning at every stage of your career
The New Year brings on all kinds of resolutions for change, and the changes often include career moves. Is this the year you should make a move? Economists are predicting a growing economy, you’re feeling ready to go – how do you decide when it’s time? Here are some questions to ask about your job … Continue reading 2025 Checkup for your Career
I’d bet that you’d never think to pair the words “messy” and perfectionist” in the same sentence. But perfectionism comes in all shapes and sizes. That’s according to Katherine Morgan Schafler, who has written The Perfectionist’s Guide to Losing Control: A Path to Peace and Power. In it, she frees up perfectionists to lean into … Continue reading The Messy Perfectionist
Savvy parents are talking with their kids about opting out of expensive 4-year degrees where the ROI is unclear, to say the least. Only 40% of high school grads who go to 4-year colleges have earned degrees within 6 years, and despite federal policy, most will have to pay back expensive student loans. Even those … Continue reading Toolbelt Jobs are a Smart Choice
If you’ve ever been assigned to a business project, you’ve probably heard of a SWOT analysis. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses (both internal factors) Opportunities and Threats (both external factors.) In an online article for SmartBrief, Denise Lee Yohn suggests you perform your own SWOT analysis to uncover new insights and help you become your … Continue reading Your Personal SWOT Analysis
A February 2024 Wall Street Journal headline read like this: 40% of Lawyers Are Women. 7% Are Black. America’s Workforce in Charts. The article analyzed The most recent Bureau of Labor Statistics data, which each year looks at the gender and racial composition of hundreds of occupations, offering a snapshot of how workers sort themselves into … Continue reading Your Dental Hygienist Cleans like a Girl. (Because chances are, she is.)
In a previous post, I wrote about the boomerang employee trend. Returning employees make up an estimated 25% of all new hires over the past couple of years, according to HR surveys. The 2020 pandemic caused millions of workers to re-think their careers. Now that the world has returned to (mostly) normal, many of those … Continue reading Tips for Successful Boomerang-ing
You made a mistake. The grass is not greener; it’s not even grass – it’s some sort of weird weed that you’re beginning to hate. The job isn’t what they promised. Your new “hybrid” schedule is mandatory cubicle time four days a week. You miss your teammates. You’re thinking of asking for your old job … Continue reading Should You Boomerang? Things to Consider Before You Return.
When I entered the field of workforce development in 1997, I confidently predicted the demise of the 4-year degree. I spoke to anyone who would listen (employers and jobseekers) about the idea that employment trends were changing quickly, and that the pace of change was accelerating faster than universities and colleges could ever aspire to. … Continue reading A College Degree is Not Required for Success
“A monkey dressed in silk is still a monkey,” Spanish proverb There’s a saying in almost every culture that reminds us that “clothes don’t make the man (or woman).” The aphorism cuts both ways; it warns us that dressing up doesn’t make you a better person. It also warns us that we shouldn’t judge people by … Continue reading Do Clothes Make the Man?
Blogger Phil Agnew wrote a great post about Steve Jobs’s ability to persuade. He writes of Jobs: “His ability to convince billions of people to buy his products at premium prices was no coincidence.” One of the techniques Jobs used so effectively was “The Labor Illusion.” The labor illusion suggests that when people witness the effort and … Continue reading The Labor Illusion
