People constantly ask me about what elements and tactics are absolutely necessary to execute an effective and efficient job search. At the same time, employers want to know what they need to do to recruit and retain top talent. Frankly, both employers and candidates need to up their game. They need to respect each other’s time and act with professionalism. What does this mean? For job seekers Write a cover lette...

For many of us, weekends are a time for relaxation. Counting down to Friday becomes routine because it means you can finally recover after five days of beating yourself up at work. However, this is a toxic cycle that tells us we should put self-care on hold for most of the week, when it should actually be something we think about all the time. Like all things, moderation and balance is key. It’s completely possible...

Meg hasn't held a steady job for a year, and she likes it that way. She works as a contract worker, writing and editing technical service manuals for a Silicon Valley firm. She's happy to be one of the thousands of temporary workers in North America. Today, people have many employment choices, including temp work. Temporary services are booming. Temp employment can be a source of flexible, fulfilling work that ca...

Recently I was asked to contribute to a piece for The M Dash, the online magazine for clothing brand M.M.LaFleur, about what it’s like to feel lost at work at various stages in life. While my deepest area of expertise is coaching and training mid-career women who recognize they want and deserve a better, happier professional life, I’ve worked with hundreds of women and men across a fuller span of their lives, in...

As you might expect, not all interviewers have taken the time to parse the regulations that govern their behavior. Most of them have the obvious missteps under control, so you are unlikely to find interviewers asking direct questions about your racial identity or religious affiliation. That leaves plenty of room for job interview questions that are slightly more subtle but equally problematic. It may also be the case tha...

If you’re a good leader, you probably encourage your employees to come to you with ideas, feedback and complaints. Plus, most modern companies have some chain of command set up to “listen” to workers, ranging from employee help lines, surveys and check-in meetings all the way up to extensive HR structures. But that’s not the kind of listening I’m talking about. I’m talking about walkin...

Every day we generate 2.5 quintillion bytes of data. This information has led to some tremendous breakthroughs with the potential to improve thousands of lives. As leaders, we also have mountains of data available to us—honestly, more than we can assimilate or make sense of. Yet huge decisions are made every day based solely on the numbers. Now, don’t get me wrong. I love numbers! But, in my years working wit...

Do you feel powerless about aspects of your job? Do you feel unappreciated? Overworked? Are you always tired, irritable? Do you lack enthusiasm? Think of quitting? If so, you may be experiencing job stress. Stress is not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a problem when you feel so overwhelmed by work demands that normal coping strategies don’t work. Studies report that anywhere from 70 to 80 percent of North...

The birds are chirping. The flowers are blooming. The pollen is EVERYWHERE. You know what that means. It means it’s time to reevaluate what you’ve been doing with your job search and prune back the ineffective elements. Some things will need to be cut off completely and tossed into the career compost heap. You want to nurture the strategies and tactics that are effective and give them the most attention. Which o...

Throughout the news we can find reports of low unemployment and the availability of lots and lots of jobs. These statistics could lead you to believe that it is really easy to get a great job. In fact, you might believe it is so easy, you should sit back and wait until the right employer with the right opening knocks on your door. Right? No! (How do you think that is working for the people who actually believe it?) Can...