We had a bit of a gardening accident this week: some weeds had gotten so established and deep-rooted that to dig them up, we wound up killing a beloved old peony. It struck me as an apt analogy for what I’m seeing happen with increasing frequency: one career path ends unceremoniously through things like layoffs,…
If you’re like most people I know, you sometimes feel like a fraud or a disappointment to your loved ones. This feeling is pretty normal, but it’s also absolutely untrue. The truth is that success is a) not particularly linear, and b) something nobody else gets to define for you. That means that your interesting…
If you’re older than 40, chances are good that you have wondered, at least once or twice, “Are they overlooking me because of my age?” And, unfortunately, chances are also good that they are. So here are some tips so you can get in front of employers instead of getting weeded out before you have…
Have you ever set a goal for yourself and fizzled out? A quick online check will tell you that, according to most measures, only about 10% of New Year’s resolutions actually happen, and I see much the same pattern in the rest of life. Why do we fail to keep these promises to ourselves? Step…
You may have heard about so-called ghost jobs, but what are they and why do they exist? More importantly, how can you avoid them? Ghost jobs are simply postings for fake jobs. In other words, unlike scams, these are job postings from real employers, but there’s no actual job to be had. There are a…
Let’s be honest, staying motivated during a job-search is hard work! Here are tips to keeping yourself going I this long slog. 1. Seek balance. Yes, you do need to find things to apply to, but because that can feel dry and uninspiring some days, add some other options for yourself. You can find old…
If you’re like me, you’re feeling the onslaught of bad news very keenly right now. Being overcome by events makes us unable to focus on our jobs, our job-search, and out personal lives. So how can you navigate saying informed, offering what help you can, and not getting overwhelmed? Step 1 is to curate…
If you’re like many of my clients, you’re beyond frustrated with the endless job search and starting to wonder if you’re even employable. But it’s almost certainly not you! So what the heck is going on, and what can you do about it? The state of things Let’s start with why it’s…
‘Tis the season… for job scams. Okay, honestly they’re year-round, but the holidays often mean an uptick in these nefarious attempts. How can you spot a scam in advance, and what should you do if you fall for one? The point of scams of any sort, of course, is to trick the unwary…
One of the frustrations I’m hearing a lot the past couple of weeks has been that it feels overwhelming to move forward with a job-search or a career growth path when all the news coming at us is so grim and concerning. For me, the best way to push through anyway is to focus…