Tory Johnson spent time over a holiday weekend creating a career vision dish for her desk. It took several hours to find all of the right words and put them all together, but the exercise allowed her to reflect on what she most wanted professionally in the New Year.No, it’s not going to make her work any easier or solve the challenges any faster. But starting out in the right frame of mind – with a daily reminder of the att...

Step 1: Clean Up Your Digital Dirt!Do you or your kids have digital dirt? Digital dirt is the information about you – your hobbies, your photos, your rants and raves – that’s available on the Internet through personal Web sites, profiles on popular social networking sites, and comments on blogs. What you – and certainly your teenagers – might not realize is that employers are reading what’s out there and in many cases it ca...

It is inevitable that at some point in your job search you will be asked for references, and when you are, you’ll want to be sure you have a great group of advocates who are prepared with answers that will help rather than hinder your chances at landing the position. References are something you should think about at the beginning of your interview process and not just at the end when you are under immediate pressure to pro...

Confidence is KeyPositive thinking can be harder than it seems. Most of us let “reality” squash our career dreams before they’ve even had a chance to develop. You think of how nice it would be to go for your master’s degree, but before you can even envision yourself in a cap and gown, you come up with a million reasons why you can’t do it. Maybe you don’t have enough time or money. Or you think you should wait until the kid...

Curiosity CountsAs graduate degrees are becoming the new bachelor’s, there’s little doubt that the competition for positions is stiff. Anyone looking for work must step up her game in the job search.It’s no longer just who you know. Now, you must focus deliberately on who knows you. That means aggressively marketing yourself to hiring managers and the people who influence them. Start by doing an honest assessment of your ef...

Gone are the days of simply mailing your resume, receiving a call, shaking hands at the interview and agreeing on a start date for that new job. The Internet has taken over the recruiting landscape and everyone is required to submit a resume online. While that brings greater efficiency to the process for employers, it can be awfully maddening for job seekers. But it doesn’t have to be that way if you know how to navigate th...

A new trend is to stand out from the crowd with personalized resumes. I see everything from video recitals of your qualifications to business cards that will put your children's fanciest art projects to shame. Before you invest time and money, consider that many of these creative gimmicks may help and hurt your chances. The Video ResumeA fancy production helped the character Elle Woods get into Harvard in the movie "Legally...

Every employee wants to be recognized for his or her performance, but many don’t know how to go about securing that acknowledgement or they’re uncomfortable tooting their horns. They’ll either wait for the boss to offer some form of praise or they’ll suffer in silence when it’s not forthcoming. Many employers are content with this cycle since they fear offering kudos goes hand in hand with opening the coffers. Yet for many...

At many organizations the next step after a successful interview is more interviews. You should always be prepared to go back to the company for an encore. Some companies start with a phone screening and then move to face-to-face interaction. Other companies start with an HR behavioral interview and then move on to an interview with the manager you'd be reporting to, then invite you in for testing. Still others require seve...

Since 80 percent of jobs are found through networking, it's essential when you are looking for a job to get out and sell yourself. Career expos are great opportunities to meet face-to-face with the front-line decision makers at a wide range of top companies throughout the country. This is the ideal chance to ask questions, sell yourself, and gather valuable information that you wouldn't otherwise be able to obtain. Here ar...