I am finding often, and not just with recent graduates, that follow up, and phone and email etiquette is sorely lacking with many professionals today. It is a lack of professionalism and courtesy when communications such as following up, thanking others, and scheduling confirmations, cancellations or delays, are not kept a priority. With younger clients I try and remind them that it is good practice to get into the...

Knowing your career goals and staying focused on those goals during your job search is vital to achieving long-term career success and that you say yes to the best job for you. A client I have been working with (we’ll call him Greg) was excited to start a recent coaching call. He had been approached by a recruiter interested in him for a VP Sales and Marketing job for an international retail organization. The company is tak...

In order to stand out as you progress through your career and up the corporate ladder; your resume needs to keep pace with your career. Whether seeking a new position inside your current company or looking externally, your resume will be a first glimpse first impression to many. You want to put your best foot forward and avoid these costly mistakes. 1. Don’t Use an Outdated Format - Many professionals keep the same format t...

Many executives find their next job with a biography. An executive biography is a different format than a resume. They are generally written in full paragraph form rather than in bullet statements, but an executive bio can make you memorable and can be full of punch if written correctly. An executive bio is more flexible than a resume. You can carry hard copies with you to carry around with you to job interviews, job fairs,...

If you have been working in one industry for most of your adult life, a career transition can be frightening. While you may be excited at the prospect of changing jobs, it is understandable and expected that a tiny bit of apprehension will sit in a corner of your mind. It isn’t uncommon for those of us that change careers to sit, staring at our resume, and wonder, “Am I doing the right thing? Is this job for me? Am I crazy?...

Job seekers often confess to me that they get nervous before and during job interviews. They feel that their nervousness is often visible and has a direct effect on how they are perceived and on the results of the interview. Unfortunately they are right. To overcome their fears or at least to press on through their nervousness, the advice I always give job seekers is to prepare for the encounter before the interview....

It’s June and again that time of the year, when new graduates receive their diplomas and launch themselves into a career search. For many new graduates that didn’t begin preparing for their search while still in school, the question they ask is, “I’ve graduated…now what?” For the students that took advantage of their college career centers they probably received counseling and valuable career tools to get their job sear...

As I talk with many candidates, the biggest frustration I hear is that there is no response to resumes they send out. Although many have worked hard to develop a large contact list, targeted specific companies of interest and have a specific system or plan in place to send out resumes, I find most do not follow up on sent resumes.When I ask the question, “Have you followed up with them?” I usually get the deer in the head l...

Most of my clients are experienced professionals in their 40’s or 50’s and come to me in the throngs of a failed job search. Usually their career has progressed easily through internal promotions or word of mouth referrals. Now faced with a struggling economy and a new job search arena, they feel unsure and even fearful of the challenge before them.Suddenly they are 6 years old again and afraid to step off their bed for fea...

Recently I had a conversation with a job seeker which I have had similarly with many others in the past. The conversation begins with a recap of what actions they have taken in their job search and what thei r expectations are for working together. I often here something like, “I can handle the job search – I just need a resume to get me in the door, and I know I can talk my way into the job – I can talk my way into anythin...