Career Coaching

Most job interviews include at least one negative interview question: What is your biggest weakness? Tell me about a project where something went wrong. What is the biggest mistake you made? The interviewer is looking for habits, qualities or skill deficiencies that might hinder your ability to do the job. In addition, the interviewer is

To go to graduate school or not? That is a question you may face after several years on the workforce and looking for a boost in your career; or after several decades of work and looking for a major change. Given the time and expense of a graduate school education, it makes sense to weigh

I get a lot of questions about job security, as more anxiety stems from economic disruption due to trade wars or technology disruption due to AI (artificial intelligence) and other innovations. In a previous Forbes post, I tackled the AI question, and share five strategies to thrive in the AI workplace. But whether it is

Many interviews will open with an invitation to tell your story, with questions such as ‘tell me about yourself’, ‘walk me through your resume’, or ‘walk me through your career’. Since a version of this question starts just about every interview, you’ll want to have a prepared answer. But you don’t want answer this question

A resume is a factual document. In fact, it can serve as the outline to a background check. Your employer may check dates of employment, titles of previous jobs, academic degrees received and dates of school attendance as you list them on your resume. So you should assume that everything that can be verified will

I still emphasize the importance of writing a thank you note, even after 20+ years of teaching job search skills at an Ivy League graduate school (and I’ve taught through both boom and bust hiring markets). Thank you notes after a job interview or general networking meeting keep you front-of-mind with the people you meet.

If you want to jump on the job opportunities that come your way, you’ll need a resume. But the prospect of pulling together all the details of your background is daunting for many job seekers, especially if you haven’t updated your resume recently. If you break down creating or updating your resume into small, distinct

A reader of one of my networking posts, Ten People You Need To Have In Your Professional Network, gave me a follow-up challenge: I’ve been to so many lectures or read articles and they all say the same thing. Rely on your network or use your network to accomplish this or that. What they all

career reflections At year-end, it’s fun and helpful to look back on the previous year – fun because you usually accomplish a lot more than the busyness of the year allows you to celebrate; and helpful because you can build on your recent success. How was your year? Are there any insights that can be

Impostor syndrome, or feelings of inadequacy despite having achieved recognizable success, is a phenomenon more commonly used to describe high-performing women who feel like a fraud (or impostor, hence the phrase) despite their high achievement. I have encountered clients (of both genders actually) who use the word impostor to describe how they feel when attempting

The new year is always a good inflection point to recount the hits and misses for the past year and decide what will be different next year. On the job this past year, you probably encountered some sticky situations or had projects that fell flat. Many times it’s because of bad habits you might have

Career advancement is not one-size-fits-all. There are different and sometimes surprising paths you can take. A mid-level manager and former student of mine recently landed a new job, which is not only a step up in title but also a wider scope of responsibilities, including brand new areas for her. Too many people think of

Money is flat and meant to be piled up. – Scottish Proverb Both as a recruiter and as a career coach, I have heard women downplay the importance of compensation.  Even if you don’t believe this Scottish Proverb should be your life mantra, paying attention to money matters is important.  For most people, your compensation

There is a difference between negotiating your compensation and negotiating your salary. While your salary is what you will get paid by the hour or by the paycheck or by the year, your compensation represents the overall package of what you will receive. Salary is just one component of compensation, and while perhaps the salary

This career advancement post originally appeared in my Work In Progress blog for Forbes.com. Yes it is an older post, but honestly, while the market conditions change over time, the actual aspects of negotiating your salary don’t change.  ==================== In the past few years, the tight labor market has led to layoffs and restructurings that

For the replay of my recent Publicity webinar, please see the bottom of this post.  Landing publicity was how the senior executive I coached broke into the C-level ranks. But before I explain why publicity is so critical, first a disclaimer: there are multiple activities you should pursue to maximize something as multifaceted as your

Both as an executive coach and recruiter I have worked on negotiations involving offers in the multiple six-figures. These big offers have a lot of moving parts and involve experienced professionals on both sides of the negotiation table (candidate and employer). So I’m always surprised when I’m coaching a candidate who leaves out key items

If you want to change careers, you may wonder how to introduce yourself, when a common networking introduction is simply name and current job title (i.e., the title you don’t want anymore). This anxiety on how to introduce yourself deters people from networking altogether, or might cause an aspiring career changer to mention everything but