Choose Your New Career
Top career counselors offer advice for career switchers.
What Not to Say in an Interview
Interviews are always pretty difficult. You’re nervous. You don’t have a lot of personal space. You’re forced to answer multiple questions back to back with no time to rest. And your whole professional future seems to depend on this one tiny thing. Terrifying! So it’s easy to understand why so many interviewees depend on cliches
(ARCHIVE) The Reliability and Validity of a Direct Writing Assessment Program
Abstract This series of three case studies describes a program of applied research on writing evaluation conducted in a large utility company. Two of the studies employed represented workers as subjects while the third utilized management employees. Reliability of ratings was examined several ways, including generalizability analysis, coefficient alpha, and Pearson r. Validity of writing
What procedures prevent discrimination?
Disabled employees need not follow regular procedures to achieve reasonable accommodation A U. S. Court of Appeals has held that an employer cannot require a disabled employee to follow the regular procedures for requesting a transfer. It was up to the employer to find her a reasonable accommodation, and to implement it.
When is discrimination legal?
Isn’t “general harassment” illegal? Should harassment be “sexual” to be illegal? What about hostile environment, verbal and mental abuse? Would these be illegal in a court of law?
When is it sexual orientation discrimination?
A male employee now says he’s a woman — what do we do? I have an employee that started cross-dressing. He wishes to use the women’s bathroom. He has provided a statement form his doctor that he is suffering from gender dysphoria. Are we obligated to allow him to use the women’s rest room?
Various questions and answers about the work (Part 2)
We take our employees to lunch for their reviews — do we have to pay them, too? When an employee is taken to lunch, and given their scheduled review, is this considered their lunch break (unpaid) or should they receive an additional break that day and be paid for the time during the review?
Unemployed Executive Finds the Way to ‘Real’
Last year I knew who I was. I was the highly compensated vice president of marketing at a burgeoning e-learning software company. I was the person who conceived and managed all marketing initiatives. It was I who launched national programs that cost lots of money. Decision makers at Fortune 100 companies took my meetings. Vendors
Three Keys to Acing Sales-Job Interviews
You’ve sent your resume to numerous employers for account-management roles. The phone rings, and you have an in-person interview for a sales role at a top company. First, congratulations on your upcoming interview. More importantly, in this competitive environment, how do you prepare? Every day I coach candidates on techniques to help them ace their
If You Don’t Stand Out, Consider a Career Change
If you haven’t had a promising interview in the past six months, you should consider the possibility that you aren’t a top candidate. In this job market, it isn’t good to be anything but a top candidate. Hiring managers who have openings are besieged with resumes, many from outstanding candidates. So if you aren’t outstanding,
Building Credibility: Key for a Fast Start
Having changed employers and roles several times over the course of my career, I’ve learned that getting off to a fast start in a new position hinges on building credibility in the new role. To do so, you need to deliver early but enduring results. Planning your first few weeks on the job is the
Strategies for Making Your Dream Job a Reality
Fantasies can come true. Just ask Ann Krcik, a rock climber who dreamed about quitting her marketing-operations job to work with fellow adventurers in the great outdoors. She made the leap by launching a Salt Lake City, Utah, firm that represents “extreme” athletes, signing them up to appear in commercials, and as models and motivational
Some Professionals Find a Second Chance in a New Career
At age 35, Paul Gauguin was working in a bank. A year later, he chucked that job, along with his wife, his children and his prosperous but predictable Parisian existence for a tumultuous life as an artist in southern France and then Tahiti. It was a life he later described as “ecstasy, peace and for
Moving From the Military Into a Civilian Job
Switching from a military to a civilian career is a big step. It also can be extremely difficult. Military officers may be highly qualified for many business positions. However, their backgrounds are so different from those of typical executives that employers often can’t tell if — and where — they’d fit. To start with, military
What Does It Take To Change Careers?
Switching from a military to a civilian career is a big step. It also can be extremely difficult. Military officers may be highly qualified for many business positions. However, their backgrounds are so different from those of typical executives that employers often can’t tell if — and where — they’d fit.
Free Time Is Elusive For Many Free Agents
Despite the corporate layoff announcements piling up, the overall employment picture is still quite healthy. What better time to go into business for yourself? If you’ve yearned for the freedom of being your own boss, be warned: Experienced independent professionals will tell you that there’s little that’s “free” about being a free agent.
Five Practical Ways To Change Careers
One reason many people find it difficult to change careers is they think they have to do it in one big leap. Another is simple inertia — it’s easier to stay with the familiar pain of doing what they don’t like than brave the unknown. But you don’t have to change careers in one fell
Free-Agent Professionals Hit Bumps Along the Way
Romanticizing the free-lance lifestyle can be dangerous. Compared with going the corporate route, it’s mistakenly viewed as idyllic. Nowadays, the term “free-lancer” is giving way to the sexier monikers such as “contract worker” and “free agent.” Or, if you’re at the upper end of the salary and experience scale, the term du jour is “interim
Are Tech Certifications Worth the Steep Cost?
Despite the hiring slowdown in the information-technology field, thousands of IT professionals and wannabes are banking on certifications to boost their careers. Computer professionals use certifications as yardsticks of their skills in hopes of better jobs and higher pay. Employees in other fields may be lured by the thought that computer certifications might help them
Online Q&A On Financial Advisor Careers
Merrill Lynch Wealth Management is the wealth management division of Bank of America. The firm is headquartered in New York City, and occupies the entire 34 stories of the Four World Financial Center building in Manhattan. Merrill Lynch employs over 15,000 financial advisors and manages $2.2 trillion in client assets. The firm has its origins in Merrill