Ceiling Busters: 4 Paths to Career Advancement

Hitting a career plateau can be unsettling and disappointing. You know you’ve hit a plateau when you’ve gone as far as you can in your job and you find it unchallenging and well below your earning expectations. Continuing education can be a real tonic. By adding a certification or advanced degree in your field, you

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10 Ways to Avoid Being Hired

If you’re looking for a job, you have likely seen plenty of articles explaining exactly how to favorably impress the right people. However, it’s apparent that there are many unique characters who are job hunting but do not really want to get hired. If this sounds like you, look no further for useful ways to

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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

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(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

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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,

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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.

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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

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What’s Keeping You From Changing Careers?

So many people aren’t happy, fulfilled or even moderately satisfied with their work. The constant changes taking place in companies, including the temporary nature of jobs that were once relatively permanent, create a stressful work environment in which it’s difficult to feel satisfied, let alone happy.

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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

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Rating the Nation’s Best and Worst Jobs

Many of us dream of finding the perfect spouse, a fantastic place to live and the absolute best college education for our kids. But most romances, house hunts and academic pursuits aren’t as perfect as we’d hoped. Your spouse is loving and understanding, but snores. A house is large and airy, but expensive to heat.

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