It's ironic when during a job search, just at the time when you need to feel your most confident, you're feeling your most deflated. Earlier this year I met with a client who had been searching for a new job for over five months. Although she had a full-time job, she was looking for a different one because she had been underemployed and underpaid for several years. She didn't have a supportive manager, the organization's cu...

Many mid-career people I coach are surprised that informational interviewing is still going on for the over-25 set. If you're curious about what's happening at a certain company you're interested in, want to know what kind of experience is really needed to break into a related field, want the skinny on what other organizations you might want to target, or have any one of a thousand other career development questions,...

Most of us crave meaningful feedback at work. It's natural to want validation and acknowledgment for our accomplishments, and many of us wish we could hear constructive criticism more often to help us learn and grow. Yet the tool that organizations give managers, the dreaded performance review, is pretty universally loathed. Most managers aren't well-trained on how to give effective feedback. They forget the importance of d...

Earlier today I was really unmotivated to write a blog post.But as you can see, I went ahead with it.Most days I talk to at least one person who is having a hard time getting motivated. Motivation is one of those things we can never have enough of. Often it becomes impossible to find when there's a task ahead that is either daunting, dull, confusing, or uncomfortable. And sometimes we're not motivated to do anything, even s...

Delegation is an art that requires practice and commitment, and therefore time. Many of us feel that we don't even have a spare minute to pet the dog, so delegating remains a pipe dream.Don't confuse delegating with dumping. Dumping work involves taking your most tedious or least appealing projects and handing them over to someone with little thought or explanation. Dumping work gives you the illusion of efficiency, until y...

What kind of balance do you want to strike between your professional and your personal life?Harvard business blogger Ron Ashkenas wrote an article in December in the Harvard Business Review that a key to minimizing regret regarding your work-life balance (or lack thereof) is to consciously choose the tradeoffs you're willing to make to achieve personal and professional success.Absent that, we're likely over the years to mak...

Embarking on a job search is a lot like heading out on a backpacking trip. Sure, you could show up at the trailhead with only a liter of water, a granola bar and an indomitable spirit. But come the afternoon, after the biting flies have found you and your granola bar is a distant memory, your energy starts to flag. By nightfall, as the cold sets in and you realize you're lost, you know it's time to turn back.Just like a bac...

So you've got a one or two-day interview ahead of you, during which you'll meet everyone from the CEO to the janitor. What can you expect? How can you make your best impression and somehow not collapse from the stress of repeating yourself and smiling for hour upon hour?More and more, risk-averse employers in today's slow hiring market are investing plenty of time getting to know you before extending an offer. The good new...

If the idea of networking makes you want to run for the hills, this post is for you.There is no activity that inspires fear and loathing in a job search more than networking. First off, the word networking is loaded with cringe-worthy connotations, as in networking event, which makes many of us start sweating just imagining the elevator speeches and small talk.Networking has gotten a really bad rap. And for really good reas...

If you want to take your career to the next level, whatever that means in your specific situation, you might be thinking that you need to fix your weaknesses and make them disappear before you can expect to make any progress.For example, say you'd like to become the Senior VP of Awesomeness, which comes with the responsibility of managing over 150 people. Right now you're a couple of steps away from that goal. You know that...