Rules for Leaving Your Job

Did you get fired?  Did you quit in a rage?  Did you sneak out the door?  The answers to those questions are not nearly as important as is the answer to this one:  Did you make the most of your transition from one job to another?

Ending a job is similar to ending a marriage or other long-term relationship in that there are always two sides to the story.  Employers know they are only hearing your side, so you need to be careful how you describe the departure.  Leaving a job is different in one important way: your next partner or spouse will probably not call your previous partner for a reference.  Your prospective employer probably will.

How can your handling of your departure from a job be the most beneficial to your career?

Anything Worth Doing by Christopher Duncan

All my life, I've heard the same things over and over again. Calm down. Mellow out. Eat your vegetables. Okay, maybe that last one doesn't fit the trend but I can assure you, I've heard just about every other variation on this theme that there is. Apparently, I tend to make the cattle nervous. That's fine by me, as I think cows are just a bit too laid back to begin with. This probably has something to do with why they're such a popular entrée.

What is the Best College Major for the Job Market?

If you are in college or simply thinking about college, selecting the “right” major is probably decision you have spent a fair amount of time considering.  Which major will be the best in terms of landing a job upon graduation?

Cubicle City - Practical Strategies for the Corporate Jungle

Tomorrow Comes Quickly.

     As long as the world keeps turning, tomorrow is going to have a habit of sneaking up on us when we're not looking. It's not that I don't like tomorrows, mind you. Some of my fondest memories have been tomorrows, although pursuing that line of pretzel logic much further is likely to loosen my rather tenuous grasp on reality. Nonetheless, the fact remains that we very often find ourselves in possession of a day for which we weren't entirely prepared. As anyone who's ever been caught with their pretzels down can attest, this can be a bit embarrassing to say the least.

Start-up Companies: The Risk-Return Trade-off on Your Career

Every step you take in deciding where, when and how to make a career move can have implications for building your career.  That is, when you accept one job change within a company or one new job with another company, you are rejecting all of the other choices by default.  Some people make these choices with an amazing lack of thought about the effect of their decisions on their future career.  For example, when you decide to accept a job with a small start-up business rather than a large, well established organization, you are opting for a high-risk, but possibly a high-return career move.  Making such a decision is perfectly acceptable - just as long as you understand and are willing to accept the risks.

Using Your First Job as a Career Builder – Part 3 of 3

If you are really planning to build a career, whether with a single employer for a long period of time or several employers over a lifetime, the steps you take and the decisions you make during the first few months or years of your first job will have long-term effects on your career success.  If your decisions are positive and productive, the benefits to you will reach far into the future.  Unfortunately, the negative ones can reach just as far.   When you move on to another company or up in the same company, your early decisions will follow you.  They are in your record, on your resume, and in the impressions you leave with everyone who meets you.  How can you make the impact positive?

Using Your First Job as a Career Builder – Part 2 of 3

Not many new employees understand how to take a simple, often tedious first job and capitalize on the opportunity to advance their career path.  Many people simply look at it as a “job” – something they do during the day, so they can get a pay check. They may hope for a raise, a job change or a promotion, but they have no idea how to make that happen.

Using Your First Job as a Career Builder – Part 1 of 3

As a college, trade school or high school graduate, you have probably read much about how to land that first entry level job.  You learn about resumes, cover letters and job interviews.  The Internet is ripe with information about how to get you foot in the employment door.  However, just like the Disney fairy tales that all seem to end on the wedding day with the prince and princess riding off into the sunset, much of the advice and many of the stories seem to end once the job as been successfully.