Water Cooler Wisdom
Up-to-the-minute career advice from one who has survived the trenches.
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“No-Drama” Obama and His Pitbulls: A Lesson in Management
The news is buzzing about “No-Drama” Obama’s cabinet picks. Says the New York Times: “After running a campaign known for its almost military-like cool and discipline, the president-elect is now assembling a staff whose members are known for their combativeness. His chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, is a take-no-prisoners politician known for his willingness to butt heads with adversaries. Mr. Obama’s top liaison to Congress, Phil Schiliro, is a skilled political infighter.... |
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New Episode: 30/20 Vision
Hi everyone! Join my friends and co-hosts Lindsey Pollak and Christine Hassler for a new episode of 30/20 Vision, airing on Blog Talk Radio this afternoon at 2PM ET. We'll be talking about how to survive and thrive during a recession. Hope to see you there, and if you can't make it, be sure to check out the archive! |
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Book Review: Campus Calm University
I’m pleased to let everyone know that a useful book I’ve contributed to, Campus Calm University by Maria Pascucci, has just been published. The book is part of a nationwide effort by innovative new organization Campus Calm to empower high school and college students to become stress resistant and confident leaders. This generation of teens and twenty-somethings, known as the Millennials, is the most ambitious group of young people ever to walk the planet. However, Millennials... |
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Facebook Foibles Could Cost You Your Career
The British newspaper The Independent reported that Virgin Atlantic sacked 13 flight attendants for criticizing the airline's flight safety standards and describing its passengers as chavs on Facebook. And yes, I didn’t know what chav meant either. Apparently it’s the British equivalent of white trash. In a statement, the airline said: “Virgin Atlantic can confirm that members of its cabin crew will be leaving the company after breaking staff policies due to totally... |
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Taking Time to Find Out What People Want
My grandfather turned 90 years old this week. As long as I’ve been alive, he’s been impossible to shop for. Now that I’m a working mom, I have less time than ever to figure out what to get him, so I usually just include him in a family gift of tasty treats. But the man has had quite the life, and this year I really wanted to celebrate it. When we were out in California visiting my family a few months ago, I tried to pay special attention to what he... |
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Nagging Versus Appropriate Follow Up
At my college reunion, I met a prominent national newspaper editor I’ve admired for a long time. I had e-mailed her a couple of times to introduce myself over the years, but she hadn’t responded, and I didn’t want to be a nag so I let it go. When I talked to her in person, I mentioned this, and she replied, “Oh, I don’t think it’s nagging if someone contacts me multiple times. I’m so busy that it’s often the only way to get my attention.” This... |
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How to Know if You Really Like Your Job
I love this post from one of the smartest college students – if not the smartest – I know. Ben Casnocha suggests that if you want to find out what someone really does for a living, ask him what he does "on a day-to-day basis." According to Ben, typically when you ask someone, "What do you do?" you get a grand, idealized vision of what their job is supposed to be. Hence, he follows this question with, "Interesting. So what does that entail on a day-to-day... |
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The Economy May Stink, But You Can Still Be Happy
So everyone’s lamenting the tragic turn our society has taken – economically, politically, socially. And I agree that things are objectively not as good in America as they were 10 years ago. But they’re still better than they were during the Civil War, or the Black Plague, or, if you think about it, most periods of human history. If you’re to get through these tough times with your sanity intact, this is a good way to look at things. And how... |
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5 Burning Questions About Tech Etiquette
Real Simple Magazine has just featured one user manual that’s worth reading – how to be plugged in without being impolite. Hap tip to Yahoo! Shine for the highlights, which contain advice from some of the business in the tech-etiquette business: 1. You’re walking down the street and listening to your iPod when you run into someone you know. Do you need to remove both earbuds to talk to her?Jodi R. R. Smith, author of From Clueless to Class Act: Manners for the Modern Woman: If you’re... |
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Words of Wisdom on Job Action Day
To rally those who have lost their jobs or are facing possible job loss in the current devastated economic climate, Quintessential Careers has created Job Action Day. Job Action Day, which is today, aims to empower workers and job-seekers to take proactive steps to shore up their job and career outlook. As a blogger in this space, Quintessential Careers Founder Randall Hansen invited me to write about the importance of being proactive and motivated in your career activities. This... |
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The Older You Are, the Less Stress You Have?
A friend who is in the Communications department at the American Psychological Association kindly provided me with the just-released results of their Stress in America survey, broken down by generations. As soon as I read it, I was itching to share the key findings with you: The Stress in America survey was conducted online by Harris Interactive among 1791 adults who reside in the U.S., which included 406 Millennials (18-29 year olds), 478 Gen Xers (30-43 year olds),... |
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Don't Bite the Hand That Feeds You
Marketing guru Seth Godin read my mind. As he says in a recent post: “I don't know about you, but I'm getting plenty of emails asking for more money for various political campaigns. That's because the systems in place are good at asking for money, and that's what they measure. They're willing to burn out permission, person by person, just to squeeze out the last few bucks. What a shame. What a waste. Businesses do this all the time. So do non-profits.... |
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Book Review: Don’t Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College
Thanks to my pal, Lindsey Pollak, for introducing me to author and blogger Dustin Wax. I’m a longtime reader of Dustin’s articles on Lifehack, and I was excited to hear that Dustin has penned a new book for college students called Don’t Be Stupid: A Guide to Learning, Studying, and Succeeding at College. Dustin’s timing couldn’t be better, that’s for sure. The members of the largest single year cohort in American history, those born in the year 1989, are currently... |
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Do You Practice Unselfish Observation?
When I was pregnant, I saw other pregnant women everywhere, and now that I have a baby, I see babies the same age everywhere. I notice lots of details about these babies, including how well they move and verbalize in comparison to my son, and what brand of stroller their mommies push. Before the prospect of a child became my reality, I never paid attention to such things because they weren’t important to me. I don’t think I’m unique in this respect. ... |
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30/20 Vision Radio Show: New Episode on Friendships
Just wanted to alert you all to a new episode of my radio show and podcast, 30/20 Vision. The show features my fellow twenty-something authors Christine Hassler (20 Something Manifesto) and Lindsey Pollak (Getting From College to Career), and tomorrow at 3PM ET we will chat about friendships after college, including how you can best make new relationships and maintain old ones, and how to troubleshoot when a friendship hits a snag. Hope you'll join us live or listen... |
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Can You Speak “Acceptably?”
I’m not late to the game on this one, I swear. It’s just that I’ve been waiting. Watching to see what Sarah Palin will do next. Ever since her disastrous turn with Katie Couric, I’ve been anticipating her next public speaking snafu. Why did I think she would make one? Quite simply, because she admitted she didn’t know too much about the office of Vice President. This isn’t surprising, as she’s never been to Washington and only has experience... |
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When You Should Work for Free – And When You Shouldn’t
As the economy has gotten worse, I’ve noticed an upswing in the number of people asking me to work for free. I don’t think these organizations quite understand that I make my living writing and speaking, so when I do these things for no pay, I don’t eat. They rationalize that they are paying me in exposure – meaning that more people will experience my work because of them, and therefore more people will click on my website and buy my books. From where I’m sitting,... |
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Taking Responsibility for “The Bumps”
For about a year, I’ve been getting these odd little bumps on one of my legs. At first I thought they must be a result of some illness, environmental toxin, or even pregnancy. When they appear, they itch and hurt, and I’ve been known to complain profusely about them. Only lately has it occurred to me that perhaps something I’m doing is causing them. I’ve thought that maybe I should replace my semi-dull razor with a better one, or change shaving... |
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But I Want to Go Into Finance!
I just got this e-mail from a WCW reader: “Dear Alexandra: When I was younger, my parents, who used to watch the old TV show Family Ties, used to call me Alex P. Keaton. I’ve always had a knack for numbers. I got my first savings account when I was in second grade, and I’ve been playing the stock market since I was in high school. I’m a senior in college now, and it has always been my dream to work for one of the big banking firms. But with the economy... |
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7 Tips for Better Presentations
If you talk to me about the speaking arm of my career for more than five minutes, you’ll get an earful about my Powerpoint quandary. What’s the most impactful way to deliver a speech? Should I use slides or not? If I don’t, should I use talking points? How can I be entertaining while teaching, without giving in to glitz and hype? Seth Godin, who markets himself better than anyone I know, has some tips I’ll be keeping in mind for my upcoming talks. ... |