Articles

Organizational behavior. Taking responsibility.

Posted by on Jun 19, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Organizational behavior. Taking responsibility.

Someone in the chain of production made a mistake, and a customer received a sub-par product. Quickly, team members started pointing fingers about who was possibly to blame.  Time was wasted, morale was deflated, and hours later the problem was no closer to being fixed. Sound familiar? This is common behavior in many organizations.  Imagine, though, if the first person who learned of the error instead said, “Am I willing to take full responsibility for this situation?”, and then took action to resolve it? Leadership development expert Nancy...

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A Second Chance – Tips for entering the workforce after incarceration.

Posted by on Jun 12, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

A Second Chance – Tips for entering the workforce after incarceration.

In response to a well-written letter from an inmate who will soon be eligible for employment in Larimer County. Her background is as an administrative assistant, customer service and horticulture work, but she’s also interested in fast food opportunities. Her crime was possession of methamphetamines, and she says this experience has changed her life. A handful of friends and colleagues shared these suggestions about felon-friendly employers: Robyn L. Feldberg shared a link to a list of employers:...

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The Graduation Cap – Tips for your future ahead.

Posted by on Jun 5, 2017 in Uncategorized | 0 comments

The Graduation Cap – Tips for your future ahead.

Kudos to those who just received their diplomas. Considering that only about one quarter of adults ever receives a bachelor’s degree, it’s an impressive accomplishment. But now you’re facing the transition from a fairly prescribed path to forging forward with no set plan. The iconic symbol of completing your program—the cap—can guide you ahead: C – Clarity: For most grads, their major doesn’t define their vocational choice. Over 70% complete commencement without a career goal in mind. Yet without one, they may quickly end up feeling aimless...

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Posted by on May 29, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes | 0 comments

Driving around town after our recent spring snowstorm, I noticed that areas west of College Avenue seemed much harder hit than those east of it—more fallen branches and remaining drifts. I mentioned it to my husband. “That’s the difference one degree can make,” he explained. Closer to the foothills the slightly-colder weather caused more snow to freeze on branches, resulting in more weight and breakage. Just a single degree created that much difference. It got me thinking, how many one-degree shifts were driving positive…and negative…shifts...

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Cooking Up Job Experiments!

Posted by on May 22, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Cooking Up Job Experiments!

A friend loaned me her copy of Julie & Julia. I’d seen the movie years ago, yet reading the book reminded me of the delight and value that can come from diving into a career experiment. A career experiment is a short-term, low-risk experience that exposes the experimenter to an aspect of a profession that intrigues them. Career experiments can help with career planning, and, in author Julie Powell’s case, to satisfy a craving. Powell had been fascinated with cooking and Julia Child for years. If you’re familiar with the story, you’ll...

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Career Wisdom from Mom!

Posted by on May 15, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Career Wisdom from Mom!

Happy Mother’s Day! From the mouths of great mothers come these words of career wisdom: Consultant David Mullaney’s reminded him to, “Be a-lert, the world needs more lerts!” Artist Jennifer Spencer’s advised, “If someone has hired you, you must do your best whether you want to or not.” Retail specialist Sandra Hezlitt’s  told her: “Work just as hard as your fellow employees, and employers, work just as hard as your workers.” Business owner Ann Clarke’s said, “You don’t need someone else to make you happy or take care of you....

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Stress Relief through Journaling

Posted by on May 8, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Stress Relief through Journaling

“So the week begins anew. That sense of dread is with me again. I still haven’t figured out a solution to this business dilemma. Not sure what I’ll do from here…” This was the start of my journal entry on Monday last week. Lately I spend a few minutes each morning transferring the thoughts in my head to paper. I’ve known for years that journaling helps me deal with stress and speeds me more quickly toward fixes to problems that are taking up my headspace. It turns out that aside from my anecdotal experiences, there’s also science behind the...

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Are you clear on your focus?

Posted by on May 1, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Are you clear on  your focus?

“What kind of work are you targeting?”, I asked Mark, a young client, as part of his mock interview exercise. “Ah, I hate this question,” he replied, “I never know how to answer it.” His response surprised me, because we’d just spent months working together to define a motivating, good-fit career focus. When I asked why he hadn’t described that in his answer, he said, “I don’t know if I’m going to actually be able to land that kind of work, and it feels silly saying it.” I think of this as Gotta-Get-Used-to-It syndrome, where as we move into...

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Take The Shot!

Posted by on Apr 7, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Take The Shot!

A friend’s manager just gave her notice. He doesn’t feel qualified to take his boss’ job yet, but her role is one he’d like to land eventually. Should he apply for it? There are many considerations, but in my opinion, yes, he should apply, for these reasons: Getting ready to submit an application to a job, even if you’re not fully qualified, nudges you to get in shape for other positions down the line. Thinking through your career goals, updating your resume, and actually sending in your materials are all positive steps. Applying for an...

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Eating “frogs”. A strategy for getting more done daily.

Posted by on Mar 31, 2017 in Career Change, Career Counseling, Interviewing, Job Searching, LinkedIn, Resumes, Uncategorized | 0 comments

Eating “frogs”. A strategy for getting more done daily.

Mark Twain once said that we should eat a live frog the first thing every morning, because that would likely be the worst experience of the day, and we would benefit from getting it over with right away. Motivational expert Brian Tracy picked up on this notion and recommends identifying and acting on your most distasteful tasks—a.k.a. “frogs”—daily. And here I sit, penning this column, with a few frogs of my own chirping from the sidelines, waiting to be dealt with. They have to do with making some important phone calls, and could result in...

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