Articles
Success can be elusive. The building blocks of success are subtle and nuanced. For those who have made it big, the real reasons for their success are rarely the things they remember and write about.
This is where mentors come in.
In our quest for growth, progress, and success, we have this latent desire for someone who will take us under their wing and co-pilot our journey from the mailroom to the corner office. Or, more realistically, we imagine a relationship with a mentor who meets with us once or twice a month over a long period of time and imparts wisdom like a college professor working through a syllabus.
It doesn't work that way.
Read More
Think back to the last time you were at a wedding — or any event with a dance floor. There was no shortage of well-meaning people encouraging the wallflowers, “Come on … get out on the dance floor … it’ll be fun … you’ll have a good time.” In many ways, networking is like…
Read More
Hiring managers don’t really care what you’ve done. They may ask about it, but it’s not what they’re trying to figure out. What they care about is what you’ve learned and what you’re ready for. Here’s how spell those out in your work history.
Read More
From the perspective of the hiring manager, finding the right person to fill a job opening can be an arduous process. When we’re on the candidate side of the table, we lose sight of this complexity. Our goal is to get a job and, as they say in baseball, we “swing for the fences” at every step. We say things like “I would love to work here” before we know much at all about the role, the team, the company, or the compensation. We confuse our end game (get a job) with the incremental objective of moving forward in the interview process. We allow our primary goal to blind us to incremental goals.
The key is to move yourself along the process one step at a time.
Read More
How do you decide what direction to head next in your career? Would you like to be more visible inside your company? How do you increase your chances of getting a job offer inside of a company that interests you?
Over the course of my speaking and client engagements I find myself frequently recommending informational interviews as a tactic to learn, as well as gain exposure for your career. Informational interviews are a great way to explore opportunities, discover mentors, and get information about a field of work from someone who has firsthand knowledge.
Read More
In the spring of 2017 I was invited to be a guest blogger on the AICPA website. The AICPA — the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants — was gearing up for its annual convention later that spring. I offered six great tips on networking, especially at large events. The ideas were as timely then as they are today. .
I used to be afraid of networking. As an avowed introvert with a moderate case of shyness, too often I would pass up opportunities to meet and connect with people. Much later in life I would discover that networking was an acquired skill and was well within my reach…
Read the entire article at the AICPA Insights Blog
Read More
While LinkedIn has become the database of record for our careers, it is so much more than that. It is the one place on the Internet where we make our professional declaration of who we are and what we do. As such, it is extremely useful in building and maintaining a rich network of professional relationships. A current and complete profile makes it easy for friends and network connections to remember where you’ve been and what you’re working on.
In Helpful: A Guide to Life, Careers, and the Art of Networking, I write about eight reasons to keep your profile up to date. Here are three of them.
Read More
Treat yourself to a 10 minute self-improvement splurge today and go watch Casey Brown’s insightful TED Talk on getting paid what you are worth. Casey’s tagline is worth having embossed on a poster:
Read MoreNo one will ever pay you what you’re worth. They’ll only ever pay you what they think you’re worth. And you control their thinking.
Nick Corcodilos is one of my favorite sources for advice on job hunting. Leveraging his experience as a best-in-class headhunter, he lends his considerable talents to pulling back the curtain on the absurdity of corporate hiring — and the job-search industrial complex that has risen around it. He doesn’t pull punches and he’s almost always good for a smile or two as well. His weekly newsletter is a never-miss for me.
This week he continues his insightful critique of LinkedIn with illuminating examples of how people commit career suicide in a futile attempt to find a job.
Read More
Every resume tells a story. Actually, if you do it right, every resume tells four to seven stories, but I’m getting ahead of my self.
Getting hired is first and foremost, a sales job. Selling anything is hard, and selling yourself is the hardest. This is what makes polishing your resume such an art, and interviewing so difficult. Somewhere, somehow you have to convince a handful of people that you are the perfect person for the job. What do you say? How much detail do you include?
The answer is to turn each of your career experiences into a story — complete with a story-teller’s arc.
Read MoreAbout Heather
Heather Hollick has been helping others become better leaders and craft more meaningful careers for more than 25 years. Her experience spans both business and technology, operations and organizational development. Oh, and she was born in Canada, so she can't help but be helpful. 😉