6 Ways to Revitalize a Toxic Workplace Culture, Part 2
Earlier this month, I shared some tips on how to repair your toxic workplace culture, in light of TINYpulse's findings that only 36 percent of workers felt their organizations' cultures were "strong." Today, I want to share three more strategies that can help you turn things around if you find that your workplace culture isn't as strong as it should be. 1. Neutralize the Blame...
Read More
So, You Want to Be a PR Person? How to Grow a Career in Public Relations
Public relations has always been a very important aspect of marketing in every industry around the world. There is no successful business person who does not have some sort of PR department in their company. If you are a job seeker looking to go into PR, now is a great time: opportunities abound in this thriving sector. That being said, there is a great deal of competition as well. You're...
Read More
What Your Personality Says About Your Career Path
Everyone knows that the workplace is a mishmash of personality types. For better or for worse, there will always be colleagues who see the world differently and have varying strengths and weaknesses. One of the most obvious ways people relate to their environments and each other is though introversion and extroversion. Both introverts and extroverts have their own unique strengths, which you can...
Read More
I Don't Carry a Bag: Networking Isn't About Collecting Business Cards
If, like me, you spend a lot of time at trade, industry, and business networking events, you've probably accumulated a thick stack of business cards and a robust number of LinkedIn contacts. Or maybe you're one of those people who can instantly turn any chance encounter into an opportunity to engage in a conversation that leads to sharing professional pursuits (an almost uniquely American...
Read More
Reaching Self-Actualization Through Our Jobs [Infographic]
According to Abraham Maslow, reaching self-actualization is the ultimate goal of personal development. When we are self-actualized, we are more likely to feel comfortable in who we are; to be able to find the reality in a given situation; to be independent thinkers; to connect with others in deeper ways; and to be compassionate. In order to reach self-actualization, we have to fulfill the...
Read More
Why Your Next Performance Review Will Suck
According to Jonny Rejholec, senior product manager at BambooHR, employees aren't asking for much when it comes to performance reviews. "They want to know what's expected of them and where they stand," he says. "They want a manager who cares and recognizes their contribution." And yet, despite these very simple needs, traditional performance reviews rarely deliver any value to...
Read More
How Your Personality May Affect Your Career [Infographic]
According to several semi-reliable online personality tests, I'm an INFP. And, according to a new infographic from Truity, this means I am: likely to earn a fairly low salary for the rest of my life; likely to be relatively unsatisfied with my job; and relatively unlikely to ever be anyone's supervisor. Ouch, Truity. Ouch. But in all seriousness, the trajectory of one's career is...
Read More
Is It Better to Take a Bad Job With a Good Boss, or a Good Job With a Bad Boss?
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose. I am a speaker, an author, and an expert in time and project management. I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable, and have time to enjoy life. At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run. Today's question comes...
Read More
5 Tips for Beating the Return-to-Work Blues
Some people come back from their vacations feeling energized, refreshed, and raring to go -- but, as it turns out, these people are the fortunate few. The reality is that within three days of their returns, more than half of employees feel their stress levels are as a high as ever -- as if they had never even been on vacation. If you're one of those people who suffers from the...
Read More
Why Your Horrible Boss Is Your Greatest Teacher
We've all had them: bosses who are jerks, narcissists, dictators. The "my-way-or-the-highway" types, ruling the office with iron fists and threatening job security on a daily basis. These bosses make their employees' lives hell. A major contributing factor to this situation is that many companies make a critical mistake when installing bosses: promoting someone into a leadership role purely...
Read More
Tap Into Your Character Strengths at Work [Infographic]
We all have our own strengths and weaknesses. We know that -- by why stop there? According to a new infographic from Happify, just knowing our strengths isn't quite enough. What we need to do is use those strengths, in our personal lives and at work. "Tapping into our strengths helps us make progress on our goals, boosting our feelings of independence and confidence," says the...
Read More
When Is It Okay to Say 'No' at Work?
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose. I am a speaker, an author, and an expert in time and project management. I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable, and have time to enjoy life. At the end of the day, I transform the way you run your business into a business you love to run. In today's installment of...
Read More
Six Sigma: Getting an Edge in Today's Job Market
Recent graduates entering the workforce and seasoned professionals have more in common than it might at first appear, and at the top of the list of similarities are that hard-earned college degrees they all hold in their chosen professions. While the value of those degrees is more obvious than ever -- an April Bloomberg report reflects that power in terms of real earnings, in the context of...
Read More
3 Tips to Help Millennials Manage Older Workers Effectively
The idea of a younger boss managing an older worker is not a new one. Fast-track programs that quickly promote bright, young talent have been around for decades. That being said, the demise of the job-for-life and strict hierarchical career pathways has made room for more flexible careers. Nowadays, we don't all climb the corporate ladder at the same rate -- or even in the same direction....
Read More
5 Tips to Make the Most of Your Time Away From the Office
In a recent post, I highlighted the anxiety that many Americans feel about taking vacation days, for fear that time away from the office would damage their careers. It became clear during my research that a vacation should leave you feeling rested, relaxed, and ready to tackle whatever comes your way when you return to work -- but that can only happen if you have a good vacation. You can...
Read More
How to Take a Vacation Without Damaging Your Career
As temperatures start to soar this summer holiday season, it's likely that many of you will be thinking about surf, sand, sun, and some good, old-fashioned rest and relaxation. At least, that's what I would like to think. But the sad reality is that it seems the majority of you will not be thinking such positive thoughts. In fact, many of you are worried about taking your paid vacation days...
Read More
6 Ways to Find Professional Development When Your Employer Isn't Helping
Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter Q&A! This Week's Question: Let's say you're a passionate employee who really wants to advance their career. Only problem is, your company doesn't offer...
Read More
Motivation and Self-Esteem: a Tirade
The business gurus are right when they tell us that many of us have trouble filling the glass -- have trouble living the business life we feel we should be living -- because of our lack of self-esteem. Of course, sometimes one of the reasons we don't esteem ourselves more is the very fact that we are not living that life. This is the place where a self-help article is supposed to pat you...
Read More
8 Workday Rituals to Boost Your Morale
Welcome to Recruiter QA, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter QA! This Week's Question: Are you the type who needs to take a lap around the office every day at precisely 2 PM? Do you just have to give...
Read More
Starting a New Job? Don't Take Those Old Bad Habits With You
Whether you are boldly seeking your next career challenge, or desperately trying to escape the job you're in, one thing is true: you will take all of your old, bad habits with you unless you get down to the root causes and make intentional choices to let them go. One of the most common constellations of bad habits occurs when we get too busy for our own good and the combination...
Read More
10 #WorkHacks to Get You Through the 9-5
No matter what you do, working the 9-5 can be a drain on your energy, motivation, and social life. We've aimed to tackle this inherent life drain by providing these 10 essential #WorkHacks to increase your productivity and make your day a little bit easier. These tips are provided by Lizzi Hart from the Graduate Recruitment Bureau. 1. Plan Your Day the Night Before Plan your outfit, prepare...
Read More
10 Tips for People Stuck in Toxic Workplaces
Welcome to Recruiter Q&A, where we pose employment-related questions to the experts and share their answers! Have a question you'd like to ask? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in the next installment of Recruiter Q&A! This Week's Question: "A toxic workplace is a work environment that is poisonous and harmful and potentially damaging to the people that work...
Read More
Preparation and Practice Are the Keys to Networking Success
I am an active networker, but I acknowledge there are a number of challenges that I need to address in order to be successful when working a room. Top of the list for me is that I'm not particularly comfortable in crowds or unfamiliar settings. That's why I'm always on the lookout for tips, tricks, or advice that can help me meet my networking goals. It's also why I'm inspired to share...
Read More
How to Kill a Career
The president of a large financial services company went on a fact-finding tour of regional offices. When he got to Illinois, the local management carefully handpicked several veterans and a couple of promising new recruits to attend the fact-finding dinner. The new recruits were the most gung-ho in the office. The veterans could be counted on to behave with discretion; they understood company...
Read More
3 Tips to Help You Win the Workplace Game of Thrones
"When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground." -- Cersei Lannister, Game of Thrones Thankfully, the stakes are not quite so high in the workplace: failure does not lead to death. You can actually just move to another company if things go south. Still, though, you have to do a fair bit of maneuvering in the workplace if you want to ascend the corporate...
Read More
Bragging About the Negatives
This article originally appeared at BarryMaher.com. Republished here courtesy of Barry Maher. "If you cannot get rid of the family skeleton, you may as well make it dance." -- George Bernard Shaw It's 3:30 on a hot Friday afternoon. The room is stuffy, and we've drawn the blinds against the direct sunlight so it's dark, almost cave-like. The three people I'm with have been...
Read More
How to Face a Personal Career Crisis and Come Out Smiling
It's hard to know when -- or if -- a midlife crisis will hit you. These days, research suggests that midlife crises are no longer confined to our forties: they are happening in our thirties and even in our twenties, in the form of a quarterlife crisis. Typically, if you do face a midlife crisis, it will take the form of a career-identity crisis. You may lose your sense of purpose in life...
Read More
4 Signs You Are Ready to Quit Your Job and Go It Alone
The workplace is broken. It was once a guaranteed escape from poverty and a place where you could preserve and restore your self-respect, your senses of worth and of value. But with employee engagement levels at record lows and low-wage pay policies dominating the employment landscape, many traditional workplaces are becoming mere refuges from the economic cold, rather than places employees...
Read More
How to Heighten Your Negotiation Skills
The late British Prime Minister Winston Churchill once illustrated his approach to negotiation via a story about building up the British naval fleets in preparation for war: "The Admiralty had demanded six ships; the economists offered four; and we finally compromised on eight." It's a great anecdote, but it isn't, in fact, a great example of the art of successful negotiation. That's...
Read More
How to Encourage Your Unemployed Friend
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose, author, speaker, and expert in time and project management. Today's comments come from a busy professional: What is the best way to offer your unemployed friend encouragement as they look for a job? What are some specific things you can do? What are some helpful or encouraging things to say? Should a friend ask how the job search is going? If so, how...
Read More
5 Tips for Networking Success in Any Industry
Regardless of your industry, job title, or dream job, in order to be successful, you have to understand the importance of networking and fully grasp the best ways to network. Attending events or meeting people that are in some way connected to the work that you do can prove beneficial in many ways. Sometimes, the best ideas are sparked from conversations that occur outside of the office and away...
Read More
6 Uplifting Things to Do If You Think You Are Going to Be Fired
With layoffs and dismissal rates in the U.S. currently running at about 1.8 million per month, the issue of being fired is a live one for many of us. While there is plenty of advice for people who are in between jobs, there is not so much advice for people locked in that awkward professional twilight zone: when you believe you may be fired soon, but haven't been fired just yet. So, to remedy...
Read More
Should Management Professionals Look for New Career Opportunities in 2015?
When the Association of Executive Search and Leadership Consultants (AESC) released its "2014 BlueSteps Global Executive Outlook" report last year, the organization predicted a great year for management-level and executive leadership professionals: 51 percent of senior executives worldwide were optimistic about the global executive job market, a 15 percent rise from 2013. According to Julia...
Read More
Will Student Debt Ruin Millennials' Retirement Plans?
By the year 2020, 40 percent of the American population will be working as freelancers, contractors, or temporary workers. While there are many benefits that come with working in flexible roles, these positions are, of course, less secure than traditional employment. As a result, questions of money and retirement rear their ugly heads. The career decisions millennials make now, at this...
Read More
6 Ways to Boost Your Pay After Being Refused a Raise
Most workers' salaries stagnated or declined during the recent recession. As if that weren't bad enough, the real kick in the teeth came several years after the recession ended: today's workers find themselves trapped in a low-wage economy. Low-wage workers in the U.S. earn just 46.75 percent of the salary of median workers in the country, making it one of the most severe low-wage economies in...
Read More
A Millennial's Guide to Maintaining Happiness in Their Career Choices
When was the last time you had a checkup? And I don't mean from your physician -- I mean a career success checkup. After all, only 30 percent of workers ever land their dream jobs. You might as well take a moment to figure out whether or not you're one of them (or could become one of them). Start With Your Life Plan Life plans are helpful guides for those looking toward their bright...
Read More
How Introverts Can Successfully Network
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose! I am a speaker, author, and expert in time and project management. I help busy professionals and entrepreneurs create effective systems so that they can comfortably delegate to others, be more profitable, and have time to enjoy life --even if they don't have time to learn new technology or train their staff. I have a knack for turning big ideas into on-time...
Read More
Ask Away: What Do I Need to Know About Networking?
Welcome to Ask Away, Recruiter.com's weekly column! Every Monday, we'll pose an employment-related question to a group of experts and share their answers. Have a question you'd like to ask the experts? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in next week's Ask Away! This Week's Question: We all know that networking is an important part of building a successful career...
Read More
Ask Away: Does College Matter Anymore?
Welcome to Ask Away, Recruiter.com's weekly column! Every Monday (we know -- today is Tuesday. But usually, we post Ask Away on Mondays), we'll pose an employment-related question to a group of experts and share their answers. Have a question about the job market you'd like to ask the experts? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in next week's Ask Away! This...
Read More
5 Habits All Successful Employees Have
Finding a job is hard enough, but maintaining one can be just as challenging. Luckily, it doesn't have to be terribly difficult, as long as you understand the ins and outs of proper conduct in any employment setting. Below are five habits that every successful employee should have if they want to thrive in their role: 1. Be on Time Punctuality might seem like an obvious prerequisite for...
Read More
Ask Away: Is It Ever Okay to Say 'No' at Work?
Welcome to Ask Away! Every Monday, we pose an employment-related question to a group of experts and share their answers. Have a question you'd like to ask the experts? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in next week's Ask Away! This Week's Question: You have a job to do, and you answer to a boss -- but is it ever okay to say "no" at work? When, if ever, do you have...
Read More
3 Tips to Re-Engage Yourself at Your Work
Do you struggle to find reasons to come to work on Mondays morning? Do you sleepwalk through the week at work and simply live for the weekend? Then you might be one of the millions of disengaged employees across the world. According to Gallup, such disengaged workers account for 62 percent of the workforce -- so you're far from alone. While some of the blame for this disengaged state of...
Read More
How Business Acumen Can Help You Grow Your Career
Business acumen is defined as the behavior that produces a keenness and quickness in dealing with business situations. Good outcomes are the result of business acument. In order to manage effective business operations or to be an effective employee, a person must possess strong business acumen. It precedes leadership, and leadership takes time to cultivate. While there are numerous traits that...
Read More
5 Tips to Break Out of Middle Management and Into the C-Suite
Middle management is an important stepping stone on the road to becoming a senior vice president, executive vice president, or C-level executive -- but it's also an unforgiving and fairly precarious place to be, and you shouldn't hang around there too long. Research shows that middle managers are not exactly held in the highest regard by senior managers, and, subsequently, it's one of the first...
Read More
Ask Away: How Do I Ask for a Raise?
Welcome to Ask Away, Recruiter.com's new weekly column! Every Monday, we'll pose an employment-related question to a group of experts and share their answers. Have a question on employment data you'd like to ask the experts? Leave it in the comments, and you might just see it in next week's Ask Away! This Week's Question: While many people may feel like they deserve a raise, they...
Read More
Will the Future Still Need You? How to Ensure It Does
It's probably fair to say that discussions surrounding the rise of robot workers and the subsequent displacement of human workers have mostly been confined to futurology seminars and science-fiction films. Nowadays, however, these kinds of conversations have been moving into the mainstream. Just recently, both the esteemed physicist Stephen Hawking and the global philanthropist Bill...
Read More
Interpersonal Communication in the Workplace: Are You Doing It Right?
Most people can text, tweet, and fire off emails practically in their sleep. In fact, one in four people spend more time socializing online than in person. What does this mean for our in-person communication skills -- especially at work? Allen Webster, author of Applied Statistics for Business and Economics, says, "Without communication and the team effort it permits, the successful...
Read More
Who Runs the World? Freelancers!
In a survey of over 200 organizations, the Aberdeen Group found nearly 22 percent of their employees would be considered freelancers by the beginning of 2015 -- and the numbers are only climbing. But what exactly is freelance work, and should you, as a job seeker, become a part of this growing sector of the talent market? Essentially, "freelance work" means one can pursue as many or as few...
Read More
