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Job interviews are already anxious situations. You have a lot on the line –you might feel financial urgency, your confidence could be down after a prolonged search, or maybe you’re employed and paranoid your current company will find out you’re looking. In the ideal world, the interviewer recognizes the heightened anxiety of the interview situation, puts you at ease, and knows the best questions to ask to showcase you in your...

Much has been written about how critical networking is to the job seeker. I don’t dispute that networking is helpful to identify jobs early, even before they are posted, and helpful to warrant a second look by the prospective employer, as I’ve seen many times firsthand as a recruiter. However, networking takes time, and sometimes you can’t wait for a warm introduction. Maybe you have to reach a fast-growing company NOW...

I have recruited for over 15 years in diverse industries (media, financial services, management consulting, pharma/ biotech, education) at different levels (interns through senior executives) and in different roles (strategy and operations, creative and business, freelance and permanent). The searches would differ, of course – in terms of where I would look for candidates or how competitive the field would be. However, regardless of industry, level role, or how the search...

In recent posts, I’ve been exploring the pursuit of the Dream Job – not just any job (or piece of business, if you’re an entrepreneur), but the ideal job for your interests, skills, and future plans. I’ve shared 7 ways to customize your search for your dream job and increase your chances of landing it. I’ve even pointed out you have multiple networking connections to your dream job...

It’s a common frustration of job seekers everywhere – you are the right person for the job if only you could get the attention of the person actually hiring. Submitting a resume to the company website is just a black hole. Appeals to HR go unanswered. Somehow you need to bypass these gatekeepers and get to the decision-makers.

Many people assume you need to be born into connections or have attended the...

Our latest career coaching radio show talked about money and career. While I talked about salary negotiation, of course, I also covered 2 other ways that money impacts your career:

Read the rest of this post, including audio of the...

In an earlier post, I talked about 7 ways to customize your search to go after your dream job. An obvious benefit of a customized search is that the employer sees that you are serious and genuinely interested. It takes effort and planning to customize a search, and you can’t do it for every employer. You will likely get the employer’s attention with a customized search, but once you do,...

Last week, I had the privilege of hearing Sue Hayden speak at a Step Up New York career event. Hayden is an Executive Vice President at Polycom, where she oversees strategic alliances and global partnerships for this billion-dollar, double-digit growth company. Prior to Polycom, Hayden held leadership positions at Oracle, SAP, Fidelity, and Monster. Hayden summarized the top 4 reasons for her success:

The days of dropping your resume en masse and hoping that someone notices you are long gone. Pushing a generic resume is the easy way out and cedes control of your search to the employer. Your everyday job seeker will do that, but the market is so competitive that if you do what everyone else does, it won’t be enough.

However, changing a few lines in your cover letter is still not...

If you’re a business owner, you essentially have three options for earning more money: charge higher prices; get more customers; or sell more things to existing customers. But you don’t have to be a business owner or even directly responsible for generating sales to put these strategies into practice.

Charge higher prices = increase your compensation. Most people only think about asking for more salary. Remember that your compensation is more than...