On-the-job Success

Facing a Tough Career Decision? Here’s How to Make the Right Choice

by • ,

Businesswoman uncertain as to her next move
There’s an easier way to decide

If you’re struggling with a big career decision, your underlying challenge likely involves either: a) properly evaluating the risk associated with a specific action, b) identifying and narrowing down a long list of options, or c) choosing between two or three good options.

While each of these challenges requires a different approach to get to the best decision, they all share the same first step: offloading the decision-making criteria in your brain onto a spreadsheet or sheet of paper, to ensure you’ve captured and accurately weighed them all.

The following techniques will help you to choose the best option when facing any of the scenarios described above.More

3 Reasons to Turn Down a “Good” Job Offer

by • , , ,

That "great" offer may not be so great!As the economy continues to rebound, more job opportunities are opening up, increasing your chance of landing a new role. Accepting the wrong offer, however, can actually cost you dearly. As one client put it: “I should never have accepted their offer; it was a toxic environment and I was not set up for success, but I was blinded by the money and prestige.” You can reduce the odds of accepting the wrong job offer by asking yourself three questions:
More

10 Ways to Ace Your First 100 Days on the Job

by •

Businesswoman achieving successWhat you do during the first 100 days in a new job is crucial to your long-term success. You have only one chance to make a great first impression, and you want to lay the foundation for achievements down the road. Here are 10 steps you can take to make these early days a success. I also spoke with Paul Wolfe, SVP of Human Resources at Indeed, to gain his perspective.More

Quickly Achieve your Career Goals with 10 Proven Techniques

by • , , ,

A number of techniques make the challenge of achieving ambitious career and job search goals easier. Here’s a list of those that have either helped me or my clients to overcome obstacles to goal achievement. May they give you the boost you need to reach your goals.

Picture your goal to get motivated: Use physical pictures or imagery you conjure up in your imagination. The reason this works –More

Want to Succeed in Your Job? You Need a Plan

by •

You can improve your odds of getting a raise, promotion or job security by creating a plan to achieve success in your current role. Like any effective strategic plan, your plan needs to answer these questions: 1) What’s my current situation? 2) Where am I going? and 3) How will I get there? Address these questions by incorporating the following five elements into your “Strategic Success Plan” (SSP): More

Want a Promotion? Then Do These 4 Things

by •

You can improve your odds of getting promoted by first setting the stage: show that you’re ready for the role, differentiate yourself by demonstrating leadership and build supportive stakeholder relationships. In addition, ensure that they’re thinking about you as promotion material by having “the promotion conversation” with your boss. Let’s dive into each of these four areas.More

Odds Are You’ll Be Fired Before Retirement, So Build “Career Security”

by • , , , , ,

For those over 50 and gainfully employed, this study says you have a 56% chance that you’ll be let go before you’re ready to retire, risking substantial income loss. The study supports my own observations via client work that there is no real job security, only “career security.” In a sense employees are really all consultants.

But not to worry! Here’s a list of things you can do to both minimize the risk of an unwanted departure and set yourself up for a quick, positive transition if necessary.More

How to Optimize Your Relationships and Jump-start Your Career

by • , ,

Building and leveraging a network of mutually beneficial career relationships is easier than you may think. And having this network of relationships is crucial in today’s environment, where being good at your job is simply not good enough, or where applying to lots of jobs is an inefficient way to search. Whether you’re eyeing a promotion or seeing layoffs on the horizon, your network will help you. In a job search, your network will enable you to shortcut the application process and tap into the hidden job market where you’ll find the best opportunities.

Here are some ideas to help you to quickly build and optimize your network of career-advancing relationships.More

You Need to Start Leading Now. Here’s How

by • ,

In most workplaces, the key to achieving job security and advancing in your organization is to demonstrate leadership. Going above and beyond the status quo for the greater good will improve your chances of getting promoted. Plus, taking initiative to improve the organization may be the reason you get to keep your job if layoffs are in the forecast.

No matter where you are in your organization’s hierarchy, you are leading if:More

Listen Up! Resolve a Work Conflict with This Technique

by • ,

A work relationship can suffer greatly from poor communication, perhaps a result of clashing communication styles, faulty assumptions, or overly quick reactions to perceived slights. One effective way to improve communication and heal an ailing work relationship is to combine two proven approaches: “active listening” and “reflective listening;” let’s call this combined approach active/reflective listening. The key elements include:More

1 2 3