Blog Entries

mark an anniversary

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0100

My first sale as a writer wasn’t even technically a sale. It was a prize I won in a twenty-five words or less contest sponsored by a magazine. I’ve been hooked on the concept of keeping it short ever since.

I started blogging a year ago today. I can’t celebrate with cake or champagne or anything--that’s another story--so Twitter it is. Look for me @TheCareerClinic. Thanks!

The experiment continues.

step up

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0100

"This is impossible." When motivational speaker Bonnie St. John faces whatever "this" is, her next thought is often: "I might as well get started."

You're kidding.

Nope, she wasn't. She shared this philosophy on the radio show and I was enchanted. What if the difference between achieving your dream--or not--is just a matter of time, if you're willing to take it?

What if we're a little too quick to label dreams, or people for that matter, as impossible? Maybe they're [...]

clarify something

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 06:00:00 +0100

The five-year-old who recorded the first half of this commercial was very unhappy at the implication she actually visited The Career Clinic web site. "That's what you do in advertising," I teased her. "You lie."

She's fifteen now, and graciously agreed to update the ad--if she can tell you how she really feels.

Here's listening to you, kid.

be ready

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Once upon a time I thought I was ready for kindergarten.

I was wrong.

suck at something

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

"If tomorrow you were given the chance to be great at every single skill in your life--I’m talking world-class level, in each of your various interests--would you do it?"

That's a question Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, posed on his blog recently.

I thought about it for a moment and decided...no. I’d feel too much pressure to be an accomplishment factory.

It reminded me of calling the office of the elementary school I attended, to find out what my IQ was. [...]

perfect your practice

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Sun, 29 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Want to get better at tennis? The violin? A foreign language? Daniel Coyle, author of The Talent Code, says the way to develop talent is with what he calls deep practice.

Break things down. Isolate the movements. Do each one perfectly. Repeat. Ten thousand times!

It won’t guarantee you’ll reach the finals at Wimbledon, but it will help rewire your brain and make you a whole lot better than someone who isn’t willing to put in that much effort. Daniel says repetition has g [...]

see the world

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Want to see the world? Save a lot of money? Sample a new career? Make new friends, maybe even meet your soul mate?

Want to do that all at once?

Maybe you should consider working on a cruise ship. That's how Tony and Sarah Nasello got their lives--and careers--off to a dreamy start. Well, dreamy and challenging. Because it’s also hard work and long hours and keeping hundreds of people happy who likely have years if not decades of expectations demanding to be fulfilled on this [...]

take the plunge

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Should you take a year off between high school and college? Marry the guy? Buy a house in that neighborhood?

What about the job you’ve just been offered? Do you take it? Or keep looking?

Beats me.

The decisions I’ve felt most sure about have often left me wondering what I could’ve possibly been thinking. And much of what I love most about my life started practically on a dare.

So I’m probably a bad one to ask for advice. Then again, I hope you don’t r [...]

be trainable

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Mon, 23 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Are you're worried you're too young to be in serious consideration for that dream job? How about telling the employer that what you lack in experience you'll make up in attitude?

Come to the interview armed with examples of how you caught on quickly and pulled your weight.

If you’re energized by the challenge of fixing a copy machine or soothing an irate customer, don’t keep it a secret from the hiring manager. Let that person know how eager you are to do this job.

anticipate an objection

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

The hiring manager is young enough to be your daughter.

Now what?

Martin Yate, author of Knock 'em Dead, suggests you talk about what you can do--not how much you know. You want her to think of you as a potential problem solver, not a potential problem.

And what about that elephant in the job interview with you, otherwise known as your age?

"An interview almost always ends with an invitation for the job hunter to ask questions," Martin says. "That's your chance [...]

banish the blues

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Are you older than fifty and having trouble finding a job? Human resources expert Laurie Ruettimann suggests you do volunteer work in the meantime.

"You'll get out of the house," Laurie says. "You'll be able to show off your skills and learn new ones, and you'll get to know people who know people who might want to hire you."

Volunteer work is a great way to sample a new career, too. It's the right thing to do--for others, and for you.

hit the snooze

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Have you been offered an exit interview? Laurie Ruettimann is a human resources professional who thinks that time would be better spent--whether you're the manager or the departing employee--getting a donut.

"The exit interview is the worst point in the employment cycle to ask someone's opinion," Laurie says. "I coach people not to say anything. You don't have to accept the offer of an exit interview. Just politely decline."

Laurie bets that anything you share will just be f [...]

pay your dues

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Interns get jobs.

I hear that so often I've decided to adopt it as my default career advice. But a caveat. You don't have the job just yet--so don't blow what amounts to an audition with anything less than your best.

Dress up--or at least, appropriately. Show up on time. Be a peach to work with. Write thank-you notes for what you're learning.

And finally, accept all assignments. Every job has parts you won't like. Being cheerful about delivering coffee--or mail--will r [...]

dig for clues

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Sun, 15 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

If you don't know what you want to do for a living now that you've grown up, many career consultants suggest you think about what you loved to play with as a kid. Elizabeth Fournier's childhood was filled with clues she was meant to be...a mortician.

"I never played wedding when I was a little girl. I didn't pick out my colors or dream about what I would wear or dress up my dolls as bridesmaids. I never played wedding, but I did play funeral. I'd dig a hole in my sandbox and line up [...]

show some respect

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Some people wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Not me.

I wear mine on my forehead.

It’s a heart-shaped scar, a little souvenir from many years ago when I wasn’t in the habit of buckling up.

One of the doctors who helped make that scar less noticeable asked me something that struck me as unusual for an office visit: “You’re a good kid, aren’t you?” I laughed and asked, “What made you say that?” He looked at me. “I just know you’re a good kid [...]

order the combo

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Would you tell a bumblebee to pick one flower and settle down? Sure you would. If you’re crazy.

Barbara Sher calls herself a career counselor, but I think she’s more of a fairy godmother--judging from how many people she’s saved by coining the term scanners. Scanners find it impossible to build their lives around a single interest. They’re entrepreneurs, they’re artists, they’re radio talk show hosts. They’re people who want to fix cars by day, play the trumpet at night, [...]

change the channel

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Mon, 09 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

How do you keep your spirits up while you're looking for a job? Leigh Anne Jasheway earns her living helping people stay sunnyside up, and suggests you be choosy with the company you keep. That includes you, by the way. Notice what you say when you talk to yourself, and be gentle.

The way you fall asleep and the way you wake up is...up to you. Once again, Leigh Anne suggests you be gentle. Fall asleep to something silly--and give yourself a shot at sweet dreams. Wake up to something t [...]

expand your horizons

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Maybe you don’t hate your job. Maybe you’re just bored with the person who’s doing it.

In the past forty-eight hours I have pondered what it would be like to be an entymologist, Wile E. Coyote, and Jeffrey Dahmer’s mother. I’ve been so impressed by someone impersonating (get this) the economy I had nightmares about him. I mean, it. I mean, more than usual. We have debated, as a family, the merits of what a friend calls righteous indignation--versus what too much of it makes [...]

keep swinging

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

Looking for a job? Brace yourself for a lot of rejection, the experts suggest. It's part of the deal. And you'll need a strategy for...dealing.

Writers get rejected. Lots. When I was pitching my first few books, I had one rule. If I got a rejection, I wouldn't go to bed that night until I'd sent another submission--or at least, query--right back out into the world.

Kenn Amdahl writes "entertaining books on dull subjects." When he was trying to attract the attention of publishe [...]

be in love

maureen@thecareerclinic.com — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 06:00:00 +0100

How do you know you're in love with the clarinet? When you don't even want to leave it behind to go to the grocery store.

I interviewed an elementary school band teacher who told me she used to keep her clarinet with her in the car. Why? So she could pick it up when she got to a red light, and play it until the light turned green.

I don’t know how you feel about your work, but this is how I want Katie’s music teachers to feel about theirs!