This Is Not The Career I Ordered™ Blog
Savvy Professional Career Wisdom by Caroline Dowd-Higgins
This is Not the Career I Ordered is read by thousands of careerists around the globe. With savvy tools, inspiration, and resources, this timeless book empowers you to enjoy your career, and love your life!
Honor the Introverts and Give Them Space to Be Heard
Western culture favors gregarious extraverts in the world-of-work. They speak up, think quickly on their feet, and rarely hesitate to share their point of view when interacting with colleagues and stakeholders. The perception of extraverts is not always based on the content, or the quality of the information shared, but the style with which it […]
Establish a Gossip Free Workplace
I read a fascinating New York Times article by Shayla McKnight who shared a story about her job interview with an online printing company. The Human Resources Manager was clear about the no-gossip policy and no office politics rule before she was even hired. While McKnight thought the policy was refreshing it also seemed hard […]
Single Tasking Can Enhance Your Life and Career
Multitasking used to be a sought-after professional competency thought to be a valuable skill for the world-of-work. Research tells us that singletasking is actually more effective and can result in higher productivity and time efficiency. I can envision the woman working at home reading this blog while eating her lunch, checking her email, listening to […]
Being Busy is Nothing to Brag About
I conducted a social experiment and asked the question, “How are you?” to several individuals of different ages, career fields, geographies, and perspectives. The people I queried all responded with some variation of how busy they were. Their responses were stress-filled and frustrated and their self-reported state of busy was clearly causing them angst. Busy-ness […]
Rest Is More Than Sleep: What You Need to Renew Your Energy
I am a firm believer in the power of sleep and do my best to get 8 hours every night to maintain my health and wellness. I thought I was honoring my need to rest but my mind was blown when I read a piece about Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith in Maria Shriver’s: The Sunday Paper […]
5 Tips for Increasing Your Confidence at Work
Many thanks to Patricia Thomas, an online writer for this guest contribution. She’s a new writer and contributor at contentcampfire.com. She writes about career development for women. Confidence and job success often go hand in hand. Unfortunately, many women don’t feel confident at work. If your on-the-job confidence could use a boost, it makes sense to […]
The Cause of Career Burnout That May Surprise You
I recently spoke to Paula Davis, CEO of the The Stress and Resilience Institute, about her book, Beating Burnout at Work: Why Teams Hold the Secret to Well-Being & Resilience on my Your Working Life podcast. Paula shared her candid experience about burning out during the last year of her law practice. At the time, she thought […]
Travel During the Time of COVID
Oh, for the day when we can hop on a plane and go see our long-distance family, or our friends without a worry…when we can book that cruise…or finally make the trip back to Italy we’ve been dreaming about for the past several years. For many of my clients, colleagues and friends, cabin fever has […]
A Hybrid Solution for Where We’ll Work
It’s been 367+ days since I have worked onsite at my organization. I’m sure there is an inch of dust on my desk and my calendar still reads March 2020. A classic extravert, I thought I would struggle working from home missing the daily interactions in-person. To my surprise, I have acclimated to my home […]
Keeping Women in Careers When Work/Life Integration Seems Impossible
The statistics are staggering about women who are leaving the workforce. Every year, 25% of women exit a career because they can’t make work and life fit together and this has been exacerbated during the pandemic. Women forfeit up to four times their salary every year they are out of the workforce, which impacts their […]
Power to Her: Women Leaders Are Changing the World
I’m speaking at the Power to Her virtual event at Ivy Tech and inspired by the women I work with and how they are committed to empowering women together. Women are paving the way for a new style of leadership that is confident, authentic, and highly effective. Catalyst reportsthat the share of women in senior […]
Be Your Own Valentine: Love Who You Are
It’s the time of year for cards with red hearts, chocolates, and flowers as Valentine’s Day approaches. It causes anxiety for some who are seeking affection, and bliss for others who are celebrating their love with someone special. The pandemic reality has necessitated isolation for many, making connection difficult. This Valentine’s Day I encourage you […]
10 Health Benefits of Quality Sleep
I’m delighted to showcase this awesome piece about sleep by Terry Cralle that originally appeared here. Check out the amazing resources on this site to help you experience optimal sleep for good health. In many cultures, a lack of sleep is seen as a badge of honor of sorts. “I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” people […]
Easy Hacks to Beat Zoom Fatigue
Before the pandemic, which necessitated working from home I had never spent so much time on Zoom. Meetings with geographically distant colleagues via Zoom were a great way to connect with anyone, anywhere but it was not the primary way I conducted business. Whether you are using Zoom, Teams, or one of the many online […]
