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!
Thriving Women Leaders: Executive Training for Women Leaders in Higher Ed
As a certified executive coach, I have been trained in the stakeholder centered approach for impactful leadership. How are you showing up in your organization? How do others perceive you? Are you willing to get vulnerable, embrace humility, and address your blind spots to honor a growth mindset? It’s essential to bring others into your […]
Stop Waiting to be 100% Ready – Just Do it!
As a career development and executive coach, I work with many individuals who are focused on making changes to their lives and careers to better align their values and strengths. But for some, their best plans often get stalled in analysis paralysis, which results in stagnation and a hard stop to forward momentum. Perfection is […]
Perform Your Due Diligence Before Accepting a New Role
It’s the first quarter of a new calendar year and the marketplace is robust with job opportunities. Several of my clients are deep into the interview process and contemplating new roles. It’s essential for the candidates to be empowered in the process. It’s your interview too and you must perform your due diligence to determine […]
Interviewology with Anna Papalia
Recently, I’ve heard several prospective clients share that they have made it to the final round of the interview process but did not land the role – coming in as a strong runner up. What candidates rarely consider is that 90% of hiring managers aren’t trained on how to interview, so they fall prey to […]
Ambition is Not a Dirty Word
The career landscape provides you with a myriad of choices about where to work and how to advance your career. Be proactive about how to become a promotable player and confidently consider the leaders with whom you want to work — or not. During a mock interview with my client Collette, I asked her if […]
Should I Stay, or Should I Go?
The world-of-work is changing fast with unemployment at a record low and the Talent Wars in full swing. The Worker’s Market and the post-pandemic journey have given you the opportunity to reconsider your values and assess whether your current workplace is a best fit. As a career and executive leadership coach, I hear on a […]
The Inside Scoop About Psychological Safety at Work
The term psychological safety is all the rage in workplace research and publications. I’d like to de-mystify this term and break it down so it’s easily understandable and implementable in all work environments. By Definition Katie Taylor wrote a great piece in Atlassian that defines psychological safety as follows: Psychologically safe work environments allow team […]
2024: Let’s Do This!
As we begin a new year, the time is ripe to start fresh and consider what you need and want to be happy, healthy, and gratified in your life and career. The pressure to pick a new year’s resolution can be stressful. Instead of a singular resolution that is likely to wane in a few […]
Take the Challenge to Be Fully Present During The Holidays
There are a plethora of celebrations from Thanksgiving through the new year that represent a myriad of cultural, religious, pagan, and ethnic holidays. With the hustle and bustle of this festive time of year in full swing, the stress and overwhelm are palpable. If you are fortunate enough to get some down time over the […]
Leverage The Final Work Weeks of 2023
The countdown is on until 2023 is in the rear-view mirror of your career. While many organizations slow down during the final days of December, consider how you can use this time to leverage your influence and set your career stage for the 2024. Make Connections Beyond Your Team Capitalize on the holiday party or […]
End 2023 Strong at Work
With days left before the beginning of a new year and the holiday season in full swing – it’s an opportune time to finish out the calendar year with intentionality at work. The economic predictions about inflation, a potential recession, and company lay-offs are conflicting at best, so take advantage of the opportunity to demonstrate […]
The Great 4-Day Workweek Experiment
As someone with Futuristic in my Top 5 Clifton Strengths profile, I am fascinated by what’s coming down the road. Workplace futurists are predicting trends that range from multi-generational behaviors, remote/hybrid roles, and the 4-day work week. Futurist David Houle calls the 2020’s the most disruptive decade in history. The post pandemic journey has brought […]
Gratitude in the Workplace
With the holiday season in full swing, we are reminded about the beauty of gratitude and how showing appreciation can be a powerful experience for the giver and the receiver. I am making a conscious effort to be more grateful on a regular basis, to acknowledge people authentically, and to show how much I value […]
The Future of Work: Insights for 2024 and Beyond
What’s in store for workers and the labor market for 2024? Between October 18–19, 2023, MyPerfectResume surveyed nearly 1,900 U.S.-based workers and asked them to share their forecasts and trends for 2024. Here is the source for the full report. The study provided valuable insights into job opening trends, job burnout, and the future of […]