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 Coaching Forum 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 […]
Can Every Leader Benefit from an Executive Coach?
I attended the Gallup at Work Summit and I was energized by the many sessions focused on coaching. As a certified executive coach, I work with a coach – a few in fact, who help guide me on my career and life journey. My coaches have provided a space with psychological safety and confidentiality to […]
The Wisdom of Picking a Career That Suits You Well
This blog post was contributed by Reanne Brian. When deciding on an initial path or a career change, there can be many factors at play. People often think about wages and working hours as well as the specific role itself. Career coaches advise that to find the most fulfilling role, you should first take a long hard […]
Feedforward On the Job: A Key To Self-Improvement
Continuous learning and growth is essential to building a successful career, and feedback is an important part of that process. I’ve seen my coaching clients flourish thanks, in part, to feedback. While the prospect of an assessment of your strengths and weaknesses can feel daunting, and actually receiving it can be painful at times, feedback […]
Getting In The Habit: Baby Steps Toward Change
Raised as a Catholic, I was well aware of habits. First, because nuns were wearing them, and nuns were not to be trifled with, and secondly, because nuns were always on a mission to instill the good ones. At this stage of the game, many of us have our own inner nun overseeing our “good” […]
Women Leaders Are Changing the World
Women are paving the way for a new style of leadership that is confident, authentic, and highly effective. And yet, CNN Money reports that only 25 out of 500 companies in the S&P 500 have women CEO’s. Thankfully, the comprehensive picture looks more promising. The presence of women in C-Suite roles is certainly important but […]
Tap Your Inner PR Agent for Career Success
Even though I count on my amazing Publicist, Stacey J. Miller’s expertise to promote my book, I still consider one of my most important tasks to be self promotion. I am always packing books, business cards, portfolios, and compelling stories about what I do and why it is valuable to potential clients, speakers bureaus, or […]
The Thrill of Career Victory and The Agony of Defeat
National unemployment numbers are the lowest in recent history and jobs are more plentiful but finding the right career fit can still be a challenge. Some are re-entering the job world after a planned hiatus – like taking time off to raise children, caring for elderly parents, or becoming a trailing spouse following a partner’s […]
The Crucial Step of Following Up
I speak to so many people who honestly believe they are networking well by sending an email or leaving a single voicemail. When they don’t get a response, they abandon the contact. The follow-up is the most crucial part of building and maintaining any professional relationship. My first suggestion is to distinguish yourself by calling […]
Work-Health Balance: 7 Guideposts To Help Take Care of Yours
![Women_can_have_family_or_become_CEO[1]](https://carolinedowdhiggins.com/wp-content/uploads/Women_can_have_family_or_become_CEO1-360x240.jpg "Women_can_have_family_or_become_CEO[1]")
We talk a lot about work-life balance these days, but what about work-health balance? When we refer to our work, we often say we’re giving it our “all” or giving “one hundred and fifty percent.” These are admirable sentiments in theory, but what percentage of the pie of life are you reserving for yourself – […]
Organizations are Serious About The “No Jerks” Policy When Hiring
Over the last 15 years as a career & professional development consultant, I have worked with countless employers seeking ideal candidates to fill critical roles in their organizations. Regardless of the career field, recruiters and hiring managers agree that after the basic criteria of skills and experiences are met, candidates are accepted or eliminated based […]
Why We Need To Fail In Order To Move Forward
This post was originally published on PPC Hero by Matt Umbro. I am delighted to showcase guest blogger, Matt Umbro, a Senior Account Manager in charge of Community at Hanapin Marketing. He specializes in ecommerce PPC and client relations, while overseeing content production for PPC Hero. Matt also runs the popular #PPCChat Twitter hashtag. Follow […]
Best/Worst Careers: 2016 Job Rankings
CareerCast.com’s 2016 Jobs Rated Report was recently published for the 28th consecutive year, and it’s fascinating to peruse the findings. The popular job search website gathered data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, a division of the US Department of Labor, to rank jobs based on four core criteria: work environment (physical and emotional requirements); […]
The Good Ol’ Summer Time: Making The Most of It!
With the Fourth of July behind us, it seems like the days of summer are speeding by faster than ever, so here’s to making the most of them! Whether it’s enjoying a full-fledged getaway, a stay-cation, or turning weekends into mini-vacations or retreats, I hope you’ll have the opportunity to re-fresh and re-charge this summer. […]
