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!
Awe-Inducing Moments Can Alleviate Stress
I just came back from visiting my long-distance family and I’m reminded of the power of a change of pace to stimulate the mind and alleviate stress. You need not have a luxury vacation to recharge your battery and destress. Consider the psychology about why time away matters and how it impacts your health and […]
Building Trust and Inspiring Others as a Leader
There are hundreds of books on leadership and just as many philosophies, which can make it overwhelming as you strengthen new leadership muscles or hone your style as a seasoned professional. A common denominator appreciated by modern workers is when a leader builds trust and inspire others. Narcissism is no longer tolerated and savvy leaders […]
How a Coach Can Help Distinguish You in The Workplace
Having a personal career coach for C-suite executives is expected as part of their continuing professional development and it also makes great business sense. Coaches can also be helpful for non executives in various stages of a career. A career coach can help polish your communication skills, develop and implement effective leadership strategies in your […]
Bring on Your Sparkle!
When prepping my students and clients to network or interview for an ideal job opportunity, I encourage them to showcase their sparkle factor. This is the palpable characteristic that highlights their passion, strengths, and authentic interest in the opportunity at hand. The energy you emit is profound when you tap your sparkle factor and this […]
Motivating Millennials at Work
If you work in an organization where you have colleagues between the ages of 18 and 35, you probably have something to say about the millennial generation. In 2014 the millennials will comprise 36% of the workforce and by 2020 they will represent nearly half of those working. I read a great piece by Jenna […]
You Must Earn Respect in the Workplace
In the era of Facebook you can like something with the click of a mouse to show your personal attraction or acknowledgement towards a person, object, or sentiment in a post. It has become a popularity contest of sorts to attract numerous likes and expand your social media presence and network of friends. Many women […]
Why Everyone Can Benefit From Sales Skills
Jeff Haden wrote a piece in Inc. com about the most important skill for success. After interviewing 20 business owners and CEOs – every one of them indicated that sales skills were paramount – in any field. To many people, “selling” harkens back to the tragic figure in Death of a Salesman and the need […]
Who’s in Your Corner?
I talk a lot about assembling your team or Personal Board of Directors because I believe that nothing incredible is accomplished alone. Jessica Hagy wrote a greatpiece in Forbes and identified 6 people you want in your corner to help you move your professional goals forward. The Instigator –this person pushes you and makes you […]
How to Excel in a Male Dominated Workplace
In her TED talk (which has gone viral), Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook talked about the scarcity of women in the corporate company restrooms and being mistaken for someone’s assistant during her earlier career days. In reality, the boys club still exists in many careers so what’s a professional woman to do? Jane Fang wrote […]
Reverse Networking – It’s Not About You
I read a great piece in the Harvard Business Review by Jodi Glickman about networking that I wanted to share. A self proclaimed communications guru, Jodi found herself at a networking event not in the mood to schmooze and hobnob. While she considered bolting altogether, she instead did some mental furniture rearranging and decided on […]
A Flexible Workforce Will Stimulate the Economy
Sallie Krawcheck wrote a great piece in Forbes about Flexibility Without Shame that really resonated with me. It’s no secret that fully engaging women in the workforce will increase our GDP and the economy significantly. The problem with engaging more women remains the flexibility factor. Krawcheck divided working women who chose to have children into […]
Turn a Rejection Into an Offer
One of my clients got what she thought was a standard rejection letter after an interview and she was frustrated and discouraged. I encouraged her to follow-up with a phone call to the employer to thank them for the interview and to keep her in mind if the company’s hiring needs changed. As it turned […]
Savvy LinkedIn Strategies
With 200+ million members on LinkedIn you are really missing out if you are not using this professional social media platform to your advantage. I had Ben Casnocha on my CBS radio show Career Coach Caroline recently and he co-wrote a book called The Start Up of You with LinkedIn founder, Reid Hoffmann. We talked […]
