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!
Showcase How You Are Indispensable for Job Security
The Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) world-of-work has made us question job security. Gone are the days when company loyalty made you feel protected during difficult times. All sectors from corporate to non-profit, and higher-education have deployed downsizing, reductions in force, and lay-offs to navigate tumultuous times. Being indispensable in the current competitive world […]
Don’t Undervalue the Exit Interview
Several years ago, I left an organization to take on a new role that honored my interest in growth and advancement. I was given the chance to participate in an exit interview to share my thoughts about the organization and my experience. I believed this was a way for me to share candid and thoughtful […]
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 […]
Why Top Talent Leaves
In this career era, employees are not loyal to organizations because organizations are not loyal to employees. But many companies struggle with retaining top talent long enough to see their return on investment for new hires. Mike Myatt wrote a great piece in Forbes illustrating just why top talent tends to move on. You’ve heard […]
New Year = New Career!
The pressure for a New Year’s resolution is palpable this month, and the media is bombarding us with ads for weight loss and smoking cessation. But what about New Year career advice? A record number of Americans are still unemployed and many others are dissatisfied with their current work. Now is a great time to […]
