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!
Design Your Career Trajectory with Smart Growth
I am a big fan of Whitney’s Johnson’s work and featured her in a new episode of my Your Working Life podcast where she shared wisdom about helping people develop their potential – enabling them to articulate and become the best professional self they want to be. Her new book, Smart Growth: How to Grow […]
Interview Your Prospective Boss Before You Accept a New Role
You’ve heard the adage, people don’t quit their job, they quit their boss. If you are looking for a new career opportunity, don’t miss out on the chance to interview your prospective boss to determine if they are a fit to empower you to do your best work. Your success and satisfaction are aligned with […]
Ten Rules for Presenters
I do a lot of presentations around the country and I really enjoy being in front of an audience. I can ascertain within minutes if my audience is with me and feel compelled to keep them engaged while delivering my message because there is nothing worse than sitting through a bad presentation. We’ve all been […]
Applying Eat, Pray, Love to Your Life
If you haven’t read Liz Gilbert’s book Eat Pray Love or seen the blockbuster movie with Julia Roberts, the nutshell version is that it took Liz (the protagonist) a full twelve months and three countries to strike a balance between pleasure seeking and inner spiritual peace. Liz ultimately found her authentic self and although traveling […]
Renaissance of the Gratitude Journal
In 1995 Sarah Ban Breathnach’s book Simple Abundance: A Day Book of Comfort and Joy was on the bestseller list and Oprah was talking about how impactful a gratitude journal could be in the way we view the world. My dear friend and colleague, Nichole reminded me of the importance of a gratitude journal when […]
Dealing With Criticism or Rejection at Work
Jill Frank, the President of Leverage Your Talent in Tampa, FL shared this valuable insight about how to deal with the realities of criticism or rejection in the workplace. She says that since we tend to merge our identities with our careers, rejection or criticism can often be a blow to our self-esteem. From […]
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 based in Livingston, Montana and the Human Resources Manager who was clear about the no-gossip policy and no office politics rule before she was even hired. While McKnight thought the policy […]
Crack the Gender Code in the Interview
I read a fabulous article by Muriel Vega in Pink Magazine online about how men take credit more easily for their accomplishments and often see negotiation as a sport. In the end this often gets them higher pay rates. Connie Glaser, a communications expert and author of Gender Talk Works: 7 Steps for Cracking the […]
An Attitude Adjustment in Just 2 Minutes
Admittedly, there are times when the stress at work makes you want to tear your hair out or at least close your door and scream in the privacy of your own work space. So, when life gets complicated at work and you need an attitude adjustment or a breather to re-create a positive frame of […]
Interview Wardrobe Essentials
For many, this is a time for job interviewing and I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly this season when it comes to dressing for success. The first impression is made within 30 seconds before you utter a single word so your professional image speaks volumes about how you will be received […]
Being Neater Could Help You Become More Efficient
According to the Delphi Group consulting firm, 15% of all paper handled in a business setting is lost. What’s worse is that up to 30% of employees’ time is spent trying to find lost documents. Not all wasted time is spent purely on paper shuffling since the volume of email has risen over 30% in […]
Proactive Habits for Success
While pursuing research for my book, I interviewed over 150 women around the world. Many of these career changing women went from working in an organization to starting their own business. According to Women’s Financial Network, twice as many women start their own businesses as men. Whether the entrepreneurial spirit is alive in you or […]
Motivation 101
If you are looking for inspiring strategies to get your team moving at work, it’s all about developing incentives that will help engage a desired behavior. Most people are driven and inspired by their beliefs, values, personal interests, and even by fear. But motivating your colleagues to do something will be entirely different than what […]
What is Your Purpose at Work?
I read a recent statistic that approximately 80% of employed adults are looking for more meaningful work. That tells me that people are beginning to really consider what they value in a career and finding a job with a purpose is driving many in their career development. Jag Sheth wrote an amazing book called Firms […]
