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!
Gratitude at Work Spurs Empathy and Compassion
As 2021 draws to a close, the stresses of the pandemic journey continue. Ambiguity lingers and many are navigating hybrid work scenarios, or lamenting having to commute again after a year+ of working from home. The Great Resignation is happening before our eyes and the urgent demand for labor is impacting all industries causing palpable […]
Executive Presence Isn’t Just for Executives
Executive presence used to harken images of expensively attired corporate employees who walked the walk and talked the talk to inspire confidence and yield influence for success in lavish offices and board rooms. In COVID times, the world has destigmatized remote work and the hybrid work model will be the new norm for much of […]
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 […]
The Birth of My Book!
After 2 years and 150+ interviews with amazing women around the world who have changed careers – my book is now available! This Is Not the Career I Ordered: Empowering Strategies from Women Who Recharged, Reignited, and Reinvented Their Careers is part self-help manual, part inspiration, and a valuable resource for those contemplating a career […]
The Ultimate Personal Branding Resource
I had a great conversation with Dan Schawbel who authored Me 2.0: 4 Steps to Building Your Future (Kaplan Publishing). Dan was named by Inc Magazine as one of America’s Coolest 30 Under 30 Entrepreneurs. At 27, he is a sought after internet guru who helps businesses and individuals with creative branding solutions. With 91,000 […]
Traveling for Work
Many of us have to travel on the job and while the lure of new destinations can seem exhilarating, the realities of airport schlepping can become tiresome if you are not a savvy traveler. George Clooney had traveling light down perfectly in the movie Up in the Air but it’s inevitable that women just have […]
I’ll Take Any Job!
In a tough economy, many unemployed or under-employed people are forced to work jobs outside their field or area of expertise to keep their financial heads above water. There is no shame in honest work but it’s important to keep your eye on the prize and continue to pursue opportunities that play to your strengths […]
Providing Constructive Criticism
Whether you are doling out constructive criticism or the recipient of this ever important feedback, the delivery of this crucial information can be awkward at best. I read an article by Stephen Marsh who turned me on to Jack Welch’s book Winning and I highly recommend this resource if you value promoting candor in your […]
How to Stay Motivated During Tough Times
The economy is still bad and the job market is bleak so tell me something I don’t already know! How is a well qualified candidate supposed to keep her spirits up when the prospects for gainful employment are dismal? While I believe it’s important to have a sense of reality about the economic environment, keeping […]
Results-Only Work Environment
It may sound idyllic but wouldn’t it be incredible to work in a results oriented environment where your time was your own to be productive as you saw fit? In this world, the team would be high functioning because they are playing to their strengths and passionate about their individual roles as well as their […]
Are You a Workaholic?
I consider myself someone who is incredibly involved in my work, my life, and my additional activities which cover a multitude of areas from my book project, consulting practice, performing life, and the non-profit theatre company for which I serve as a Board member, to name just a few. My life is full, hectic, and […]
