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!
Don’t be a Career Loser – Take All Your Paid Time Off
As a recovering workaholic, I strive regularly to integrate life and career to honor my personal relationships and my professional ambition. My life often resembles a roller coaster with ups and downs of activity and never a consistent steady balance – and that’s OK. This reality check has allowed me to navigate the ultra-busy career […]
Should I Stay, or Should I Go?
The world-of-work is changing fast with unemployment at a record low and the Talent Wars in full swing. The Worker’s Market has given everyone the opportunity to reconsider their values and assess whether their current workplace is a best fit. As a career and leadership coach, I hear on a regular basis from clients asking […]
Think Like a Recruiter in Your Next Interview
In this competitive job market you really need to develop a great professional story that showcases your strengths and why you are a value-add for the opportunity you are seeking. So many great candidates blow the interview because they are not prepared to sell themselves to the employer. You have to be your own best […]
Red Light/Green Light Rule
In my book, I feature the reinvention story of an amazing woman, Karen Vandergrift who shared her epiphany about her career journey in relation to the red light/green light rule. Her axiom is that multiple red lights might mean that you are on the wrong road. While I applaud tenacity and determination, sometimes we just […]
Interviewing Tips – The Goldman Way
Goldman Sachs has long been a coveted company to work at for those on the corporate finance career track. They have their recruitment process down to a science and even share the secrets to successful interviews with prospective hires in a video on their website. Vivia Chen recently wrote an article that tells hungry Goldman […]
Rules of Reinvention
I learned from my book writing journey that people pursue career reinvention for a variety of reasons. Some are not happy in their work, others are not playing to their strengths, and the economy has forced many people to reinvent due to lay-offs and downsizing. The reasons for reinvention are endless as are the ways […]
Knowing When To Say No
The question about whether or not work/life balance is possible continues to plague many professionals. What I have learned from amazing women around the world who seem to “do it all” is that you have to pick your opportunities and work smarter – not harder. Angela Jia Kim is featured in my book and has […]
Business Sense and Sensibility
I just finished reading Mireille Guiliano’s book: Women, Work, & the Art of Savoir Faire and it is filled with fabulous advice about being a professional woman in the world of work. Mireille was the former CEO of Cliquot, Inc. known best for their luxury champagne. This French born business woman has savvy tips to […]
Take a Seat at the Table
The recent TED – Ideas Worth Spreading video featuring Sheryl Sandberg is going viral and that’s great in my opinion because she addresses why we have too few women leaders in the career world. As the Chief Operating Officer of Facebook, Sheryl manages the social media giant’s sales, marketing, business development, human resources, public policy […]
Taking The Plunge for a Career Do-Over
As I read my Sunday newspaper, I came across a poll in the Parade Magazine insert that reported 61% of people surveyed would choose an entirely different career if they were given the option to do it all over again. The time is now for you to take action and become the change agent for […]
Your Contacts Really Do Count
I received a wonderful email from Lynne Waymon, CEO of Contacts Count. www.ContactsCount.com She read my most recent Huffington Post article and heartily agreed about the value of connecting with others in a job search. Lynne has built her business on helping people put the tools of networking to work by reaching business and career […]
To Blog, or Not to Blog:That is The Question
I had a wonderful opportunity to present a tele-seminar to career coaches at major universities recently. One of the seasoned career counselors listening in asked how important it was to blog and who should be doing it. I started blogging about a year ago with a very clear goal of building a foundation and a […]
The Scoop About Using Social Media in Your Job Search
I interviewed Dan Schawbel, author of Me 2.0: Build a Powerful Brand to Achieve Career Success and was very impressed with his branding techniques for job searchers. While he also agrees in the power of in-person networking, he recommends the following incredible social sites to help job seekers get noticed in the cyber job arena. […]
Can You Really Conduct a Social Media Job Hunt?
Perhaps I’m old fashioned but I still believe that the power of in-person networking is the best resource for job hunting. But I am also plugged into technology enough to know that job seekers need to capitalize on social media to amplify their search strategies. Muriel Vega from Pink Magazine says – “It’s not only […]
