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 Your Own Worst Career Enemy
We’ve all been in job situations that weren’t ideal but if you are looking to move up or move on, your professional attitude is something that will pave the way for a new opportunity. I read a great piece in Gamut News about self sabotaging career behaviors that you need to be aware of. When […]
A Career Letter to The Class of 2022
It’s graduation season and I’ve had the honor of speaking at commencement ceremonies this spring. Here is my career wisdom for the multigenerational Class of 2022 that still holds true for seasoned professionals. Dear Class of 2022: As you head into the endemic work world you have an opportunity to design your own career destiny […]
Recognize Your Peeps
In this economy, minimal cost of living raises aren’t a given for annual increases in many organizations. Some have frozen increases for the foreseeable future, including the federal government. It’s easy to get down about being overlooked for promotions due to budget issues even though your performance has been stellar. There are still many ways […]
Simple Tips for Happiness
I’ve learned so many things from my mentors, clients, students, colleagues, family, and friends over the years. My goal in this post is to share the best advice I’ve received coupled with some insight from the Life & Happiness blog to help you thrive in a state of happiness more often than not. Happiness is […]
Holiday Career Coaching – Family Style
In my December Huffington Post column, I wrote a piece about capitalizing on family over the holidays to get some motivational career coaching. You can check out the full article http://huff.to/h7IrVQ but here is a summary of the salient points to tap into your family’s ideas and inspiration. Over hot chocolate turn the fireside chat […]
Social Media Mistakes
I received some great feedback from readers who took the plunge and started using social media to plug their products and services, or market their strengths as a job candidate. As a social media newcomer myself, I have been studying up on social media mistakes to be sure that I am not making them as […]
Start Doing What You Want to Be – Now!
I received a wonderful comment on one of my recent Huffington Post columns from an individual who is an aspiring writer. He shared that his passion is writing and his career goal is to pursue work in the communications field so he can play to his strengths and showcase his writing abilities. As he works […]
If I Can Tweet – So Can You!
I’ll be the first to admit I was skeptical about using Twitter to promote my book and career consulting business but now I am hooked. Social Media is a very efficient way to get your message out to the masses, expand your horizons, and build your network. The biggest perk is that it’s free so […]
Getting the Boss to Buy Into Your Great Ideas
In these tenuous economic times, it’s more important than ever to toot your own professional horn and make your accomplishments known internally in your organization. This isn’t inappropriate bragging but strategic self advocacy that may help you stay afloat in a potential lay-off scenario since every employee has to prove their worth. But how do you sell […]
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 […]
