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!
An Entrepreneurial Mindset is Essential for Leaders
In my work as an executive leadership coach, I often help candidates prepare for job interviews. Even seasoned leaders are asked to define their leadership philosophy and give examples of their management in action when vying for a new role. While every role will require nuanced experience and subject matter expertise relevant to the opportunity, […]
Design Your Career Destiny So It Doesn’t Happen by Default
While unemployment rates are deceptively low, job layoffs, company re-organizations, and downsizing are ubiquitous. Perhaps you are pursuing a new opportunity to align with a better work culture or a higher salary. As the Greek philosopher Herclitus said, “The only thing that is constant is change.” My question to you is, are you ready for […]
Networking Bootcamp for Job Seekers Part II
You’ve assembled your contact list and now it’s time to actually reach out to people in your network. You have a clear picture of your strengths, what you are looking for, and customized questions at-the-ready for your new professional contacts. Here are best practices to lead you to success. Stay Positive. Be prepared to speak […]
Networking Bootcamp for Job Seekers Part I
Networking is a word that often strikes fear in many job seekers. You might feel especially nervous if you are one of those people that claim you don’t know anyone. The point of networking is to develop your community and gather information. It’s about being genuine, authentic, and building trust and relationships with the idea […]
The Invisible Job Market
Years ago, before the internet became mainstream – networking was an expected ritual for the job seeker. Candidates pounded the pavement and reached out to those they knew to develop leads for job opportunities. It was the norm to get out and meet people and talk about what you were looking for, what you did […]
Coaches are Not Just for Athletes
Olympians and professional athletes at the top of their game have been utilizing coaches for decades so why have professionals in the world-of-work taken so long to catch up? A coach stands on the side lines and gives you input and objectivity that you cannot effectively produce yourself. You should hire a coach because you […]
Professional Poise Can Distinguish You
As an opera singer I know from experience that stage presence speaks volumes about how you are perceived. The audience forms an impression of you before you even open your mouth and the same rings true in the world of work. You have control over the way you carry and comport yourself and these traits […]
The Art of the Informational Interview
Part of your career reinvention strategy is to figure out what you really want. Once you have completed your self reflection and connected the dots linking your values, interests, personality and skills you should come up with a general idea of career fields that are a good personal match. The reality is that you may […]
Showcase Your Resiliency
With staggering unemployment rates and job insecurity, many people have changed careers by necessity and others, by choice. You must learn to navigate the new normal of this job world and take ownership of your personal career destiny. Now more than ever employers want to see that you can bounce back and recover quickly from […]
Lessons About Soft Skills from Peggy Klaus
My last entry discussed the importance of recognizing your unique skill set, so I want to take a moment to highlight adaptive skills often referred to as soft skills or emotional intelligence competencies. Peggy Klaus, a nationally acclaimed Fortune 500 communication and leadership coach is a friend and mentor of mine and I am a […]
You Have Skills You Didn’t Even Know You Had!
Every day I speak with students and private clients who have no real sense of what their skills are. Simply put, a skill is an ability, based on training or experience, to do something well. We all have skills and the trick is to discover what they are and market them with humble confidence to […]
Know Thy Self
Following the career development steps of self evaluating your VIPS (values, interests, personality and skills) it’s time to focus on personality. This happens to be one of my favorite parts of the career reinvention and self reflection journey. Personality refers to your unique patterns of mental, emotional, physical, and behavioral characteristics. You may have heard […]
Plan B Job Search Strategies – Radio Interview
In November I was interviewed by Chicke Fitzgerald on Transition Solutionz blog talk radio. I discussed identifying your personal brand, playing to your strengths and the power of networking in the job search process. Check out the archived interview online http://www.blogtalkradio.com/resumelive/2009/11/10/transition-solutionz-series Transition Solutionz has a theory. They believe that being in career transition is not […]
Find Your Passion and Play to Your Strengths
A recurring bit of career advice from the women with whom I conducted interviews across the globe was to find your passion. It sounds simple but I am shocked at how few people are actually in tune with their personal passions. I’m not talking about romance but I’m asking you to consider what motivates and […]
