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!
Can You Hear Me Now? Active Listening 101

The human attention span has decreased from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8 seconds in 2022. Goldfish have a 9 second attention span. Ponder that. The over-stimulation of too many meetings and not enough process and creative time have exacerbated the situation. The good news is that active listening is a learned skill we all […]
Prepared for a Career Change? 5 Strategies That Can Help

Unemployment rates are low and hiring opportunities abound, but the workplace will always be ripe with company re-organizations and right-sizing. As the Greek philosopher Herclitus said, “The only thing that is constant is change.” My question to you is, are you ready for it? Job security is an illusion in this day and age, and, […]
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 […]
What Interests You?
The next predictor in your personal self assessment is Interests. Knowing your interests can help you discover your passion and choose a career. Interests are the biggest predictors in career selection since we gravitate towards what we like. One of my favorite assessment tools is the Strong Interest Inventory® (Strong) which measures career and leisure […]
What Do You Value?
Choosing the first few entries for the blog launch was a difficult task since I truly cherish each woman’s unique story. Heidi Roizin’s transition is indeed motivational for many women so it was a great place to begin. Heidi was motivated to lose weight which led to her profitable CD venture: SkinnySongs. She had a […]
Ready, Set, Launch!
Welcome to my blog – This is Not the Career I Ordered. In this tumultuous economy many women have changed careers by necessity and others, by choice. We’ve had to learn to navigate the new normal of the career world and take ownership of our personal career destinies. This has given women a unique opportunity […]