Resume Tips and Career Advice

As if being the boss wasn't hard enough, in France, you can get "kidnapped" by your employees for doing a poor job. In the States, there are plenty of challenges keeping our teams happy with so many economic downsides to the job--no raises, no bonus, no 401(k) match. This requires managers to be more creative in building a strong bond with their teams.

My wife and I were discussing some of these management challenges the other night over some wine. Bad combination, I know. Don't drink and manage. We talked about how we've been coached to recognize that no two employees are the same and they all need to be managed differently. I said, "That's a lot of work to be twenty different kinds of manager, isn't it?" My wife smirked and my mind raced leveraging the fuel supplied by fermented grapes from, of all places, France.

Over 70% of women with children are in the labor force. In addition, women are returning to the workforce sooner after having a child and the labor force participation for mothers with children younger than a year old is over 50%. According to research done by Womenonics, 74% or the women they surveyed say they don't have enough time for their children. So what do working women want? Research from Womenomics and Career Directors International suggests:

If you know you need to network to get that new job or promotion, but you just can't bring yourself to do it because it seems like such a chore, maybe what could help you most is a shift in focus.

Scientific Blogging reported on a new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology which showed that while hard workers are motivated by hard work and do better in tasks where "achievement" is the stated goal, those who don't like to work as hard do better than their counterparts when tasks are presented as "fun." So if you can't get motivated to network, could it be that you're more a natural net-slacker than a natural net-worker?

Last year was not a good year for my personal health. I just wasn't getting around to working out, and then in the Spring I ripped my calf muscle and found myself wobbling around the house for a week. At the end of the week I ripped it again, much worse, and found myself laying around the house for six weeks, wondering if people with ripped calf muscles ever walk again (it was so very painful).

I took the rest of the year in stride (no pun intended) and didn't do much, physically. But this year I got the hair-brained idea to set a SMART goal. The S stands for Specific and the M stands for Measurable, so I pulled a random number out of the air and figured I'd walk (not jog) 500 miles this year. I think I can do it, as long as I don't have a ripped calf muscle again.

Many of you have had unique experiences working with recruiters during a job hunt. Some good and some not so good. Like every profession, there are "good people" and then there are others. You need to do your own homework to ensure you are working with a reputable recruiter. At the same time, you need to do what is expected of you to avoid harming your chances to land a job they are working on. After all, they hold the keys to the opportunity. It is essential for you to have a great working relationship.

With this in mind, I recently polled my recruiter community to find out their top "pet peeves" about working with candidates. I know you have you own list for them, but theirs is a good one to read to ensure you are a stand-out candidate. I have included their Twitter name so you can ask them follow-up questions if you like. This is a smart and reputable bunch. Heed their advice and you'll be glad you did!

Losing your job is a shock. It's a blow to your self-esteem. It can be a financial burden. As excited as we were to leave 2009 behind us, aspects of it are still following us. As the New Year dawns, so does more layoffs. Losing your job is bad news. So what's the good news?

When you are laid off or fired, it sometimes means you needed to be thinking about a new job anyway. While in your job, you need to constantly be evaluating if you've outgrown the role, the company, or if the company is moving in directions that may not include you. Yes, it is best to be looking for a new job when you still have one. But if you lose your job first, consider it a wake-up call telling you it's time for a change.

Oracle's CEO recently announced plans for approximately 1,000 layoffs at Sun Microsystems on top of the 7,600 jobs that they have already cut. Macy's plans to cut 1,500 store level jobs. And a similar layoff scene is playing out in companies across the nation. Yet many people wait until the other shoe drops before making any plans about future employment. Bad plan. Even if you think your job is not in jeopardy today, you should always be proactively managing your career because stuff happens...quickly. Here are some things I hope employees at Sun, Macy's and other companies think to do before the pink slip arrives.

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, employment for dental assistants is expected to grow 36% between 2008 and 2018, which is a much faster growth rate than the average for all occupations. Salaries for dental assistants can range from $22,270 to $46, 150. So what is it like to work as a dental assistant? I recently interviewed Ana Herrera, a 20 year veteran of the profession who currently works in a dental practice in Manhattan to find out.

Oracle's CEO recently announced plans for approximately 1,000 layoffs at Sun Microsystems on top of the 7,600 jobs that they have already cut. Macy's plans to cut 1,500 store level jobs. And a similar layoff scene is playing out in companies across the nation. Yet many people wait until the other shoe drops before making any plans about future employment. Bad plan. Even if you think your job is not in jeopardy today, you should always be proactively managing your career because stuff happens...quickly. Here are some things I hope employees at Sun, Macy's and other companies think to do before the pink slip arrives.

In the world of "give and take," do you take more than you give? When it comes to working with recruiters, many job seekers assume they can only receive help and not provide any. Additionally, many wrongfully assume that the relationship with the recruiter is short-lived-that it only lasts as long as the job opportunity the two are working on. As you'll read below, it pays for candidates to build a strong, long-term bond with a few recruiters.