What is the “Gen Y Way” at Work?
For this week’s post, I had the pleasure of conducting a Q&A session with Jenny Floren, founder and CEO of Experience.com and author of The Innovation Generation: The Gen Y Way: How New Thinking Can Reclaim the American Dream. Here is what Jenny had to say about Gen Y and how they approach their job […]
The Dos and Don’ts of Thank You Notes
Last week I talked about how to ask people for advice. This week, I thought it would be helpful to talk about how to thank people for the advice (and any other assistance) you receive. How perfect that it’s Thanksgiving week, too! Here are my top tips: 1. Email thank yous are acceptable. I admit […]
How to (and How Not to) Ask for Advice
One of the most common recommendations I give to young professionals is to ask more experienced people for advice. After all, there’s no better way to know how to do something than to ask someone who’s “been there, done that.” This is also known as informational interviewing and it’s a great strategy. However, what I’ve […]
Declare the Month of NO-vember
A few years ago I worked with an excellent life coach who helped me deal with, among other issues, stress. She asked me to bring my calendar to one of our sessions and together we looked at the number of meetings, phone calls, networking events, personal events, deadlines and errands I tried to fit […]
6 Common Sense Job Search Tips
Last week’s post, “5 Simple But Brilliant Job Interview Strategies,” generated a lot of feedback, particularly from recruiters who told me how often job seekers make seemingly obvious mistakes such as spelling a recruiter’s name incorrectly. This reminded me of the fact that, as Voltaire famously said, “Common sense is not so common.” So today […]
Stop Bashing Gen Y Workers!
I try to read everything in the news about Generation Y and careers. This means I regularly find myself plodding through frustrating stories about how the Millennials are “entitled,” “coddled” and “disloyal.” Friday’s article on MSNBC.com is yet another maddening example. When did the Baby Boomers mantra “Don’t trust anyone over 30” turn into “Don’t […]
What Young Professionals Need to Know about the Global Financial Crisis
One of my “absolute must” tips for young professionals is to read a national newspaper every day. It’s essential to be knowledgeable about current events that might affect your career prospects, especially if the news is relevant to your particular industry. For anyone working or job hunting today, the state of the U.S. economy is […]