You wouldn’t embark on a cross-country road trip without the tools you need to reach your destination, would you? Maybe some maps, but definitely a good GPS system these days. While not infallible, GPS is nearly always helpful. The same holds true for the tools you need to use in your high-level job search—loosely defined as VP and above. They must be as strong as possible, and you need to use them as wisely...

Your resume should communicate to prospective employers the value you actually and legitimately have (fact), not embellish unnecessarily, exaggerate or invent value (fiction). Don’t be tempted to “gild the lily” and risk causing yourself possibly major headaches down the road. (Note: According to Urban Dictionary, “gild the lily” represents “a condensation of Shakespeare’s metaphor...

You do have a job search marketing campaign, don’t you? Even if you’re not actively job searching now, you should have a campaign either in mind or in the works. To paraphrase an old saying, “An ounce of job search preparation is worth more than a pound of after-the-fact damage control.” What’s a Job Search Marketing Campaign? A campaign has been defined as work performed in an organized...

If you still plan and conduct your job searches the same way you did 10-15 years ago, you probably aren’t getting the traction you used to back then. Some things never change, while others seem to change every time you turn around. If you don’t see the need for significant change in your job search plans or if you actively resist the idea of making changes, it’s important to understand one key fact: Cha...

When you line up and go through job interviews, are you wasting your time? This is not an easy question for most of us to answer, although you might have an opinion based on your experience as a candidate (good or bad). Recently I came across an article indicating that companies themselves tend to place more emphasis on the value of in-person interviews than on objective assessment, even though it’s often not justi...

Job interview preparation is critical - if you hope to have a positive outcome for interviews. And why else would you be pursuing interviews? Very few people in this world, from entry-level to senior executive, can afford to blow off interview preparation as if they’re somehow “above” it and don’t need to pay attention to it. I’ve never met anyone who could legitimately make that claim&ndash...

What would you do if the kind of career opportunity you’ve been eagerly seeking suddenly appeared–but it came with a “catch”? That is, it carried some baggage that wasn’t what you wanted. Would you walk away in disappointment or take it and hope for the best? Career opportunity decisions can force choices you’re not sure how to make. What Do Career Opportunities with a Catch Look Like?...

Are you still clinging to the idea of starting your resume with an objective? You know the kind: “Position utilizing my extensive background in technology sales and marketing.” Or maybe: “Growth-oriented technical sales position in a well-established company.” Stop! Please! These are painful. I hate to tell you this, but you’ve just put your intended audience (potential employers) to slee...

As if job searching weren’t enough of a pain to begin with, it seems new wrinkles are added all too often. And they’re basically never designed to make your life as a job seeker easier. Companies seem to do their best to put distance between themselves and the great talent they say they need to hire. This means that something already considered painful or unpleasant just got harder. You’re forced to stu...

If you’re viewing retirement as some far-off future event that you don’t need to think about now, you’re fooling yourself. Likewise, if you feel smugly confident that you’ve made shrewd investments and will be in great shape when you finally decide to retire, you might face a rude awakening. Almost the only factor you can count on about retirement is that you can’t count on matters staying as t...