January 2008 - Posts

• How to Break Up with Your Boss

  In their January/February issue, Details Magazine has a provocative article on how to break up with a boss who’s holding you back. The article tells the story of Michael Rogers: “Michael Rogers had lunch or cocktails a couple of times a week with the Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 30, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Office Politics, People Skills, Professionalism

• The Unbreakable Corporate Ceiling

  The Washington Post reports that most diversity training efforts at American companies are ineffective and even counterproductive in increasing the number of women and minorities in managerial positions. A comprehensive review of 31 years of data from Read More... Posted Monday, January 28, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Current Affairs, Employment Trends, HR Issues, Management, News and Politics

• Summer Intern Needed: Learn How a Published Book is Written

  Do you want to learn how a nonfiction business/career book is researched and written? As my summer intern, you will be responsible for screening interview candidates, soliciting questionnaires, and setting up phone discussions with the people who will Read More... Posted Sunday, January 27, 2008 11:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Entry Level, Handy Resources, Job Hunting, Work, School

• Recruitment Spotlight: Can Candidates Find Your Jobs?

  In the coming months, I’m going to be focusing some of Water Cooler Wisdom’s content around employee recruitment and retention techniques. Let’s start with the obvious: the e-advertisements that you, as a manager or HR rep, might be perennially posting Read More... Posted Friday, January 25, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Best Practices, Employment Trends, HR Issues, Job Hunting, Technology

• 3 Ways to Back-Up Your Life

  Since everyone’s been bemoaning the sorry state of the economy lately, I thought Lifehack’s recent post on how to “back-up” your life was particularly insightful. Author AJ West says that you should never assume that what you plan today will work for Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 23, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Career Change, Current Affairs, Ownership & Initiative, Technology, Troubleshooting, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• New Episode: 30/20 Vision Radio Show

  A new episode of the 30/20 Vision Radio Show will air live on January 22, 2008 at BlogTalkRadio at 8PM ET. As I reminder, I host this monthly radio show with my fellow authors Christine Hassler (20-Something, 20-Everything) and Lindsey Pollak (Getting Read More... Posted Tuesday, January 22, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Mentoring, Personal Development, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• Are You Really a Workaholic?

  Marketing guru Seth Godin has just set a bunch of us wondering if we really and truly are workaholics. I always thought I was. After all, I’m driven to work 50+ hours a week. It’s not enough just to be in the office, I actually have to be contributing Read More... Posted Monday, January 21, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 1 Comments Filed under: Attitude & Motivation, Discovering Your Passion, Life Balance, Ownership & Initiative, Productivity, Work, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• Being Good is Only One Piece of the Puzzle

  My good friend from college, Phil Saken, recently switched careers. How he pulled this off actually makes a pretty remarkable story, which I’ll be sharing in more detail in the next week or so. But anyway, he had decided that his job as an evening news Read More... Posted Friday, January 18, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Career Change, Discovering Your Passion, Ownership & Initiative, Work, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• The Value of Planning Ahead

  I am expecting my first child in March. My husband and I can’t wait to meet our little boy, but are a bit apprehensive of having our lives turned upside down. While starting and nurturing our own family unit is a high priority for us, we maintain two Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 16, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Life Balance, Ownership & Initiative, Productivity, Project Management, Work, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• A Wolf of a Job Offer in Sheep’s Clothing

  Employment Digest has posted a brilliant article on job offers that aren’t actually as good as they look at first. Writer Carole Martin tells the story of Nicholas, who received an on-the-spot offer and was so thrilled he accepted right away. Nicholas Read More... Posted Monday, January 14, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 1 Comments Filed under: Compensation, HR Issues, Job Hunting, Work

• Encourage Your Kid to Be a Doctor or a Lawyer? Not So Fast.

  When I performed last year’s survey of the coolest jobs, I was a little surprised when no one voted for two of the most traditionally prestigious occupations – lawyer and doctor. And sure enough, this week the New York Times reported that the desirability Read More... Posted Friday, January 11, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Continuing Education, Cool Careers, Current Affairs, Employment Trends, Work

• What Happened to Sick Days?

  Actually using sick days when you’re sick seems to be a thing of the past. Anne Fisher at Fortune reports on a recent poll by ComPsych , a major provider of employee assistance programs and other outsourced human-resources services. The firm surveyed Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 09, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Employment Trends, Productivity, Daily Life, Work

• Likeability Trumps All

  With Iowa behind us and the New Hampshire primary tomorrow, everyone I know who’s remotely interested in politics was tuned in for the Republican and Democratic candidate debates, sponsored by ABC News and Facebook , that took place this weekend. Myself Read More... Posted Monday, January 07, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Communication, Current Affairs, Emotional Intelligence, People Skills, News and Politics

• Innovation is Nothing Without Execution

  Touche, Scot Herrick. Over at Cube Rules , Scot suggests that innovation may be overrated, and that innovation means very little without the ability to execute on great ideas. Innovation is important, says Scot, because we all need to be adapting to the Read More... Posted Friday, January 04, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 1 Comments Filed under: Best Practices, Creativity & Innovation, Business, Management, Productivity, Project Management

• Intriguing Career Trends for 2008

  Everyone has been buzzing about the different careers featured in U.S. News and World Report’s Best Careers of 2008 piece. Since I’m going to be doing my fair share of talking about cool jobs come the spring , I thought I would highlight some of the more Read More... Posted Wednesday, January 02, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Career Change, Current Affairs, Discovering Your Passion, Employment Trends, Handy Resources, Job Hunting, News and Politics