May 2008 - Posts

• Surviving the Interview – On No Experience

  In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People , author and motivational guru Dale Carnegie says that the person who can speak acceptably is usually considered to possess greater ability than he actually has. In my experience, this is true. If you Read More... Posted Friday, May 30, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Entry Level, Best Practices, Communication, Job Hunting, Personal Marketing

• The Quest for Happiness with Gretchen Rubin - Continued

  Here’s the second part of last week’s interview with happiness expert Gretchen Rubin, who has a terrific blog called The Happiness Project and is currently working on a memoir about her own quest for happiness. Alex: Is happiness overrated? If not, why Read More... Posted Wednesday, May 28, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Attitude & Motivation, Career Change, Life Balance, Personal Development, Blogging

• Hot Fields' Lower Salaries Leave Candidates Cold

  We've talked periodically about the impact that the economy's downturn is having on the job market. Last week, in the new Outside Voices blog that recruitment guru Joel Cheesman is writing for U.S. News and World Report, the topic is compensation in traditionally Read More... Posted Monday, May 26, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Compensation, Current Affairs, Employment Trends, HR Issues, Job Hunting

• Dream Job Spotlight: Interview with Kori, Event Planner (Part II)

  We’re continuing our conversation with Kori Carter, an event planner with her own business, Kori Elizabeth Events . Alex: What personality traits do you think it takes to be successful in your job? Kori: Being bossy, neurotic (in a good way), organized, Read More... Posted Friday, May 23, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 1 Comments Filed under: Cool Careers

• Interview with Gretchen Rubin, Happiness Guru

  Today, I’m talking with Gretchen Rubin , a self-proclaimed happiness guru. I’ve been a longtime fan of Gretchen’s blog, and I’m pleased to report that she’s now working on a memoir, The Happiness Project, based on the year she spent test-driving every Read More... Posted Wednesday, May 21, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 1 Comments Filed under: Attitude & Motivation, Life Balance, Personal Development, Blogging, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• The Replacement Politics of Leaving a Job

  A WCW reader writes: “Dear Alexandra, I’ve read your advice about the right way to leave your job, and I think it’s good. Only trouble is, the people I work with aren’t exactly helping me out. I gave them six weeks notice so that I could find and train Read More... Posted Monday, May 19, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Best Practices, Communication, Emotional Intelligence, Office Politics, Professionalism, Troubleshooting

• Dream Job Spotlight: Interview with Kori, Event Planner

  Today, we’re chatting with Kori Carter of Kori Elizabeth Events in Boston, MA. Kori has her dream job planning weddings and other special occasions and is featured in my new book, How’d You Score That Gig?. Alex: Describe some of the day-to-day activities Read More... Posted Friday, May 16, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 1 Comments Filed under: Cool Careers

• Two Great New Books for New Grads and Not-So-New Grads

  Two new career-expert friends have terrific books out that are great companions to my latest effort, How’d You Score That Gig? Starting out, my fellow Ballantine author Pamela Skillings has written Escape from Corporate America , an extremely detailed Read More... Posted Wednesday, May 14, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Entry Level, Career Change, Handy Resources, Work, School, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• You Don’t Have to Leave Corporate America to Live Your Passion

  A few months ago, I met Lia, a woman who has done what I think is a very sensible thing with her career – fulfilling her desire to make a difference in the world in the context of working for a large company – so I thought I’d share her story here. When Read More... Posted Monday, May 12, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Attitude & Motivation, Continuing Education, Cool Careers, Discovering Your Passion, Life Balance, Work

• You Can't Always Get What You Want

  At the gym, I was thumbing through a new issue of Time Magazine . One of the articles was about college wait-listing. According to Time, the high school class of 2008, 3.4 million strong, is the largest in American history. As such, getting into a first Read More... Posted Friday, May 09, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Current Affairs, Professionalism, News and Politics, School, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• The Hard-Core Realities of Getting Promoted

  My friend Penelope Trunk has a clever little post to help you determine if you’re actually in line to get a promotion, or if it’s just wishful thinking. Some of it echoes advice I’ve given on this subject , but I think much bears repeating, so here are Read More... Posted Wednesday, May 07, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Compensation, Personal Marketing, Reviews & Promotions, Plans, Hopes, Goals

• Fight Back Against Out of Sight, Out of Mind

  Out of sight, out of mind is one of my least favorite qualities of human nature. I can’t tell you the number of relationships, which I thought were real and lasting, that went bust because I used to see the person every day at school or work and then Read More... Posted Monday, May 05, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Communication, Networking, Ownership & Initiative, People Skills, Troubleshooting, Work

• 7 Qualities That Predict Leadership Success

  Last week, I participated on a T&D Magazine webcast with Bill Byham , the CEO of Development Dimensions International , a leading human resources consulting firm. It got me thinking about a great DDI white paper I saw recently written a white paper Read More... Posted Friday, May 02, 2008 7:00 AM by AlexandraLevit | 0 Comments Filed under: Attitude & Motivation, Creativity & Innovation, Management, People Skills, Plans, Hopes, Goals