To rally those who have lost their jobs or are facing possible job loss in the current devastated economic climate, Quintessential Careers has created Job Action Day. Job Action Day, which is today, aims to empower workers and job-seekers to take proactive steps to shore up their job and career outlook.  As a blogger in this space, ...

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 and thorough roadmap to assessing if leaving traditional business is the right move for you, ...

What’s the one time it’s okay to gossip?  When you’re looking for a job.   Discussion of your job search should not be reserved for close friends/family or headhunters or official networking events.  If you’re looking for work or thinking about looking for work, you shouldn’t hesitate to tell everyone you know the particulars, and ...

Ben Casnocha brought back to life a very cool commencement speech given by David Mahoney at Rutgers University in 1996. Mahoney, then chairman of the Dana Foundation, a brain research organization, provided some compelling tips about why young people should adopt a ''Centenarian Strategy'' for life. The central premise is that if you're a young ...

This post continues the saga of my friend Phil, who just successfully transitioned from a career as an evening news producer to a sweet gig as the Director of Communications for the Ohio House Democratic Caucus.   As you guys know, talking to people about how to change careers, and how to find a job they’re truly passionate about, is pretty ...

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 you tomorrow.  Some of her suggestions include:   Back-up your career. Layoffs ...

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 producer for a top network in Columbus, OH, wasn’t floating his boat anymore. ...

Resolute (adj):  firmly resolved or determined; set in purpose or opinion. Tomorrow begins a New Year, and as such, it is the time of New Years Resolutions.  It’s a common joke that we Americans are very fond of making a list of items we want to achieve in the new year – from losing weight and getting in shape to taking a ...

In honor of the holiday season and the speaking engagement I recently did with Chicago Cares, an organization that creates unique volunteer experiences for individuals, businesses and organizations to help combat many of our community’s most urgent needs, this begins a two-part post on the benefits of volunteering, and how to balance volunteering ...

I really like Marci Alboher’s Shifting Careers blog over at the New York Times, and this week, she shares a great self-assessment exercise from career coach Michael Melcher.  Since people are always asking me where to start when considering a career switch, I think Melcher’s “Zagat Approach” is worth mulling over.    Melcher ...