I love this post from one of the smartest college students – if not the smartest – I know.  Ben Casnocha suggests that if you want to find out what someone really does for a living, ask him what he does ''on a day-to-day basis.'' According to Ben, typically when you ask someone, ''What do you do?'' you get a grand, idealized vision of what ...

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, ...

My friend and 30/20 Vision radio show co-host Lindsey Pollak and I had the opportunity to contribute to Marci Alboher’s New York Times career coach roundtable on management consulting and investment banking as careers for soon-to-be college grads.  Here was the question, as well as highlights from our responses: “I will be graduating ...

I’ve encountered a lot of couples where one person has left his or her job to support the career of the other.  Typically, one spouse is an accomplished entrepreneur, so the other pitches in to help grow the business – often in a subordinate role. I’m wondering how many of you would do this if you had the chance.  It would ...

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, ...

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 ...

Leaving the business world to start one’s own gig is a hot topic these days.  I read blog posts about it every day, and my friend Pam Slim just sold a new book about it.  Over lunch a few weeks ago, I asked my good friend Keith Alperin if he’d be willing to tell WCW readers how he launched his new business, Helium Foot Software, and what ...

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 something.  If I spend an entire day that’s completely unproductive, I feel ...

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. ...

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 busy careers.  And to further complicate matters, I am giving birth to more than just a ...