Career Advice & Insights

Finance firms will care as much about your character as the skills and performance on your resume. In financial services, reputation matters. So does character. That wasn’t always the case, but in the wake of the recession that decimated the public’s regard for the industry, financial services firms are more concerned than ever in building … Read More

With the privileges of working come responsibilities that start even before you are hired. Working can be a real privilege. For one thing, it’s a great adventure. Every employee from the top to the bottom of a corporation’s org chart gets to be a part of the adventure — the daily challenge to create value, … Read More

It’s still a buyers’ market, but job seekers (the sellers) should be prepared to exercise more leverage in the hiring process. It’s no fun being a commodity. For much of the last two years it was a buyers’ market for hiring companies — they had their pick of willing and available candidates. The result was … Read More

Staying current in the technology and IT certifications is just the start. A career in Information Technology requires skills previous generations of IT executives ignored or scorned. (People skills? What are those?) The modern IT executive must be a master of the technology he manages plus the business lines it supports. What follows are the … Read More

Elaine Jefferson, a midcareer technologist from N.J., could have watched her career and life ended by two severe highway accidents, but her positive attitude held out and her luck changed lanes. “A funny thing happened on the way to my life,” says TechnologyLadder member Elaine Jefferson. “I was crossing the street three days before Christmas … Read More

Excerpted from ”You’re Better Than Your Job Search” By Marc Cenedella and Matthew Rothenberg If your experience is in a troubled industry, you may have to find a whole new way to package it, says Randy Hain, managing partner at Bell Oaks Executive Search in Atlanta. “I know a guy who was senior in the … Read More

There’s a fine line between enthusiastic and just plain irritating. For job seekers eager for feedback, that line can be blurry. When it comes to your job search, there’s a difference between persistence and pushiness. Or is there? The answer may depend on the job you’re trying to fill. Take “Chloe,” a veteran pharmaceutical saleswoman … Read More

Job seekers pull their hair out over how and whether to follow up on job applications posted by anonymous companies. He was desperate. He’d found the perfect job and applied online. Now, all he could do was wait to hear back. And wait. And wait. It’s been weeks. Shouldn’t he have followed up by now? … Read More

Assessing the cultural fit of a company extends far beyond age or interests, and it can make all the difference between success and failure on the job. The job description seems like it was written for you. The pay is right, the commute easy on your nerves, you even like your new boss, and the … Read More