Career Advice & Insights

When Michael Benjamin found himself out of work in October 2008, he used the slump to make new contacts. Michael Benjamin realized he was going to have a tough time re-entering the job force after being laid off last October from his financial-services job. “I wasn’t too junior, I wasn’t too senior, I was the … Read More

Jeromy Smith needed more time with his family. But first, he had to find time for his job search. Jeromy Smith knew he had been on one too many business trips when his daughter, age five, asked him why he didn’t want to stay home with her. “I felt awful when she said that,” said … Read More

Kevin Andres wanted a sales position that was just right for his health-services experience and career track. Kevin Andres had a ‘Goldilocks’ problem. His regional sales-management position with a small dental company in Los Angeles was too small, and the company was looking to get even smaller. When Andres joined the company in January 2008, … Read More

How long can you be out of work before recruiters cringe at the gap on your resume? How long can you be out of work before recruiters cringe at the gap on your resume? I talk with people every day about their resumes and job-hunting strategies. Many are understandably concerned about their employment prospects because … Read More

Hugh Taylor had barely settled in at IBM when the recession claimed his new job. Yet he found his short tenure wasn’t an obstacle to finding another position. Hugh Taylor was living in Los Angeles and commuting to Seattle for much of his work at Microsoft. When the software giant asked him to relocate to … Read More

How do you sell your skills to a new industry? Prove that you know more than they think you do. Don’t believe them. When companies tell you they aren’t hiring because of the recession, don’t believe them. What they mean to say is that during a recession they are very, very discerning about who they … Read More

Steve Hunt and his wife tried running their own bed and breakfast but found they preferred corporate corridors. Steve Hunt and his wife were living the dream in sunny Florida after leaving the cold, snowy winters of Connecticut and their high-powered corporate careers to start a bed and breakfast. But something was missing. For the … Read More

“Green-collar” jobs are mostly springing up at companies that sell sustainability; the rest of the business world isn’t rushing to hire a new crop of green execs. In the media and in political pronouncements, much has been made of the promise of “green jobs” and the new “green economy.” Championed by President Obama and his … Read More

It’s a buyer’s market out there. How can top-priced talent make its pitch? Is being cheaper really being smarter? Whether we are downsized or right-sized, unemployment in 2009 is not associated only with mid-level and lower-level jobs. It’s an egalitarian phenomenon. We all know someone who has been laid off, from the corner office to … Read More