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Ask a Career Coach: How Can I Beat Out Another Candidate in the Final Interview? Question: Career Coach, I’ve been interviewing for several weeks for a new position. Honestly, I’m a perfect fit for this role. I have the experience, and I’ve hit all of the key points from their job description in my resume. The salary is right in my range, plus I love the company’s culture and values. I’ve had two in-person interviews, and I’m scheduled to go … Continued

The Secret to Loving Your Next Job: Play to Your Strengths Do You Hate Your Job?  Or Just Parts of It? You’ve been in your sales position for a few years now, and are eager to take on more responsibilities, earn more money and advance your career. You’re great at organizing your pipeline and you never fail to follow up on a lead. You even have great idea about how your company can source new clients. But, if you are … Continued

5 Skills You Can Use to Transfer Into a Sales Career (That You Probably Already Have) So the sales track has caught your eye. Maybe your friend has bragged about the commission, or you’re sick of spending your days in front of a computer having zero interaction with others. However, you can’t think of a single skill that’ll help you land the role. The first place to start is to ask yourself, “Have I done anything related to sales?” Before you immediately throw in … Continued

Your 4-Step Plan for Bouncing Back When You Don’t Get the Job Offer “Thanks for your interest, but we’ve decided to go with another candidate.” This is a crappy email to receive, particularly when you thought you had it in the bag. The exceptional opportunity that you believed was a perfect fit is no longer on the table. It seemed like an offer was definitely in the works, too; after all, you’d sent them references upon request, and even briefly chatted about … Continued

8 Questions to Ask Yourself When You’re Unproductive and Need to Get Back on Track Plenty of people are busy. Staying busy is easy. It’s a lot harder to be productive. Think about it—busy people are organized. They check things off their to-do lists. They get things done. Productive people do all that—but they check the right things off their to-do lists, and they get the right things done. They execute in ways that make the biggest difference for their company and for themselves. … Continued

How I Trick Myself Into Doing Things I Don’t Want to Do Every single night, when I’m finishing up at my desk and am about to shut down for the day, there are a few things I always do. Prepare For The Next Day First, I write a to-do list for the following day so that I can be sure to get all of those lingering thoughts and reminders out of my brain and down on paper. Next, I clean … Continued

The Mistake That’ll Sink Your Chances of Landing a Job That’s Slightly Out of Reach Job searching’s a balancing act. You have to find time to hunt, while doing your job. You have to come off as enthusiastic, but not desperate. And you have to pull off sounding confident, but not arrogant. Many aspects can feel a bit like walking a tightrope, and writing about your qualifications in your application is no different. You want to speak highly of your abilities and make it … Continued

4 Quick Fixes That’ll Ensure Everyone Responds to Your Emails (On Time, Too) You’re in front of your computer reading an email that a colleague sent you. You get to the end and read the whole thing through once more—and, even after that, you’re still left with one big question: What does this person want you to do with this? We’ve all been on the receiving end of those messages. They’re written unclearly and don’t contain a direct ask. So, you’re left wondering … Continued

43 Simple Habits That’ll Improve Your Life (Even if You Just Pick One) It’s sometimes the little things that make all the difference in forming healthy, productive, positive habits. Now, I don’t expect you to do all of these (nor do I do them all myself). But hopefully you find one or two (or more!) that enrich your experiences. Here we go! 1. Do the Gratitude Snooze The key to happiness is to appreciate what you already have (or so I say). … Continued

11 Life Lessons Every Professional Should Know (Before It’s Too Late) 80,000 hours. That’s how long you can expect to work over the course of your lifetime. I’m personally well on my way, approaching the 35,000-hour mark by now. I’ve had a long and winding career path. First, in the accounting department of an airline. Then, at an investment bank. Finally, I spent about 14 years at Microsoft. Now, I’m an entrepreneur and career coach. Over the years, I’ve learned a lot about … Continued