Fixing your job search visibility I have spent the past week with two different women, of two different ages. Their backgrounds could not be further apart. One is a young graduate, seeking entry-level employment, the other a woman in her 40s, with extensive supply chain and procurement experience, as well as an MBA. She has…

Something’s got to give Earlier this year, somewhat bewildered by our leaders and their actions (or lack thereof) over the previous few years, I wrote a post “Playing without the Queens“. In it I expressed surprise at the notable lack of public reaction as bankers and financial service leaders decimatad our global economies, while the…

The right to be offensive Workplace humour has a dark side. “I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.” Voltaire I found myself the other evening at the heart of a heated dinner debate and somewhat surprisingly not in the majority camp either. The issue:…

After a period of huge workplace change, despite predictions we are seeing and uptick in the job market. Going hand in hand with this trend is a resurgence of candidate power, with employers very much playing catch up leading to huge numbers of unfilled vacancies. Top candidates making greater demands As the worst of the…

Dear University Careers Advisor, I’m not sure to whom I should write this letter, but perhaps you could pass it on to your colleagues if this is not your field.  I tried to contact directly, the heads of three university career services, in three different countries, posing the same questions, but received no response. I’m…

Career strategy and longevity I spent the weekend socialising with a crowd of fabulous people all substantially younger than me. It’s graduation season and there was some exhilaration and some angst. Some results were better than expected, others disappointed. A few already had devised strategies, other’s hadn’t. One thing for sure is that any future…

Does the feminisation of HR have a downside? The feminisation of HR has been creeping up on us for years. I was recently involved in an executive search for an upper level middle management HR position. The European VP asked me to try to produce a gender balanced short list. Now, this is not what…

Career ladder or lattice? Our society is evolving at a phenomenal pace. Technology has brought about changes that even 15 years ago we could only have dreamed about. New trends Think tanks are predicting labour shortages in key sectors, pension plans and a default retirement age are likely to be pipedreams for the next generation.…

What to do when you HATE your job with a passion! I spent time last week coaching a young professional who hated his job in a small, family run organisation. In fact he hated it so badly that the things he claimed he would rather be doing instead, covered all manner of unspeakable things, too…

Would you move in with someone you’d only just met? I was recently asked by a local journalist for a soundbite on speed interviewing. This is apparently one of the latest job hiring strategies to hit the job market and is seemingly being adopted by an increasing number of companies. The process, pretty much like…