I have both a lap top and an iPad and I notice that with each acquisition the device gets smaller,  lighter and more portable. I then find myself checking my email and social media platforms more frequently than I did before. Do I have a device addiction? I’m not sure, but perhaps like any other addiction, if I am even pondering the question, then I definitely think I’m in the “at…

Maternity leave: then what? Making decisions about going back to work after maternity leave is always challenging.  D-day looms large and is unavoidable. Decisions have to be made eventually. The period leading  up to the return to work can be one of great stress. What goes on for the new mother? Guilt and angst These emotions plays…

I found myself sitting in a group recently and the conversation turned to the challenge of names!  It transpired that all present had some issue with their names and much to my surprise  over 50% of the individuals around the table had changed theirs legally. This is much more common than I ever imagined with 58000 people…

I first wrote a post in 2012 asking are children a corporate inconvenience? I have updated it at intervals ever since. In 2023, I am still asking the same question. Men and women are reporting negative fallout when they wish to assume ongoing responsibility for parenting and childcare. My thoughts were further compounded after reading that women of child-bearing age are…

Times they are certainly changing  and as an increasing number of our populations in developed economies are completing further education, only to become unemployed,  the cries from, and about, ” over/under-qualified ” candidates come  loudly from both sides of the hiring process. It’s hard to know what are our most marketable skill is. This can cover: too many/few  years…

A Portfolio Career “a tapestry of a variety of eclectic employment experiences; employment in a series of short-contract or part-time positions“ Not new but on the increase The term Portfolio Career is being used in current business  vernacular with the same type of smug and superior “in the know -ness,”  as we might have seen when the atom was split or  the wheel invented. I…

For anyone embarking on a job search related to career change and developing a personal brand for the first time, I outline the steps and possibilities involved. As I do so I am always aware of one thing. Their faces turning ashen as they mentally try to calculate how much time this is going to take out of their already busy day. There is a reason it’s called net “working ” ( not net “vacationing” ). It is indeed a lot of work, takes time and much of it is new.

Drowning in the Google pool and sinking into oblivion  Modern connectivity There was a time probably no more than 5 years ago, when I could do my job very effectively by going into my contact data base and simply picking up the phone. Those days are gone. In 2008, as world markets crashed taking many…

Career pundits encourage us, exhort us even, to aim for professional activities in which we excel or feel passionate about. But for some of us that  simply isn’t possible. Oftentimes career blips can work to our advantage. Sometimes, it’s just a case of not having the skills to identify what  we are good at, or feel passionate  about. In other cases our passions,…

There have never many guarantees in life as a corporate employee. But now, despite employment protection legislation, there seem to be even fewer. We live in turbulent and changing times and no one is immune. So it’s not just necessary to be strategic about career advancement, but to always have a safety net in place in case of an unexpected fall. Even minor changes which at one time might have produced a little stumble, might send you crashing to your knees