An unlikely combo Emily in Paris and Career Coaching Maybe not. Read on. For anyone who lives in a box, sans Wi-Fi, “Emily in Paris” is one of Netflix latest, hottest streamed series. It tells the story of Emily Cooper a PR junior sent from her H.Q. in Chicago to the offices of a French…

I work mainly with people who are on LinkedIn but who don’t / won’t engage. The two main reasons given are the unrelenting self-promotion of some members, and the inappropriate behaviour towards women. Increasingly I am hearing a third answer. LinkedIn polls. Plague of LinkedIn polls My own observation is that they are on the…

I have tackled this topic three times before in 2009, 2013 and again in 2020 to manage expectations between job seekers and recruiters. There is a massive chasm in expectations which I believe is the source of miscommunication and frustration. In 2021 because the issue is as entrenched as ever. The result is a ping…

I regularly observe career coaches and recruiters encouraging candidates to send handwritten thank you letters to their interviewers. I have even seen hiring managers say that receipt of a thank you note is part of their decision making process and they judge candidates negatively for failing to comply. In some cases they even cut candidates…

LinkedIn’s new feature with “Homemaker”, “Stay-at-home Mom,” ” Stay-at-home Dad,” or “Stay-at-home Parent,” are now approved as recognized job descriptions on LinkedIn to avoid employment gaps on your profile. This is supposedly to support anyone who was a COVID casualty and made redundant during the pandemic. The option is especially designed to allow women who are badly…

How much attention do you pay to voice when you think of a leader or when you hear a speaker?  I cut my teeth on old school telephone interviewing so can confirm that voice  definitely plays a role in the assessment of someone. Voices are an integral part of our identity and we can all…

The hiring process for most organisations is flawed throughout and riddled with unconscious bias. Despite good intentions, there is no doubt that unconscious bias is the barrier to diversity. It’s important you understand how to make your interview process more inclusive as part of your hiring best practices. Inclusive hiring Inclusive hiring is an equitable…

Is it time to dump those interview question clichés which constantly crop up and add little value? I would say so! And for once I am not a lone voice! I was recently involved in an interview process and the hiring manager asked the candidate: “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” Poker face…

One of the biggest challenges of the “now normal” is navigating the divide between doing things in person and figuring out a way to do them remotely with the same degree of success. It’s important now to find remote networking workarounds to compensate for the current restrictions, especially around relationship building. This is true whether as…

People are slowly returning to work in different stages in various geographies. I have been very surprised to hear some of the experiences HR leaders are recounting around the implementation of pandemic safety protocols. This is not just an HR issue, but also a business and leadership issue. They are seeing a strong polarisation of…