I recently had a call asking me if I did couples coaching and family planning.  I told the gentlemen he had the wrong number.  The phone rang again.  It was the same chap.  No he insisted. Are you the Dorothy Dalton who does career transition coaching and wrote Children: A  Corporate inconvenience and The Great Divide: Planned Parenthood and Corporate Planning?  Why ..? I…

Having it all  – a blast from the past The phrase ‘having it all’, the famous tagline coined by the original Superwoman Shirley Conran, has plagued us since 1975 which truthfully started all this nonsense. I had hoped it had disappeared for ever. It conned women into believing that we could ‘have it all’ when it actually means ‘doing  it all’ or ‘managing it all’. It…

Many of us sit on aeroplanes, especially frequent flier business trips and watch the cabin crew go through the emergency procedures with tuned-out indifference. We know the drill because we’ve seen it possibly hundreds of times in our lifetimes. Despite the commentary that all should pay attention, we dutifully turn off our electronic devices as…

Although top-level candidates are investing increasingly in their employee brands and interview readiness, I’ve heard many stories that would suggest that some organisations are  getting complacent.  Mistakenly they believe that either being a good manager automatically makes them good interviewers, or with the market awash with candidates they don’t have to make an effort. They have basically let their interview readiness slip. Employers need to…

Career coaches and search consultants spend inordinate amounts of time encouraging job seekers to dazzle and to stand out in the candidate crowd. However there is one area when it’s OK to be the diamond in the rough, unexciting and utilitarian, and when dull is completely OK if not advantageous. That is in the context of resume formatting. I mention this in…

Personal branding for women requires a different approach Stand out! According to Connie Glaser, author and women’s leadership expert, societal expectations for female behaviour promote modesty and collaboration, but these characteristics don’t necessarily lead to professional advancement. This requires actions closely associated with standing out from the crowd rather than blending in, by being able to identify, articulate and…

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…

Creating an effective USP ( Unique Selling Proposition ) is key for any job seeker or career  changer. It a major, invaluable tool in the job search tool box and will serve as a basis for: One sentence bio either written or oral Your online professional profile tagline (120 characters with spacse on LinkedIn) Any introduction…

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,…

Although not an open networker, I am a strategic one and I have over time become an advocate of the theory that there is strength in a weak network. I don’t connct with just anyone and everyone, but I don’t mind if I don’t know the individual personally. That particular connection may not be directly helpful, but perhaps will be connected to someone who might be. Being naturally curious I am always open to meeting new people.