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…

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.

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…

+/- 15% of employees have moderate learning difficulties in the workplace. Although many received support during their education, when they transition into the workplace, for most that support disappears, although the issues regrettably don’t. I actually prefer the U.S. phrase “learning differences”, which covers a wide variety of challenges. This should not to be confused with any intellectual cognitive impairment which…

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

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…

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…

You would think that when you reach a certain age there shouldn’t be much left in this life that can surprise you. But yet it does …every day! It seems that my destiny is to live in a state of perpetual surprise or shock. This monty alone I have raised my eyebrows around execs not…