Blog
Debra Wheatman, President of Careers Done Write, provides expert insight to the job search process that puts your career in gear with tips for interviewing, networking, job search strategies and how to create a winning resume and cover letter.
The Case for Keeping It Simple
Albert Einstein once remarked, "If you can't explain it simply, you don't understand it well enough." While often cited as a clever aphorism, this sentiment holds profound truth, particularly in the modern job market. In an era defined by information overload, specialization, and cross-functional collaboration, the ability to distill complex ideas, processes, and outcomes into accessible terms is one of the most powerful professional catalysts available. Far from being a mere communication trick, simplification is the ultimate litmus test for genuine comprehension and a highly prized asset across nearly every industry….
Flipping the Script
Traditional job interviews are often structured as a one-sided interrogation. The hiring manager sits with a checklist, probing the candidate’s history, competency, and composure through carefully designed prompts. Among these, behavioral questions, typically framed as "Tell me about a time when...”, are considered standard. Based on the premise that past behavior is the best predictor of future performance, employers rely on them to look past a polished résumé. However, candidates frequently overlook a game-changing opportunity: turning this exact methodology back on the hiring manager….
Don’t Jump the Shark. Embrace It!
When Jaws went into production in the summer of 1974, twenty-six-year-old Steven Spielberg was on the precipice of disaster. The shoot, budgeted at $4 million with a 55-day schedule, ballooned into a 159-day ordeal costing over $12 million. At the heart of this nightmare was “Bruce,” the nicknamed full-scale mechanical shark. Built to terrorize audiences on the open ocean, the hydraulic monster suffered continuous breakdowns: its pneumatic hoses corroded in saltwater, its skin absorbed water and sank the rig, and its jaw mechanics frequently jammed….
Artificial Fibers & Artificial Intelligence: Finding the Right Blend
In the 1970s, you couldn't escape polyester. It was hailed as the miracle fiber—cheap, wrinkle-free, indestructible, and capable of holding the loudest, brightest geometric prints imaginable. From the iconic double-knit leisure suits to everyday office wear, synthetic fabrics promised to liberate us from the tyranny of the iron. But the initial utopian dream quickly hit a wall of cold reality. 1970s polyester didn't breathe. It trapped heat, retained odors, felt scratchy, and, when exposed to direct heat, was prone to melting….
How to Handle DARVO in the Workplace
Have you ever pulled a colleague aside to address a missed deadline, or spoken up to a manager about a pattern of undermining behavior, only to walk away from the conversation feeling like you were the one who did something wrong? If you left the room feeling dizzy, confused, and suddenly forced to defend your own tone or work ethic, you didn't just experience a difficult conversation. You likely encountered a highly effective manipulation tactic known as DARVO….
Reclaiming Your Career from Parkinson’s Law
We often confuse being busy with being effective. If we have eight hours to fill, we will fill it with minor details, extra formatting, or unnecessary research to feel like we put in a full day's work. In the modern corporate world, this manifests as endless email threads, over-engineered slide decks, and back-to-back meetings that could have been handled in a single message. We treat our workdays like expanding balloons, stretching tasks until they consume every waking hour, leading to burnout without necessarily driving meaningful results….
From Peer to Boss: The Survival Guide for New Managers
Congratulations! You got the promotion. You’ve traded in your old responsibilities for a shiny new title, a bump in pay, and… a sudden, overwhelming wave of imposter syndrome. First, take a deep breath. What you are feeling is completely normal. Transitioning from an individual contributor to a manager is one of the sharpest learning curves in any professional career. To help you navigate the messy, rewarding, and chaotic first few months, here is a practical guide to surviving and thriving in your new role….
Grody to the Max: Your Food Court Style Resumé Is Like Totally Lame.
In the 1980s, mall culture was at its peak. Walking into a suburban American mall in the 1980s wasn’t just a shopping trip—it was an immersive sensory experience. It was the undisputed epicenter of teenage social life, consumer optimism, and suburban monoculture. Storefronts competed for attention with brilliant, custom neon signage. Dark glass, mirrored ceilings, and polished chrome trim reflected the pink, cyan, and electric blue hues glowing from every window. The crowd was a moving showcase of the decade’s fashion: acid-washed denim, oversized blazers with shoulder pads, Member Only jackets, neon windbreakers, and hair sprayed to gravity-defying heights. Walking past the arcade meant hitting a wall of sound: a chaotic mix of electronic bleeps, pixelated explosions, and synthesized speech from games like Pac-Man, Galaga, and Donkey Kong, all backed by the heavy thud of plastic tokens dropping into metal slots. Walking near a department store anchor meant walking through a cloud of heavy designer perfumes and colognes sprayed by workers at the beauty counters. The communal areas of the mall were blanketed in a haze, and their air carried the stench of cigarette smoke, which, combined with Aqua Net, was the official aroma of the decade….
Innovation Is Not Found in a Calendar Invite
You are familiar with exhaustion of the modern workday: a back-to-back gauntlet of calendar invites that leaves you staring at your screen at 5:00 PM, wondering when you will actually have time to get your work done. Meetings and meeting culture can stifle innovation, reduce productivity, and be a significant pain point for your team. In its push for cross-functional alignment, corporate culture has made a critical error. “Meetings" and "collaboration" have become conflated. Relying on meetings as your primary vehicle for teamwork is often the very thing stifling true innovation. To build high-performing teams, leaders must understand where meetings fail and how genuine collaboration happens….
Are you doomjobbing? Here’s how to avoid the burnout.
The modern job hunt can feel less like a career transition and more like a psychological endurance test. If you have ever found yourself awake at 2:00 AM, eyes glazed over, mindlessly clicking the "Easy Apply" button on LinkedIn for roles you barely qualify for or even want, you aren't just job hunting. You are doomjobbing….