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.
Sexual harassment is a leadership problem
Workplace sexual harassment has been a problem for decades. Centuries, actually. But the recent spate of allegations of harassment against public figures is a good indicator of how entrenched these abuses of power are. Harassment is insidious, and the damage that it does to the victims, as well as to the organizations that employ them…
What are Your Six Words?
Literary legend has it that Ernest Hemingway won a $10 bet by writing the shortest story he could, on the back of a napkin: For sale: baby shoes. Never worn. His simple six-word story resonates with both depth and tragedy, and in its terseness, provides us with a perfect encapsulation of both the…
The power of Storytelling
One of my favorite works of nonfiction is In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. In this book, Capote tells the story of a senseless and brutal quadruple murder, and the two men who committed the heinous crime. He also examines the moral, ethical, and legal underpinnings of capital punishment. On its surface, this may seem…
The “why” of keeping it simple
I’ve written at length about the importance of keeping things simple. Whether it’s the answers to your interview questions, your pitch to a new client, or a discussion with a disgruntled vendor, simplicity is the way to go. Far too often, we make things harder than they need to be. We add extraneous, unnecessary levels…
6 things within your control that are killing your productivity
Many factors that sap workplace productivity are beyond the control of individual employees. For example, you can’t control whether or not you work in an open office environment, or whether your manager schedules excessive meetings. But there are plenty of productivity eliminating moves that you CAN control. Some of these are obvious, but some are…
Put Away the Fire Hose
We’ve all been fire-hosed. Maybe by an instructor, a sales rep, a colleague, or an ad. The presenter gives so much information and detail that you can’t focus, and you tune out. Think about the last time you were in a room with a speaker who had so much material prepared that it was almost…
Ten Keys to Successful Communications
Everything in life is about communication and messaging. How are you going to present your new idea? How are you going to position your background so that it is relatable to the role for which you’re interviewing? How will you articulate your differing perspective to a potential client? We all want the communication “magic bullet.”…
Yes, the pay gap is real
I’ve been reading many articles and seeing various reports in which so-called “experts” assert that the gender pay gap is a myth. This is a commonly repeated theme, and it seems that those who purvey this falsehood believe that if they keep promoting it, it will eventually become true. Unfortunately for them, there is ample…
Becoming Self-Aware
In my job as a career coach and advisor, I have had the opportunity to speak with literally thousands of people from all over the world, with different experiences and backgrounds, who have different end goals. Some clients come to me to rework a résumé or build out a social media plan. Others seek counsel…
Words, words, words
Undergraduates who have chosen to major in the liberal arts will inevitably be faced with the question, “What are you going to do with THAT?” I am sympathetic to them because when I was a non-STEM, non-business major, that same exact question was posed to me. In an age in which it seems that STEM…