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.
My Boss Won't Stop Micromanaging Me!
Dear Deb: I was recently recruited to a new company. I was so excited to be sought out by this company, which is a leader in the industry and I knew that this move would be a boon to my career. My excitement has tempered a bit over the last few months on the new…
Unpopular opinions and uncomfortable truths—workplace edition
Other than you, no one cares what your goals and aspirations are. Don’t highlight these in an interview. Instead, focus on the business problem the hiring company has and how you can help solve those. Always have someone other than you proofread your written work. Always. It is very challenging to catch all errors…
Five Things That Don’t Belong on Your LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional website where professionals can grow their network. However, in recent months, people have seemed to confuse their LinkedIn accounts with other forms of social media such as Facebook or Twitter by posting things more suited for those platforms. I have compiled a list of five of the most unprofessional things I…
My New Boss Doesn't Care About The Company
Hi Deb: I have been in my current role for a little more than two years. During that time, my group has undergone a major reorganization and I have a new boss. When I first began reporting to him, I thought that he was incompetent. But as time has gone on, I realized that he’s…
The Great White Whale
Melville’s great white whale, Moby Dick, is perhaps the best-known metaphor in American literature. In the eponymous novel, the whale is not only the object of Captain Ahab’s obsession, but it also represents that which he cannot have, no matter how hard he tries. Ahab’s obsession with the great white whale is what ultimately leads…
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…