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.
Effective Management During a Time of Crisis
My inbox is flooded with questions about COVID-19, including how employers should be handling the crisis and what employees should expect from their management…..
Do I still need a resume? Spoiler alert: Yes, you do!
“Why do I need a resume when I have a LinkedIn profile, a website, and multiple publications on my research into the moss that grows exclusively on rolling stones?” I field questions like this one All The Time. Some job seekers think that resumes are passé, outdated, outmoded, archaic, or have jumped the shark.…
The difference of a decade
As we begin not just a new year but also a new decade, I’ve been reflecting on the cultural changes that have impacted both job seeking and hiring practices over the last ten years. You may have noticed some of these as well. In 2010, the United States was beginning to emerge from the…
Why women at your workplace don’t report
You’ve seen the stories. You’ve followed the #MeToo movement. You’re an ally of women. You understand. Your company has policies, procedures, precedents. No woman at your workplace would feel anything other than complete and total support. Hmm. Okay. Have you vetted this with the women with whom you work? All the policies and procedures,…
Why your people leave
Attrition. It’s costly, and if your company has above-average rates of turnover, not only are those costs borne in terms of hard dollars and time, but there could also be irreparable damage to your brand. Your employees are your profit makers. Without them, you would not be able to do anything. You want to…
When job interviews go weird
There is a theory out there that postulates that traditional job interviews don’t give hiring managers or recruiters an accurate read on a candidate’s likely performance in a certain role, largely because interviews can be too brief, formulaic, formal, or riddled with bias. Some organizations are taking a scientific approach to interviewing in which…
How to deal with the annual self-appraisal
It’s the fourth quarter of the year. That means that salespeople are scrambling to get deals signed, finance people are getting ready to close out the year, and that the dreaded self-appraisal is upon us. The self-appraisal is a common performance management practice. Ostensibly, an employee’s self-appraisal and rating should give the manager valuable…
Tales from the trenches…HR and Management Incompetency Edition
This is my second installment of a new series called “Tales from the trenches,” in which I share a particularly fascinating (and usually rife with stupidity) story I’ve heard. I do not work in a large corporate environment, but many of my clients do. This means that although I am not involved in the…
It’s a shame: Social media & the job seeker
In my work as a career coach, I talk to a lot of people. A lot. When I’m working with job seekers, I often counsel them to review their social media accounts and think critically about the content within the context of “would this be appropriate in a professional setting.” Of course, personal social…
Corporate Bro, yo!
Corporate Bro culture has been getting a lot of press, especially with the ensuing #MeToo movement. One of the best illustrations of corporate Bro culture this blog post, which is a female engineer’s reflections on a long, strange year she spent at ride-sharing company Uber. This blistering missive describes antics you would expect (but…