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.
Marketing Yourself in Your Job Search
I recently received this question via email: How do I set up my resume and LinkedIn profile for the NEXT job I want? If I'm a "Manager," I'm not that interested in jobs with the title "Manager" in them. But how do I ensure people searching for Senior Managers, or Directors find me if my…
Your Career Hierarchy of Needs
Famed psychologist and researcher Abraham Maslow is best known for his theory of motivation, which is based on the idea that people also have strong cognitive reasons to perform various actions. In his well-known hierarchy of needs, Maslow presents different motivations at different levels. This is often represented as a pyramid. First, people are motivated…
Bro Culture in the Workplace
Women presently represent 50% of the workforce. Yet in spite of this, top positions in most companies tend to be dominated by men. And when a woman does hold a C-level position, she’s seen as a novelty, and is often trotted out and put on display in the name of “diversity.” Think Sheryl Sandberg, Meg…
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…
How much notice am I required to give?
Dear Deb: I started a new job about nine months ago. Not to get into too many details, but suffice it to say that it’s horrible. My boss here is a micromanager to the extreme. In addition, the role is not at all what I was lead to believe it would be. I left my…
What is leadership?
It seems such a simple question, yet it still confuses managers, employees, consultants, and journalists. We all know that leaders are necessary. After all, someone must be accountable for driving results. But what happens all too often in companies is that there is a distinct gap between managers and leaders. Some managers are good leaders,…
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…