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 Blindness of Job Seekers: Navigating Challenges in the Modern Job Market
In the novel “Blindness” by José Saramago, an epidemic of sudden and unexplained blindness descends upon a city, leaving its inhabitants struggling to survive in a world of darkness. This harrowing tale of social breakdown and human nature resonates with the struggles of modern-day job seekers navigating the competitive and uncertain job market. Just like the characters in the book, job seekers face various challenges and uncertainties, and understanding these parallels can shed light on the importance of resilience and adaptability in the pursuit of meaningful employment….
How Effective Is Your Style of Communication?
Effective communication requires more than merely selecting the right words. After all, we all know that most communication is not about WHAT but HOW it’s said and, more importantly, how it’s received. To grow your career, you need to adopt a style of communication that will avoid misunderstanding and encourage an honest and free flow of ideas. Clear communication is critical to keeping your team performance at optimal levels, yet many people struggle with this more than any other soft skill….
SEO, Branding, and Your Career
As a personal branding consultant, I frequently field questions about what branding is and how to effectively execute a personal branding strategy. Branding embodies the captivating experience you curate and the lasting impression you leave upon every interaction. It becomes a powerful essence that defines your identity in the minds of those with whom you engage. Why is it so important to have a strong brand? In this ever-evolving world of work, the paradigm of lifetime employment with a single company has shifted. Embracing this new reality, it becomes imperative to adopt the mindset of a CEO for your own career, strategically marketing your most vital product—YOU. By taking charge of your professional journey and proactively shaping your personal brand, you pave the way for limitless opportunities and extraordinary growth.
Creating a successful personal branding strategy has three main components: Content, Context, and Consistency….
What Salary Are You Seeking?
Although most of the questions in a job interview are designed to see if you would work well within the company culture, there are also practical questions. There has long been a pervading idea that discussing salary is somehow crass, as if the primary reason people work is something other than being able to support their families and pay their bills. In previous years, it was considered bad form for a candidate to inquire about the salary for the position. Thankfully, this has changed….
Ask Deb: How Do I Learn to Embrace Conflict?
A strategy of conflict avoidance will not serve you, your employees, your clients, or your partners well. If you actively avoid confrontation, you must reassess and reframe your thinking. Rather than seeing conflict or disagreement as an assault on your values, consider it an opportunity to put your values into practice….
Return to Office Mandates Work Against Working Women
The fact is that the pre-pandemic, primarily in-office working style worked for one segment of the workforce: men. Despite more college-educated women being in the workforce than at any time in history, the share of domestic labor women perform has increased. Domestic labor women perform is worth half a trillion dollars, yet, by design, it has no value in the free market. The system relies on free and cheap domestic labor, most of which women perform, and those in power want to keep the status quo….
Bad CEO Behavior Continues: Work from Home Edition
This month’s contender for Worst CEO Behavior is Raul Vargas, CEO of Farmers Insurance Group. Mr. Vargas is the company’s new CEO, and one of his first orders of business was to reverse his predecessor’s stance on remote work. Employees hired as full-time remote employees now have until September to present themselves in the office thrice weekly. What’s driving this decision? Collaboration. And innovation….
Use Resume Metrics to Improve Your Job Search
I have said it many times, but it bears repeating: a resume is a marketing tool. As such, it’s important to understand your audience. Far too many job seekers operate under the assumption that a resume should list the tasks associated with your previous roles. Nothing could be further than the truth. For a resume to be effective, it needs to highlight your achievements. Those achievements should be quantified whenever possible….
How to Manage Office Politics
Office politics are unavoidable; people bring their unique needs, thoughts, fears, and ambitions to work. Despite people’s claims of hating office politics, like the gossip mill, it continues to flourish. Office politics are the unwritten rules that determine who gets what, when, and how — a promotion, a budget for a project-- and who doesn’t. We dislike office politics so much because our fate depends on these unwritten rules. But there are ways that you can successfully navigate office politics….
3 Interview Questions You Must Know How to Answer
Job interviews are stressful. Even in the most friendly, non-confrontational interview setting, it still feels like your education, experience, and even your very character are all being called into question, and if you suffer from interview anxiety, are shy, or get nervous easily, you could come off as unfriendly, inexperienced, and not suitable for the team. The best way to overcome interview jitters is to practice, practice, practice….