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.
Don’t Flub the Interview: How Focusing on the Company’s Pain Points Will Land You the Job
Think you can wing that job interview because it’s all about you? Think again. The real star of the show is the company’s business pain. As much as we love talking about ourselves, acing an interview requires laser focus on the challenges the hiring manager faces. So, let’s ditch the improvisation and get down to targeted prep. Here’s how….
Stop Giving Useless Feedback
Criticism like “You didn’t spend enough time on this” does nothing to help an employee improve their performance. Useful feedback is constructive, specific, and actionable. If your feedback does not check these three boxes, do not offer it. Keep your mouth shut and work on crafting some valid feedback that will help your employees improve….
Creating Shareable Content
You know you should create compelling, relevant content as part of your overall personal branding strategy. But is your effective, relevant content being shared with others on social media? Probably not. Most people don’t want to share your content. In fact, a study of social transmission across millions of Twitter accounts revealed that the majority of users are passive and rarely share their information with their network. The average Twitter user only retweets one in every 300 tweets they read. Content that moves is content that effectively markets you and promotes your brand….
How Women’s Work Became a Man’s World
Would it surprise you to learn that women once dominated the entire field of computer science? Modern computing grew from the need for ballistics calculations during World War II. At that time, “computer” was a job title—people who performed the sets of calculations. Men who may have otherwise taken these jobs were busy with the war effort. Plus, the work wasn’t regarded as “intellectual.” It was seen as repetitive and focused. So women were hired for their mathematical abilities while the men who designed and created the machines took most of the credit for the work….
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….