Archive: December 2011
A little fatherly advice about finding your dream job
At least once a year, it's a good idea to find someone in your network from whom to get advice about taking the next step in your career. For me, one of my indispensable advisers was my father, Robert Woods,...
Sometimes a job is just a job (and other career lessons learned)
This will be my last post on NWjobs. In the three-and-a-half years I've been blogging on this site, I've learned countless lessons from the workers and career experts I've interviewed, as well as the many readers who've taken the time...
Be the Santa of intangibles -- all year long
When it comes to giving gifts to your friends and loved ones, surprising them with an iPad, kitchen gadget or gift card to their favorite restaurant might be the safest bet. But when it comes to giving back in some...
Holiday gift list: New confidence, new job
This is a week of making lists (checked twice, of course) and looking forward to a new year of possibilities. We seem to be doing well with the gift list, according to the latest figures for retail sales and other...
The key to succeeding as a freelancer
I'll be on KUOW's Weekday this morning, talking about what it takes to make it as a freelancer these days. Talent, marketing savvy, and business know-how are all part of the equation. But I'm a firm believer that the secret...
Cover letters: Go big or go home
Long, boring cover letters: time of death, 2011. While there's still some dispute about the exact role that cover letters play in the modern job-search process, the prevailing wisdom is that the good old-fashioned cover-letter format, as we've known...
When describing work experience, show, don't tell
Creative. Organizational. Effective. All of these are great words you would want associated with your previous work experience. But do you want them on your resume? Not necessarily. According to the online networking site LinkedIn, those three adjectives are what...
Fight through the flakiness
Flakiness is a wonderful quality in a pie crust -- but as we all know, it's an incredibly annoying trait when it comes to human beings. If you're a job hunter, it's inevitable that you'll encounter flaky behavior as...
How to use hand-drawn pictures to ace an interview
Want to stand out in your job interviews? Use pictures. That's the advice of Dan Roam, international best-selling author of The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures. Roam's latest book, BLAH BLAH BLAH: What to...
Your competition is hibernating
I love this time of year. I don't mean the stress of the holiday season; I'm talking about the best time to job search. In the past two years, more of my clients have found jobs between Thanksgiving and...
Erasing unsightly blemishes from your resume
In most cases, the more experience you have on a resume, the better it looks to hiring managers. But are all experiences created equal? Not always. Have you had several jobs that only lasted a few months? Were you ever...
The one-word key to rapid career change
It should come as no secret that many Americans are actively thinking about changing careers -- either because they've fallen out of love with their current career path after many years, or for the more practical reason of trying...
How to rock your office's white elephant gift exchange
A friend recently emailed me distressed about the Secret Santa gift she had to buy an officemate. [Flickr photo by gruntzooki] "I don't know the person at all and have no idea what they like. Do I get a...
2012 advice: Hold your ground on benefits
The Great Recession has been over, technically, for more than two years now, but everyone knows that it's "over" only in the minds of economists. In the real working world, where talented, qualified job seekers often take a year or...
Rank and file: Manage your networking connections
While I don't have an exact statistic in hand, I think it's safe to say that the "average" business professional likely meets at least a few hundred people each year, in passing. And for those folks who work in the...
Karen Burns is the author of The Amazing Adventures of Working Girl, a career guide based on her 59 jobs over 40 years in 22 cities.
Lisa Quast is a certified career coach, mentor, business consultant, former corporate executive and author based in the Seattle area.
Randy Woods writes about job-search tools, networking techniques and other tips to help you land your dream job.
Former contributors
Matt Youngquist is the president of Career Horizons, a career counseling firm.
Natalie Singer is a Seattle writer, editor and small-business owner.
Michelle Goodman is the author of "My So-Called Freelance Life" and "The Anti 9-to-5 Guide."
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