Archive: March 2012
What 'The Hunger Games' can teach us about work
A challenge, a test, a modern coliseum of brutal competition and limited rewards: At one point or another, for many of us, the workplace can be all of these. I was thinking about the similarities between the gauntlet of job...
Seattle Job Sector Survey observations, part 2
This week, I'm bringing you the second installment of the topic I kicked off last week: namely, a breakdown of some of the interesting results unearthed by the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce in its recent Job Sector Survey. If...
Keeping face when interview demands go too far
As I've written before, social media are essential tools to ensure that your expertise can be viewed by a wide variety of employers; however, Facebook should not be one of them. The 845-million-member network that spawned a Hollywood blockbuster cannot...
Bridge of bitter flames might not be the best exit strategy
Most of us have been there at some point, maybe more than once. You're sick of your job. The very idea of waking up in the morning and hauling yourself into that soul-deadening place, where you are overworked and underappreciated...
The Seattle job scene: hard facts and armchair observations
While all of us have a vested interest in paying attention to the health of our local economy, I personally find most economic and labor reports painfully difficult to read. The other day, however, I stumbled across a recent report...
It's interview time: Do you know what your skills are?
If someone said to you in an interview, "Tell me what you're good at," what would you say? Hopefully now you've banished the hackneyed "I'm a people person" response from your interviewing repertoire and have focused on providing more detailed...
Social media boot camp: Help for your digital self
Last week I wrote about the necessity of face-to-face networking, and about how there's a methodical way to go about making connections that could land you a job without being annoying or pushy. We can sing the praises of in-person...
5 job-hunting concepts that have outlived their usefulness
While I'm far from a credentialed historian, I've been studying the process of job hunting for a great many years now. My perception is that up until the year 2000 or so, the landscape didn't change much. While there were...
Spring forward: Add some momentum to your networking
The future got a little brighter over the last couple of weeks -- and I'm not just talking about the added hour of twilight we just received yesterday from Daylight Saving Time. In spite of all the negative rhetoric surrounding...
How to survive the dreaded panel interview
The job interview process may seem like fairly changeless process over the decades -- candidates put on nice clothes and meet with a potential supervisor or human resources representative (or both). Usually a second round of finalist interviews is then...
Networking: Diligence and meetings pay off
When many people hear the word "networking," they feel a kind of sucker punch to the gut. If you're looking for work, the word might instill all manner of anxiety and dread -- who, where, how? It might seem overwhelming...
Credit scores are one thing ... but 'career scores'?
First, they came for the movies. Then they came for the restaurants. Then they came for the attorneys, professors and doctors. What are you going to do when they come for you? Are you ready to have a number slapped...
Seattle's 'app economy' rank bodes well for engineering jobs
If it seems like every engineering student who manages to find a job in Seattle is developing smartphone apps, you're not alone in your observation. For the first time, we now have a better idea of how the Puget Sound...
Forget sticks and stones -- words can hurt you in an interview
Last weekend, many Seattle residents were glued to their TV screens during the Academy Awards broadcast when the Best Documentary Feature category came around. One of the distinguished nominees was T.J. Martin, a Seattle-born filmmaker who co-directed the film "Undefeated,"...
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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