Career Center Blog | Is coffee affecting your performance at work?

At a recent seminar, the presenter -- a friend of mine -- seemed anxious on stage. He kept pacing back and forth and wiped sweat from his brow several times. At the break, I went up to him and asked,

Career Center Blog | Sometimes, money isn't the best motivator

It's that time of year again -- when managers go through the annual ritual of employee performance appraisals. During a strong economy, appraisals were also a time to recognize outstanding employee performance with fabulous benefits and perks, such as the

Career Center Blog | Do you have a terrible job or just a bad attitude?

We've all had some jobs in our experience that we regret — the high-school cash register job, the unappreciated office drone, the back-breaking summertime construction job. They're all part of our career evolution. But have you ever been in a

Career Center Blog | Leave no questions unanswered in your application

You've filled in all the online application boxes, wrote a customized cover letter, submitted work samples and sent in references. You even managed to toss in a few LinkedIn recommendations for good measure. It may seem like your job application

Career Center Blog | Who has it tougher: Olympic athletes or job seekers?

Citius, Altius, Fortius... After tomorrow night, we'll start finding out who will run faster, leap higher and finish stronger than the rest, in accordance with this time-honored Olympic motto. As we prepare ourselves for another two weeks of wall-to-wall TV

Career Center Blog | Finding work is a family affair

"Matt, I hate to admit it, but I'm having a problem on the home front. I've been searching for a job for a number of months now, and my wife won't get off my back. She constantly tells me I'm

Career Center Blog | Moving on: How to bounce back from career setbacks

Getting laid off is a sad fact of life, especially in the last five years following the global financial meltdown. Most of us manage to bounce back by redefining our goals, establishing a networking strategy and settling into a job

Career Center Blog | Making the 'leap' to a career that you love

As calendar events go, Leap Day has always been a bit of an afterthought. It was tacked on to our calendar by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C. to make up for lost time when it was noted that a year

Career Center Blog | Job hunters, resolve to impress yourself

If you were living around 4,000 years ago, in the vicinity of ancient Babylonia, your New Year's resolution would have been to return all of the farm equipment you'd borrowed over the course of the year. Apparently this was all

Career Center Blog | 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,

Career Center Blog | Four easy ways to build community at work

From a social standpoint, office settings can make for some pretty awkward encounters. [Flickr photo by naotakem] Sure, employers try their darnedest to bring teams together with company picnics, holiday parties, and other morale events. But as anyone who's

Career Center Blog | What's your work mantra?

Sunday night, after a glorious weekend on the Olympic Peninsula, I came home to several hours of uncompleted work. Due 9 a.m. Monday, hard stop. After two leisurely days of beach strolls and sunsets, communing with my computer was

Career Center Blog | How to stay focused during lengthy job searches

They say April is the cruelest month, but when you're looking for work in the moss-covered Pacific Northwest, I'd say it's more like June. As we saw from the last few days of fantastic weather following a particularly drenching spring,

Career Center Blog | If you don't respect yourself, no one else will (including hiring managers)

I talked to a group of frustrated job seekers today. Their motivation seemed to be at an all-time low. Just two weeks ago, I had given them instructions on how to construct their job-search marketing plan, target their top companies

Career Center Blog | New year's resolutions: It's not too late to salvage them

Now that we're five weeks into the new year, I have to ask: how are those resolutions going? [Photo by graymalkn] If your best-laid plans to work out before work, get more rest, or investigate making a career change already

Career Center Blog | Employee awards: Yea or nay?

With Hollywood's awards season officially in full swing, I thought it would be fun to discuss on-the-job awards for the rest of us working stiffs. Using Facebook and LinkedIn, I conducted an informal, unscientific poll on what rank-and-file employees and managers

Career Center Blog | How to stay motivated during your job search

The toughest part of a career transition is managing the negative little voice inside our heads that we call self-talk. It's amazing how we're faced with our greatest fears and self doubts during this time, especially if we have people