The question I am asked most frequently is, “Why am I not getting interviews/callbacks/offers when I’m putting in all this effort?” I know that job seeking can be frustrating and that the process is often lengthier than candidates would like. To make it less frustrating, you must be strategic and precise in executing your search. Many job seekers go about executing their search in ineffective and inefficient ways. Among the tactics you can use to optimize your job search is the practice of conducting interview post-mortems. Although it sounds a bit gruesome and conjures images of a pathologis ..read more

The FTC estimates that 1 in 5 people are bound by a non-compete clause in their current jobs. These legal agreements or clauses block an employee from working for a competing employer for a specified time. These agreements also prohibit the employee from revealing proprietary information or secrets to other parties during or after employment. These agreements affect everyone, from hourly employees to C-suite executives. Such agreements incentivize companies to invest in business activities such as worker training and developing specialized technologies. Proponents of non-competes assert that ..read more

Dear Deb: I am a new entrant to the job market, having been out of the workforce for three years now. Three years ago, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. My treatment involved chemo, radiation, and multiple surgeries. At first, I thought I would be able to work during the course of my chemotherapy. I was quickly disabused of that notion, as the twice-weekly treatments sapped all my energy and made me sick.  I went out on disability, intending to return to work after chemotherapy and my first surgery. However, the recovery from that surgery was protracted by some complicat ..read more

A client recently sent me a screenshot of a text message he had received. It went something like this:  We’ve received your resume and are very impressed. Several recruiters have also recommended you. We would like to offer you a job you can do from home in your free time. Daily pay ranges from $300-$900, and you will be paid daily via direct deposit. Please contact us via WhatsApp.  This, dear readers, is an example of a job scammer. A job scam is a fraudulent work offer intended to mislead people seeking legitimate employment. Often, the objective of scammers is to deceive job see ..read more

Dear Deb: I have been laid off for over 6 months and am beginning to feel a bit hopeless. Compounding my feelings is that I have been getting multiple interviews, yet no offers. The interview processes that I’ve encountered are nothing like anything I’ve seen before in my career.  I recently went through 7—yes 7—rounds of interviews for a role for which I was more than qualified. The first round was with the recruiter. Second round with the hiring manager. Third round with other members of the team. Fourth round was a panel interview for which I had to prepare a presentation. Fifth round ..read more

The 2018 film The Post tells the story of attempts by journalists to publish the Report of the Office of the Secretary of Defense Vietnam Task Force’s report, now colloquially known as the Pentagon Papers. These classified documents detailed the United States’s 30-year involvement in the Vietnam War and its ostensible and ultimately unsuccessful attempts to rid the world of communism.  One of the film’s main characters, played by Meryl Streep, was Katharine Graham. Katharine Graham began working at the Post in 1938 as a beat reporter. Her father, Eugene Meyer, was the publisher of the pa ..read more

Mansplaining is alive and well and can be seen everywhere, from the driving range to X (formerly Twitter). Every woman has endured mansplaining at some point. It’s as if these men just can’t help themselves or restrain their mouths. The portmanteau describes the act of a man’s unsolicited explaining, generally to a woman, something he thinks he knows more about than she does — occasionally at anesthetizing length — whether he knows anything or not. Mansplaining reveals itself in many forms. For example, instead of admitting that he doesn’t know something or asking a person to elaborate, the m ..read more

Much of the career advice out there focuses on interview preparation for candidates, specifically on how best to formulate answers to typical questions. But just as important—maybe even more important—are your questions during the interview.  Any parent knows that asking a teenager, “How was school today?” will not get any meaningful response. You might get a grunt, “Okay” or “Fine” in response. This is because the question is meaningless. It does not ask anything specific, nor does it indicate a genuine interest on the part of the person asking. It also tells your kid, “I have no idea h ..read more

Founded in 1910 by feminist Clara Zetkin, International Women’s Day is a day to recognize women’s contributions to industry and society and their work outside of the home. Many women who have impacted American history are well known, such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Sojourner Truth. However, too many pioneering women have been left out of the conversation for too long.  How well do you know the history of women’s contributions in the US? Are any of these names familiar? Rachel Carson: Carson was the founder of today’s environmental movement. In the late 1950s, she wr ..read more

We hear and engage in fallacies every day. They often form the keystones of our arguments. These logical fallacies are leaps of logic that lead us to an unsupported conclusion. People may unintentionally commit a logical fallacy due to poor reasoning or intentionally to manipulate others. Common logical fallacies include the red herring, ad hominem, causation/correlation, straw man, and the anecdotal evidence fallacy. However, there is one particularly insidious fallacy that we want to take extra care to avoid, and that is the one known as the Abilene Paradox.  Put simply, the Abilene Pa ..read more