iStock | kentoh It may seem self-evident to be collaborative during salary negotiations, but even the best of us can forget to be mindful of our attitude and behavior when the conversation turns to money. Everybody involved wants to get to “YES!” Then somebody mentions money and, somehow, reason and decorum are sacrificed.  If you’re the interviewee (i.e., the one hoping to get the job), here is a quick hit list of reasons you should remember to act in good faith with extra special civility during salary negotiations.  You’re not the one with the money. You have minimal leverage ..read more

iStock | ChrisGorgio During your professional life, you are likely to encounter circumstances that are beyond your control. Even at times of personal achievement and success, such as positive performance reviews, promotions, and compensation increases, you may be caught up in a sudden upheaval. Buyouts, mergers, acquisitions, economic recessions, rising competition, corporate mismanagement, new technologies, shifting consumer behaviors, business reorganizations/restructuring, and new laws are just a few forces that make up the “invisible hand” (that THAT, Adam Smith!) that affect the labor m ..read more

iStock | anyaberkut Applying for a new job can be a labor-intensive process that seemingly takes place in a vacuum. No matter how organized you are, no matter what personal goals you set and meet (e.g, five applications a week), no matter how many people in your network you tap, sometimes the response is silence. What’s happening out there in the job void? Are any of these jobs real? Whether or not you can see the evidence, the first thing to understand is that probably 95% of job postings are legitimate. Here’s why: Recruitment is a major expense and posting job openings is part of that b ..read more

iStock | AndreyPopov If you want an occupation with iron-clad job security and salaries rising to historic heights, look no further than accounting – there is a widespread shortage of accountants in the U.S. market. Over the past twenty-five years, the number of people choosing to become accountants plummeted while demand has greatly increased. The result is a perfect storm that has salaries increasing at a noticeable rate. That puts the job seeker in the driver’s seat and the employers riding in the way back of the family station wagon. What happened? According to Kevin Suksi, an accounting ..read more

iStock | Graphic designer “Cross-functional leadership” is the way of today’s leaner, meaner working world. Sometimes referred to as “matrixed leadership,” the best way to understand cross-functional leadership is to walk through a real-life example. Let’s say you work for a company that decides to invest in a complex implementation of enterprise accounting software. However, this is not a mere technical upgrade – the project is meant to usher in a new level of accounting transparency and integrity important to attracting new capital, improving the company’s ability to make key business deci ..read more

iStock | NiseriN Except for the “return-to-the-office vs. work-from-home” tug of war, the labor market seems to have snapped back to its normal ebbs and flows. And with that comes self-reflection on your career, including the determination of how long to stay in a job before you jump to another one. A recent poll conducted by Jobera revealed that almost 20% of workers faced with a mandate to return to the office would quit their current job to work from home because they have their own bathroom – I’m not sure that’s the best reasoning to pass on an opportunity, but I guess there’s a reason w ..read more

iStock | ajr_images When interviewing for jobs, senior executives face unique challenges. Executives call the shots. The buck stops with you. People laugh a little harder at your jokes. You have teams of people at your disposal ready to act on your commands. You are in total control. Now you’re in an interview. You’re not calling the shots. Nobody thinks you’re funny. Beyond the offer of an obligatory cup of coffee or bottled water, nobody is going to do anything for you. You are in the hot seat. You do not control what happens in the room but you must be IN control.  For masters of the ..read more

iStockphoto.com | Tippapatt Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its potential impact on the job market, and humanity, continue to be front pages news. The prognosis oscillates between a semi-utopian world in which AI is a technological collaborator helping people produce their best work and a dystopian view in which the rise of machines dooms us all. The reality is more nuanced, and when you’re searching for a job, you probably don’t care whether it’s AI or not preventing your resume from getting from point A, you, to point B, a recruiter or hiring manager. Applicant Tracking Systems (or ATS, t ..read more

iStock | seb_ra There is a misconception that senior executives (CEO, CFO, CIO, COO, etc.) are immune to the challenges and vagaries of a job hunt. The outsider perspective is the top of the top are masters of their universe and slipping into a new role is an effortless, almost automatic process. Nothing could be further from the truth. Not only are there fewer opportunities, but when plum jobs become available, they are hyper-competitive in a way foreign to other exempt employees. It’s indeed a different game played on a different field. If the letter “C” is in your title, it’s often the Bo ..read more

iStock | tadamichi Executives require a bit of a different approach to building an effective resume than other job seekers. It’s lonely at the top because, in comparison to other jobs, there are far fewer C-suite job opportunities in what could be accurately described as a hyper-competitive environment for those positions. Like every other job, however, when a company, or board of directors, launches a search for a CEO or some other top executive the first thing they ask for is a resume. Even if you plan to hire a professional to write your resume, an understanding of the essential elements ..read more