Job Search

Finding a mentor (and becoming one!)

The value of a good mentor

I like this quote that I read written by Rene Olstead - “I encourage all of you to seek out teachers and mentors that challenge you to think for yourself and guide you to find your own voice.” My long journey on the path of academia has been peppered with numerous mentors many of whom have be...

Networking: A job hunt cliché, or the most important thing?

Hello everyone! We have talked about how to utilize headhunters, and what impact they have and don't have on your job search.. This time around, we are going to talk about another “tried and true” method to get jobs, NETWORKING. The word networking means different things to different peopl...

Breaking up is so hard...

One of the earliest and probably the most important professional relationships you will ever have is with your academic mentors. It shares many similarities with a parent-child relationship. We are the eager ducklings learning to dive into the pool of knowledge, with the help of gentle nudging an...

Pros and Cons of Leaving a Job Early

One of the survey results showed that Generation Y do not think they should stay at an employer for more than a year. The hiring managers I have worked with as a recruiter see a two-year stint as a minimum, so one year on the job is definitely leaving a job early. In fact, if you have a series of ev...

Schools, Networks, Companies: Does Size Matter?

From my viewpoint, this is completely dependent on what you need at each step in your educational and professional careers. On beginning undergrad, I had narrowed down my choices between going to the University of Miami (11,380 undergrads in 2015) vs. Mercer University (4,419 undergrads in 2015)....

The Art of Asking

Repeatedly, we have heard the maxims, “ask and you shall receive”, “close mouths don’t get fed”, or “knock and the door will be opened” said in one way or another. I proffer the general point in the form of another adage - if you do not ask, the answer will always be no. On more tha...

Where do you fit?

We’ve Said Hello, Now What?

Today we’re continuing on the topic of networking…last time, we talked about how to say hello...now, we’re going to talk about what to say AFTER you say hello.  Like always, there is a right way and a wrong way to start off a conversation…the wrong way is to launch into a sales pitch about ...

Tips on How to Engage an Audience

I recently gave a talk at a luncheon hosted by my research institute. In the days since, I’ve had a few experiences that have brought me to this blog. I’d like to talk about how to engage an audience, whether it’s an actual audience, or an interviewer, or new colleagues at a networking even...