Human Workplace

Our society bombards you with reasons not to believe in yourself, especially when you are job hunting: Maybe you don’t have a “perfect” résumé. Maybe you don’t have the educational background some people think you should have. Maybe you’re older than someone thinks you should be, or younger. Maybe you have a disability, or don’t… Continue reading Affirmation For Job Seekers

Can we lay to rest the idea that asking candidates about their employment gaps will alert you to whether someone was terminated from a past job (and is therefore ineligible for employment with you)? First of all, asking someone about their “gap” tells you nothing about whether or not they got terminated from their last… Continue reading Asking Candidates About Their Resume Gaps

If you’ve never thought about working for yourself as an independent consultant (either part-time or full-time) I don’t blame you. I never thought about it either.  In fact, when people would sometimes tell me, “You should be a consultant!” I’d recoil in horror.  I was a corporate person, through and through. Here’s what I thought… Continue reading Ten Reasons to Consider Independent Consulting

Dear Liz, I’ve been consulting on my own for almost four years. I need a polite but firm way to parry requests for free consulting, which arrive constantly. One person asked me to critique her business plan “as a professional courtesy,” although I had never met her before. People ask me to have lunch, when… Continue reading How to Deal with Requests for Free Consulting

Q. I do research before every job interview but often I still hear unfamiliar terms. Like the interviewer thinks I know more about their industry than I do. Should I ask what they mean? Or stay quiet? A. ASK! That is a brilliant way to: 1. Show you are engaged in the conversation 2. Stay… Continue reading The Interviewer Said Something I Don’t Understand – What Should I Do?

Q. My wife and I are having a disagreement. We will abide by your decision. When someone works from home as my wife and I do, is it better to turn off the job at a certain hour (say, 5:00 p.m.) and resist all temptation to do more week later in the evening? Or, is… Continue reading Does Working from Home Mean You Never Stop Working?

The biggest problem for many working people is that the actual work on their desks is the easiest part of the job. Nothing they are responsible for doing at work is especially challenging. It’s only hard to do the job because of the politics, the stupid rules and the dark, fearful energy that flows throughout… Continue reading Ten Unmistakable Signs of a Toxic Culture

For years we were taught that management has to do with forecasting, budgeting, planning and controlling. Managers were taught to manage, not to lead. New supervisors and grizzled management veterans were taught how to assign work to subordinates, how to evaluate their teammates’ work, how to counsel people on performance problems and how to hire and fire staff… Continue reading Management vs. Leadership – Five Ways They are Different

Years ago there was a wide gulf between people who worked for a salary or wages, and people who worked for themselves.   Most people were employees on a payroll, and a very small number of other people were independent consultants. Then everything started changing. Full-time jobs started to dry up and more and more… Continue reading How to Consult Alongside Your Full-Time Job