Human Workplace

1. What are the working hours? 2. What are your expectations around taking work home/working additional hours? 3. How much travel is required in this job? 4. What constitutes a typical workday here? When do people generally start and finish their workday? (a different question from Question One) 5. What are your expectations around “reachability”… Continue reading Ten Questions You *Must* Get Answers To – Before You Take The Job

Q. Hi Liz, can you ask your readers to explain their résumé gaps more fully on their resumes? We see so many résumé gaps in the resumes we receive. It’s good to know what the person was doing during that time off work. A. If I were applying for a job with your company, there… Continue reading Should Job Candidates Explain Their Resume Gaps?

Hi Liz, I’m a senior account executive for a manufacturing firm. I’ve been with the company for 3.5 years. I’ve never missed my quarterly target. My boss and I traveled together two weeks ago. We were stuck in the airport because our flight was canceled. We went to the airport bar.  Three drinks in, my… Continue reading Boss Got Drunk And Spilled The Tea

Q. What is the most common résumé mistake? A. You can’t call it a mistake because countless books and articles tell us to do it, but the most unfortunate thing people do when writing their résumé or updating their LinkedIn profile is to brand themselves as more junior AND less interesting than they are For… Continue reading The Most Common Resume Mistake?

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?