All of the vibes seemed positive. You've had a series of interviews with a potential employer, beginning with the human resources officer heading up the job search and moving through to the manager to whom the position reports. It looks like a perfect fit for your particular education and experience. There's even been discussion of a starting date. Lunch with the division vice president, which you are told is really just a...

You've been sitting on the edge of your chair, waiting for that offer for the job you badly want. Bingo! The offer comes through. But there's just one hang-up: you'd have to move to a new location half way across the country.You should back off and carefully analyze your needs as compared to the cost of the opportunity. That's right, "cost", because there's a price tag on every opportunity along the career path.Consider the...

No doubt about it, most of us at one time or another can identify with Comedian Rodney Dangerfield's trademark lament, "I don't get no respect." That's not surprising because our need to be appreciated along our career path is not always satisfied.But stop and think the next time you are tempted to moan and groan about not getting respect and appreciation on your job.Are you sure your boss and your peers are short on respec...

Yes, managers are under a great deal of pressure turbulent times and all of us are well advised to take this condition into account in managing relationships with them. It has never been more important for everyone to focus on the job at hand, do it in the best way possible and tread lightly so as to avoid undue confrontations. But there is another side to the coin. Managers need to keep in mind that employees are under the...

That headline deserves an explanation, or else you'll think I've taken leave of my senses...or least that I am an off-the-wall contrarian.Okay, gossipers wouldn't exist along the career path, but we all know the world has its imperfections a plenty. Gossip and gossipers are here to stay. Deal with it if you want to achieve career success.A survey by a research firm known as ISR showed that 63% of U. S. employees get all or...

Part I:I'm fed up with being bombarded daily on the Internet and via snail mail with get-rich-quick schemes about career success. How about you?These schemes are based on myths that there are secrets, waiting to be discovered that will propel you along a successful career path with little or no effort. Does that pass the test of common sense? I think not. Not long ago I received a mailing assuring me that I could "learn the...

Don't doom your resume and cover letter to the trashcan by sending them out with dumb mistakes such as misspelled words. "If you make errors on your application materials, the assumption is you'll make mistakes on the job," says Max Messmer, chairman of Accountemps and author of 'Job Hunting for Dummies, 2nd edition'." Three-fourths of the executives surveyed by Accountemps declared just one or two typos in a resume kills a...

"We feel you would be happier working for another company.""Sorry, business is falling off. We no longer need your services.""Operations are being consolidated in Mexico. The Bedrock Plant will be closed Feb. 1."Sugar-coated or not, the message is the same: You have been sacked. You are out of a job! You are in a rough patch on your career path.Anyone can get the axe at any time. It happens to good people and bad ones...har...

You sincerely believe you are the best qualified among the candidates for the promotion to manager of your department. You believe you deserve it. Your friends agree.But, wham! The rug has been pulled out from under you. The position you would have given an eyetooth for goes to someone else. Your ego is trampled. You are mad and disappointed. You want to march in, tell the boss where to go and leave the place.But hold on. C...

It's an unsettling fact: we are in one of the worst economic downturns since the Great Depression. Layoffs are being felt across the board. Indicators suggest that more are yet to come before a turn-around begins. Better to face reality than to hide our heads in the sand expecting a miracle. Now's the time to focus on recession-proofing your job so as to move forward on your career path. One school of thought holds that it...