Tag Archives: Career

The First Job

April 17, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Wake up sleepy heads, today’s the first day of the rest of your young working lives, and you need to walk out the door with your best foot forward. Speaking of your best foot…fellas, if you’re working with the public, wear socks and serious shoes; big hairy toes or shoe-string draggin’ sneakers just don’t do it for employers or their customers. Gals, if your job requires heavy loading, lifting, cooking or cleaning, chances are you Continue reading →

I Don’t Know What’s Wrong – 2

April 10, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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You can repeat your mistakes or learn from them. That’s up to you. Life’s lessons are many and varied. Some are easier to understand than others. When it comes to interviewing it’s hard to know what comment, question, response, smile, frown, or explanation got in the way of your winning first prize. There are too many X’s and Y’s, too many unknowns, and too little opportunity to find out what worked and what didn’t. To Continue reading →

Lost Cat? Found Job.

March 31, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Do you remember the story about the fellow whose cat led him to the right job?  It went like this… Apprehensive young man desperate for career and already late for interview has a runaway house cat. After frenzied search, skirmish and surrender, young man and reluctant cat arrive at company’s formidable front entrance. Young man opens resistant door by clamping resume between teeth and wedging cat between sandaled feet. In time it takes to yell, Continue reading →

Don’t Write Letters

March 27, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Three employees are headed toward what’s next and appear to be having some trouble leaving behind what was. They’re stuck at a prickly juncture on route to an unfamiliar place. Each wants to even a score: “I was recently let go from my job and I’m still reeling from the experience. I feel like I was set up to fail. I want to write a letter to the plant manager letting him know just what Continue reading →

Cat Leads to Job

March 24, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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It had been almost a year since my last interview and I had finally snagged one.  I was nervous as a cat all day. Which is ironic because my cat must have picked up on my anxiety. She had spent the day running up and down the stairs, around and through my legs, zipping over the furniture and across the floor. When I opened the door to leave she got out first and took off Continue reading →

This Might Not Be Pretty

March 20, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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I’ve noticed that you’re making some interviewing mistakes that you’d probably prefer not to repeat. I’ll tell you what they are and what you can do about them but fair warning, this might not be pretty: You’re getting there late and when you do, the game’s over. Here’s why: Interviewers expect you to be on your best behavior. If getting there late is the best you can do it’s not good enough. If you want Continue reading →

New Year Resolutions

March 13, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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Up and at ‘em! It’s a few weeks past the honkin’ and hollerin’ dawn of the new year and I bet you haven’t made out your list of New Year’s Resolutions. Surely there are countless things you resolve to do differently this year; dozens of ways you want to be, think, and do that are new and improved over the not-so-hot ways you did them last year. So, get in gear, pencils sharp, paper ready. Continue reading →

Five Fresh Tips

February 28, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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You’ve asked for more interviewing strategies and here they are: 1. Pay attention while walking around. If you have a chance to tour the facility where you’re interviewing, go for it. It’s a great way to get a read of the culture and a handle on your comfort within it. For example, if employees appear to move about in stony silence and the place is quiet as a tomb, the company might be a model Continue reading →

Five Fresh Tips

February 21, 2012 by Joyce Richman
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By request, I’ve prepared some interviewing tips for you. If you like these, you’ll get five more next week. Extraverts! Don’t talk too much! You’re so good with words you don’t seem to know when to stop using them and you’re talking your way in and out of great opportunities. Instead, stay on point and make your points calmly and succinctly. Don’t repeat yourself. And don’t interrupt. Sell yourself on track record and potential, not Continue reading →

Guide for Boomerang Parents Receives Review

September 6, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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The slow to no-growth economy and high unemployment rates have kids of all ages returning to their parents’ homes as they transition from college to work or from lost job to new job. Co-authors Joyce Richman and Barbara Demarest have been getting some attention for their guidebook, Getting Your Kid Out of the House and Into a Job, which they wrote to help parents deal with these times of transition in their children’s lives. Steve Continue reading → Continue reading →

Seeing all the Pieces of the Forest

July 26, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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(If your name is Dani and this story reads like a story you’ve lived, It’s just a coincidence.) Dani had that All American Girl look, the one the Ivory Soap commercials used to feature; scrubbed, fresh-faced, healthy, outdoor gals who exuded intelligence along with good taste in facial cleansing products. She was having trouble with her career, feeling a little stuck, and not knowing what to do about it. Dani had gone to a college Continue reading →

I Didn’t Tell You Because I Thought You Knew

April 26, 2011 by Joyce Richman
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A recent letter writer suggested that employees, the newly hired and the barely there,  would benefit from understanding that employers have some very basic expectations of them. I heartily agree. In fact, here’s one boss’s secret copy of Here’s What I Didn’t Tell You Because I Thought You Knew. This place is called “Work” Get to work earlier than on time (and that’s based on my watch, not yours). Get to work earlier than on time every day Continue reading →