bad career advice and salary negotiation by Alison Green on April 19, 2011 Prepare yourself for a rant. I’m frequently annoyed by some of the bad job advice that’s out there, and there’s one thing in particular really irking me right now: “career advisors” who write long articles blithely telling you how to avoid discussing your salary requirements in a job search, with absolutely no acknowledgement of the […] Read the full article →
apparently (many) outplacement firms suck by Alison Green on February 1, 2011 Check out this Wall St. Journal article about how many outplacement firms suck. (Outplacement firms are hired by some companies doing lay-offs; they ostensibly help laid-off workers find new work, by helping with resumes and cover letters, coaching, etc.) Unsurprisingly, it turns out that many of them offer lame boilerplate advice that isn’t helping anyone. Some […] Read the full article →
don’t call to “schedule an interview” by Alison Green on December 4, 2010 A reader writes: Somewhere out there, somebody is telling kids that they should be “proactive” and call a company to “schedule an interview” as soon as they apply. I’m beseeching you to do a public service announcement to tell them to STOP. There is no way this is a good idea, and I am getting […] Read the full article →
why do so many college career centers suck? by Alison Green on November 8, 2010 Preemptive apologies to any college career center that doesn’t fit this description — but every time I hear about a campus career center, it’s about the bad advice they gave someone: insisting you need to have an objective on your resume, recommending salesy interview answers instead of genuine ones, giving our commenter Rob bad advice […] Read the full article →
submit your own resume — don’t have a friend “help” you by Alison Green on October 11, 2009 I recently received this email (identifying details removed/changed): My name is __ and I am helping a friend of mine find a new position as is he is a recent graduate. His name is John and he is looking for a position whereby he can work within a nonprofit setting. He recently graduated from __ […] Read the full article →
career counselor is advising me to lie by Alison Green on September 1, 2009 A reader writes: I was told by a career counselor that if asked in an interview why I left my previous job I should answer that I was laid off. I was actually fired, but the company did not dispute my claim for unemployment so I am now collecting. I feel to tell an interviewer […] Read the full article →
I’m going to stereotype you and tell you YOU’re biased if you disagree by Alison Green on June 1, 2009 Brazen Careerist does it again. On Friday, they ran an article by someone with little expertise in the topic, explaining how to manage different generations. It was full of condescension and ignorance. Examples: Schedule flexibility is also important to boomers – not that they’ll ever be late, though. I am pretty sure it all boils […] Read the full article →
the “burn your bridges” girl digs herself in deeper by Alison Green on April 8, 2009 A follow-up to yesterday’s post on that ridiculous advice not to care about burning bridges: She’s now posted a video response, making the same argument. Prepare to be really pissed off and disgusted. Update: She also seems to have deleted the comment I left there. Twice. Since she deleted my comment over there, I’ll repost […] Read the full article →
Brazen Careerist gives bad advice again by Alison Green on April 6, 2009 Once again, Brazen Careerist has run a post giving terrible job advice, written by someone who has no expertise in the topic. Brazen Careerist started as a good idea — a site where 20somethings can learn about career topics from their peers. It was started by Penelope Trunk, whose writing I admire and who I […] Read the full article →
managing women from a douchebag’s perspective by Alison Green on February 16, 2009 I’m not in the habit of leaving angry comments on other people’s blogs, but Brazen Careerist today features a post called “Managing Women: From A Guy’s Perspective,” and I couldn’t help myself. From what I can tell, it was written by a 14-year-old boy. It includes gems like: All women love chivalry! Male bosses should […] Read the full article →