Archive for January, 2008
Take that tried and true advice a step further
If you’re obsessed with professional development books like I am, then you’ve probably heard the following advice before: volunteer at a nonprofit, network with the top, and work hard at your job. Good advice, right? Of course. But, it’s time to take this advice a step further.
Advice: Volunteer your time at a nonprofit to gain [...]
How this non-crafty girl found solace in crafting
I was the girl who in Girl Scouts always tried to hide my craft projects under the table so nobody else could see them. They were always a mess and never (ever!) looked anything like the sample project.
So you could imagine how I felt when I was invited to my first card-making seminar at a [...]
Ideas Part 4: Avoiding Idea Pitfalls
You’ve come up with a great idea and you’ve presented it. Here are a few final tips to keep the idea alive:
Don’t let anyone steal your idea. Some people have a tendency to steal ideas and present them as their own. Some people actually don’t know they’re doing this - They somehow think they really [...]
Ideas Part 3: Presenting your idea so it doesn’t die
So, you’ve come up with a great idea to improve business? Your first instinct is to run right in and tell your boss, right? Not so fast.
Like anything else, before you present, you should know your audience. While working at my first job, I came up with a great idea for our company website. Since [...]
Ideas Part 2: The good, the bad and the career-killing
I’ve already admitted that I’ve come up with some bad ideas in my relatively short career. Luckily, I’ve learned to keep most of them to myself.
The best way I know how to determine if an idea is good is to actually check to see if it is bad. Let me explain:
First, give it some time. [...]
Ideas Part 1: Ideas are everywhere
I love coming up with ideas to improve business. Most, if not all, of my “bright ideas” are no stroke of genius. Some are so obvious that I can’t help but wonder why I was the first person to suggest it. (Others are a little more radical and take a little bit more persuading.)
Of course, [...]
The one thing I don’t get about Gen Y
There’s a lot of talk about Generation Y in the workplace. We’re smart, technologically savvy, to-the-point know-it-alls who think we deserve the best in life and our careers (like huge salaries and a ton of vacation time). And we’re clashing with older generations because they’ve been during their jobs longer than we’ve been alive.
I [...]
Six tips for a successful meeting
Follow these simple tips and people may actually want to attend your meetings:
1. Create an agenda and stick to it.
Your attendees will appreciate being able to follow along with your agenda. They’ll know what to expect from the meeting and they’ll also know what’s not appropriate to discuss at the meeting, helping to keep things [...]
The Admin Trap
It seems like a good way in. You don’t have the experience to get a higher level position but the open secretary position seems like a good fit. But according to several professional development books, including Hannah Selligson’s New Girl on the Job, getting into the company as an assistant may not always work out [...]
