Return to Work

“At my age, after I’ve been out of the workforce for so many years, why would anyone want to hire me?” That’s a question I’ve heard for more than a decade as I’ve coached women who like the idea of returning to work, but fear they are dinosaurs in heels. My answer is always some…

Late one night I was catching up on reading and I came upon an article in The Dartmouth about a lecture Anne-Marie Slaughter gave on campus on the topic of work-family balance. There are two women who have been responsible for many compelling discussions among other women in the past year or so. Sheryl Sandberg’s widespread…

If you have one foot on the off ramp, it’s likely that someone in your life (mother? sister? friend?) has you worried that your hours at work are damaging your child. Certainly there have been enough articles that point to that conclusion–making you feel that you have to hightail it home. The debate between working…

For over two decades I have lived and worked in Volunteer-Land—a New York City suburb filled with smart, well-educated, highly accomplished women who have traded paid work for volunteer jobs of every shape and size. You’re probably one of these great women who have given endless hours to schools, community organizations, national non-profits and more….

The buzz in marketing now is telling a story about a product or service—not just listing features on packaging or advertisements. That story concept is spilling over to the marketing of human talent, too. Companies hire people—but it’s hard to tell if a candidate is interesting, dynamic or compelling from a standard issue resume. A…

Today I had a coaching session with a bright and accomplished 2011 college grad who has not yet found a job. Before I spoke with this young woman  (I’ll call her Jane), I was impressed with her internship and overall work experience, but could see room for improvement on her resume and Linkedin profile.  After…

Resume writing has become quite a big business. There are nearly 3,500 resume writers listed on Linkedin alone. With so many people out of work, the services of these business wordsmiths are in hot demand. Though my consulting practice includes resume writing for women, I’m pretty sure I have a different approach than many of…

It’s not news that stay-at-home Moms have a relentless, all-consuming 24/7 job. I laughed out loud when I once saw a cartoon with an exasperated mother asking her children: “Do you really have to eat dinner every single day?” Stay-at-home Moms are often dedicated volunteers as well—another job that consumes many of the evaporating hours…

Here you will find compelling excerpts from a wonderful article by Dr. Tracey Wilen-Daugenti, Vice President and Managing Director of Apollo Research Institute, an organization focused on education, work and careers in Palo Alto, California. Dr. Tracey’s article gives great credence to the non-linear career path, which I’m happy to see is trending upward. In my coaching and recruiting years I’ve always advised women to…

When women tell me they’re having a hard time deciding whether to go back to work (and they tell me the same thing a year later and then a year after that), I know that the underlying reason is often fear. It’s fear of putting yourself out there after so many years, fear of being rejected, fear of the process, fear of the current job market, fear of what you could command in dollars after many years out, fear of losing…