Dear J.T. & Dale: While working at a previous job, becoming brain-dead from boredom, I was hired away by a client to take a new position they were creating. Now, a year later, I feel like things are just beyond my reach of ability. One of my bosses seems happy with my work, but the other is putting pressure because I’m not moving fast enough. I’ve heard the term “over-promotion” and think it might apply. Suggestions? — Shanna Read the rest of this entry »

LETTER OF THE MONTH

J.T.: We love to hear from readers who share what they’ve learned while in the job market. Today we hear from Beth, who turned around unwelcome news about an interview situation. Read the rest of this entry »

DALE: Today’s adventure in job searching comes from Carol of Baton Rouge, who describes herself as as “one of the lucky ones.” Here’s her summary of what transpired…

My employer decided he wanted someone with more “credentials.” He was a jerk who could barely pay his bills. My check bounced a few times. He was impossible.

This new job fell into my lap – I know this sounds new agey, but I think it was karma. I had put the word out on the street that I was looking. I soon had two interviews. Both guys I interviewed with offered on the same day. This job felt right and has been a perfect fit. I found it in three days even knowing Baton Rouge after Hurricane Katrina has been a tough market for support staff. Read the rest of this entry »

DALE: Today’s success story comes from Stephan Elliott, who got caught up in downsizing in the tech sector. He was in his mid-50s at the time. He did consulting and experimented with sales jobs and eventually found what he wanted. Here’s how he described his search… Read the rest of this entry »

JT: This week’s “how I did it” comes from Kathie Maxwell who was looking for a position as what she calls a “baby catcher” – that is, a midwife. Her story is a wonderful example of how a person can get better at job searching as they go.

Dale: One of the reasons that job searching is so discouraging is that every day the search goes on is another day that you did NOT find a job. So, if you let it, the job search is just a series of failures. However, if you are determined to learn and get better at searching, and use the experience to get stronger professionally, there are chances for victories every day. Read the rest of this entry »

JT: I recently received a message from Lisa, telling me that she had a great new job – we love getting those e-mails. I asked her if she could summarize her search experience for us so we could pass it along to those still in the market.

Dale: As you read Lisa’s story, notice her job search “slump,” and how she solved it by looking (again) close to home. Here’s her story: Read the rest of this entry »

JT: Today we have some terrific advice from Ed Leighton, who has worked in outplacement and called upon his insider knowledge to conduct a great search.

DALE: Here are Ed’s responses to our questions about how he did it: Read the rest of this entry »

JT: Today’s success story comes from Jim Heggie, who’s from northern Washington state. Here’s what he was up against, in his own words:

After 33 years in finance in government and non-profit settings, my organization downsized and I found myself 57 and looking for a job. I had taken early retirement from local government, but had a young family and still wanted to be doing something productive. So, I saw myself as having a double challenge: Read the rest of this entry »

DALE: One of the great opportunities for getting a job offer is after getting turned down.

JT: And let’s start that conversation by passing along a story from Steve Chandler, a terrific writer of motivational and management books. (He’s most popular book is 100 Ways to Motivate Yourself.) The story he offers us is from earlier in his career, and while me mostly pass along recent experiences, we had to include this one because the point it makes is timeless: Read the rest of this entry »

JT: Dale and I were brainstorming recently on ways we could help our job-seeking readers combat the negative thinking that can result from looking for work when there’s a high unemployment rate and floundering economy. That’s when Dale said to me, “Why don’t we just ask readers to share their own success stories?” So, we reached out to a few folks and the idea was given a big ‘thumbs up.’ We will be posting new stories regularly, so if you have one you’d like to share, please let us know.

DALE: This week’s success story comes from Wendy Jones of Albuquerque. Let’s get right to her summary of her search, in her own words: Read the rest of this entry »