Making your own future
Pat O’Donnell here to share what I’ve learned about improving job satisfaction and security by targeting the right jobs and projects, staying on top of what is needed most, and keeping yourself visible as the preferred provider.
In addition to the great resources you'll find on this site, I invite you to check out O'Donnell Executive Strategies for:
- complete packages in strategic guidance for individuals
- recruiting and outplacement services
- workshops and speaking for professional groups
The five most recent articles:
Job-Hunting over the age of 45
By Pat O'Donnell | July 20, 2008
I am in my 50s. Yes, age bias exists and, yes, it is illegal. You won’t always be able to avoid it. But age bias is sometimes not really about your actual age, it is about certain soft skills and attitudes that employers desire but older employees are less likely to value. And if you learn to address those issues, you can make concerns about age go away.
Topics: Branding + Positioning, Career Strategy, Interviews, Networking, Resume + Cover Letter, Salary | No Comments »
Create a personal Board of Directors
By Pat O'Donnell | June 30, 2008
Your long term career goals are much more likely to be achieved if you create group of advisors you respect that you can check in with periodically. These are not “friends” who will agree without question with your rationale about why your career is at the stage it is. These are business people you hold great respect for who will challenge and play devil’s advocate with every one of your ideas. The payback of putting yourself under the microscope of other business people can be tremendous. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Branding + Positioning, Career Strategy, Networking | No Comments »
Lying on Resumes and in Interviews
By Pat O'Donnell | June 22, 2008
The simple answer? Don’t do it.
- I have seen national studies that claimed about 70% of resumes have “mistruths” in them.
- Other studies state 25-50% of resumes have “embellishments” (an exaggeration but not lie.)
The most common lies:
- Length of employment gaps
- Titles
- Degrees completed
- Salary
- Reason for leaving
- Not mentioning a job from which you were fired
- Taking credit for an idea developed by the team
- When career started (age)
- Size of business or projects managed
- Rank as a sales person or total revenue you represented
- Claiming to be “Consulting” when you were billing zero hours
I could quote more studies, but the point is: Recruiters and Hiring Managers EXPECT there to be many lies in resumes and in the interviews we have with applicants so we look and listen for them. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Branding + Positioning, Career Strategy, Interviews, Recruiting, Resume + Cover Letter, Salary | No Comments »
Don’t be lost in a pile of resumes!
By Pat O'Donnell | June 3, 2008
I see too many resumes that show the minimum skills required by a job ad but don’t show how well the job applicant performed the tasks or why this candidate is a better risk to interview and hire than other applicants with the same skills. If you are guilty of this, you have qualified your resume to be “in the pile” of qualified applicants but have done nothing to make your resume float to the “top of the pile.” You have less chance of winning an interview. Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Branding + Positioning, Interviews, Networking, Resume + Cover Letter | No Comments »
Counteroffers benefit the employer not you
By Pat O'Donnell | May 15, 2008
Fact: 70% of executives who accept a counteroffer are gone from that employer within 6 months.
Fact: 85% of executives who accept are gone within 18 months.
A counteroffer is an offer made by an employer in order to keep you on after you have given notice.
The most frequent counteroffers strategies include:
- a promise of a promotion and/or a raise (most frequent response)
- telling you are a traitor to the team or to your boss
- confiding to you that the company you are considering is not that well thought of Read the rest of this entry »
Topics: Career Strategy, Interviews, Salary | No Comments »
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