December 30, 2015

Hate Job Applications? Don't Do Them.

December 30, 2015/ Janet Matta

Job applications suck, I know. They are time consuming, and if you are one of those nimble 21st century professionals who could be useful to at least 5 different types of roles (hint: you probably are), it feels like you have to reinvent yourself and all of your personal marketing materials each time you apply for something. And the agony of writing the perfect opening cover letter sentence? I know that pain. Set it aside and pour yourself a beverage, you have better options.

December 25, 2015

Job Searching for Work-Life Balance

December 25, 2015/ Janet Matta

I started to get the sense that work-life balance would be a problem at this company when I noticed that the girl setting up my interviews was sending emails and meeting invitations at odd hours. I had been interviewing for a role at a Very Cool Tech Company, and the scheduler was sending me messages at 7:00 pm, 8:00 pm. There were subtle signals that the pressure to meet the expectations of the job would be large. And then, the kiss of death, the phrase that made the work-life balance question clear: "This is not a 40 hour a week position." It was clear that it would indeed be much more than that.

August 31, 2015

Career Advising Appointments are Available!

August 31, 2015/ Janet Matta

Excellent news, you can now book career advising appointments via CareerJanet. It's all fancy-pants and automated and super-duper easy, so if you have a career dilemma you want to talk about, get in there! Click here to book an appointment.

Topics we can cover:

August 16, 2015

How to Ask for a Reference

August 16, 2015/ Janet Matta

I got an email recently on a topic that always makes me cringe. This one, from an HR representative at a large organization, wrote to say, "What are we teaching job candidates these days about asking for references?" Her complaints were valid: in her experiences, she found that the contacts that job candidates provided as a reference were unprepared, didn't know the candidate, and had not been expecting a call from HR to check in on the job applicant. Don't let this be you! Here's what you can do to make sure that your references support your candidacy for the job you want, and don't detract from it.

June 19, 2015

7 Resume Dilemmas Solved

June 19, 2015/ Janet Matta

One of my favorite things to help with is resumes, because a few simple tips and tricks will go a long way toward helping you stand out from the competition. Here are some of the most common questions I get about resumes, and my best advice on tackling them:

June 24, 2014

Say Thank You!

June 24, 2014/ Janet Matta

This gift from a student today absolutely made my day!! Gratitude goes a long way, folks. Express it regularly and spread the joy. It's good for your reputation, for your career, and the world always needs more warm fuzzy feelings. Make it a simple verbal thank you or an elaborate box wrapped in a bow, and you'll be remembered fondly!

June 24, 2014

When You're Killing Your Job Search

June 24, 2014/ Janet Matta

I have a good friend who is an expert gardener/horticulturist who loves to grow native plants from seeds. This year, he was lamenting the fact that less than 10% of his seeds successfully germinated.

"I don't understand! Last year I just dumped a bunch of seeds in the backyard and they did fine. But I think I tried too hard this year," he said. He had carefully arranged his seed collection in labeled containers, given them both the freezing and warm temperatures he knew they would need to be tricked into growing, kept their individual soil samples with the precise amount of moisture, and dutifully checked them daily.

And what happened? Nothing. Those seeds lay dormant. Later he told me, "It turns out seeds are like girls. If you overdo it, you’ll fail."

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