Chances are, at least some of you answered yes, thinking that it’s perfectly understandable to feel a let-down when your weekend is over and you have to return to work. However, chances are, you’d be wrong–if you think Monday morning blues means that Monday is the worst day of the week for you by far. Yes, many people feel a mood change when going to work after a weekend, but the mood isn’t much if any different on Tuesday...

Whether you’re an executive looking for his/her next senior position or a career newbie, job search is hard work. The specifics will undoubtedly differ in various respects, but the underlying theme is the same. You can’t get there from here without serious effort. That’s true whether we have a decent job market or a lousy one (see my previous post on career management in a down economy for another slant on this). No one...

It would be great if you could answer the question, “What’s your career success record?” by rattling off a long list of major contributions you had made to employer after employer during an illustrious executive career. Right. Maybe a few of you actually could do that in all sincerity, but what about the rest of us? What Career Successes Have You Achieved Recently? How do we answer our current employer’s inevitable qu...

Whether you’re gainfully employed and reasonably secure or in the market for a new job to replace the one you lost, stress is probably a factor–something you’re forced to deal with if you don’t want it to overwhelm you. That’s the common perception of stress as a bad thing, and certainly if you’re experiencing potentially harmful stress, you need to find a good way to manage it. However, we also hear from time to time that...

When you’re going for a possible promotion or other desirable job opportunity within your company, you might be tempted to think that the interview process will require less effort than for an external opportunity. Not so fast! The Employer Knows You–Are You Sure? You could well have an edge going in because you’re a known quantity versus a stranger trying to come in from outside, but it’s not a given. Several facto...

Job Interview Failure–What Happened? Maybe you’ve never failed to ace an interview and win the job you were after; if so, I salute you. Most of us mere mortals have had that unhappy experience–maybe more than once in our working lives. If you’re one of us, you’re all too familiar with the incredulous “what the heck happened?” reaction you experienced when you learned that you hadn’t landed the job after all. So what...

Career Change: Now…Later…Never?If you’re one of those fortunate people who knew at age 10 what you wanted your life’s work to be and have never wavered from that, congratulations! You’re almost certainly one of a fairly small minority. Most of us have progressed through multiple career changes; many have done it a lot. Sometimes it’s a question of personal growth, changes in our outlook on life, the realization that we’re c...

Global Outlook and Your Career Can you have an isolationist view of your career, and would you want to? Whether or not you plan to seek employment outside your home country , you might find it valuable to explore the concepts of a global outlook and an isolationist view; then look at your career management from a different perspective. According to Wikipedia, “isolationism is the policy or doctrine of isolating one’s...

Career Management & Time Management–How They Mesh You might consider yourself a savvy career manager and still miss the boat if you actually aren’t using your time wisely. Before you say, “Who, me? I’m a great time manager!” take a few minutes to evaluate yourself honestly. Maybe you’re not doing quite as well as you think in that regard. Difference Between Career Management and Time Management In my view, here’s...

Career Success–What’s Holding You Back?Some people believe if you want something badly enough, you’ll work until you get it. Others believe that no matter how hard they work or how good they are, career opportunities will keep passing them by. Both these opinions might be true. To quote a couple of very successful people, both of whom had a similar thought: If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’...