If you've ever been asked to take some type of pre-employment assessment, you may have wondered why. I recently spoke with Dice.com's Mark Feffer for his article about what employers are even assessing and what it means for you. Companies can screen for a range of things - hard skills, soft skills, personality traits, communication style - and getting a better understanding of how they use these tests can help give the candidate some insight into the corporate culture. 

Quietness can get a bad rap in certain work cultures. Employees who tend toward introversion can find themselves concerned their work is being overlooked but still feel reluctant to shout about their achievements. I shared some tips with Aly Semigran at Well+Good in her new article to help more reserved people stand out and get noticed at work.

Please click over and vote for me, Rita Friedman, Certified Career Coach, in the 2019 Philly Happening List contest. I was honored to win the career services category last year, and would appreciate your vote for Philadelphia's Best in 2019. Thank you!

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After that video of a college-age Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez dancing was shared by some would-be troll, I spoke with Philly.com's Anna Orso about how to audit your online presence.  Whether you're preparing for a job interview or your first day in Congress, check out these seven tips Orso has compiled to make sure you're up to date on what someone might dig up on you. (And whatever it is, may you look as good as AOC.)

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​If you're interested in spending 20 minutes talking about your work, I'm offering free 20 minute consultations next Wednesday, December 12th at WeWork - 1430 Walnut Street, Suite 200, Philadelphia PA, 19102.

You don't need to be a WeWork member - non-members can sign up for a spot through this link or by emailing Jordan Weaver directly at jordan.weaver@wework.com. 

The end of the year is a good time to prepare for new opportunities, and this space is really cool - I'm certainly looking forward to hanging out  there (even if it's too cold for the roofdeck.)

Wednesday 12/12 around 12 - it sounds good, right?

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I recently spoke with reporter and Policygenius staff editor Myles Ma about how to tell when you're underpaid and what you should do about it.  We discussed how the best time to negotiate is before you accept a new position and went over some tips for how to advocate for your fair value after you're already on the job. If you've had the experience of going from underpaid to being well-compensated, I'd love to hear what worked for you!

 I really liked and keep thinking about this New York Times article, which begins, "Last spring, I forgot the word for hobby."  As someone who spends a lot of time thinking about how we evaluate our relationship with the work we do (and as an American), it can be easy for me to slip into a mindset where leisure exists to balance out work as opposed to thinking of work existing to support leisure.  I appreciate the reminder to value enjoyment as a stand-alone experience with no expectation of any kind of results.