It can be easy to get trapped in your head and stuck on what you imagine is holding you back - for career growth, and most everything else. That echo chamber can be especially loud right now when we're more isolated than usual (ever?), so it seems like a perfect time for the new article Marianne Hayes wrote for Recruiter.com. We talked about some of the challenges people face when making career planning decisions - and practical steps for getting past them.

Alternate blog post titles:
Don't Believe These 5 Career Planning Myths!
You'll Never Believe These Career Planning Myths!
Man Finds Abandoned House In Forest & You Won't Believe The Career Planning Myths Inside!
Doctor Warns Never Eat These 5 Career Planning Myths!

It is a tough time for many people to consider whether they're being underpaid, what with so many people not being paid at all, and so much instability in the job market and in the world at large. And for many people who feel the sword of Damocles hovering just above whatever sense of security they have, it truly may not be the best time to try to shake things up. 

There are some asterisks, to throw in this mix, though. If you are one of those truly non-fungible workers, you still may be in a strong position to make demands of your employer. And also, there's a scope-creep-thing that happens when corporate belts get tightened, or when there's some sudden spike in attrition, but there is still much work that needs to be done - slack that needs to be "picked up" by whoever is still working and scared of losing their job - and if you are going to be assuming greater responsibilities it would be wise to reconsider compensation and expectations. If you have lost your job (or feel you are about to) you may already be thinking about what will make the next role more rewarding.

There's no hard rule for whether this moment is the best time for you to even think about if you're underpaid - it will depend, of course, on your unique situation and mix of circumstances. But if you are in the position to take a step back and look at whether you're being compensated appropriately, this could be a good time to review some of the tips I recently contributed to an article on StudentLoanHero to help you determine if you're being underpaid and what you can do about it.

This definitely falls into the The-Onion-is-the-real-news category, but in a funny way. 

Happy New Year! (You can say that for a couple of weeks, right?)

2019 was good! 2020 still sounds like "the future" to me, but I'm really happy it's here and I'm here for it. 

There's a lot I'm looking forward to in this year, including new projects I hope to share soon.

I recently contributed to a couple of pieces about interview questions Lynne Goldman wrote for Dice.com - on the jobseeker side, "3 Worst Interview Questions… and How to Answer Them" covers - well, that; on the employer side the article "Questions You Should Never Ask In A Job Interview" goes over some interview questions that might not be illegal but can put applicants in an uncomfortable position that has nothing to do with their ability to do the job.

Here's to the best year yet!
Cheers,
​Rita

Just when I was thinking I've listened to every episode of every podcast in my feed, rock star psychotherapist Esther Perel has come out with "How's Work?" 

Each episode of the Gimlet Media podcast (available through Spotify) showcases a one-time therapy session focused on work-related relationships and issues. 

(And I'm shamelessly excited for an excuse to post a photo I got to take when I met her at the Pennsylvania Conference for Women in 2017.)

Dorie Clark is my favorite go-to expert for ideas on marketing, networking, and general building-something-out-of-seemingly-nothing. And in her recent Harvard Business Review piece, "How to Reach Out to Someone Whose Career You Admire," she gives some clear and actionable examples of the best strategies you can use to improve your odds of getting a response.

I end up talking a lot about how it's so important to find real-world people doing the type of work ​that you're interested in doing (or that you think you might be interested in doing) as you research new opportunities, and this article provides an especially relevant perspective on how to approach informational interviewing. While I think authentic flattery is often the best opener, this bit of Dorie Clark's advice made me say "Yes!" out loud to nobody:
Successful people ... (are often) approached by people taking the role of supplicants, who only want to ask questions and glean wisdom. It’s flattering at first, but with enough volume, it can become exhausting.

(I feel like I'm obliged to say that how much you try to present yourself as a peer vs. supplicant depends on your ask - and it's pretty easy to imagine someone going overboard with it, but I love it. What we think of as "networking" can easily slip into the simultaneously boring and gross transactional space, and finding genuine connections with inspirational people is the actual point anyway.)

I'm honored and thankful to have been named as providing the Best Career Services in Philadelphia by the Philly Happening List for 2019. It's been a great start to the year, and I'm looking forward to some exciting new things coming up soon!

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.