Penelope Trunk’s Brazen Careerist. Advice at the intersection of work and life.
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Browsing category "Self-management"

How to get a job you're not qualified for

Posted to: Job Hunt |  Self-management
January 29th, 2008
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Getting hired even when you're not qualified is one of the most important skills to have if you want to keep your work life interesting. Because if you are always taking jobs you're qualified for, then your learning curve is really flat, and your work life is really boring.
So here are three ways to get [...]

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Maybe there will be a recession. Here's what to do just in case

Posted to: Managing Up |  Self-management
January 21st, 2008
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The debate continues about whether and when a recession is coming, and what the markers would be. Most of us are in no position to do the analysis ourselves, but you don't need to be an economist to know that if people are talking about recession, you should do some thinking about what you would [...]

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How to figure out which tasks you can ignore

December 17th, 2007
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This week is the one-year anniversary of the week that I became so overwhelmed with my workload that I started to act like a crazy person.
It happened slowly at first. I was taking care of my kids half-time and writing my syndicated column half-time.
Then I added my Boston Globe column, which required reporting. I had [...]

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The end of work as we know it

Posted to: Fulfillment |  Self-management
December 12th, 2007
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The New Year is a traditional time for predictions. So here are mine, for the workplace. I predict an end of work as we know it, of course. But don't get jumpy – it's not going to be here in 2008. It's going to come sooner than later, as the next generation infiltrates the ranks [...]

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What to consider when considering a workplace hook-up

Posted to: Self-management
December 10th, 2007
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The number-one rule, of course, is you should not be flagrant. A new handbook for workplace dating, Office Mate, is full of practical precautions like asking the person out in the parking lot rather than their cube, and trying happy hours for truly fair playing ground.
Why the caution? According to a Gallup poll, people say [...]

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Confidence boosters that work for me

November 19th, 2007
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I woke up today with crust all over my left eye: Pinkeye.  And on the way to the bathroom I stepped on edible gold-leaf dust for decorating cupcakes.  And apparently sometime in the night the cat ate my son's map of Wisconsin. And threw it up. 
At times like this, I wish there was a morning-after [...]

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5 Ways great speakers connect with their audience

October 15th, 2007
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The art of public speaking is actually the art of connecting. So the lessons in this field apply to everyone since each of us needs to make connections. If you can connect with a room full of people, then you can also connect with an audience of one. And the people we remember most are [...]

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Gays who are out of the closet at work have stronger careers

Posted to: Diversity |  Self-management
October 8th, 2007
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This is a guest post from Nina Smith whose blog is Queercents.
I was out at work long before I had the courage to come out to my parents. As a twentysomething marketing coordinator, I would often shoot the breeze in my boss' office, and during one such gab-fest she asked if I was gay.
I [...]

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Yahoo column: Are MBAs becoming obsolete?

Posted to: Self-management
October 4th, 2007
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For decades, the MBA was a ticket to prestige and riches. But things aren't so clear anymore. For one thing, the MBA is often the entrance fee to climb the corporate ladder, but there are few corporate ladders to climb anymore — and people are increasingly experimenting with ways to speed up that climb anyway. [...]

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4 Weight-loss tips from my month in the mental ward

September 25th, 2007
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Most people who are overweight blame their job for their inability to eat right and get enough exercise. Too much work, too tired after work, too much travel. The list is endless. But losing weight is so important for you career that you should go so far as to cut back on your work-officially or [...]

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What's a good question? What's a good answer?

September 9th, 2007
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The best questions are not necessarily those that get answers, but those that lead to sharper questions.
My friend Marci Alboher, who writes for the New York Times, often calls me to ask questions about blogging and personal branding. I usually give her strongly opinionated answers and add a little emphasis about how I know that I'm right.
Then [...]

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Lose ten pounds in two weeks by changing how you work

August 29th, 2007
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The last time I wrote about losing weight was right after I had a baby and my agent told me that I would kill my career if I went on speaking engagements. "You look terrible" is what she told me. And I lost forty pounds in two months.
This time, things were not so dramatic. [...]

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My run-in with Marc Benioff, and tips to be a star performer

Posted to: Journalism |  Networking |  Self-management
July 2nd, 2007
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Time magazine just hired me to write a piece about workplace trends among young people. One of the things I wrote about was how much people value the opportunity to volunteer for non-profit organizations through their company. And one of the best examples of this is Salesforce.com.
So I called the publicist there and set up [...]

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Coachology: Learn public speaking that's based in authenticity (and I just took this workshop myself)

Posted to: Leadership |  Self-management
June 22nd, 2007
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I just spent two days at TAI Resources getting speaking coaching. I was pissy about it the whole week before. I decided I didn't have time to go. I mean, two full days away from the kids costs about ten thousand dollars when you add up the babysitter and the Happy Meals and the ten [...]

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Regular exercise is no longer optional

June 5th, 2007
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Exercise is an essential part of a successful career. It's an essential part of a good life. I think one problem a lot of us face is that we approach exercise like it's a choice.
When email first became widely used, I worked for a guy who thought it was optional. At some point, it truly [...]

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Book excerpt: How to write so people pay attention

Posted to: Journalism |  My book |  Self-management
May 22nd, 2007
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My book, Brazen Careerist: The New Rules for Success, is shipping from Amazon!
Buy it there now. Or buy the book in local book stores starting on May 25.
Here is tip #25 from the book: Don't Use Adverbs
If you want people to pay attention to what you have to say, write short. This is true in all [...]

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Twentysomething: Best Buy gets it. Stop watching the clock.

May 22nd, 2007
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By Ryan Healy — College taught me the true meaning of independence. I attended classes when I chose, I studied at my convenience, I partied at my leisure and I relaxed when I needed to relax. You would assume that since I am now an "adult," I would at least have this same [...]

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Employee loyalty isn't gone, it's just different

Posted to: Self-management
April 29th, 2007
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Today, people in their 20s change jobs every two years. This frustrates employers, who say, "Why should I hire someone who is going to leave? I need someone who is loyal."
At the same time, employees look at the work they are given and say, "How can I spend my days doing work that doesn't mean [...]

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Yahoo column: Four ways to make a bad job good

April 19th, 2007
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The best way to be happier at work is to take personal responsibility for your workplace well-being. Once you do that, any job can be better than it is right now.
Here are four ways you can improve your job yourself instead of relying on your boss or your company to change:
1. Make a friend at [...]

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Paying dues is so old school

April 15th, 2007
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One of the most important career moves of the new millennium is getting out of paying dues. Paying one's due is an antiquated idea in a workplace where few people aspire to climb the same corporate ladder for 45 years.
Eve Tahmincioglu interviewed 55 leaders for her book, From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons [...]

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