Business Life: The Problem with Women

There is a problem with women in business. Symptoms are everywhere.

And where you expect it the least given the perceived meritocracy – high technology – it appears to be the most present.

Is the ‘Mommy Track’ Still Taboo?” blared a headline in the Wall Street Journal this week.

That piece follows the Journal’s post “Addressing The Lack of Women Leading Tech Start-Ups” that noted that only 11% of U.S.… Read the rest

Cheap Shots: Easy Ways to Make a Bad Impression

There are lots of ways to make a good first impression.

Here are some ways – all which happened recently – to make make a bad first, second, and continuing impression.

  • If you’re doing a phone interview, use a clear phone line, preferably one of those old fashioned landlines. Unless you’re someplace without lots of other people, or hills (tough to do in Northern California), geography or mobile user density may impact your call.
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How to Juggle – or Hope to Juggle – Multiple Job Offers

Every job candidate’s dream is to have several job prospects that meet your job specs and simultaneously produce offers when you’re ready to make a decision.

Sometimes it really does work out that way; most of the time it doesn’t. And what you’re left with, as the anonymous poster on Quora this morning noted, is a “way to extend a job offer” so they can see what other offers surface?… Read the rest

Dirty Secrets and Hiring Managers Tips: Beware the Interview Audition

Many managers dread hiring people.

It’s a dirty little secret, and one of the things that causes people to realize that they are not cut out for management.

There are things you can do to help avoid that dread; they aren’t elaborate, and with a little practice you can make the hiring process easier (dare I say “enjoyable”), hopefully less painful, and more reliable.… Read the rest

[More Hoax of the “A” Players] NFL Version: The Curse of the “Best” Talent Available

Aaron Rodgers and the 2008 Packers offense vs ...
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Talent Wars: The “A” PlayerHoax details an HR practice called “tograding.” The approach has some good advice (depthful, behaviorally focused interviews with well trained interviews) mixed with an often simplistic, and unproven application techniques.

Check out this tograding promotional blurb:

“Can you reliably pick the right people?

CEOs report that “picking the right people” is one of their most serious challenges.Read the rest