Women (and Others) at the Top: the “One-Up / One-Down” Paradox

Image via CrunchBase

Facebook’s COO Sheryl Sandberg (pictured) does a terrific brief talk at TEDwomen “Why Few Women at the Top” – worth everyone viewing and everybody – not just women – taking note.

It is like my good (female) friend at a leading global investment bank who asked me to help her network with other senior women in financial services in San Francisco when I managed recruiting for Barclays Global Investors (at the time the world’s largest money manager – it’s now owned by BlackRock).… Read the rest

[Career Tips] 3 Ways to Better Yourself at the Job Waiting Game

As my 7 year-old son Traylor periodically reminds me, it’s tough to wait.

This morning’s challenge was one under-ripe mango: serving it for breakfast when he was ready but it wasn’t still meant it didn’t taste so hot.

It can be just as tough to wait in the employment constellation we call jobs and careers. Sometimes you’re ready, but the job is not – and sometimes you’re not ready, but the job is.… Read the rest

[Dept. of Bad Advice] Your Brand is Not – Repeat Not – Your Elevator Pitch

I could blame my grumpy reaction to this last set of rainy days in San Francisco, but I won’t. Instead I’ll attribute to the type of “nice graphics first, let’s think about what it means later” approach that pops up every once and a while. And a case of bad career advice.

PriceWaterhouseCoopers is running something called Personal Brand Week. Their web page has a cute set of five name tags, conveniently corresponding to the five days of a traditional workweek and arranged in ascending order, foundations first.Read the rest

[Recruiting] How to Say “No Thanks” to Candidates – Facebook and Others

Organizations tell you lots of about themselves from how they deal and treat applicants. The task, for candidates, is to make sure you’ve got your radar up, and don’t bliss out and fall in love to the point were you stop tracking all the things that go on in front of you.

If a company treats candidates poorly, you shouldn’t be surprised if some of that behavior carries on after people come on board.… Read the rest