Career Management Alliance Blog

When I was choosing my major I figured I should major in something that would help me land a job. I was pretty short-sighted and didn’t quite understand what that meant but I figured there were some majors that either didn’t get jobs or that got very low-paying jobs. I ultimately chose to get a degree in business with an emphasis in Computer Information Systems.  The only other alternative I seriously considered was an emphasis in accounting, but I had ZERO intention of going that route. Continue Reading »

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Hope is faith holding out its hand in the dark. ~George Iles One of my movie favorites is Bridget Jones Diary. If you have not seen the film, it chronicles a 30-something’s journey (Bridget, a single woman living in London, played by Renee Zellweger) as she moves through career and personal angst, one day, one crisis and one joyful event at a time. And all the while, each time I watch the movie, it is her position of ‘hope’ and resolve to choose tomorrow that emboldens me, even now, a decade later. It’s the glimmering–and sometimes bursting–rays of hope that seem to sweetly shoulder her burdens of life. Amidst her fretting and commiserating, along with her trio of charming, equally angst-ridden and unconditionally supportive friends, she sings through her tears, sets goals in the thick of emotional pain and picks herself up (literally) when she stumbles. Continue Reading »

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Earlier this year I attended a workshop on "Fearless Living" facilitated by author, speaker, and life coach Rhonda Britten. Every week one of the participants and I "meet" over the phone to work through Britten's book, also titled, "Fearless Living." We're doing the fearbuster exercises in each chapter, answering the study guide questions, and holding each other accountable to stretch and take risks. It's been a life-transforming experience! This month I've signed up for the teleclass, "Fearless Conversations" which will be led by Britten. I'm so excited! Not only will I learn new skills to help me in my personal life, I will learn skills that I can use to support and empower my clients on their journey moving from fear to freedom. Continue Reading »

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In Harvard Business School professor Clayton M. Christensen's article, How Will You Measure Your Life?, he talks of the importance of having a clear purpose. At Oxford, as a Rhodes scholar in the midst of a very demanding academic program, he mad a life altering decision:

I decided to spend an hour every night reading, thinking, and praying about why God put me on this earth. That was a very challenging commitment to keep, because every hour I spent doing that, I wasn’t studying applied econometrics. I was conflicted about whether I could really afford to take that time away from my studies, but I stuck with it—and ultimately figured out the purpose of my life. Had I instead spent that hour each day learning the latest techniques for mastering the problems of autocorrelation in regression analysis, I would have badly misspent my life. I apply the tools of econometrics a few times a year, but I apply my knowledge of the purpose of my life every day. It’s the single most useful thing I’ve ever learned.

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“Do you know anyone who’s hiring?” Did that sentence make you cringe just now? If so, it’s OK. That phrase creates the same reaction in nearly every person who hears it. Here are a few reasons why:

1. They do not know anyone who’s hiring.
2. They don’t really know what you do for a living.
3. They have no idea if you could do the job they do know about.
4. They did hear that the fast food chain down the street was hiring, but they figure it’s not the job you want.

And finally, they’re too busy to help, if they could. Continue Reading »

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I recently caught up with online job search expert and entrepreneur, Chris Russell, to learn more about a new site he has launched called Green Job Spider. If you are interested in learning more about green jobs, you will definitely want to take a look at Russell’s site. Here’s what he had to say about his new initiative. What’s a green job? Any job that creates, supports, maintains or regulates recycling, energy efficiency or renewable energy products & services. Continue Reading »

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Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution, an Amazon bestseller, and blogger for CBSMoneyWatch and TheCollegeSolutionBlog. For years, college tuition has been increasing faster than inflation, with the most expensive colleges costing $50,000 annually. Learn how to get cash for yourself or your college-bound child:

• Save tens of thousands of dollars by identifying the financial fingerprint of colleges
• Discover 60 colleges that offer the best financial aid packages
• Attend out-of-state public universities for in-state prices
• Discover why expensive schools can be cheaper than your home state universities
• Tap into the biggest source of scholarship cash. Continue Reading »

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I’ve always found the Japanese culture somewhat interesting, so when I ran across an article recently about the way capital punishment is doled out, morbid curiosity found me reading the story. It seems in Japan, all those charged with murder are tried by jury, and 99% are found guilty. The only means they employ as punishment is hanging. There is no other way to be put to death by the government in this country. You are not given a choice in the matter once you have been convicted. You are taken away from the court and led to your cell and wait your turn. The gallows are located in a room that is rectangular in shape. One end of the rectangle is glassed off. This is where the few witnesses in attendance watch the condemned receive their punishment. Halfway between this room and the wall at the back of the death chamber are two blue squares, a larger one surrounding a smaller one. The smaller blue square is the trap door. Directly above the trap door is a recessed area in the ceiling where the noose hangs from a sturdy block. Continue Reading »

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The wave pool at a water park is like the course of a career. The water is smooth sailing, the sun is shining, and everything is great with the universe. And then, BOOM! The warning signal goes off, the swimmers begin to scream, and the big waves come racing toward them. I find that these Continue Reading »

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