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Do the opposite: the career edition
If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right. Jerry Seinfeld Sure, it’s not ideal to take everything a comedian says seriously, but the punchline above (and the context in which Jerry said it) was an exception. And throughout my career, and later through the art and practice of…
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Combine your top three skills
I don’t think I’ve ever been comfortable classifying myself as a “specialist.” Back in my school days, I was passionate about the sport of cricket. I wanted to be a professional player but didn’t like the label of a “specialist” bowler. So, I took “batting” classes and got better, improved my “fielding” skills and got…
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The one thing that will save your career
No, switching jobs won’t help. Nor would getting a degree or a certification from a prestigious entity (at least not to the extent you think it helps) will. In an age where our culture’s obsessed with the shiny-object-syndrome, the latest trends, the next big wave of whatever (and god knows what), I believe the basics…
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Do the work before you’re ready to show it…
The one aspect that stuns me while reviewing resumes, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles of potential candidates is their portfolio. Most don’t have it and when asked they need “some time” to pull everything together. The ones who do have a portfolio share samples that are from 2014, 2015, 2016, along with their most recent…
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Resume: a personal branding marketing collateral?
I remember the first time I created my resume. Searched online and used a sample resume as a template for an entry-level position at a bunch of places, including Pizza Hut (where I did work for a few weeks). I didn’t have a printer, so I had to visit a cyber cafe (which were minting…
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Plan B…
… not having one is a stressful situation, particularly if Plan A doesn’t seem to be getting you anywhere. I’m not sure if this goes against or with conventional wisdom, but I firmly believe we all need a Plan B. And no, I’m not talking about those ‘just-in-case’ plans that most of us fall back…
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How to make it big after getting fired…
I’ve been fired twice over a span of 16+ years. And finding another job has been least of my problems. Here’s why — I don’t ever assume that things are going to get better at my next job. I know that I’ll have to prove myself to be a worthy contender among the hundred others…