This has been an interesting week.  I didn’t expect to get so many people engaged and eagerly listening to my first pilot podcast.  I got plenty of  feedback both via blog comments and email.  (Click here to hear it, read my explanation of the project and learn how you can help me bring this project to a successful start soon.)
This is pilot podcast 2.   It covers the readings for Sunday, July 4th – 14th Sunday in Ordinary Time.  For this one, I invited another good friend of mine Raul Loys to join me.  Neither Raul or I can …

July 4th, 14th Sunday in OrdinaryTime [ 22:09 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

I got an email recently from a man that read: “I followed all your advice but I have not gotten any job interviews. Do you have any other suggestions?”
I took a look at his LinkedIn profile and found that he hasn’t followed all of the advice I gave him.
In fact, as near as I can tell, he’s not doing anything I suggested.
And, yet, he wants more ideas from me.
So, here’s my advice to him and anyone else struggling to find a job: To get hired in this economy, you must …

Ann Naylor in her Huffington Post article mentions a Cannes Festival movie Biutiful and writes an interesting article on  powerlessness.   What is about loosing control of situations that brings out the possible best and worse in us?
I life and in this economy and job market, we have to deal with so many situations where we don’t have control and have to accept (or not accept) the circumstances pretty much as they are.  She discusses a total of fifteen things we can do in these situations of powerlessness.
I think it’s a worthwhile read to help us …

(…and a lot of things really don’t matter)
I work with a lot of stressed out executives in their 30’s who feel like their life energy, hope and joy have been sucked out of them. What we find very quickly is that they are doing a lot of things that don’t really matter instead of concentrating on the things they really do want in their lives.
What if you stopped doing things in your life that really don’t matter? How would that change who you are? How much extra time would you …

I’ve been following Dr. Woody and his “You Plan Book” and he’s really onto something. He’s got some very practical advice anyone can use to help get a job. This video’s part of a Fox Business News update which targets college students.
Watch the latest business video at video.foxbusiness.com

(This is a special project and currently my personal experiment to help Catholics and those of others denominations who follow the Catholic lectionary prepare for Sunday services.  It’s currently an experiment and I need your feedback, comments and questions.  Please read on and listen to the recording to help make this project a success.)
A spiritual practice I have found helpful is reading the Sunday readings before I show up at church.  It helps me make Sunday more than just showing up and leaving an hour or so a week.  It makes it a part of …

Thoughts on the Sunday Readings [ 23:47 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Hey, college graduates — pay attention.
What follows is an interview I did with Megan Gebhart, a junior at Michigan State University. She is doing several smart things to position herself for rapid employment upon graduation in 2011.
There are at least three job-search lessons in the conversation below. Can you find them?
Kevin: Megan, you posted a discussion on LinkedIn about how you used your alumni connections to land three informational interviews. What did you do, exactly?
Megan: Last summer [2009], I had an internship for six weeks in San Francisco. I thought, …

As the father of three daughters, I’m not 100% in favor Emily Bennington’s Huffington Post story where she kisses a guy on a bet at the bar, but otherwise her advice is on the right on.
My daughter graduated a few weeks back and I’m forwarding her this link to Emily’s post. College grads should take on a good amount of risk. Most err on the side of “not enough.” What’s the downside? They have to move in with Mom and Dad. They can use this experimentation to learn and possibly …

Speaking to an audience with your back turned is like networking online without a photo. It’s completely ineffective – so why do people do it and what are the other 6 mistakes people make when networking online?   

They don’t include a photo on their profile page
They don’t fill in their profile
They don’t post on group discussion boards
They do not practice the four essentials of the likeability factor
When they post they don’t put their URL into their signature.
They make it a mission to collect as many names as …

My morning Yoga class focused on preparing for the Hanumanasana or Monkey pose.  (I follow this YogaToday.com website which has some great online resources regardless of your level of Yoga expertise.) The pose mimics the monkey warrior Hanumana’s leap from the southern tip of India to Sri Lanka from India’s legendary epic Ramayana.  Take a look at the picture of the pose to appreciate that it’s a full leg split with arms reaching for the sky.    I can’t get to that full split myself – but I did learn something …

As a rule, simple is good.
The iPad interface, Google, popsicles — they’re all simple things that achieve great results.
Applied to your job search, simplicity can achieve great results, too.
Example: What if you identified the people you wanted to work for, then advertised directly to them, asking for an interview?
Do you think something that simple might get you a job?
Well, it worked for one man, Alec Brownstein, an advertising copywriter from New York City.
Here’s what Brownstein did: He created Google AdWords for the names of people he wanted to work for. When each person Googled …

Do you feel overwhelmed when you think about changing industries? After all, with long workweeks, job-performance demands and trying to have a personal life too, it’s a wonder any professionals find the time to strategically reposition themselves for a more fulfilling opportunity.
However, I have coached many professionals who have successfully done just that! And I know firsthand what works and how you can easily begin to point yourself in a different direction that brings about the positive change you have been dreaming of. Here are four steps you can take …

Makeovers on television shows and in magazines are enticing for women the world over. Of course the reason they are so popular, is because the idea of getting a fresh start in life is a golden key we have all dreamt about at one time or another. No matter what their lives are like, everyone has something they wish could be different – their home, their body, their friends, and even their career.
Career makeovers are not a new concept and if you think about it, making over your career will …

If you follow my posts or read my job hunt basics e-course, you know all about my job search adventures. I’m no stranger to the field and have dealt with everything it has to offer. Lucky me, I guess.
I’ve had the added bonus of watching my wife go through it as well – “Up Close & Personal” you might say. Remember the movie? Robert Redford serves and the senior journalist / mentor to the young reporter played by Michele Pfeiffer. They later become lovers, marry and and everything else Hollywood. Celine Dion sings …

 If you’re job hunting in this tough economy, take heart from the following three stories of people who found work in three to four months — about half as long as the average job search, which takes nearly 8 months (31.2 weeks) as of March 2010.
How did they do it?
By using Guerrilla Resumes (explained below), LinkedIn, and smart networking, among other tactics.
Read on to learn more from the Q&A I did with each of them …
 Case Study #1:
Brad Viles, from suburban Madison, WI. 
Time to hire: about four months (hired on March 8, 2010) 
Tactics used: …

I love my assistant. She is incredibly sweet, supportive, intelligent, organized and experienced in all the technical areas that I know nothing about. I enjoy talking with her, reading her emails, I trust her and just working with her in general is an enjoyable experience.
This was one of my goals when I first knew I needed to hire an assistant – I wanted our working relationship to be easy, fun and productive. Being a sensitive person, I knew myself well enough to know that any other type of relationship in …