How Ethnic Can You Be At Work?

Marie Claire has an excellent article on women professionals navigating their ethnic or religious traditions within the work environment: In the last decade, the number of minority women in mid- and senior-level managerial positions increased almost 50 percent, according to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. And despite working in offices that claim to embrace cultural [...]

Caught Up on Craigslist

Don’t let this be you someday: Politico reports: Rep. Christopher Lee resigned Wednesday evening after it was revealed that he sent a suggestive photograph to a woman he met on the Internet, a swift outcome for a scandal that was over before it even began. The New York Republican was the subject of a Gawker [...]

It (Still) Isn’t Okay to Slam Your Boss on Facebook

No matter the recent court case and settlement of a fired worker from slamming her boss on Facebook.  It still isn’t okay.  Do you really have the time or resources to go through an exhaustive court case to prove a point: that you were right and your boss was wrong? As a general rule, don’t [...]

BE to New Grads: Job Hunting Mistakes

Black Enterprise has a good list of five mistakes for new grads to avoid when job hunting.  As unemployment rates remain high and people compete for work, securing a job will be no easy task for the 1.65 million undergraduates expected to enter the workforce this year according to the United States Educational Department. The [...]

Boost Your Resume Without Lying

Between Connecticut Democratic Senate candidate Dick Blumenthal lying about his service in Vietnam and recent news about Illinois Republican Senate candidate Mark Kirk acknowledging he didn’t receive some military award you’d wonder if you can believe anyone’s work history these days. We all want to put our best foot forward – especially when you’re on [...]

Van Jones Teaching Moment

On the politics of mutually assured destruction, there is no shortage of opinion on the left or the right about Van Jones’ short-lived appointment means. We’ll leave the political commentary to the political blogs. However, absent the lessons in game theory, partisan politics, and right and wrong, the Van Jones fiasco provides several teaching moments [...]

Commonly Misused Phrases

There is nothing worse than using a phrase in the company of others (especially on the job!) only to find out later that you’ve used it incorrectly. Sure, everybody does it, but you don’t want to have to be the one. Below are a couple of phrases misused with frequency, either verbally or in writing: [...]

Understanding LinkedIn

Everyone raves about the importance of networking. In the Internet age (was there really any other?), this means Facebook and LinkedIn. As much as Facebook has tried to mature into social networking for professionals, its still overwhelming and underwhelming at the same time. So I’ve made the jump to LinkedIn, but I am still finding my way on how to use it in order to keep up with my professional contacts. As much as Facebook can be entertaining, it doesn’t seem to cut it for true professional networking.

Speaking Anxiety

For some, there is no greater anxiety than having to speak publicly. The fear of failure and humiliation act as kryptonite to the usually cool, calm, and collected. Toastmasters, an organization dedicated to helping would-be great orators, provides incredible insight, tips, and weekly meetings across the country to ease you into embracing your inner-Obama speaking skills. Toastmasters offers 10 basic tips for public speaking.