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Tweet A former colleague last week told me she is leaving her current company, and she showed me a rough draft of her letter of resignation.  My jaw dropped as I read a litany of complaints, many of them superficial.  I asked her if she was excited about the new position, and she confirmed that it’s the perfect job.  ”Then,” I asked, “Why do you [...]

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Tweet  As pending graduates begin planning for their 2012 job searches, the question I hear most is:  “What’s the best starting point for a career–agency or corporate?”  I weighed in on a LinkedIn discussion about this topic today, and decided to add some points here. Although most of my career has been spent in corporate [...]

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Tweet I stopped making new year resolutions several years ago after realizing most were null and void by the second week in January.  Instead of lofty, unrealistic goals, I committed to shorter lists of things I might actually be able to achieve.  As they came to mind, I jot them down on Post-It notes and [...]

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TweetI continue to believe that graduating from college with a liberal arts degree is one of the best ways to prepare for a career in public relations—my courses in history, political science, sociology, psychology, and even French have served me very well these past 25 years.  But during my senior year at Northwestern, after a [...]

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Tweet Job prospects were on the minds of students last night at Northern Illinois University where I was honored to deliver the annual Albert Walker Lecture.  Titled “Career Realities in a Flash Mob World,” my remarks focused on five ways college graduates can differentiate themselves from the mobs of candidates applying for most job openings.  Here’s a synopsis of of the [...]

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Tweet Bleak job numbers generate depressing headlines every week, but the jobless rate among most college graduates isn’t as bad as the rest of the economy, according to a number of stories in today’s Wall Street Journal.  Some college majors (mostly in the sciences)  have higher demand for talent than available candidates.  The unemployment rate for [...]

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Tweet I had the special privilege to introduce a long-time friend and PR legend, Ann Barkelew, at this week’s Plank Center “Milestones in Mentorship Awards” in Chicago.  Following are excerpts from my remarks about this amazing woman: “Mutual friend and former Target CMO Bob Thacker sums it up best when he says: ‘Ann is what every [...]

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TweetEarly in my career, my boss called me into his office and told me I was being given responsibility for employee communication.   “What did I do to deserve this punishment,” is what I thought at the time.  While I have long since changed my mind about the value of employee communication, perceptions about the step-child of PR have changed slowly [...]

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TweetPart 2 While there are some strong similarities to communications around the world, there are some interesting differences.  Here are just a few examples: Different legal, political and economic systems overseas mean that it’s rarely “business as usual” run on autopilot. It’s crucial to understand the different laws and regulations, government structures, political processes, etc. [...]

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Tweet A career built around international work may not appeal to everyone.  It involves frequent travel and time away from family and friends, sandwiched between regular 7 am and 9 pm teleconferences. But international work is a rewarding and enriching option for a growing number of communications professionals, and it’s a path I embraced when [...]

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