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Just The Facts

Prepare for an Interview by Thinking Like an Employer

People have different natural talents at interviewing for jobs. But even the most talented can fail to get offers if they don’t prepare. This goes beyond arriving on time, dressing professionally, being polite, and preparing to discuss every detail of your resume. Of course, these things are important. But get ready for interviews in a way that makes you stand out. Adopt a different mindset—theirs. Full Article »

The Only Way to Become a Business Rock Star

HardWorkSome business people are like rock stars: Richard, Warren, Bill, the late Steve—all rock stars. It’s certainly possible to become a rock star and achieve excellence in just about any field we choose, but excellence comes with a price. Natural talent only takes us so far. Excellence requires incredible focus, massive effort, and an almost superhuman drive and work ethic. Full Article »

3 Ways To Deal With A No-Win Situation

KirkWhile few of us live lives as exciting or dangerous as that of Captain Kirk, in our business and personal lives we all face no-win situations. These could include bosses who are impossible to work for, companies that are in a hopeless downward spiral, or jobs that are a terrible fit. The question that confronts us then becomes, “what course to take?” Full Article »

Hacked Lessons: How to Get a Human Response

“Mail delivery subsystem /undelivered mail return to sender.”
“Mail delivery subsystem/returned mail see transcript for details.”
“Mailer daemon/failure notice.”

Do these messages look familiar? Well, if your email contacts were ever hacked, you saw hundreds of shocking similar ones upon opening your inbox. But even more outrageous may have been the reality smackers sandwiched in between from all the companies where you once applied for employment. Full Article »

Before the Toss, Super Bowl Ads

CantinaThe Super Bowl has long been the biggest day of the year for advertising, as more than 100 million Americans watch television’s most expensive and daring commercials. Unlike years past, one thing will be mostly missing this year: surprise. That is because many of the premier ads for Super Bowl XLVI on NBC on Sunday have already turned up on Facebook, YouTube and the sponsors’ own Web sites, some for weeks. Full Article »

Marketing Myth-Busting: Kodak Wasn’t Slow to Digital; It Was the First One In

kodakIn 1996, Interbrand ranked Kodak the fourth most-valuable brand in the world, just behind Disney, Coca-Cola and McDonald’s.

Today on the stock market, Disney is worth $70 billion, Coca-Cola is worth $154 billion, McDonald’s is worth $104 billion and Kodak is bankrupt. Full Article »

When You’re the Worker Who Can’t Say No

Q. Your plate at work is full, but your boss has asked you to take on yet another assignment. You say “yes” even though you know you don’t have time for it. Why?

A. In situations like this, people often automatically say “yes” out of fear, says Jim Camp, a negotiations coach in Dublin, Ohio. Full Article »

The 5 Hardest Jobs to Fill in 2012

helpWantedHiring the best of the best is an absolute must if you are going to build a successful company.  You will need to be prepared to compete against big companies with deep pockets and other up-and-coming startups that also have blue chip investors and a game-changing idea. Full Article »

Secure Your Digital Life In The Time It Takes To Have A Coffee Break

secureAs long as we’ve had computers and gadgets, there’s been a tension between security and ease of use. On one extreme, there are the passwords that are so complex you intentionally can’t remember them, and emails that involve sending an encryption key to your recipients. On the other side, there’s the iPhone that you Slide to Unlock, then use to manage your email, finances, and photos from last night’s karaoke. Full Article »

Consumer Reports Money Adviser: Don’t Buy Into Expensive ID Theft Protection Services

Identity theft can scare the bejeezus out of anyone—drained bank accounts, credit cards set up in your name, purloined Social Security numbers, oh my—but that doesn’t necessarily means you should buy into an expensive credit protection service. Our wise older siblings at Consumer Reports break it down in a new installment of Money Adviser. Full Article »

15 Tips On Becoming More Powerful

powerDesire for power is a basic human instinct. But few people achieve it—or at least a great deal of it. In his book Power: Why Some People Have It—And Others Don’t, Stanford business professor Jeffrey Pfeffer tells us why we should want it, and how to go about getting it.
Full Article »

The One Resolution You Need To Make In 2012

NewYearHatAs the New Year approaches, many of us are thinking about our resolutions. What will we vow to do this coming year to be better--both at what we do for a living, and as members of the human race? There’s only one resolution you need to make and keep. Do this one thing and you’ll be good to go for the year: Do what you say you are going to do, otherwise known as accountability. Full Article »

In Pursuit of the Perfect Gift? It’s a Lot Closer Than You Think

cashTraditionalists and etiquette mavens are complaining, but the rest of us can thank social scientists this season. They have come up with experimental evidence to support three revolutionary rules for people who hate shopping for holiday gifts:

1. You don’t have to spend any time looking for “thoughtful” gifts.

2. You don’t have to spend much money, either.

3. Actually, you may not have to spend any money. Full Article »

Quadrennial Effect Could Make ’12 a Very Good Year

2012_effectIt sounds like the title of a thriller by Robert Ludlum: “The Quadrennial Effect.” Actually, it is something that may make 2012 less of a nail-biter for media and advertising companies.

The fact that several events that happen every four years will take place next year will stimulate the media and ad industries, leading forecasters said on Monday, offsetting the detrimental effects of the European debt crisis. Full Article »

Retailers Woo the ‘Mission Shoppers’

MissionShopperAmericans don’t shop the way they used to. It’s not only that they’re going to the mall less often. Consumers in this post-recession era are also less likely to stick around and browse after they walk into a store. Marketing pros say that shoppers tend to come armed with oodles of Web research on brands and prices. They buy, then leave. No browsing. No impulse buys. Full Article »

Why Americans Won’t Do Dirty Jobs

DirtyJobsSkinning, gutting, and cutting up catfish is not easy or pleasant work. No one knows this better than Randy Rhodes, president of Harvest Select, which has a processing plant in impoverished Uniontown, Ala. For years, Rhodes has had trouble finding Americans willing to grab a knife and stand 10 or more hours a day in a cold, wet room for minimum wage and skimpy benefits. Full Article »

The 7 Iconic Business Buzzwords That Need To Die

cemetaryWhen I started writing a blog to support my book, Talk Normal: Stop the Business Speak, Jargon and Waffle, I had an inkling that many of the words I loathed were common in the offices where I was working.

But this could be an illusion: Once we’re bothered by something, we tend to notice it more. So it could be that the business buzzwords that make me cranky are no more significant than the guy who bumps my chair when he walks past--which, on second thought, isn’t a big deal, he’s been doing it for years. Full Article »

Don’t Blink! The Hazards of Confidence

overconfidenceMany decades ago I spent what seemed like a great deal of time under a scorching sun, watching groups of sweaty soldiers as they solved a problem. I was doing my national service in the Israeli Army at the time. I had completed an undergraduate degree in psychology, and after a year as an infantry officer, I was assigned to the army’s Psychology Branch, where one of my occasional duties was to help evaluate candidates for officer training. We used methods that were developed by the British Army in World War II. Full Article »

In Praise of Bad Steve

MeanSteveWhen filmmaker Stanley Kubrick died, the steely perfectionist who ground actors into submission died with him. Kubrick was a good man—Matthew Modine once described him as “probably the most heartfelt person I ever met”—but by all accounts, his shoots were crucibles for which the faint of heart need not apply. When he walked onto a set, Stanley Kubrick would get exactly what he wanted, and he would exact this vision without mercy. Upon his death, however, only a mythical Saint Stanley remained, a slightly taller Yoda with a slightly better complexion. Full Article »

Steve Jobs: He Brought the Show to Business

JobsPartsMuch has been and will be written about Steve Jobs’s outsize footprint in digital culture: the screens we stare at, the music files we listen to, the hardware in our pockets. I’d stipulate to all that, but I found myself thinking about his less obvious influence on business and the journalists who cover it.

Business has always been important, but until Mr. Jobs arrived, it was rarely accused of being cool. As a young reporter I made a lane change from writing about pop culture and politics to business, and I can remember the look of sympathy from my colleagues and the message that went with it: Good luck in the Land of the Suits. Business, while vital to the civic common, was not thought to be an important part of the stories that we tell each other. Full Article »

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