Career Advice from Ang Lee – Don’t Forget Your Dream

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ang_lee

Ang Lee is one of the most famous directors in Hollywood today.  We may all look at him with his second Oscar in hand thinking he is not like us.  He is more talented and lucky.  Well, as his essay from 2006 after his first Oscar shows, he is just like any of us with two main differences

  1. He never forgot his dream even though society and his own Chinese upbringing both tried hard to stop him from pursuing an unusual, low success rate career for a Chinese immigrant in the US.  
  2. When he did give up momentarily, he had his wife to support him through the hard times and remind him of what he is destined to do.

I wanted to share his essay translated from Chinese by Irene Shih and inspire all of us to not give up on our dreams and surround ourselves with key supporters like that of Ang’s wife to strive for what we truly want to contribute to this world.   Best wishes! ...  read more

Taking Lunch Breaks can Help Your Career

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lunch break

Many successful and motivated business people get where they are today by working hard during times when others would not have the energy to do so.  This may include working longer hours, on weekends, and through lunch.   While working hard for a little while can get you further, you also need to watch out for burn out.  This is why taking a real lunch break at least 3 times a week can help your career in 5 ways ...  read more

How to Use Linkedin Effectively – 5 Tips for Your Career

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linkedin

Being able to use Linkedin effectively for networking and building your brand is a critical skill to further your career in today’s market.    Of the most widely recognized social media platforms, LinkedIn is arguably the most utilitarian. Most of the people who use Linkedin have a primarily business purpose behind their presence within the platform, and updates about what they had for dinner are noticeably absent. ...  read more

7 Basic Interview Tips Everyone Should Follow

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basic interview

Whether you are a veteran at job interviews or new to it all, the basic interview tips are key to staying in the competitive job search race.   These seven basic interview tips are fairly simple to follow.  So there is no reason for you not to do each.  You will be amazed at how they can either be forgotten or overlooked sometimes.  Don’t make that mistake because first impression counts.  If you don’t prepare for your interview or arrive late or always cut your interviewer off, you could be cutting yourself out of the race before you even started. ...  read more

Lei’s Experience Wish List for 2013

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get outside your comfort zone

Success cannot be achieved if you only stay in your comfort zone.  That’s because success requiring striving, learning, testing, and falling possibly along the way, all of which are not comfortable.

So  it’s important to be comfortable with being uncomfortable to achieve success and joy in life!  For this reason, I am ditching the traditional new year resolution of setting goals and making my 2013 about experiences – a way to encourage myself to try new things or challenge myself to do some things I know may be uncomfortable and has no guarantee of success.  It’s not just for my career but also for living my life to the fullest. ...  read more

How to Explain Gaps in Resume – 3 Tips

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explaining gaps in resume

How to explain gaps in my resume?  This is a common question asked by many job seekers today.   When the economy went south in 2009, many well-qualified people found themselves out of work.  Some were able to land another position within a few months, while others struggled to find work for a much longer period — or never really made it back into the workforce. Other people have opted to leave their jobs for family or educational reasons, and now want to return to the working world. No matter which situation applies to you, the effect is the same: significant gaps in the work history section of your resumes. ...  read more