Real stories

Less than Ideal Job? Go Beyond Your Job Description

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go beyond your job description

In part 1 and 2 of our talk with Executive Author, Jane Lin, we discussed the

  1. Best Secret to Finding Your Dream Job.
  2. Negotiating Job Offer – What 70% of People Fail to Do

In this final part, we migrated our conversation from job search to on the job success.   We don’t always have the ideal job.  Sometimes we have to take jobs just to make sure we can pay the mortgage or rent.   In these cases, does this mean we put on career on hold until we find another job?  Jane’s advice is no.   Even with a less than ideal job, you have the power to make it more and progress your career.  How?  Go beyond your job description! ...  read more

How Basketball Coach Valvano Changed My Career Perspective

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coach valvano

A big thank you to our Executive Author, Cindy Wong-Zarahn for writing this article

In the U.S., the national college basketball tournament affectionately known as “March Madness” mesmerizes much of the country for a few weeks in March. The latest tournament is recently behind us, and throughout the TV coverage I was reminded of one of the most inspirational speeches I have ever heard, from Coach Valvano back in 1993. ...  read more

Negotiating Job Offer – What 70% of People Fail to Do

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salary negotiations

In part 1 of our talk with Executive Author, Jane Lin, we discussed the Best Secret to Finding Your Dream Job.  Assuming you have a job offer, now what?  Should you negotiate?

We will have on average seven jobs in our life time.  Knowing how to negotiate job offers and initial salary at each new job can means the difference in ten of thousands of dollars in pay and give you a chance to impress our employer before we even start! ...  read more

Who Would You Rather Be – Elsa or Anna?

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Lei:  I am excited to introduce a new Executive Author to our Soft Skills Gym – Cindy Wong-Zarahn.  I only met Cindy last year but feel like we have been old friends for years.  She has close to 20 years of experience in the corporate world with plenty of battle scars as well as very sage advice.  I already personally benefited from her advice for my own career. Click here to read her bio and why she wants to join our community.  You can also follow Cindy on twitter @CZarahn    ...  read more

How to Better Communicate Work Status to Your Boss – 4 Tips

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boss communication

Effective communication with your boss is essential to your career success.  One of the things your boss will always want is proactive communication of your work status & progress.  It will show that you are on top of your work and you respect him enough to keep him informed.

This not always easy.   Below is a situation a Soft Skills Gym member faced.  What would you do if you were him?  Share your comments below.  He agreed to let me share it in case his situation and my advice can  help you learn how to better communicate work status with your boss. ...  read more

Growth Mindset Example – Learnings from My 4-day Cleanse

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growth mindset example

A few months ago, I did a veggie and fruit cleanse for the first time in my life.  Why?  All the usual reasons

  • Vanity – I wanted to get back to my college weight after having two kids.
  • Peer Pressure – My husband and my friend were doing it that week
  • Efficiency  – I didn’t have to worry about what I will eat for 4 days.  Everything was pre-prepared by our friend.  That actually helped a lot as I was starting to have meetings all day long.
  • New experience – I have been curious about doing a cleanse for the last two years.    I almost did a juice only cleanse once last year, but backed out the last minute.  I realized I rather still chew during a cleanse.

This article is less about the cleanse and more about what I learned during the experience.  First of all, I actually didn’t expect to last four days.  This is because I had some very strong pre-notions when it came to food and cleanses. ...  read more

How to Stop Thinking about Work – 5 Tips

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How to Stop thinking about work

It is critical to your mental and physical health to know How to Stop Thinking about Work.  This post is written for my benefit and yours, if you find yourself in a similar situation.

During the last six weeks, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about work.   I love my new job, and theoretically I am only working about 40 hours a week,  8:30 am to about 5:30pm, Monday through Friday.  I don’t take my computer home, and I only look at my work phone at home to check on my meeting schedule for the next day. ...  read more