Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

For the past few years during her job search, David Knox-Jones has been told, in not so many words, that he’s overqualified.  At 48, he is a former hospital administrator and state Medicaid Commissioner.  He is a recent law school graduate and has experience in healthcare and marketing. 

“When I’m speaking with a potential employer, many times their opposition to my being overqualified is in the tone of voice rather than their choice of words,” Know-Jones says.  “An employer will say, ‘We’re hoping to find someone who will make a career here’ or ‘Why would you want this job after doing such-and-such?’  Another series of questions has to do with whether I could be a ‘team player’ after being in leadership positions.”

Knox-Jones responds to potential employers in plain language: “If I weren’t willing to do the work, I wouldn’t be applying for the job,” he says.

A great many job seekers wonder how being qualified can be a bad thing, but it’s a Catch-22 in today’s employment market.  They can’t get hired for positions relevant to their experience so they apply for jobs at lower levels.  But they can’t get hired for those positions, either, because they’re overqualified.  The high volume of job seekers makes it possible for employers to hold out for their ideal candidates.  And in today’s market, you’re not an ideal candidate if you have held a more senior position in the past … because employers assume you will leave as soon as you find something at your normal level. Read More »

Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

Perhaps it has been a while since you’ve felt the excitement that comes with starting a new job … and you wonder to yourself whether the professional fire been extinguished, or, if it is flickering faintly, waiting to be reignited.

The following quiz courtesy of Career Builder will help you identify whether if what you’re feeling is temporary, or, the telltale signs of total burnout.

• Are you burned out or just exhausted?
Take a real vacation to find out.
Burnout: If you dread returning to work, you may be burned out.
Temporary: If you come back rested and recharged, you just needed a well-deserved break. Read More »

Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

Our lives are lived around the clock…

We wake up at more or less a certain time every work day.  We work schedule and base our performance on the amount of time it takes us to do things. 

Unfortunately, it’s not just the clock that gives us anxiety … it’s basing our worth on how productive we are … how much stuff we can cram into a given time period.  We have been told by the media, by employers, and even school that if we just finish everything on our to-do lists, we’ll be done. Afterwards, we can finally be happy.  Right?

Unfortunately, that time never comes.

We always find more things to do, more projects to work on, more ways to improve and optimize. But when we base our happiness on achievement, we are no longer looking at productivity as a means to an end.  It becomes the end entirely.  And it’s not healthy. Read More »

“Live happier, live longer, and work more productively …”

Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

Our jobs, the workplace, and our lives are stressful enough.  In today’s world of increased worry over jobs and the economy, it is even more stressful.

The good news is you don’t have to go to great lengths to manage stress.  Managing stress should not be stressful.  The basic concepts behind stress management are simple … in fact, many of the following short and long-term solutions listed below are things you can implement very quickly and with relative ease.

So, to help you reduce stress on the job and in your life, take a moment and read these 30 essential tips you can use today to combat stress: Read More »

Article By Kevin L. DeWitt

Job hunting has changed dramatically in the past ten years. Both companies and people seeking jobs have moved away from traditional print advertising to the Internet and its many forms of social media to find the perfect employee.

Meanwhile, online resources like LinkedIn, MySpace and Facebook are surging in popularity and all age groups have quickly adopted these as tools to aide in the job search process.  Using the latest digital forums can be a great way to supplement your search.

If it’s on the web, it’s public!

Some of today’s savviest job seekers are using social media outlets such as MySpace, Facebook and LinkedIn to get their foot in the door and become the top candidate in a search (through networking, blogs and video resumes). Read More »