I am thankful for the invitation from Career Press to review Marion McGovern’s new book Thriving In The Gig Economy (How To Capitalize And Compete In The World Of Work) Marion McGovern has been at the forefront of the evolution transforming the workplace from permanent employment with a company to a free-lance, contractor-consultant, based on […]

“The Next Gen Leader” –Cutting Edge Strategies to Make You the Leader You Were Born to Be- by Robert C. McMillan – The PracticaL Mentor’s book review I am thankful for the invitation from Career Press to review: “The Next Gen Leader” – Cutting Edge Strategies to Make You the Leader You Were Born to […]

How to Develop Good Communication Skills – PracticaL Mentor Review http://www.wikihow.com/Develop-Good-Communication-Skills There are several ideas of what good communications skills really are: In the simplest form, effective communications occur when information is exchanged and understood. Understanding is a part of communications that is often not stressed enough. For example: Politicians rely on their communications skills […]

How effective are your communication skills? Most of are socially adequate when it comes to conversation and daily interactions, like talking with friends and ordering at the coffee shop. When it comes more important communications we often find ourselves misunderstood. Even when there was an acknowledged agreement we find things don’t always work out the […]

go to buy now. Chapter 1, Difficult Bosses Are The Norm. There are countless pages written on how to deal with a difficult boss, but none seem to provide real solutions to the problem. At least they never did for me. I consider myself average, and it is easier for me to count the good […]

I went bowling with some friends yesterday afternoon. I am not a regular bowler and really haven’t bowled for several years. I did set pins when I was around 14 for a couple of years at the local Elks Club. They had four alley’s and we used to have to set doubles. That is we […]

Graduation time is here. For many of us this is the first time we really face making a serious life decision. Although we’ve made decision along the way, until we graduate from high school or college, most of our career decisions were pretty much mandated. Now for the first time, we have to really decide […]

Among the many New Year Resolutions you make this year improving your  networking and interpersonal skills should be near the top of the list. Developing  a strong social and professional network of friends and associates is essential to    achieving most of your career goals. Almost everything you want in the workplace  depends on other […]

Making New Year Resolutions is a tradition for most of us. It is sure the hot    media topic for the swing week between Christmas and New Year’s Eve. While the  mood of Christmas puts most of us in a festive mood, it also causes most of us to  be reflective on personal and professional […]

There is a lot of conventional wisdom and advice that says to be successful you must set goals and work hard to achieve them. Although setting goals and hard work may be essential to success, there seems to be something missing. Others add that you should have a plan to achieve your goal, a map […]

I used to believe there were magic interview words and phases like Ali Baba used to open the magical cave and gain access to the treasure it protected. I read a lot of books and articles on successful interviewing techniques, and never found any real magic words. In my senior year in college there were […]

This week there were several questions on Yahoo Answers related to working under adverse conditions. There were several categories, bad boss, nasty co-workers, critical adversaries, and the list goes on. Although the scenarios differ the common thread is a toxic situation with no apparent remedy. The most common answer posted in response to these questions […]

For the past nine days I was on New England cruise to view the fall foliage and tour several ports of call. During the voyage, by chance, I met a semi-retired physiologist who specialized in helping patients who were having difficulties facing challenges. The bottom line to his clinical observations is many people in challenging […]

One of the greatest clichés is that there are no mistakes or failures only learning opportunities.  While I do believe we learn from our mistakes, I am not sure that we always learn the most beneficial lessons.  More often the lesson we take away is DON’T TRY THAT AGAIN!, instead of learning how to succeed […]

Forging alliances at work may be the most beneficial strategic career move a person can make.  Alliances are more than casual friendships, and are formed to advance common goals or interests.  These bonds of common purpose can provide a shield against adversity, and a conduit for opportunity.  Making and keeping alliances can improve and maintain […]

Confidence is a necessary skill that is often neglected in the development of a career strategy. There are different kinds and degrees of confidence, and finding the balance that best suits your personality and goals is often difficult. As many people suffer from over confidence as lack of confidence not only in themselves, but also […]

Most of us spend more time working than at any other activity, but we manage our working relationships less than in any other situation.  In our personal relationships we usually seek and obtain a level of interaction that permits us to enjoy ourselves and grow our skills.  Even in our casual relationships, like recreational activities […]

I re-learned a lesson the hard way this week.  This summer I took a temporary job. When I was hired I was told the job had a definite term, and there would be no more work after the term was over. I accepted the job.  There were several people who were hired to accomplish the […]

This week there was a lot buzz about Psychometrics and other job screening techniques.  questionsIt is probably a sign of the times, as employers are flooded with applications for all available jobs.  The idea of psychometric testing and correlating traits with aptitude and performance is becoming main stream.  So how do you prepare for psychometric […]

This week there was a lot more bad news for the economic recovery. Although some companies reported huge profits, the overall conclusion is the U.S. economy is sputtering, and there could be even more lay offs. For those of us already unemployed the hopes of finding work seems to be fading even more, and those […]