Career Reinvention

It’s no secret that every employer would prefer to have all employees at their desks all the time. Despite the fact that technology keeps everyone connected from any corner of the world, employers like to know they can walk down the hall and solve a problem face to face. For this reason, a job share…

There has never been a better time for women to work as much or as little as they want—for as long as they want. If you need to play catch-up with your retirement savings, there’s no hard stop for work at age sixty-five. Corporations are seeking out seasoned experts who can consult on a wide…

Two of my coaching clients have done a particularly great job of creating an elevator pitch for flexwork—and their examples can help many other smart women with what can be a daunting and exasperating task. What, exactly, is a “60-Second Elevator Pitch”?  It’s a brief advertisement that tells any networking contact who you are and the…

Though flexibility can be found at most companies, more evolved work structures in your particular industry or work function may be far and few between. Getting to a more progressive company means that you have to zero in on your key skills and show exactly how they can be applied to a new area. To illustrate, I’ll use a story from my own career…

As research for my upcoming book, I’ve connected with so many interesting women nationwide. They’ve shared great wisdom about the impact of work and life decisions on their long-term financial security. In their words there is evidence that it’s smart to always “find the work that fits your life”—even small part-time jobs—as a cushion against…

Work flexibility can seem like a fairytale—with a happy ending for only a lucky few. It really does exist in large scale ways at some big, progressive companies. It can also be found in smaller-scale, sometimes under-the-radar ways at many companies of every other size. This is a note I received from one woman who feels…

If you tell me you’re lost in a seemingly unending job search, I probably won’t say, “it’s a really tough job market”. Instead, I’ll try to find out if you’re engaged in a tenacious, strategic search generated by a powerful networking engine. If you tell me you’re not, I won’t be surprised. In more than…

As Jane (a 56-year-old woman from California navigating her way back to the workforce) realized that she needed to network far out of her comfort zone, she asked me this question:“I have connections at organizations where I would love to work—but they are either people I am not close to or feel uncomfortable approaching. Call it…

I just don’t buy the fact that thousands of women are desperate to break the glass ceiling. In the last 15 years of working with women, I’ve met very few of these high-flyers. I’ve met lots of MBAs who became mothers and then ran away from inflexible employers. I’ve met lots of young women gung-ho…

One of my blog readers sent me this note—inspiration for any woman who thinks she has been out of the workforce too long to land a significant job… “After more than 20 years at home, with a long resume of volunteering at my children’s schools and at three non-profits, I am about to start my first…