Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about handling interview questions, second-guessing career choices, surviving an acquisition, job hopping, and ways the downturn could be good.

From Rowan Manahan at Fortify Your Oasis: Back to basics - Interview 101

“Job interviews have long been compared to a first date. It is important to be ready to answer anything that is thrown at you - and that means anticipating the questions and doing your homework. Here are a few of those ‘chestnut’ questions that interviewers always seem to ask. The key to success is understanding why they are asking the question. If you know what is in the interviewers’ heads as they probe you on something, you can build an answer that will highlight your strong points, allay their concerns and hopefully, clinch the job for you”

Wally’s Comment: Great preparation for your next interview, especially for those questions for which you haven’t prepared a specific answer.

From the Career Key Blog: Second-guessing your career path

“Having doubts about your career decisions is normal – at least for people I talk with about choosing a career and in my own experience. Like buyer’s remorse, you may feel a twinge of uncertainty as the financial aid office cashier takes your check and your decision to enroll in that master’s degree becomes final. Or when you attend your first staff meeting at a new job and you feel out of place – and out of your depth. Or opening your business doors and for the first few hours you don’t make a single sale.”

Wally’s Comment: We all do it. Here’s some advice on how you can make the process of second guessing actually helpful.

From Careers at MSNBC: How to survive and thrive after an acquisition

“if you are lucky enough to survive immediate layoffs, it’s a good time to come up with a strategy to survive and thrive once the new bosses descend upon your department.”

Wally’s Comment: We’ve seen a bunch and there’s more to come.

From Silvana Avinami at Brazen Careerist: Job-Hopping 101

“Because I’m still reading through the hate mail that I received after posting Are You Getting the Itch to Switch (Jobs)? on Brazen Careerist’s blog I thought it would be a good idea to set the record straight about my philosophy about job-hopping. Let’s start by defining what it isn’t.”

Wally’s Comment: Is job hopping a good thing? Well …

From Newly Corporate: 5 Ways the Economic Downturn Could Help You

“As much over-hyped doom and gloom as there is in the blogosphere and the mainstream media right now, I would like to highlight a few examples of a silver lining in the dark storm cloud that is our current bear market. Generation Y needs to stay positive, as we always do, and focus on these areas.”

Wally’s Comment: If you have a choice between good economic times and bad, choose good. But if you don’t get to choose, this post will help.

Elaine was one of my first career coaching clients. It was early in our relationship that she gave me a big insight.

Elaine wasn’t happy in her first job out of college. She wanted a change. I suggested to her that she imagine an ideal day five years in the future.

Her shoulders slumped. “That’s what all the books say,” she said, dejected, “but I just can’t do that. I don’t know how.”

That stunned me. Imagining that ideal day was an exercise that lots of career coaches used. It was my starting point for thinking about my own career. So I thought it would work with anyone.

And I knew that Elaine wasn’t kidding me. I was sure she had tried the technique, probably two or three times.

She was bright and committed to changing her life. The technique I thought would help her do that didn’t work. It was up to me come up with an exercise that would help.

I got lucky. That evening I got together with my friend, Terry, for one of our regular, what-are-you-up-to sessions.

Terry was a research scientist and not someone I’d normally ask about things like this, but the situation was fresh and I was frustrated. I was stunned when he said, “I think I’ve got something for you.”

Terry had discovered some research on innovation styles. It told him that there are four common questions that people ask when they want to change. One of those was “What’s my goal?” which is the academic version of “Imaging an ideal day …”

There were three other questions: “Who’s important to me?”; “What should I do right now?” and “What would be fun to try?”  It turned out that the right question/exercise for Elaine to start with was “Who’s important to me?”

Terry also told me that most people only ask one or two of the questions. That’s important because the people and organizations that are good at change ask three or four.

Elaine couldn’t start by defining her goal, but once she started thinking about who was important to her, some goals just seemed to bubble up from her soul. Asking the other questions on the list helped sharpen the answers to all the questions.

Which brings me to why I’m writing about this. If it’s time to make a change in your life, ask all the questions. It will improve your odds of a good outcome. Here they are again.

What’s the goal?
Who’s important to me?
What should I do right now?
What would be fun to try?

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about finding a mentor, your office walls, stealing your boss’s job, shooting straight, and taking the long and the short view.

From JT and Dale Talk Jobs: Do I Really Need a Mentor? Yes, Yes and Yes

“If you’re looking to rationalize away the work of finding mentors, you’ve come to the wrong place. It’s absolutely worth your time; the issue is how to also make it worthwhile for the people you seek out.”

Wally’s Comment: Yes you need a mentor. And, no, it won’t happen without work.

From Jobacle.com: What Your Office Walls REALLY Reveal About You

“When we think about going from the very apex of office couture to the more utilitarian stuff that we’re all used to, the way we decorate our spaces does say a helluva lot about us. And, while our wall space does indeed send a message, this, of course, isn’t necessarily good, either for our images or for our future career.”

Wally’s Comment: If these walls could talk … Well, they can. Sort of. Think of what’s on your walls as part of what creates your personal brand.

From Tara Weiss at Forbes: How To Steal Your Boss’s Job

“Anyone who’s ever held a job knows what it feels like to resent management. Sometimes it seems like your boss couldn’t screw in a light bulb without help. Thankfully, there are ways to get ahead in business and leave your troubles behind. A few devious tricks can help steal your boss’ job–particularly if you’re willing to engage in cutthroat behavior.”

Wally’s Comment: I suppose that this is “Greed is good” transmuted to the workplace. So here’s a thought. Once you steal your boss’s job, then you’re the one with the target on the back and, almost magically, you’ll be the one who can’t screw in a light bulb without help.

From Marshall Goldsmith: Why Shoot Straight in a Crooked World?

“With the crazy economy, the up-and-down stock market, the layoffs, buyouts, and takeovers, I’d like to know: What’s the good in being good?”

Wally’s Comment: This post makes an interesting contrast to the post above. I think honesty is what you should do because it makes for better relations. But I’m skeptical of “proof” that it creates profitability.

From Jon Gordon’s Blog: Zoom Focus

“I believe every one of us has a desire to accomplish great things, to do something meaningful, to have an impact. Yet, so many of us don’t take the actions necessary to create the success we desire. Then there are others who are very busy taking actions but the actions have nothing to do with their vision and goals. They’ve become lost in the busyness of life.”

Wally’s Comment: Focus on the big goal, then zoom focus on the details you need today. This is a great post about a kind of thinking that’s used for success in a variety of situations.

I spent some time this weekend at a party where there were lots of young people. They were mostly aged 25 to 30. This is their first serious downturn.

One of the good things about being 62 is that I’ve been up and down through the cycle more than once. So several of them came over to me and asked what I thought was going to happen and what they should do.

Question: How bad will it get?  Answer: Beats me. My guess is that things are going to get worse than they are right now, but nobody knows how much worse.

Question: How long will it last? Answer: Beats me. Nobody knows the answer to that one, either. Anyone who says he or she does is delusional or has something to sell you.

The one thing we do know is that it will end. Every other economic downturn has ended. It’s like the seasons. Now we’re starting winter, but spring will come.

So stop worrying about what you can’t control. Stop trying to predict what you can’t understand.

Don’t stand still. Keep moving. You’ve got two goals.

Protect yourself as much as you can during the downturn. Cut spending where you can. Keep doing good work. Help people in your network.

And set yourself up so that when the upturn comes you’re ready and stronger. Take on some developmental assignments that boost your capability and visibility.

Economic downturns are tough. And they’re not fair. But you’ll do best if you control what you can, protect yourself, and keep moving.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about managing you professional image, avoiding career advice from pop culture magazines, how to tell if they’re just not into you, getting off on the right foot with a new boss, and taking the long view of your career.

From HBS Working Knowledge: Creating a Positive Professional Image

“There are plenty of books telling you how to “dress for success” and control your body language. But keeping on top of your personal traits is only part of the story of managing your professional image.”

Wally’s Comment: What I liked about this post was the broad definition of “professional image.”

From Kris Dunn at HR Capitalist: Rat Out the Boss (Or Why You Don’t Get Career Advice from Pop Culture Magazines)

“Here are a couple of reasons why doing a skip level session with your boss’s boss may not be a good idea.”

Wally’s Comment: Kris Dunn comments on advice from one of those advice columnists. My money’s on Kris.

From Beth Lisogorsky at Fast Company: Face Facts. They’re Just Not That into You

“But there are common sense signals in the way of indicators that are pretty universal when it comes to both the job market and dating world. I short, I get it when my friend says, “Hmmm…maybe that means they’re just not interested?” in reference to an unfortuitous sign from a prospective employer I’ve interviewed with. So here are a few themes I’ve picked up on in my job hunt that usually indicate they’re just [really] not that into you:”

Wally’s Comment: Yes, it’s true, no matter what a star you are, sometimes they’re just not that into you. Read this post for the telltale signs.

From Dan McCarthy at Great Leadership: 10 Ways to Get Off on the Right Foot with Your New Manager

“I’m going to assume that the new manager is a good, competent leader, and not a “boss” (double SOB spelled backwards). If not, than I’d have to come up with an entirely different “How to work for a jerk” list, and there’s already plenty of those around.”

Wally’s Comment: They say you never get a second chance to make a first impression. They say there’s only one “honeymoon period” with a new boss. Dan McCarthy tells you how to make the best of both.

From Escape from Cubicle Nation: Stop searching for the perfect job and start finding your life’s work

“Jobs are temporary things, often enticing on paper until you realize that as soon as you get comfortable in your position, it will change, your boss will change, your team will change or your organization will change. That is just the nature of business. Therefore if you go into a job excited by the position or the person you will be working for and not the work itself, you often set yourself up to be disappointed.”

Wally’s Comment: In the midst of the hurley-burley of job search it’s a good thing sometimes to step back, take a deep breath, and take the long view.

The headline in my Charlotte Observer this morning says it all. “Thousands of Charlotte layoffs likely after Wachovia’s stunning fall.” There are headlines like that all around the country these days.

The financial crisis means there will be lots of layoffs. There will be mergers, too. What do you do if you’re in one of the companies that gets “merged.”

You’ve got two key challenges when the company you work for is merged into another. Look out. And look good.

Look out. Too many people figure “they won’t get rid of me” and then get surprised. Too many decide to “wait and see what happens” and wait until it’s too late.

Don’t be one of them. Get your credentials together. Tune up your resume. And start looking.

If you’ve got great performance reviews make sure you have copies that you can share with prospective employers. If you’ve got bosses who love you, ask if you can use them as a reference with their personal contact information, if necessary.

Fire up your network and start looking for opportunities and possibilities. It doesn’t matter what situation you’re in, there’s an opportunity in there somewhere.

Look good. These quickfire, forced mergers are different from classic mergers. Instead of taking place over months with plenty of time to evaluate talent, they took place over a weekend. The first order of business for your new bosses will be figuring out who they want to keep.

No matter how you’re feeling, make sure you’re focused, productive and pleasant in the office. Look like what you are: the employee everyone will want to keep. It’s way better to find a new job when you choose, not when you’re out on the street with thousands of others who look just like you.

Getting merged will change the world around you. It won’t be easy. But what comes out of it is up to you.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about making the most of bad situations, why it pays to connect with others, using LinkedIn, and making the most of experience.

From Lisa Haneberg at Management Craft: Stop Trying to Change Your Boss’s Mind and Make His/Her Lousy Idea Work!

“We need to make sure that we do not fall into the trap of defining success as “winning” or getting what we want. Success should be measured in terms of our impact to the growth and success of the organization.”

Wally’s Comment: Personal integrity is important. Fighting for what you think is the right choice is important. But there often comes a time to put that aside and pitch in.

From Liz Wolgemuth at US News and World Report: 10 Great Things You Can Do Right Now to Improve Your Job

“These are hard times, but here are 10 basic steps you can take today, tomorrow, or this week to juice up your job (culled from many experts I’ve interviewed for various stories).”

Wally’s Comment: Maybe you’re in a situation where you’ve got to stay in a not-so-great job for a while. Here are some ways to improve your situation.

From CareerRealism: Are You a Marble or a Sponge?

“In the Current Economy, Your Answer Will Determine the Quality, Quantity & Quickness of Job Offers You Receive”

Wally’s Comment: This is a great post on a career strategy that makes a difference.

From Dotty Scott at Networking Effectively: LinkedIn-Professional Networking for the Serious Business Owner

“When I first joined LinkedIn – I was like most average business owners – registered because someone invited me and then never completed the profile and never participated. Guess what – I never got anything out if it either! After reevaluating online networking sites I discovered a potential huge pool of people that can help my business grow in one way or another. LinkedIn has become one of my best sources of business information and a great resource for potential customers. There are “secrets” to using LinkedIn - and now I am going to reveal the secrets to you.”

Wally’s Comment: I know, the title of the post says, “Business Owners.” Pay no attention. This is good material about using any of the online networking sites.

From the Practice of Leadership: How leaders make the most of their experiences

“Leaders are continual learners and effective leaders ensure they make the most of their life experiences. It’s important that you understand how to extract the maximum value from what you learn from your experiences as you journey through life. Here are some of what I have learnt about the importance of learning from what life throws at you.”

Wally’s Comment: What good is experience if you don’t learn from it? This is a great post on how to do it.

John was a rising young star until his job disappeared. He’s worked in financial services, so there will be lots of people like him flooding into the job market. Here are some thoughts for John and the rest of you who are suddenly jobless.

Yes, it’s unfair. But nobody makes it through a career without some bad luck. Sometimes it’s not your fault, it’s just your turn.

You’ve got two choices about how to spend your time. You can brood about what happened. Or you can start working on what will happen next. I suggest the latter.

Take stock. What are your strengths and weaknesses, personally, professionally and financially? What opportunities are out there for you? What major threats could make things worse?

Prepare for the long haul. Cut back your spending. Pull together your professional accomplishments, with proof, so you can stand out from the crowd of other job seekers.

Study up on best practices in job search. If you haven’t been in the job-hunting game for a while, or even if you have, read up on the job search process and tactics. A good place to start is right here.

Every week, I select the best career posts and give you pointers to them. Those posts are a rich source of advice about how to do the best job possible of finding your next job.

Talk to people. Get advice from knowledgeable people you trust. Let people know what’s happened to you and that you’re back in the job search game. Don’t neglect alerting your online networks.

Start now. It’s tempting to sit in the ashes of your bad luck and dwell on it. Don’t do that. It’s tempting to “take some time off.” Don’t do that either.

Your job now is to make the next stage of your life happen. So plan your days and weeks the way you would on the job. Set some short term objectives. Measure your progress.

When bad things happen to good people, the good people need to get to work and make good things happen.

Every week I check dozens of “career” blogs and other online publications, looking for things that will help you find a job, get promoted, develop your skills, and keep everything in perspective and balance. Here’s the pick of the lot for this week. I’m pointing you to items about cleaning up your social posts, what to do while you’re waiting for the next step in the process, making keywords your friend, how recruiters view your resume, and becoming visible to the right headhunters.

From Newsday: Boozing, drugs on your resume?

“Careerbuilder.com says to watch your social posts — some employers go looking for digital dirt on jobs applicants.”

Wally’s Comment: You’ve heard this message a lot, but it doesn’t hurt to hear it again. Pay special attention if you’re starting the interview cycle for internships or looking for that first job after graduation.

From Alison Green at US News and World Report: How to Play the Post-Interview Waiting Game

“So you had the job interview, things seemed to go well, and you left expecting that you would hear back soon. But now…silence. And you’re left waiting around with no idea of when or if you’ll hear from them. It’s not at all unusual for the hiring process to take longer than a candidate would like, for all sorts of reasons: Decision makers are out of town, scheduling conflicts are delaying a final interview, the bureaucracy necessary to finalize an offer takes weeks to work through (not necessarily a great sign about the work environment, but that’s a different topic), and so forth. But you’re not entirely at the company’s mercy, although it might feel that way.”

Wally’s Comment: It seems to me like most candidates expect the process to unfold faster than it does and that most companies don’t pay much attention to “how long it’s been” so this post may be especially helpful.

From My Global Career: Keywords of the Rich & Famous

“Are you buzzword compliant? Maybe that’s the problem - in the careers field they’re no longer called buzzwords. They’re called keywords, and without them, your résumé will slide into a black hole in cyberspace from which no search engine can find you.”

Wally’s Comment: Today’s resumes move on line. Many are culled from the pack by software searching for just the right keyword. Read this post to make those magical keywords work for you.

From the Boston Globe Job Blog: Difference of opinion

“Ever wondered what hiring managers think when your résumé flops across their desk? Do they intently scan every word, or does it quickly get crinkled up and shot through a mini basketball hoop and into a garbage can? This is one of the things we wanted to know when we solicited résumés from Boston.com readers and sent a select few to hiring managers, HR experts, and recruiters across greater Boston.”

Wally’s Comment: Another fine post on how recruiters see your resume.

From Forbes: How to Headhunt the Headhunters

“Sending a blind letter like this to a recruiter you don’t know is a total waste of time, particularly when there are thousands of former Wall Street employees lined up in front of the copy machines. Even more clueless: Sending a résumé to someone who doesn’t even conduct searches in your field. ”

Wally’s Comment: At a certain level, headhunters become important to career moves. Here’s a solid post on how to find the right ones in the right way.

After watching careers for almost forty years, I’ve got a pretty good idea about what you should do to build yours. Here’s some advice if you’re starting out.

1. Seek and use feedback. Feedback will turbocharge your career and put you on the path to continuous improvement.

2. Get help. You can’t know it all yourself. Get help from mentors, friends, peers, books, classes and role models.

3. Seek out challenges. That’s how you grow.

4. At some point you will fail. It will be painful. Instead of sitting in the ashes of your life and shaking your fist at the sky, pick yourself up, learn from what happened and keep going. Ask my mother’s favorite question for all challenges: “What good can we make of this?”

5. Build on your strengths and help others build on their strengths. Figure out what you do both well and joyfully. Do the same for your team. Spend your time on developing and using strengths. Make weaknesses irrelevant.

6. Admit your mistakes, graciously. Forgive the mistakes others make. Figure out how to move on and learn from experience.

7. Say “Thank you.” Write thank-you notes. Send thank-you emails. People will remember you.

8. Learn to write lucid memoranda. You can’t communicate if you can’t write.

9. Learn to make good presentations. In today’s world this is a requirement. Learn to marshal the research. Learn to tell relevant stories.

10. Help your boss and your employer look good. That’s part of your job and it pays dividends over the course of a career.

11. Learn to keep your mouth shut when it’s important. Don’t discuss sensitive issues or your customer’s business on your cell phone in a public place. Don’t gossip. Keep sensitive documents secure.

12. Clarify expectations until they are crystalline. Make sure you understand what your boss wants from you. Make sure the people who work with you understand what you want.

13. Fight for the important stuff and give in gracefully otherwise. There are very few things in business or in life that are worth messing up a relationship.

14. Develop habits and checklists that help you get the routine work done routinely and well. You will develop a reputation for reliability.

15. You don’t know when an opportunity to stand out from the crowd will appear. Read and study and listen so that you’re ready when a big opportunity comes your way. Create learning programs for yourself.

16. Ambition can be a driving force but it needn’t be obvious and self-serving. It certainly needn’t be aggressive. Let others become known for their ambition while you build a reputation for excellence.

17. Keep your promises. Nothing can destroy a career faster or more thoroughly than a reputation as being untrustworthy.

18. Every day identify the most important thing you need to do. Then do it.

19. Work hard. Some people succeed without working hard, but some people win the lottery, too. Very few people achieve meaningful and lasting success without working hard.

20. When in doubt about what to do, act like the person you want to become.

Remember that careers are built from the things you do every day. You’re more likely to succeed in the long run if you take every opportunity to develop yourself, your skills, your friends, and your relationships. Good luck.