Career Direction | Discover Your Calling and Career Path

When Applicant Tracking Systems (ATS) made their debut in the 1970’s, they barely created a ripple in the job search process. They were very basic and were used to help organize the manual job application process. But the 1990’s ushered in a new era of automation which has continued to progress (or regress, depending on your perspective) to current claims of …

We often use this statement as the goal for the hiring process: “Matching what you (the candidate) do best to what they (the employers) need most.”    And while this sounds very simple and straightforward, if you’ve been on either side of that equation for a while, you know the myriad of complexities involved with both sides.  The Cost of a …

“The less said the better.” (Jane Austen)  “It is best to say as little about a difficult or unfortunate topic or situation as possible (to avoid making it worse or dwelling on it for too long.”) (idioms.thefreedictionary.com)  The quote “The less said the better” encapsulates a profound perspective on communication and its nuances. At its core, this phrase suggests that sometimes, …

How many of you read the blog subject line above and just want to throw up? 🙂 I mean, the topic of job descriptions was never that thrilling to you while you were employed, and now that you’re in a job transition, with everyone telling you to match up your resume to the job descriptions…well, it just doesn’t sit well …

There’s an old adage that goes, “what got you here won’t get you there.” This saying is used many times to spur people towards innovation and thinking afresh about a familiar topic.  For Crossroads Career, networking is one such topic! In fact, our corporate name used to be Crossroads Career Network! If you’re familiar with us at all, or if you …

Figuring out how and when to talk about compensation in the recruitment process has been the nemesis of job seekers for decades. Ranging from advice snippets like, “Whoever talks about money first loses” to detailed outlines of how to broach the compensation topic with a recruiter or hiring manager, compensation has been a bit of a mysterious topic for people to …

Work shapes so much of life, and yet it can be difficult to think about, confusing to develop a good perspective on, and scary to search for a great fit throughout different seasons. Why is this thing we were made for so hard to understand, find joy in, and accomplish faithfully? After graduating from college, I found myself in circumstances …

In a recent study conducted by Workplace Intelligence and INTOO, 800 HR managers and 800 full-time employees were surveyed to understand what’s missing for today’s workers – and it turns out career development tops the list.  Here are a few of their findings:  Sobering results. Yet not surprising. Over the decades I’ve been involved with HR and people development, I’ve …

You’ve had the final interview…it seemed to go really well. You asked if they were considering any internal candidates, and the answer was no (single hardest obstacle to overcome). You seemed to make a connection and the Hiring Manager was impressed with the research you had done on the company and on him/her. There was a great back and forth …

While probably close to 20 interview questions show up in 80% of the interviews that take place, occasionally you’ll get an unusual, ‘odd duck’ interview question. I’m not personally a fan of such questions, but some interviewers have them in their quiver and may ask you one or more of them. Here are a few examples:  The Purpose of ‘Odd-Duck’ Questions …