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- Wise Words -
If I could take a mulligan,
​here's what I would do...

by jane ashen turkewitz

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As an executive recruiter aged 40-something, I’ve learned a thing or two in terms of career trajectory and growth that I’d love to share with those who are just planting their feet. 
 
If I could go backwards in time, here’s what I’d change in how I approached my own path forward.
 
Take a Gap Year
Save up. Even if it’s $5 a day that you put in a can, do it. For most of us, there are two times in your life when you are untethered and have the flexibility to explore the world. One is when you are single and without kids. The other is when you are not so young and your kids are grown. But, by then, you may have limits in your physical mobility, or perhaps your spouse won’t want to explore the world as you do. If you have ANY desire to explore different cultures, take a gap year and travel or imbed yourself in a different locale. Work while you are on the road to support yourself – but just not in an office. Bartend, serve food, sell fruit at a beach stand, teach yoga. Live. Breathe. Eat. Drink. Talk. Learn thru your experiences.  Trust me when I tell you that you will get that office job when you return home.
  
Realize that EVERY Interview Goes Both Ways
Yes, you are the one being evaluated for a job when you go in for a series of interviews. But, guess what? You are also evaluating the companies you are meeting with. You need to sell them and they need to sell you. If my younger self had realized that, I would have never walked into an interview nervous. I would have felt more in control of the situation.  
 
Come prepared, though, so you can hold your head high in confidence. Here are some ways to conduct your due diligence.
  • Peruse the company’s website but also investigate what others are saying about the company. One great way to do this is to set up a “Google search” so that you are “pushed” daily information on the company as they appear in the news. 
  • Read up on the executive team.
  • Look at the bios of the folks you are meeting with on LinkedIn. Ask everyone you interview with why s/he joined the company.
  • Read thru the company’s most recent press releases so you know what’s important to them –what they are touting to the press.
 
If you come in armed with information and confident, you won’t feel like you are the one in the hot seat.
  
Trust Your Gut
If you are offered a job that seems great on paper, provides a step forward in your career and a boost in salary, and yet, it just doesn’t feel like it’s the right job?  Go with your gut. In my 20’s, I had a company woo me to take a Marketing Director position that I just knew was wrong for me. BUT, I was swayed by the salesmanship of the Publisher, the title and the money.  Three weeks into the job, I quit. From day one, I was miserable and knew I had made the biggest mistake of my life.  Trust your gut.  Sometimes your spidey senses are what you’ve got to follow, vs. the money.
 
Take a Mulligan
And, this brings me to number four.  Notice, in the point I made above, that I mentioned I lasted three weeks in a miserable job and then quit? If you know you made the wrong move, don’t stick with it just to follow some made up etiquette rule that says “you need to stay in a job for at least a year.” Get the heck out.  Don’t waste a year of your life working on something and for someone you are not going to get anything out of just so your resume looks decent.
 
Case in point… a young woman I was mentoring had taken a job in NYC in which she was put in a position that had zero relevance to the work she wanted to perform. She was conducting customer service with small businesses when she wanted to be working in social media and social strategy for major brands. This job was taking her down a different path than her desired trajectory but she was scared to leave after only 6 months because of how it would “look” on her resume. I told her that staying for another 6 months was going to do nothing to help her get on track and to not waste her time being stuck in a role that made her feel as though she was stagnating.  She put her resume together and went out and got that job in social media, which is where she was meant to be. If you know you are in the wrong place, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and make the necessary change – not tomorrow, or next week or month. Today.


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Jane Ashen Turkewitz is Founder and President of .comRecruiting which specializes in placing executive level talent with digital media and emerging technology companies. She has also worked as an executive at major media companies, including Disney and The New York Times.
​
Jane is an avid writer with 5MM+ readers and has been featured in the Business Insider, MediaBistro, TheLadders and now EarlyStageProfessional.com!


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More Wise Words...

Achieve: Focus on Results
​
Achieve: Leading from the Start
Achieve: Small is BIG
Achieve: Take Action
Career Management: Annual Review. A "How To"
Career Management: Annual Review. As Career Plan
Career Management: Choosing a Mentor
Career Management: Careers Happen
Career Management: Career Journey
Career Management: Mentorship Explained
​
Career Management: Post Graduate Degrees
Career Management: Promotion Frustration 
Career Management: Moving up by moving out
Career Management: Selecting Your Company
Career Management: Understand Yourself
Finances: Retirement Saving (1)
Finances: Retirement Saving (2)
Hindsight: Balance the short- with the long-term
​Hindsight: Embrace learning and your manager
Hindsight: Focus at Work
Hindsight: Millennial Reflections
Hindsight: Regrets: Time, Money & Pride
​Hindsight: Take Advice Sparingly
Hindsight: Take a Career Mulligan
​
Hindsight: Transition from College
Hindsight: Winning Nicely
Hindsight: Work hard, network, be honest. Have fun too!
Managing Up: Manage Up to Move Up
Managing Up: Manager As Partner
Managing Up: New Manager
Managing Up: Questions for your manager
Managing Up: Secret Skills for Managing Up
​
People & Teamwork: Be A Giver
​
People & Teamwork: LinkedIn As Networking
People & Teamwork: Networking Hacks
People & Teamwork: Networking as a Relationship
People & Teamwork: Networking Simplified
People & Teamwork: Teamwork As Leadership
Speedbumps: Chutes & Ladders
​
Speedbumps: Laid Off? Take A Breath
Speedbumps: Layoffs. The Afterlife
Speedbumps: Owning Mistakes
Work Life: Work Culture. America vs. UK
Work Life: Ask Why
Work Life: Be Yourself. Be Genuine
​
Work Life: Browned Out?
Work Life: Business Travel Guide
Work Life: Calendar Management
Work Life: Difficult Situations
Work Life: Focus on Fiyah!
​Work Life: Ghosting
​
Work Life: Help the Early Stage Professionals
Work Life: International Remote Working
Work Life: Pre-Vacation Checklist
Work Life: Smartphones & The Office
​Work Life: Start-Up Glamor
Work Life: Stress Management
Work Life: Take a Walk
​
Work Life: They Quit
Work Life: Unlimited Vacation
Work Life: Welcome the Newbies
Work Life: "Work" from Home

Crushing It @ Work

What Time Should I Start? 
What If I am Running Late? 
Taking Vacation
Sick Days 
Working Outside Office Hours
​
How to prepare for One/Ones
Making Meetings on Time 
Business Presentations 
Social Media, Personal Email and Hanging Out on the Web
Give it Six to Nine Months to Feel @Home
Be Your-professional-self
Staying Positive

Money Talk

The Basics
Retirement Savings Guide

Job Search Must Do's

Resume
The Application Letter 
​
The Free Conundrum: Should You Take an Unpaid Internship?
Informational Interviews 
Taking a Shortcut: Using Your Network 
Dealing with a Low GPA
​Responding to Recruiters
The Job Interview
Interview Questions
Questions You Should Ask
Simulations 
Interviews with Other Applicants
Dealing with References
Negotiating Your Salary
How to Resign (if you already have a job)
​
The First Week
You Don't Get the Job: Getting Feedback
​Keeping Motivated Through the Search

USA Today Columns by Fergus Mellon

How to get started on LinkedIn: Do this, not that
Warning: Avoid smartphone shame at work.  Keep them out of sight
To succeed, be a Giver in the workplace, not a Taker
4 ghoulish personality pitfalls to steer clear of at the office
​
How to coach today's not so entitled Millennials as they join the rat race

Crushing IT

Money

Library

WISE WORDS

Bureaucracy

Copyright © 2016 - 2020
  • Home
  • Getting a job
    • Must Do's - Resume
    • Must Do's - Application Letter
    • Must Do's - Internships
    • Groundwork - Informational Interviews
    • Groundwork - Your Network
    • Groundwork - GPA Issues
    • Groundwork - Recruiters
    • Dealing with Rejection - Feedback
    • Dealing with Rejection - Keeping Motivated
    • Closing the Deal - The Interview
    • Closing the Deal - Interview Q's
    • Closing the Deal - Your Questions
    • Closing the Deal - Simulations
    • Closing the Deal - Group Interviews
    • Closing the Deal - References
    • Signing On - Salary Negotiation
    • Signing On - How to Resign
    • Signing On - First Week
  • Crushing It
    • The Hours - What Time Should I Start
    • The Hours - What If I Am Running Late?
    • The Hours - Taking Vacation
    • The Hours - Sick Days
    • The Hours - Working Outside Office Hours
    • Professional Skills - One/Ones
    • Professional Skills- Making Meetings on Time
    • Professional Skills - Business Presentations
    • Professional Skills - Social Media, Personal Email
    • A Level Head - Feeling @ Home
    • A Level Head - Be YourProfessionalSelf
    • A Level Head- Staying Positive
  • Wise Words
    • Achieve - Focus on the Results
    • Achieve - Leading from the Start
    • Achieve - Showcase Your Work
    • Achieve - Small is BIG
    • Achieve - Take Action
    • Achieve - Your New Job. A Plan
    • Career Management - Annual Review
    • Career Management - Annual Review Feedback Meeting
    • Career Management - Annual Review: How to Guide
    • Career Management - Career Contentment
    • Career Management - Careers Happen
    • Career Management - Career Journey
    • Career Management - Choosing a Mentor
    • Career Management - Discomfort Is Good
    • Career Management - Freelancing and Employment Gaps
    • Career Management - Mentally Healthy Choices
    • Career Management - Mentorship Explained
    • Career Management - Post Graduate Degrees
    • Career Management - Promotion Frustration
    • Career Management - Promotions. Move out to move up
    • Career Management - Selecting Your Company
    • Career Management - Understand Yourself
    • Finances - Preparing for a Downturn
    • Finances - Retirement Saving (1)
    • Finances - Retirement Saving (2)
    • Hindsight - Balance the Short- with Long -term
    • Hindsight - Embrace Learning & Your Manager
    • Hindsight - Focus at Work
    • Hindsight - Millennial Reflections
    • Hindsight - Regrets: Time, Money & Pride
    • Hindsight - Take a Career Mulligan
    • Hindsight - Take Advice Sparingly
    • Hindsight - Transition from College
    • Hindsight - Winning Nicely
    • Hindsight - Work Hard. Be Honest. Have Fun
    • Managing Up - Manager as Partner
    • Managing Up - Manage Up to Move Up
    • Managing Up - Mastering Your Manager
    • Managing Up - New Manager
    • Managing Up - Questions For Your Manager
    • Managing Up - Secret Skills of Managing Up
    • Managing Up - Yes Power
    • People & Teamwork - Be a Giver
    • People & Teamwork - Collaboration is Power
    • People & Teamwork - First Time Manager
    • People & Teamwork - LinkedIn as Networking
    • People & Teamwork - Networking Hacks
    • People & Teamwork - Networking as Relationship
    • People & Teamwork - Networking Simplified
    • People & Teamwork - Reputations Travel
    • People & Teamwork - Teamwork as Leadership
    • Sliding Doors - Decision Paths
    • Sliding Doors - Success Requires Luck
    • Speed Bumps - Chutes & Ladders
    • Speed Bumps - Layoffs & Survivors Guilt
    • Speed Bumps - Laid Off? Take a Breath
    • Speed Bumps - Layoffs. The After Life
    • Speed Bumps - Owning Mistakes
    • Work Life - American Work Culture
    • Work Life - Ask Why
    • Work Life - Be Yourself. Be Genuine
    • Work Life - Browned Out?
    • Work Life - Business Travel Guide
    • Work Life - Calendar Management
    • Work Life - Change is Certain
    • Work Life - Difficult Situations
    • Worklife - Focus on Fiyah
    • Work Life - Ghosting
    • Work Life - Help the Early Stage Professionals
    • Work Life- International Remote Working
    • Work Life - In the Zoom
    • Work Life - Mom Skills
    • Work Life - Office As A Stage
    • Work Life - Office Ghouls
    • Work Life - Pre Vacation Checklist
    • Work Life - Returning to Work
    • Work Life - Smartphones & The Office
    • Work Life - Speak Up
    • Work Life - Stage Fright
    • Work Life - Startup Glamour
    • Work Life - Stress Management
    • Work Life - Take A Walk
    • Work Life - Tasks We Hate
    • Work Life - They Quit
    • Work Life - Unlimited Vacation
    • Worklife - Vacation Overview
    • Work Life - Welcome the Newbies
    • Work Life - "Work" From Home
  • Money
    • Money - The Basics
    • Money - Saving for Retirement
    • Money - Retirement Saving
  • Library
    • Book Reviews
    • Webinar Hub
    • USA Today Columns
    • Buy Early Stage Professional
    • Bureaucracy
  • Help Center
    • Annual Reviews
    • Career Speed Bumps
    • Managing Up
    • Promotions & Career Planning
    • Stress Management