KACHARAGADLA

Social media is playing an increasing role in the way companies run their business, including how they hire. According to CareerBuilder,  60% of hiring managers  check out applicants’ social media presence as part of their screening process and over 25% of employers report terminating or reprimanding an employee due to social media faux pas. You can argue about whether it’s right or fair for hiring managers to snoop around on your social media accounts. Clearly, they are doing it anyway. This means that you have to be vigilant. I  asked my readers over at Twitter  what career killing mistakes applicants and employees should avoid on social media and got dozens of replies. Here are the best responses. 1. Being dramatic, combative or insulting “We all have those moments. You post something and some rude person tries to call you out, or you see a post denigrating a friend. In those moments, you might want to give somebody a very public piece of your mind. Resist the urge. Li

A  study  by University of Michigan researchers I just read about in the  Squared Away   blog  from the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College noted that “about 40% of Americans who were still working when they turned 62 had moved to a new occupation sometime after age 55.” But when older workers  change occupations  later in life, the study added, “they experience a decrease in hourly earnings.” Let me unpack that study, which was called  Occupational Transitions at Older Ages: What Moves are People Making?  Then, I’ll offer my five rules to follow if you want to keep working into your 60s or beyond — especially if you want to change careers to do it. Taking a Pay Cut After a Career Switch I wasn’t terribly surprised by the researchers’ pay cut finding. The truth is, based on the workers I’ve studied and interviewed for  my books  and articles, most workers who change careers take a step down in salary when they start over. But here’s the interesting part: Th

The saying goes, “Love, like wine, gets better with age,” but does the adage extend to job interviews too? For the answer, we turned to Glassdoor’s Chief Economist, Dr. Andrew Chamberlain. In a  new study  of a large sample of more than 250,000 interview reviews on Glassdoor, Dr. Chamberlain and his team looked at the factors that make job interviews difficult. In addition to multi-step evaluations making interviews harder for candidates, age is a reported factor that intensifies the interview process. “We found that older workers reported significantly more difficult job interviews than younger workers on Glassdoor, even after controlling for job title, education and industry,”  says  Dr. Chamberlain. “On average, moving up one age group — for example, moving from age 25-34 to 35-44 — is associated with approximately 1.3 percent more difficult job interviews, a small but significant increase.” But aren’t older worker’s more experienced? Doesn’t their industry insight give

You applied for the job. Then, a hiring manager contacts you for an interview – fantastic! After jumping for joy for a few moments, you quickly stop and think, “Wait a second… How do I  prepare   for the big interview and land the   job ?” Here are seven tips to prepare for any job interview from the career and workplace experts at Glassdoor, the leading social jobs and career community: 1. Research the Job First, read the job description and its requirements over and over. Then, when you think you know it inside and out, read it one more time. By truly understanding what a hiring manager is looking for, you can use the details provided in the job description to speak to your strengths and accomplishments that match these specific areas. For example, does the job description call out that the employer is looking for a person that is “Energetic, a self-starter and a resourceful problem solver”, if so, think through your recent experiences and identify a time when you demonstra

June provides a lot of distractions – end of school year activities, summer vacation planning – but also provides a natural inflection point for our annual goals. If your company has an official annual review process, now would be a good time to see if you’re on track to meet the company objectives and expectations. But for your own objectives – the career, relationship, health, finance and other critical goals you set for yourself – you also want to ensure you’re on track. Here are seven questions to guide your personal mid-year review: Are you halfway to your goal target? If your goal is a sales target, then you should be approximately halfway to your quota. If you intended to lose 10 pounds, then you should have lost five. If you wanted to put aside $5,000, you should have $2,500 in your fund. If you’re not halfway to your target, is there a legitimate reason to believe you’ll catch up in the second half? It could be that your sales pipeline is bursting and most decisions ge

The great thing about careers in the 21 st   century is that you get to decide what you want to do. And if you don’t like what you’re doing, you can change. While this is liberating, it’s also scary and confusing. The complexity of today’s employment landscape is overwhelming. Managing your career requires coping with ambiguity and uncertainty and learning some basic navigation skills. After years of research and coaching people on career transitions, here’s what I recommend: Follow your energy and interest.  This is the most fundamental part of your strategy. Energy and interest are to your career path what the North Star is to celestial navigators. Paying attention to what engages and excites you, what lights you up, and what stimulates your intellect points you toward the tasks and situations that enable you to be your best self. That’s where you will thrive. Take Noah Tannen, who used to work as a copywriter and creative director at an advertising and design firm. Over time