Man is a mystery. If you spend your entire life trying to puzzle it out do not say that you’ve wasted your time. I occupy myself with this mystery because I want to be a man. – Fyodor Dostoevsky Columbia Business School recently published my bookBusiness Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s Quest for Meaning and Authenticity. This has led to a number of interviews that I’ve generally enjoyed very much. However there is one recurring question I find difficult to answer: “What do you do for personal development?” Read our previous blog => Six tips on how to make a ...

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The prospect of choosing between multiple job offers may seem unlikely these days, given all the talk of joblessness and the real unemployment rate of 15.1% (counting people who have given up looking for work, and those working part-time who wish they had full-time jobs). But career coaches say they are seeing the job market pick up, at least for some workers. “Things are turning around,” says Kate Wendleton, founder and president of national job coaching organization The Five O’Clock Club. Given the slightly improved U.S. economy, some workers who have been unhappy in their jobs for a long time, ...

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15 things you should not do at an interview If your CV and cover letter have been impressive enough to get you an interview, the job could be yours – provided you perform well at the interview. Even the most seasoned professional can get flustered and spoil their chances, so with a little preparation you can avoid falling foul of these common interview blunders: Read our previous blog => Use Your Annual Review to Negotiate a Raise Not doing your research You might have the skills to do the job but do you know the how the company operates? Check ...

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Your annual review is often the forum for haggling over a raise. People tend to go into these meetings assuming employers will note their accomplishments and reward them accordingly. But that’s not always the case. What’s more, Monster members often write that they have not received a raise in two years or more. Worse, some employers have actually taken away certain benefits, such as bonuses or vacation days. Read our previous blog => Work-life balance is dead — here’s why that might be a good thing These examples underscore the need to be prepared for your performance review. You must ...

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Gone is the notion of balance. Increasingly, professionals are comfortable blurring the line between work and home. In a corner of West Philadelphia, the cranes have been busy. The project? A few hundred luxury apartments aimed at professionals working at the nearby University City Science Center. Read our previous blog => 5 Rules You Must Follow to Get Ahead in Your Career Increasingly, notes Stephen Tang, president and CEO of this incubator and research park, the professionals running these start-ups want to work and live in the same space. They think little of a work-out at noon and a conference ...

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