Are you getting everything you can out of this life?
A self-less, feel-good blog about love, life, and work by career coach and existential adventurer, Cliff Flamer
Nobody likes an elevator pitch.
It doesn’t reveal you. It sells you, or, rather, someone like you.
So don’t do it. Don’t rifle out a prepared speech full of buzzwords nobody uses in real life. You won’t be remembered. Your business card will be one of many… Read more...
When preparing for an interview, the tendency is to look at what the employer wants (i.e. the job description) and figure out how to fit into that. Well, you should, indeed, know what the employer wants, but that’s not the place to start…
Instead, go back to the basics… Read more...
On the plane ride home from the east coast, I sat next to a guitarist in a pretty well-known jam band. He’s engaged to be married, has played all the big venues in the Bay Area, loves chocolate wafer cookies (“the most underrated snack”), always travels with his… Read more...
(1 min read)
Ever notice when talking to someone the most important things come out right when you’re starting to leave, often right when one of you has your hand on the doorknob.
“Oh, I almost forgot… One last thing…”
It’s as if the mind, when p… Read more...
(30 sec read)
“Tell me about yourself.”
A lot of people mess up answering this question in the interview (or at a cocktail party for that matter).
By reflex and at the urging of the questionner, we tend to tell our life story, starting with our first days out of school.… Read more...
It’s widely known that employers want young people. Age discrimination is real. Young people have stamina, will work long hours, don’t have preconceived ideas that get in the way. They’re more flexible in their thinking, more willing to adopt the company’s… Read more...
I’m terrible at leaving parties.
I can’t end a conversation in the middle. And the more I learn the deeper I want to go. That’s why saying goodbye really ends up being hello again; you can reel me in with a quick aside.
I don’t try to get as much as I can fr… Read more...
There’s this thing I do when talking to clients about their work histories. I tend to ask questions in the present tense.
Who do you report to? How is the company structured? What level of authority do you have? Who’s on your team?
Sometimes the client will stop me and … Read more...
The smartest person in the room is the one who is talking the least.
It’s a simple calculus:
Listening is how you gain knowledge. If you’re talking, you’re not listening, therefore, as the math plays out, those who choose to listen collect more knowledge than thos… Read more...
People come to me because, as they put it, they’re not good at selling themselves. I hear this from everyone: salespeople, marketers, actors, speech writers, strategic communication professionals, PR agents. For the majority of us – even those where selling is a centr… Read more...