Career Tools

We have a special treat for you … as a matter of fact, today we’re publishing the very first podcast with someone other than Mark and Mike. Mark and Mike recently had an opportunity to meet with John Lucht. In this show, you get to hear the first part of the 90 minute interview. If [...]

This cast gives guidance for managers’ use of Social Networking Sites like MySpace and FaceBook. If you’re one of our younger listeners, members, or premium subscribers, with less than 5 years in the workforce, chances are you have a MySpace or a FaceBook page. You stay in touch with friends, let people know what you’re [...]

This cast tells you how to handle requests for your references when engaged in a job search. Even though “References Available Upon Request” is no longer a good idea, reference CHECKING is on the rise and will only increase in the coming years. It seems like since resumes don’t include the age-old line — the why [...]

We’re all in meetings all the time, right? So how come there’s not an instruction manual? We all complain about them. But no one seems able or willing to do something about it. We will. We shared - 3 years ago - our recommendations on how to RUN an Effective Meeting. [...]

This show describes a couple of simple techniques to help you remember people’s names. Whether we like it or not, other people are part of our professional lives. And, as Dale Carnegie sagely noted, “A person’s name, to that person, is the sweetest and most important sound in any language.” But how to remember [...]

This podcast is the second of two on the subtleties associated with being interviewed during a meal.

This podcast details all the subtleties associated with being interviewed during a meal. We have NO EXCUSE for why we didn’t do this podcast 2 years ago. We get this question all the time, so much so that we’re making it part of the standard weekly show rather than restricting it to the interview tool. [...]

This cast updates one of our most popular casts Your Resume Stinks [October 31, 2005] with learnings from our community and some timely recommendations regarding recent trends. And, in this cast, we make a very exciting New Product Announcement! The Link: Manager Tools Resume Service Description

This cast explains how to introduce one person to another in social and business settings. We surprised some of our members a couple of years ago when we included podcasts on how to attend a party, and how to introduce oneself to someone else. Some saw this as “etiquette”, which the modern business world had, [...]

This week, we conclude our conversation on the Manager Tools Annual Layoff Immunization Guidelines.

We received lots of comments and email regarding our show regarding the first rule of layoffs. While our recommendation struck some folks the wrong way - “finances rule??” - those who HAD been laid off told us we were dead solid perfect. The fact is, we did not expect three years ago to get [...]

This cast describes a simple way to handle a group interview. Interviewing is one of the real tragedies in most companies. It’s so easy to do it well (once you get over the Horstman Curve), but so few are willing to take the time. Oh, sure, everyone wants to complain about lousy output (low [...]

This is the second of our casts that describe our recommendations about calendar management.

This cast describes the first of our recommendations about calendar management.

This cast reveals the most important concept a laid off manager must know: Finances Rule. it is the first in a series designed to help both prepare for and navigate through a layoff. Most of us fear being laid off. It’s a good fear to have, frankly - being laid off is a difficult [...]

This cast describes how to leave an effective voicemail. If you’ve ever gotten a voicemail which sounded like, “[your name], this is [their name], call me,” you know why we’re doing this cast. Phone manners have been steadily decreasing for decades. When boys used to call for Mark’s daughter Kate, they would slouch verbally through, “Is [...]

In this cast, we describe how to be effective in everyday conversations.

This cast describes how to answer the interviewing question, “Describe Your Leadership Style.” This is perhaps the third most important interviewing question, after, “Tell me about yourself,” and behavioral questions. It can be a tough one if you haven’t done some thinking about how you lead and motivate others, and why others perform well when [...]

Today, we cover the 2nd in a two-part series on Horstman’s Wager. Last week we covered the basics as to why “Playing the Game” doesn’t work … today we get into the details of the dreaded Horstman’s Wager MATRIX. During the show, we refer to the printed matrix included in the slides for [...]

This cast is about interview preparation, and the need for ethics and candor during the process. We’ve been pleased by the demand for our interviewing product - close to 1,000 purchases so far, and the early feedback has been quite powerful. If you would like to read what folks are saying, you can see that [...]