Career | The Career Pioneer | Motivation to help you change careers or start a business you'll love

Getting to First: Interview with First Female White House Press Secretary

I recently had the privilege to interview Dee Dee Myers, the first female White House press secretary. She's currently on tour to promote her latest endeavor as the empowerment ambassador for a new Jones New York women's empowerment campaign. This is a woman who believes that you can do anything, and her passion for helping other women (and men) is evident in how she describes the role of women in the 21st Century workplace today. Part of the “Empowering Your Confidence” movement depicts … [Read more...]

Need a Mental Detox? Plan An Easy Getaway  

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Dinner needs to be cooked. Doctor's appointments need to be made. Bills need to get paid. The child needs to get picked up from daycare by 5:30 p.m. That assignment needs to be filed by tomorrow afternoon. Your spouse needs your undivided attention. Your toenails are screaming for a pedicure. Your blog hasn't been updated in a week. And the list goes on and on and on. If your to-do list looks anything like mine, then you're probably feeling pretty overwhelmed right about now, or at least … [Read more...]

Tough Choices: Going Back to School. Is it Worth the Time & Expense?

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It's no secret that the economy and people all over the world are still reeling from the economic downturn. In fact, we're finding more and more professionals are opting to go back to school with hopes to reinvent their careers in this tight job market. Indeed, some college students are pursuing higher degrees simply to delay entering the Real World altogether and perhaps with hopes of getting ahead later. That's all fine and dandy. But let's not forget that attending college for the average … [Read more...]

Job Lessons Learned From Steven Slater: How to Avoid Emergency Slides

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By Ronn Torossian Businesses are accustomed to regular employee horror stories, yet CEOs worldwide must be terrified by the recent response to JetBlue flight attendant Steven Slater’s choice of how and when to resign. Many have come to his defense, stating, “It’s hard working daily with people” and “you easily get agitated by constant traveling and servicing annoyed passengers,” but did anyone ask if he still cashed his paychecks? Launching a foul-mouthed tirade on the plane's PA system, … [Read more...]

Inside Look: Neo-Soul Music Artist Dionne Discusses Fear and Her ‘Aha’ Moment 

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I'm not going to sit here and pretend I'm a music reviewer. I simply like and appreciate quality music that's soulful, timeless, inspirational and that I can vibe to. Texas-born neo-soul, singer-songwriter Dionne delivers just that in her upcoming CD, Unrealistic, which debuts this summer. See Dionne Perform Dionne is a classically-trained graduate of the Arts Magnet School in Dallas, an institution known best for cultivating such musical acts as Erykah Badu, Norah Jones and Kirk Whalum. … [Read more...]

Kick Your Career Into High Gear with 5 Top Time Management Tips

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I have a confession to make: I am the worst when it comes to managing time. That's right. The truth is, I put on a good game face. I look the part. As a result, folks around me think I've got it all together. There's some true to that. But there's a side of me that many people don't know. Come to my house, and open the doors to the secretary desk from which I write and work daily, and you'll find evidence of my lack of time management. Books that I'm currently reading (Nobodies to … [Read more...]

From Temp to Permanent: How to Turn Your Temp Job Into a Full-time Gig

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Wendy Powell, author of Management Experience

by Wendy N. Powell, author of Management Experience Acquired So you got the temp job and you are hopeful that you will be hired as a permanent employee. How do you make yourself so valuable they can’t refuse to hire you? 1. Research the company very well. Since you are now a relative insider, use your temp gig as an opportunity to learn about what makes the company tick. Study the information on the internet or intranet and review the mission statement and current goals to make sure you … [Read more...]

How to protect your personal brand  

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The most recent edition of TIME Magazine arrived in the mail the other day. On the cover: A collage of tiny square boxes. In each of them sits an image of a person's face, or that of several people. Then, embossed over those hundreds of images is the name of a revolutionary social networking site called (you guessed it) Facebook. With nearly 500 million users, the magazine says, Facebook is "connecting us in new (and scary) ways." Indeed, sites like Facebook, Myspace and Linked In have … [Read more...]

When Competition Is Fierce, Self-Promotion Reigns

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I never considered myself much of a competitive person. As a matter of fact, I tend to be the one who allows others to shine while I work feverishly in the foreground. In addition, I don't often toot my own horn, as some say. I guess it's part of my upbringing or the culture in which I was raised. It could simply be due to insecurity -- questioning whether my efforts are worth public mention. Some may even label it as humility. Perhaps, it's been a combination of several things that have held … [Read more...]

Trends: 21st Century-Syle Job Search

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Get creative with social networking to land your dream job -- or at least a gig that pays the bills. Social networking sites and new digital tools are making it easier and easier for the average person to get noticed in such a crowded job market. Read on to learn more . . . Sites such as Linked In, Facebook, Twitter, along with a relatively new site called SlideShare, are making waves and folks are creatively using such resources to expand their networks, open new doors of opportunity and … [Read more...]

Guest Blogger: Tips for Science and Engineering Careers

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Tips for succeeding in science and engineering industries By: Laura Sanchez For many of us our career is the most important thing in our life. But at the beginning of our life, we don't know which path to choose. First, because we are not sure about our skills. And secondly, because we don't know about the real world just yet. This article gives some pointers on how to have a successful career when you're just starting out. First of all you have to assess your abilities because you need to … [Read more...]