Written by Pamela Skillings

Still trying to be a good little  boy or girl and stick to those  wholesome New Year’s resolutions? Maybe it’s time to rebel against that clichéd New Year’s resolution routine and resolve to be very, very bad in 2009.

If you’re based in or near NYC, you can start this weekend by committing seven deadly sins before 9:00 PM on Saturday. It will make a nice, decadent break from all of your job searching and/or business building.

Here’s the deal: In my role as a writer/editor for About.com, I worked with a company called City Dusk  to put together a cool night out in New York City inspired by the seven deadly sins. You’ll get to eat, drink, demo sex toys, play with swords (the fencing kind), tour the Cooper Classic Car Club, and enjoy slothful massages.

If you  feel like acting out this Saturday, City Dusk is offering Manhattan About.com readers a discount of $10 on the $70 ticket price (which includes food, drinks, and debauchery). Just  contact Cal at City Dusk and mention About.com and he will hook you up with the discount.

Read more about the sinful itinerary at my About.com blog.

Written by Pamela Skillings

I’m getting the distinct impression that nobody is particularly interested in job search tips or career change strategies today. Everybody I know is caught up in shopping, baking, decorating, or packing for their holiday travels.

Are you taking a few days off from the job hunt to celebrate Hanukkah, Christmas, and/or Kwanzaa? Don’t feel guilty. Here are a few good reasons to give yourself a  little vacation.

1. You deserve a break. Yes, you’re supposed to treat your job search like a full-time job, but even the most driven workaholics usually take a little time off for the holidays.

2. Hiring managers and recruiters are slacking off too. I don’t know any recruiters or HR managers who are scheduling job interviews this week. So this is the perfect time to step away from your obsessive phone and email monitoring.

3. You’ll be refreshed and inspired for the new year. A few days away will help you recharge your job searching battery. You’ll likely return with a more objective perspective and see new opportunities and strategies that you didn’t notice before.

My holiday gifts for you will be arriving after December 25th. I have lots of new content lined up to help you with job searching, career transitions, and New Year’s career resolutions during late December and January.

I’m just going to wait until you’ve had a chance to open your presents, eat your latkas, drink your eggnog, and otherwise enjoy your holiday season.

By then, you’ll be ready and maybe even have some post-holiday downtime for career strategizing, resume updating, and putting the advice into practice.

Can’t stand to take a break? Check out Santa’s Visual CV resume for inspiration and learn more about how to create a free Visual CV and use it effectively to advance your career. Visual CVs let you incorporate photos, videos, and work samples to create a more compelling resume and help you stand out.

Written by Pamela Skillings

It’s performance review season again! That means it’s time to sit down with your boss to review your 2008 accomplishments and find out if you’re going to take home more moolah in 2009.

This year, you may be feeling even more cynical about your performance review prospects than usual. You know how bosses always blame piddly raises and uninspiring bonuses on budget constraints (“If it were up to me, I’d give you a huge bonus!”)? Well, this year they will almost definitely be telling the truth.

But recent studies show that most companies are still planning to give raises in 2009 — approximately 3.5%  on average.  The bad news is that companies are also planning to lay workers off and raise employee contributions for health care.

So this year, your performance review represents more than just an opportunity to justify that 3.5% raise. It’s your chance to document your value to the company, strengthen your internal brand, and improve your chances of staying employed in 2009 (if that’s the sort of thing you’re into).

Yes, your performance review is really a marketing campaign. While good performance is no guarantee of keeping your job, you’re far likelier to keep those paychecks coming (and even make more money) if you can demonstrate how much the company and your manager would suffer without you around.

So whether you’re looking for a salary bump, a sweet bonus, or just a little extra insurance against a pink slip in 2009; here are some helpful tips for making your performance review pay off in the cold, hard world of late-2008 Corporate America. read more…

Written by Pamela Skillings

“It’s been a long time coming,” Obama told a jubilant crowd in Chicago last night after winning the presidency of the United States, “but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment, change has come to America.”

Written by Pamela Skillings

Based in New York City? Join a group of fabulous women for a night of cocktails and networking sponsored by Womensphere and fashion designer Kathlin Argiro. The event will be held at Kathlin’s studio and I will be reading from Escape from Corporate America at some point in between the drinks, the shopping, and the mingling.

Womensphere is the fabulous organization that sponsored the women’s entrepreneurial summit that I blogged about last week. And Kathlin’s lovely designs have been featured on The Today Show and in InStyle magazine.

This event is free, but limited to just 40 people. So RSVP to INFO@KATHLINARGIRO.COM if you’d like to join us.

What: Midsummer Soiree
When: Tuesday, August 5th, 6-8 pm
Where: Kathlin Argiro Studios, 265 W. 37th Street, 7th Fl. (at 8th Ave.)

Written by Pamela Skillings

The very cool Chris Bailey at Bailey WorkPlay has invited me to join a  game of book-related tag. The object of the game is to share what you’re currently reading and sentences 6-8 of page 123 of that book (I was excited to discover that Escape from Corporate America  is currently on Chris’ reading list). 

As always, I’m in the middle of two very different books. I tend to  have at least two books in rotation — one work-related or business title and one transporting novel or memoir. I like to always have a novel in my bag so that I can switch gears and escape to another place when i get too bogged down with work and day-to-day craziness (and when I’m squeezed between smelly people with no sense of personal space on the F train).

So my novel of the moment is one that I somehow didn’t get around to reading until eight years after it came out to great critical acclaim and won the Whitbread First Novel Award.  It’s White Teeth by Zadie Smith (I actually read her more recent novel On Beauty first and then had to go back and read the rest of her work).  Here’s the bit from page 123:

          Samad wasn’t listening. It was imperative that he be at school before nine if this trip were going to have any purpose whatsoever. By nine, she’d be in class. 

 I am also in the middle of reading Anita Bruzzese’s 45 Things You Do That Drive Your Boss Crazy (And How to Avoid Them), which is a great and entertaining resource for anyone with a boss. Here’s the slightly-out-of-context snippet from page 123 (it’s part of a great chapter about being more tolerant int he workplace):

          Focus on the behavior, not the person. Calling someone a racist or a bigot won’t get anywhere — it will just erect more barriers. Sometimes just clarifying the comment will help the other person realize the error: "Am I clear in understanding that you believe all Irish people to be drunks?"

 Next on my reading list is the latest from the amazing Jhumpa Lahiri, Unaccustomed Earth.

So who else wants to play tag and share their current reading? How about:

Anita Bruzzese
Analisa Balares
Richard Fouts
Nichelle Stevens