SelfGrowth.comThe Self Improvement Guide

About Professional DashboardDashboard Browse Topics Create Professional AccountCreate Account

Home/
Articles

Browse SelfGrowth articles

Loading the searchable article library…

SelfGrowth.comThe Self Improvement Guide

Explore experts, guides, articles, videos, and events by topic.

Explore

All topics Experts Guides Articles Videos

Platform

About SelfGrowth Websites Newsletters Events Become an Official Guide Contact

Compliance

Legal

Privacy Policy Terms and Conditions Cookie Policy

Your choices

Privacy Requests

Help improve SelfGrowth

Accounts

Personal account Create Professional Account Become a Contributor

SelfGrowth helps readers explore personal growth topics with clear paths into guides, experts, and related resources.

Home/
Experts/
Elizabeth Freedman/
Articles

Articles by Elizabeth Freedman

Browse published articles attributed to Elizabeth Freedman, with full-archive search.

articles: 33

Explore

TopicsBrowse every topic ExpertsFind people ArticlesRead guidance WebsitesOpen resources EventsSee sessions VideosWatch clips

⌕

SortRecommended Most viewed Most recent Highest rated Alphabetical

Showing 1–33

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Bad Career Habits

Fix your bad career habits If 2010 is going to be your year, then get serious about fixing bad career and workplace habits that are dragging you down. Here are a few to think about: Bad Career Habit #1: Not Networking Let’s agree on one point – most of us would rather pull out our eyelashes than network. If you’re a networking champ, then skip this paragraph. Otherwise, consider the fact that one of the reasons you may avoid networking is simply because you’re not good at it. You’re not comfortable with it. You don’t enjoy it.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,207 views5/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

How to Complete Your Own Self-Assessment at Work

It’s review time at the office and your boss has asked you to complete a self-assessment – those forms that ask you to rate yourself on your own work performance. Here’s where you’re going to have to walk the gauntlet like never before. After all, you’re being asked to step back and consider how your work on the product launch, or office reorg, “exceeded” or “met” expectations (or, God forbid, only met the “minimum” requirement) – no easy task. Here’s how to cope:r

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,781 views4/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Why Your Job Search May Be Taking Forever

Here’s a scenario I read about the other day in The New York Times: An article profiling several unemployed white-collar workers focused on one man, in his early forties, who wondered why his job search strategy wasn’t working. According to the piece, this man, and many others featured in the story, had spent the greater part of a year submitting resumes to job postings online, to no avail. Sound familiar? No matter how terrific the Internet is, applying to job after job online simply can’t be your entire job search strategy.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,203 views4/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Planning Is The Key To Career Success

Winging it doesn’t work. Playing it by ear, seeing what happens or deciding what you’ll be ‘in the mood for’ when the moment strikes – all bad, bad ideas. If you’ve bought into the idea – as I had – that spontaneous people are more relaxed, or experience higher levels of creativity or fun because of their whimsical ways – think again. Studies show that those who ‘wing it’ earn less money, get less done, and experience far greater levels of stress and anxiety.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,107 views4/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Easy Networking For Your Job Search

When it comes to new networking, think of an onion. Like the aromatic onion, your networking strategy works best when you peel back a layer at a time. When you network effectively, you ‘peel back’ layers and layers of people to get to the heart of what you’re looking for – if you stop at the first layer, you may not get what you need. With that brilliant analogy, I will assume that you’ve already peeled back the first layer of your job search onion and that your friends and family already know what kind of job you are looking for because you’ve told them.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,057 views4/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Action, Not Confidence, Is What Counts For Career (and weight loss) Success

If you attend my Weight Watchers meetings on a regular basis, you know that I love talking about mindset.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,034 views4/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Job-Search Advice to Non-native English Speakers

Fair or not, it’s going to be tougher for you to get a job than your American counterparts. There are several reasons why, including the tighter restrictions on H1-B visas, and the fact that American recruiters may not feel entirely confident in your English skills, your ability to adjust to American culture, and so on.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,999 views3/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Avoid Mistakes on the Job

Don’t Ruin a Good Thing: Avoid the 3 Mistakes that Hurt New Employees on the Job By Elizabeth Freedman, MBA www.elizabethfreedman.com Have you ever noticed how easy it is to ruin a good thing? If you’ve ever spilled coffee on a new shirt, added just a bit too much salt to a recipe, or thought that anchovies would make a great pizza topping (sorry, I hate anchovies), you’ve experienced the speed at which a good thing can become bad.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,346 views3/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

How to Get Your Foot in the Door Without Contacts

No Friends, No Contacts, No Nothin’: How to Get Your Foot in the Door When You Know Nobody Here’s something I’m not proud to admit, but I’ll admit it just the same: Once in a while – a very, rare while – I have the strange, secret desire to become Paris Hilton. That’s right – Paris Hilton. This isn’t because I have a yen to appear in every tabloid in existence, but for reasons entirely different. Simply put, Paris Hilton is connected.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,082 views3.5/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

How Much is Too Much When It Comes to Careers?

We’ve been told to be assertive, and ask for what we want – but do we cross the line when it comes to our careers? As a former fundraiser, I was taught to ask for the money – we can’t expect people to read our minds or to hand over their checkbooks. And, I’ve seen enough ‘Oprah’ by now to know that, no, I can’t expect my husband to know that, yes, I really did want to get a huge bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day, not just the card. The moral of the story?

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,034 views3.5/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Pursue the Right Job Opportunities For You

Are you pursuing the right job opportunities for you? Laid off and getting nowhere in your job search? Between the rejections, the unanswered phone calls and limited opportunities, it’s far too easy take it personally, give up altogether, and even worse, assume that you’ll be unemployed forever. Instead of beating your head against the wall and quit now, take a hard look at your job search efforts. Here are a few tips: • Go with your super strengths. What is your super strength?

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,077 views3/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Compete Where You Can Win

Compete Where You Can Win: Quit Beating Your Head Against the Wall and Go Where the Love Is By Elizabeth F. Freedman www.elizabethfreedman.com info@elizabethfreedman.com Why is selling ourselves – whether it’s to a prospective employer or client - so tough? Whether you’re looking for a job, a promotion at work, or additional clients for your business, you’ve probably experienced the joy of trying to sell your expertise, your services, or your resume and ‘hireability’ to someone else – and it can be brutal.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,073 views3/5 (2)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Secrets of Internship Success

Congratulations! You’re in, you did it – after all that hard work, the 42 rewrites of your resume, the hours preparing for interviews – you landed your internship. Now, before we get too carried away and start sending ourselves flowers or calling the Pope, let’s remind ourselves why we worked so hard for this internship in the first place: • To Get Work Experience – The reason most students apply for internships?

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,333 views3/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Burning Bridges is for Arsonists

Burning Bridges is for Arsonists: How to Leave Your Job with Classr Ready to jump ship? Sick of your job and want a new one? Time for graduate school or a trip abroad? You’re not the only one who feels that way. Between 50-80% of all college graduates leave their first job within three years of landing it, (Holton, Ed. The New Professional. Petersen’s Guides, 1991.), and the rest of us only stick it out at a job for about five years, on average. What does this mean to you? Plenty of job-searching…and job-leaving.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,195 views3/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Career Advice: Less Computer, More Face Time

Here’s a math problem for you: Take a look at your life over the past days, weeks, or months, and compare how much you spent in front of a screen (including phone, computer, TV), with how much time you spent face-to-face with someone. If you’re like a lot of us, the screen time wins out over face time, every time. Here’s what we also know: When it comes to landing bigger opportunities, more business, or promotions, it’s face time that counts. We know that people do business with people they know, like, and trust, and it’s hard for most of us to build that trust through email alone.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,112 views3/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

You’re Not An Employee – You’re a Guest

Here’s something that has been forgotten, overlooked – or just simply unrealized in the workplace: You’re a guest. Think about it: You’re an intern, employee, freelancer or anything else at the invitation of your employer. And, if you can be invited, you can be uninvited, too. Our goal? To be great guests, naturally. After all, if you’re at a dinner party and dazzle your companions with your witty banter and funny jokes, you know it’s only a matter of time before you’re swamped with invitations – because we all want to have people we know, like, and trust at our gatherings.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,085 views3/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Getting Re-Hired By The Company That Laid You Off

As the economy starts to slowly get back on its feet, companies are also slowly starting to rehire. You loved your old job and would like nothing more than to be rehired by your former employer. How to get back on the short list when your company starts hiring again? Here are a few tips: Here’s the good news: You’re well-positioned to be a top contender for a shot back in the door at your former employer.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

995 views3/5 (1)

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

It's Called A Cubicle for a Reason

It’s a Cubicle, not a Living Room: What to Bring to your Workspace (and what to leave at home) If you’re reading this article at work right now, stop – at least, momentarily. Take a minute to stretch your legs, stroll around the office, and, oh-so-discreetly, check out what your coworkers have displayed in their respective work areas. Notice anything interesting? As you glance from cubicle to cubicle, chances are that if you work in a typical office, you’ve just seen more than your fair share of knickknacks, trinkets and other signs of whimsy in the workplace.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

2,224 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Want Better Results? Have Better Conversations

What would it mean to your business if…. Sales professionals had better conversations with prospects? Leaders had better conversations with clients? Managers had better conversations with their teams? Employees had better conversations with each other? It isn’t any secret that it makes bottom-line sense to have great conversationalists within your organization. Did you know: • Organizations who rate high on communication skills are up to 43% more productive than other companies (Hay Group)r

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

2,135 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Help! I Hate my Boss

Getting Along with the Boss: Build the Relationship at Work that Matters Most to Your Career Find me someone who has ever held a job, and I’ll find you someone who’s hated his boss. Call it karma, feng shui, or just the way of the world, but everyone seems to have had a boss they’ve disliked. Really disliked. Even bosses have hated their bosses. Why the hate? For starters, as you’ve read thus far, the little things can get in the way of love. I, for one, find it hard to love the boss who clips his toenails in his office, as was the case with boss #3.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,925 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

What Does Somebody Have to Do to Get Promoted Around Here? When You’re Feeling Overlooked at Work

We all have our share of junior high school traumas, right? Here’s mine: Picture me, a somewhat nerdy (OK, extremely nerdy) student in my seventh grade French class, being told by the teacher that I didn’t have the chops to continue on to the advanced French class for the following academic year, and that I would have to stick it out in the ‘regular’ class instead.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,851 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Quit Asking for Permission

Want to help yourself and your career? Quit asking for permission. Just go ahead, grab the bull by the horns, and do it. Far better to ask for forgiveness later than permission now. Here’s why:

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,470 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Enough Already: Why Now is the Perfect Time to Pursue Your Career Dream

At some point you just have to make the call, stop hemming and hawing and decide that it’s time. At some point you have to stop getting ready to get ready to make the career change that you fully intend to do once you’re ready. You have to stop telling yourself that you will do it…once you’re not so busy/once you graduate/once the kids graduate/ once your closet is finally organized and life is perfect.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,304 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Motivate Your Team by Creating Brand Champions

The next time you’re looking for a little fun at the office, try this one on for size: Prowl around a few cubicles and sneak up behind an unsuspecting employee or two. Then, quickly, before they have time to think, bombard them with a series of questions: “How would you define our brand? How does our brand differ from our competitors’ brands? How do we support our company’s brand on a regular basis?”r

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,246 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Would You Have More Career, Workplace Success if You Had Superpowers?

If you had the choice, which superpower would you want to have? Here are the choices – Superpower #1: The Power of Flight, like Superman. Superpower #2: Being invisible – go anywhere, anytime, unseen.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,152 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Career Advice and Assertiveness Tips: Know What to Ask For

We’ve been told to be assertive, and ask for what we want – but do we cross the line when it comes to our careers? As a former fundraiser, I was taught to ask for the money – we can’t expect people to read our minds or to hand over their checkbooks. And, I’ve seen enough ‘Oprah’ by now to know that, no, I can’t expect my husband to know that, yes, I really did want to get a huge bouquet of flowers for Valentine’s Day, not just the card. The moral of the story? We’ve got to ask for what we want, or we may not get it. And yet…

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,141 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Uncomplicated Leadership: Make it Easier to Get the Job Done

Unfortunately, making things complicated is easy to do. Take something pretty straightforward, like weight loss. I don’t know about you, but if you gave me a donut for every time someone said, “All you have to do to lose weight is eat less and exercise more,” I’d be up to my eyeballs in powdered sugar. I’d also hate to admit that something so challenging has a pretty simple solution, particularly after spending time and money galore on diet books, systems, programs, powders, shakes, and nutritionists.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,096 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Would You Have More Career, Workplace Success if You Had Superpowers?

If you had the choice, which superpower would you want to have? Here are the choices - Superpower #1: The Power of Flight, like Superman. Superpower #2: Being invisible – go anywhere, anytime, unseen.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,044 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

The "F" Word: Surviving and Thriving in the Face of Failure

“You don't drown by falling in the water; you drown by staying there." -- Edwin Louis Here’s a recent conversatio I had with a prospect I had been wooing for months: “You know, Liz, we’ve decided not to use your services, after all. Thanks so much for your time.” In one brief moment, a simple phone call ended the months I had devoted to potentially selling some services to this possible client. Or how about the time, at age 15, I delivered a presentation during a high school speech competition? “Horrendous,” wrote one judge, evaluating my performance.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

1,003 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Down with Networking!

Networking is probably one of the toughest and most important aspects of the job search..not to mention our careers and overall professional development. Unfortunately, it’s also one of the most hated, misunderstood and, consequently, poorly practiced areas in our careers, too, which is probably why many of us dread networking altogether. Still, like it or not, we simply must do it. It’s too difficult to land a job, an internship, or a new client today without networking. However, there is good networking and bad networking.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

987 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Good Things Come to Those Who Wait…and Back Off from Time to Time

Imagine that you’ve just purchased a new car. Your first “real” car, you’re proud of the time you spent reading up, really doing your homework, and taking to find the right model in the right price range for you. Now, imagine that you’ve just picked up your friend for a ride in your new car, and before you’ve barely pulled out of her driveway, she proceeds to tell you about the car she thinks you should have purchased.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

977 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

Quit Waiting to Be Discovered

Think back to childhood: Were you one of those kids that sat on your bed and secretly dreamed of being a rock star? As you got older, maybe you fantasized that you’d be walking down the street and someone would approach you and say, “You must star in my next film!” When you’re young, these little daydreams are harmless, fun thoughts. But now, you’re older and your ‘someone’s-going-to-discover-me’ thoughts aren’t so cute anymore.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

957 views

By Elizabeth FreedmanRecently published1 topic

How to Network When You Hate to Network

Whether you’re starting out in a career or transitioning into a new endeavor, one truth remains: If you think that hard work alone will move you up the company ladder, think again. It’s relationships –the ones you have with your manager and coworkers (present and past), clients and more – that will get you there. You’re nodding your head in agreement – and, really, why wouldn’t you be? Most of us have accepted the fact that meeting and greeting and making plenty of contacts (and, hopefully, friends) along the way, is also part of our job description.

Primary topic: Career Coach and Career Coaching

Career Coach and Career Coaching

894 views

Back to top ↑