Ask Diana

According to studies done by outplacement firms, more than 44,000 jobs have been lost this year due to corporate merger and acquisition activities.   Are you one of the staff affected by this?
I have hands-on, personal experience with mergers and acquisitions,  having managed several of them as the bank where I worked acquired smaller banks.
Then we [...]

Are you considering going back to school to prepare for a career change?
Tonight I attended an acoustical music event with friends here in Charleston. One works for a government agency and is concerned that, with the current agency financial situation (in the red), job eliminations are looming, likely earlier than later.
The question came up of [...]

Susan Boyle Sings on Britain’s Got Talent 2009 Episode 1 @ Yahoo! Video
Witness the amazing the talent a 47-year old unemployed female has..
Inspiration for all of us who need a lift today…incredible!
PS At the end of the video, you can navigate to the yahoo site with multiple versions of the video. I found the full [...]

The care and feeding of references has taken on greater importance in today’s market.
It is not enough to have identified those who you respect and who know your work well. You must ensure that they are true assets in this key process. As reported recently in The Wall Street Journal, your chances of getting a [...]

Are you frustrated and discouraged in your job search? Then ask yourself this: “To what extent have I been looking for needs rather than searching for a position”?
Let me explain..
Recently I have been more aware of how true sales professionals approach their prospective clients and what works for them.  As I considered how this relates [...]

The article below appeared on the Monster.com site. It outlines the increased unemployment benefits, changes to COBRA coverage, assistance for older workers, impacts to those working part time, and some tax relief. The entire article is below, complete with links so you can access your local or state unemployment office information for more details.
Stimulus Act [...]

Finding your retirement nest egg short?  Looking for some ideas for skills to learn to move forward?
Many are doing whatever it takes to start a second career.
Check out the latest NY Times article on refining skills to restart earnings
Cheers to your success!

As someone who has been downsized or displaced, you likely have heard that using the social network LinkedIn is a great process to add to your job search toolkit.
But how do you do that? Many of my clients are new to LinkedIn and are asking the same question. One professional over 50 has a very [...]