Career advice and career exploration articles for students, professionals, and anyone needing guidance. Written by Vicky Payne, MS, CRC and author of Career Compass, covering career identity, job searching, career changes, and the real stories behind them.
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Nobody Taught Us How to Choose a Career. I Learned the Hard Way.
Most people don’t think about career decisions until something goes wrong—like burnout, layoffs, or a degree they hate. Discover how to proactively choose a career path aligned with your real strengths, values, and goals before crisis hits.
Is "Follow Your Passion" Good Career Advice?
Rethink traditional follow your passion career advice. Discover practical steps to align your strengths, skills, and values with a fulfilling career path.
Hard in School Does Not Mean Hard for Life. Or Work.
Your grades were never measuring what you think they were measuring. A career counselor shares her personal experience with undiagnosed dyslexia, what the science says about learning differences and workplace success, and why school was the hard part.
Getting Your First Job. Everything You Need to Know.
Have you ever felt like everyone around you knows something you do not, and you somehow missed the memo? Getting your first job can feel a lot like that. Here is everything you need to know, all in one place.
The Job Had Not Changed. He Had. My Husband’s Story.
My husband Fred supported himself on a Sears sales salary at sixteen. Dreamed of being a sports broadcaster. Ended up on the railroad. Spent nearly twenty-five years driving trains.
He was good at it. He was not fulfilled by it. And for years, there was no obvious way out.
This is not a story about a dramatic career pivot or a brave leap of faith. It is a story about a really bad commute, a training center in Kansas, and what happens when the right role finally appears at the company you never left.
I wrote about it today. With his permission.
If You Do Not Define Yourself, Something Else Will.
If You Do Not Define Yourself, Something Else Will. Think about the last time you met someone new. What was one of the first questions you asked? Or were asked? What do you do? It is the go-to get to know you question.