Author Archives: Guest Author

Conference Notes: The Art of Leadership For Women

On June 15 2016, Guest writer Helen Bullingham attended The Art of Leadership for Women conference at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre. The standing-room only event hosted close to 1,000 women (and a handful of men). Speakers and panelists included successful women entrepreneurs and senior corporate leaders. The following is a summary of some of the topics and discussions.

Speaker: Kirstine Stewart | VP Media North America, Twitter

Kirstine revealed that her very first job out of university was a receptionist and office admin role for a television distribution company. Her original ambitions were to get into publishing but she could not break into the market post-graduation. Eventually, she was recognized for her initiative and promoted into a Sales role. Seven years later, she left the company as President.

Kirstine went on to become the first woman to join the Board of Directors of The Score on June 9^th 2016. Continue reading →

Freelancing is working. Okay?

Guest Author

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If you’re a freelancer on a months-long contract, or are just going from gig to gig, one thing you’re probably tired of is people assuming that you do nothing but watch Netflix or peruse the innerwebs all day. Le sigh. Writer Melissa Ligertwood would like to set a few things straight.

One of the best things about my co-work office is that I get to share space with entrepreneurs from a diverse cross-section of crafts and industries. What do a math geek, a zen author and a self-made search marketer have in common? Every freelancer has a story…. Continue reading →

Always an interview, never an offer

Guest Author

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You find the job of your dreams, and craft a killer cover letter to accompany the Best. Resume. Ever. Amazingly, you get a call the very next day; the hiring manager asks if you wouldn’t mind coming in first thing tomorrow? You meet, you chat, you click, and she wants to set up another meeting – this time, for you to meet The Team.

Another interview. More questions. More clicking. Awesome! Would you mind doing a test? You spend the night carefully answering all the questions, attaching all the samples, linking all the linky-things. You get your editor friend, your mom, your lawyer cousin, your dog to read it over. Error-free. Perfect. You submit. And then, you wait.

And wait. And wait. And FINALLY, you get the call. Continue reading →

Is working at a start-up for you? Here are 3 things to consider

Guest Author

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Assessing your fit for any job is crucial, but start-ups have more unique considerations than conventional companies. Before you leap into working with that cool company with the staff bar, ice cream cooler or beer Fridays, author Dayton English lays out some pros and cons.

We’ve all seen the incredible – and seemingly overnight – success of some successful start-ups. Many early Facebook employees parlayed the extraordinary gains of their time with Mark Zuckerberg into prominent positions at other organizations like Adobe or LinkedIn.

Mistakenly, early start-up employees have dreams of an IPO or stock options dancing about in their heads. The reality is, that while some lucky start-up teams do receive a generous payout for their early contributions, it’s probably not in your best interest to assume you’ll receive the same good fortune.

Regardless, there is a certain cachet attached to working at a start-up, but before you jump at the chance to join one, consider your values and career goals Continue reading →

Master the art of saying no – with grace

Guest Author

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So. You’ve been swamped with work all day, and it’s 4:30. You can see the light at the end of the tunnel, when around the corner comes your supervisor or co-worke with a request: “Hey, can you add this to your list? It’s a rush job – it’s gotta be in before 5.”

Sound familiar?

You’re this ( – ) close to going postal, and it’s not the first time. But instead of losing your mind and saying something you might regret, remember that there is a better way to say no. Continue reading →

Ask Yourself These 6 Questions Before Accepting a Job Offer

Guest Author

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You crushed it in your interview, sailed through the assignments, and you’ve just been offered the job. The compensation package looks great, but is that reason enough to accept the offer? Our very own Corrie Alexander offers some advice.

Even if everything looks good on paper, there may be red flags that are less obvious than salary or workload. Take the time to carefully evaluate all aspects of what accepting the position will really mean. Doing so will help you make the best decision for you, personally, as well as for your career.

Ask yourself the following questions first: Continue reading →

7 ways to make Monday mornings at the office suck less

Guest Author

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Changing your outlook on Mondays isn’t hard, it just requires a few small tweaks to your routine. Writer Corrie Alexander shares 7 ways to start the week off right and turn Monday into Funday.

Nothing sets the tone for the week like a bad Monday morning, right? Take this particular morning, for example: you woke up late, (because you’re exhausted) and just barely made it in for 9AM – and now you’re wayyy behind schedule. To top it all off, you didn’t have time to stop for coffee, and now you’re facing an inbox chock-full of emails without the crutch of caffeine to help you deal. Great.

#mondayfail Continue reading →

What I learned: (Mis)communication is everything

Guest Author

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Ever had that one freelance gig or landed a job that showed early promise – only to have it do a quick 180º and end up a hot mess? It happens. And it sucks. But instead of beating yourself up or worse, bad-mouthing the company, take a minute to reflect on what you learned during that time. As the saying goes, when you lose, don’t lose the lesson. Writer Melissa Ligertwood shares her story about her stint as a would-be communications rockstar at an oil company…

After a year as a freelance journalist, I moved from BC to Alberta in search of a career in corporate communications. It wasn’t long before I found a position with a growing company and a very attractive salary. The CEO himself sat down in front of me and convinced me that this was where I needed to be.

They wanted to create a position for me, they said. I started with the corporate newsletter, but I had much bigger plans: I was going to build a corporate communications program from scratch. Continue reading →

This ain’t no interview: it’s an informational coffee

Guest Author

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If you’re looking for a job, a great way to learn more about the industry you’re interested in or to find new opportunities is by holding an informational coffee – where you meet up with a pro in the industry of your desiring, and pick their brain. Author Blaire Appotive tells you how it’s done.

When I graduated University, I wanted to break into the advertising industry. The problem is I had no connections, no experience and no way of finding out who was hiring. I decided to have coffee with one person in the industry and from there ask them if they had two other people I could speak to and so on and so forth.

It took about 20 informational coffees before I found a job, but it worked! Along the way, I made a bunch of mistakes and learned a lot about how to handle these meet-ups. When I first started I found it a bit nerve-wracking – definitely stressful; but by the end I was a pro. Here are my five tips on how to do an informational coffee: Continue reading →