Foodie Girls

I consider myself a wannabe-foodie. Cooking and eating are two of my favorite things to do. I wish my job could be to watch Food Network all day and I could spend hours in a Whole Foods or at a Farmer's Market. I subscribe to several cooking magazines and own way too many cookbooks.

So I was very excited to see Gourmet Live's list of 5o Women Game Changers on one of my favorite food blogs, The Kitchn. This is where the wannabe part comes in. The only names I knew, apart from Julia Child, were the women with cooking shows on Food Network and Ree Drummond, a.k.a. The Pioneer Women, who I love (love, love, love!) and will soon have her own show on Food Network.

I've watched enough cooking competition reality shows (which obviously makes me an expert) to know that the culinary industry has been a predominately male for a long time. It's exciting to see a strong list of women in the culinary world. They aren't the top women, they are the game changers, which is important to point out.

Julia Child brought French cooking to the American home and Ree Drummond became one of the faces of well-executed food blogging. Did you know that food-critic Gael Greene (you've probably seen her on Top Chef) founded CityMeals on Wheels? They aren't just part of the industry -- they're changing it.

Heated...Over Mac & Cheese

Last week, my co-workers and I stalked The Southern's mac & cheese food truck because we had heard the their mac & cheese was all sorts of fantastic.

{via Passport Delicious}

this is the mac & cheese with hot dogs (which is also awesome!)

And let me tell you...that mac & cheese was all sorts of amazing. I got 2 types - the asparagus, ramps & gouda and then a buffalo chicken & blue cheese. Both were great, but I decided to save half of the buffalo chicken and almost all of the asparagus for dinner and then lunch for the next week (truth be told, I was also a little hungover and my eyes were more ambitious than my stomach - whoops!).

Fast forward a few hours, and I decide I have too many errands to do after work so I'm not going to take the mac & cheese home after all. But I see a sign on the fridge - it's fridge cleaning day! So you must label your foods with your name and the word SAVE in large letters. Easy enough. Done and done.

I come back on Tuesday and my mac & cheese - all $18 worth of it - is goneeeeeeeeee. No where to be found. I even looked in the front kitchen just in case. Nope. Gone.

And that's when I got heated about mac & cheese. And the money I spent on the mac & cheese. And how processes at work just don't work!!!! My name and the words "SAVE" were on that bag in very large letters!!! Cue freak out.

To which my one co-worker told me to take a chill pill (so '90's) and just buy McDonald's. Since it's Thursday and I'm still talking about it, I think you can tell I'm not over it.

Wicked Smaht

Amy Poehler is a smart, funny lady and she gave a fantastic speech at Harvard Class Day a couple of weeks ago.

The video, posted on Harvard Magazine's YouTube page, has been making the rounds on the internet but if you haven't watched it yet, I recommend you do.

In addition to her usual humor, she gives the Harvard Class of 2011 some useful, simple advice that definitely comes in handy, even after a handful of years in the working world.

Confessions of a Travel Junkie

Site of my next vacation - Costa Rica

{DCR News}

I want to confess to you all that I am a travel junkie...which is unfortunately an oxymoron in the US since we Americans get basically zero vacation time in comparison to other countries around the world - in my case, a measly 10 days (and 2 personal days woo!).

Let's look at the basic facts. In addition to a few national holidays, the average American gets two to three weeks off per year. But (and there is always a but), a recent poll from Reuters/Ipsos poll found that only 57% of workers use all of their vacation days, compared with a 89% of workers in France. [CNN]

This concept BOGGLES my mind. Here are my facts. I get 12 vacation days and a handful of long weekends off from work. I'm going to use all those days to get to as many places as I possibly can. In 2011 alone, I have traveled already to New Zealand and just purchased a ticket to Costa Rica. Why? Because I have vacation time and I plan to use it.

To me, it's all about time budgeting. I'm lucky enough to live near my family so I don't need to take time off to fly anywhere for Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc. But my family and I do sometimes go away for the holidays. In which case, we usually don't take time off to do so. Holiday weekends are perfect for traveling around the US, Canada or Mexico. Just this past Thanksgiving, my family and I went to Toronto for 4 days just to explore the city and do something different than sit at home and carve a turkey. Last Memorial Day weekend, my Dad and I took my sister to Nashville for her birthday.

We save the big vacations for taking time off work. My trip to New Zealand cost me 5 days of work, my trip to Costa Rica will be 4, and then I will take an odd day off here and there for weddings.

And at the end of the year, I will have zero (maybe even some negative) hours left to take off. But it will be worth it because I will have seen new parts of the world and taken days away from my desk. Because honestly it's not just about seeing the world and experiencing new things. It's about taking time away from the people, the office drama, the work piling up on your desk. It's about getting away for a while and not thinking about it. And everyone needs time to do that.

It is your right as an employee to take your time off. And even if it's just to sit at home and watch TV, I seriously get heated when I hear people say they have time rolling over to the next year because that means that they spent almost the entire year chained to their desk. And that's just not healthy.

WG1 actually sent me this article from CNN on why America is the "no-vacation nation". And it quoted John de Graaf, the national coordinator for Take Back Your Time, a group that researches the effects of overwork and he is quoted as saying, "There is simply no evidence that working people to death gives you a competitive advantage." Apparently the US came in 4th in the World Economic Forum's 2010-2011 rankings of the most competitive economies. 4th! We were outranked by Sweden - a country that offers workers 5 weeks of paid vacation!

This to me is proof enough that we need to take back control of our vacation by simply taking vacations where we don't need to answer the phone or check our email or be in touch with people at the office.

Either that, or move to Sweden.

Cruel Summer

by Working Girl One

Remember summer vacations?

I don't think I've had a proper summer vacation since the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. But even when I was working my Working Girl tush off to earn money for college, I at least had a full week off to spend at the Jersey Shore with my family.

(And no, where we go is NOT AT ALL like Jersey Shore you see on MTV.)

This summer, no such vacation will be happening for this girl. At my new company, I have two weeks vacation that earn over the course of the year. And I haven't earned much of it yet. At my last company, I had earned three weeks. I tried to negotiate for another week but being unemployed and all didn't really give me the upper hand. To top that off, at my new job we have two busy seasons and one happens to be during the summer.

So instead of enjoying a full week off, I'll spend the two weekends that cover my family's trip with them and the boyfriend and I have a wedding to attend and a short weekend trip planned. A few mini-vacations in better than nothing, right?

Working Girl Travel Tip: Express Lane

Now, I don't know how true this is or if the airlines have caught on but I spotted the below travel tip on Tumblr yesterday and had to share. It's worth trying, right?

From Simply Jess on Tumblr:

How To Cheat The ‘Boarding By Zone’ System

A friend of mine recently taught me this genius trick and it’s worked every single time I’ve flown. Ya’ll have to try it.

Let’s suppose you have a carry-on size bag that you don’t want to check. Baggage fees are ridiculous, waiting 30 minutes at baggage claim is annoying, and you risk the possibility of the airline losing your bag. Problem is, if you carry the bag on and you’re in boarding zone 4, all the overhead bin space will undoubtedly be full by the time you actually get on the plane, and you’ll be forced to check your bag. Not cool. Here’s where the trick comes in.

When you check-in online, be sure to have the boarding pass sent to your mobile device via text or email. It will look like the picture above. Then, when they start to call boarding zones, just board with the rest of the zone 1 people (even if you’re boarding pass says zone 4 below the QR code). Put your phone under the scanner and walk on confidently. The QR code cell phone images are not integrated with the airline zoning systems. The gate agent will NOT stop you and tell you to board with your own zone and you will NOT have to check your bag. It’s fool-proof.

Let’s just hope the airlines don’t start to catch on.

Corner Office Dreamin'

by PR Working Girl

I would love a corner office in a gorgeous high rise building. My corner office neighbors would be stalwart, admirable, yet friendly people who I can't believe I get to call my peers. I'd have a shiny wood desk with silver-framed pictures of my family and all the exotic vacations we've been to over the years. I'd have an unlimited supply of letter-pressed business cards that boldly stated my title: Chief Executive Officer.

A Working Girl can dream, right?

Well, we are still young and we can certainly prepare ourselves to make this kind of dream a reality. But how? What sort of characteristics should we be working on to be considered CEO material, say, about 20 years from now? It's never too early to start thinking about this!

According to Adam Bryant, author of The New York Times "Corner Office" column, there are five main qualities that current CEOs agree make a good employee (which I'm sure we think we already are) really stand out as someone who's got the potential to GO PLACES. Below, I've outlined them briefly adding a few of my own thoughts.

Passionate curiosity - Well, I always knew "passion" and "curiosity" were good qualities to list on your resume, but put them together and bam! They have a whole new meaning. I like how Bryant compares those with passionate curiosity to a 5 year old, someone who is truly interested in how the world around them works. That's how we should be about our industry, our clients, our roles, the strategy, the processes, our competitors.

Battle-hardened confidence - Here is another combo description, it's not just confidence anymore, but it has to be battle-hardened. Makes me feel like I should dress up as a Braveheart warrior or something. Good old fashioned confidence just isn't enough anymore, it's not the kind of confidence that will carry you through failure and adversity, which are two things hiring managers love to quiz you on during interviews. Personally, I hate thinking about my failures, let alone talking about them. Talk about a confidence bust. Yeah, I need to work on this one.

Team smarts - This has got to be one of the hardest traits to come by. There are so many smart people out there who are hard workers, but terrible team members. And honestly, I think we all fall in the terrible category every now and then, no? And we blame it on somebody else on the team. Bryant quotes Susan Lyne, CEO of the Gilt Groupe who I think says it perfectly: "The people who truly succeed in business are the ones who actually have figured out how to mobilize people who are not their direct reports."

A simple mind-set - So often we complicate things because we think it will make ourselves appear smarter, when in reality we are frustrating those around us and wasting precious time. I think it's funny how older generations often give younger ones a bad rap for texting and using Twitter, but I think it's kind of a good thing. Consider this amazing op-ed article, also found in The New York Times, by an English professor. He proposes shorter, simpler (not to be mistaken with "easier") writing assignments instead of always assigning the standard 10+-page term papers; think photo captions and eBay descriptions. Interesting, huh? He says, "Rewarding concision [and may I add, simplicity] first will encourage students to be economical and innovative with language."

Fearlessness - Not me. Ha. I can't kill a spider. I hate sports because I'm afraid of getting hurt (a black eye from playing softball during junior high P.E. class is a completely valid reason, right?). In this case, fearlessness is more about smart and calculated risk-taking in the workplace, so how would you rate yourself in this area? Bryant says entrepreneurs are a good example of embodying a type of fearlessness. Well, I do consider myself entrepreneurial since I currently work from home running my own PR business. OK, I feel a little better now.

So, do you think you've got CEO potential?

I'm Sorry I'm Sorry

by Working Girl One

Do you ever feel like you're being a huge annoyance to the people you work with? Like you're stalking people via email? It's the story of my life recently and I always feel bad about it.

At work, this never used to be a problem. Maybe because I was at my last job for so long that I was very comfortable. I knew my role and the roles of the people I worked with. Sure, every now and then an email started with "apologies for..." but everyone does that. Right?!

Lately, I feel like I'm always apologizing. I've been working on a big project in an area that is new to me. There have been a lot of growing pains. A lot. I've been apologizing to the vendor who is executing the day-to-day of the project, the internal people in my company of whom I've asked dozens of questions, my co-workers, my boss.

There is no reason for me to be apologizing. Especially to the vendor working on the project. The vendor is working for me and I might be a PIA but isn't that pretty much a pre-req for being the client?

This was something that came up at my last job. Working on events, you sometimes have to be a bit stern and harsh with the vendors you're working with. It's something I've always had a problem with. Maybe it's because I like being liked or don't want to be a bitch or that I let sympathy take over.

Too often I put myself in the vendors' shoes and think "they are working really hard, if it were me I'd want the client to be nice to me." But I should be thinking "if I were in their shoes, I'd be doing x, y and z to make this perfect for my client." Over time, I think, I hope, I've gotten a bit better (and I definitely still have some room for improvement).

For last week or so I've stopped myself every time I've typed "I'm sorry" or "apologies for" because really, I'm not sorry. I'm not sorry I didn't get to your email yesterday, I was swamped and it wasn't a priority. I'm not sorry I'm following up for the third time on something that should have been completed by now.

I still have to make a conscious effort not to apologize, but hopefully, I'm on the right track.

Mixing Coworkers and Chasers

by Editing Working Girl

Another Cinco de Mayo has come and gone as have the celebrations that come with it. Add on other 'American drinking holidays' like St. Patrick's Day and really anything having to do with sporting events and there is the potential to be a Working Girl Mess.

I attend a lot of networking events as a freelancer, and as I am representing myself, I usually only drink one glass of wine (and instead double up on the business cards). Then there are times when I am representing my company at blog conferences or events like SXSW with the parties and cocktail hours and concerts and the lines between coworkers and friends are blurred, along with the amount I may have had to drink.

As a runner, I don't usually get into awkward alcohol situations, because I am usually training for a race and avoiding it altogether. Even so, there are times where I do drink in front of coworkers. Next week, for example, we have a team outing scheduled involving a tour of the city, on a "bus" of sorts that is powered by us - by pedaling - while drinking beer and wine.

Here comes my question for fellow Working Girls: what is the appropriate amount to drink on this afternoon excursion? What about at Happy Hours or other company networking events?

I usually avoid this situation by simply keeping my relationship with coworkers professional. Personally, I don't want my coworkers to know how much I drank the other night or how I look when I dance downtown or even what my drink of choice is. Have any of you had an embarrassing Working Girl story that involved alcohol?

So I Moved

by Working Girl One

In college Working Girl Two and I were of the first of our friends to intern and live in the big city. We thought were so cool because, well, we were. OK, we probably weren't.

Spending the summer living and working in Manhattan immediately established us as city girls. We were going to graduate, get awesome jobs at magazines, live in awesome apartments and soak up each other's awesomeness (name that movie).

Instead, we moved to a not-so-awesome apartment in Hoboken and were working as assistants in Manhattan. Not exactly the city and not exactly glamorous jobs. Still, we were honorary city girls.

A year later I moved to the city and thought I was there to stay. Another year later, the boyfriend and I moved in together to a lovely fifth floor walk-up on the Upper East Side. We were on the track to stay in Manhattan forever. And by forever, I mean, until my first kid had to go to preschool. I had no intentions of dealing with the shenanigans of getting a 3-year-old into glorified day care on the Upper East Side.

I thought I'd work my way up in the publishing world, make a decent living and gallivant around like a real New Yorker.

Then, I lost my job and the boyfriend got a new one in Connecticut. After I started working again, we decided the right thing to do was move out of the city and closer to his job. I couldn't believe myself when I said the words: "we should move to Connecticut." My friends couldn't either. "I can't picture you anywhere but New York!" was the reaction I received from most of them when I broke the news.

Cue mini quarter-life identity crisis. Thinking of myself as a "city girl" for a few years, I expected to feel different as a "Bridge and Tunneler," -- like I didn't belong in the city anymore or had lost my New York street cred. But apart from maybe being more tired, I feel the same and am not-so-secretly enjoying my suburban life.

Sure, my commute is longer but I have time to read again and I come home to a spacious apartment with a dishwasher AND a washer/dryer. I no longer have a bodega across the street to pick up milk (and Ben & Jerry's) but I have a huge supermarket and I can pack my groceries in a car. Despite having a longer commute, I feel like I have more of a life, an adult life here. It's hard to explain. Maybe it's the nice apartment or that we made a (relatively) big life decision together, but I really feel like a grown up.

I do missing living in Manhattan but I still get my daily fix of the city Monday through Friday and with occasional weekend trips. And yes, it is sometimes frustrating to leave happy hour early to catch the train but, I must say, I'm happy with our choice and my "Bridge and Tunneler" status.

Saying Yes to Time Management

By Social Media Working Girl

I'm a people pleaser. If someone needs help, a ride, advice, an errand, a favor...they usually come to me - mostly because they know I'll say yes.

You see, saying no has never been one of my fortes. The art of saying no in the workplace is especially hard for me since I'm not the gal in charge.

I have bosses. I have several of them. People give me assignments, hand over projects, designate tasks and without fail, they all wait for the, "yes, no problem, absolutely, you betcha, happy to help, you got it" complete with a thumbs up or high-five in response. They simply expect that you will manage your time in such a manner to just get it done.

But clearly we can't always say yes. With only 24 hours in the day, it's simply impossible for us Working Girls to take on every task and assignment that crosses our desk or inbox. So how do we say no?

Plain and simple--we don't.

We don't say, "nope, no can do, sorry, no thanks" and that's the end of it. Instead, we prioritize. We learn how to stay organized, on task and most importantly - we master the art of time management.

If you're like me, you're a 20-something Working Girl who's early on in her career, eager to learn and be challenged, and someone who really can't afford to say no to anyone. I need all the help, advice, projects and experience I can get.

Why say no when there's no reason you shouldn't say yes?

Lauren Fernandez perfectly addressed this topic in her recent "Single PR Pros: You Suck at Time Management" post. She writes:

“Time management is an art that few excel at, although many claim otherwise. Work duties, family, dating, networking and friends all have a place in your life during the week. It’s not about how much time you devote to each entity. It’s about the type of routine and habits you develop to fit it all in.”

And while Lauren discusses time management in terms of work-life balance, the same holds true in the workplace. It’s not about being superwoman. It’s about learning to balance the to-do list, prioritizing which line items take precedence over others.

So, say yes.

Chances are you won't get to every project today, this week or even this month. Instead, you'll show that you are ready, willing and fully capable of balancing a busy work schedule while also producing quality work.

And who knows... that determination, hard work and diligence might land you a future gig that let's you assign all the projects.

And Then There Was One

by Lawyer Working Girl

Last week was a good week and a bad week. The good news is that one of my friends/colleagues got a new job making more money and with a better title. The bad news is that she left me and now I'm all alone! *insert tears* Let me back up a bit...

Not too long after I started working here, I became good friends with three women here. Not only did we chat at work, but we also hung out after work and on weekends. Then it happened. One of my friends got a new job. Then it happened again. Another friend transferred to an office in a different city. And last week it happened yet again. The last friend put in her notice and now she's gone. *insert more tears*

It's funny how when one person leaves others start to get the itch to leave. I'm going to be honest. I've got that itch REAL bad. Ok, let me be really honest. I've had the itch for a while, but now I feel a sense of urgency about it. And I'm not the only one.

Why am I ready to leave? Well, one reason is that I'm so ready to do something that makes me happy. I've talked about it before so I will spare you guys a little. I envy those who enjoy going to their jobs everyday. I want that to be me! The second reason is that I miss my old city. I'm ready to move back. Whenever I go for a visit, it's always hard to come back.

So, now I'm on a mission to find the perfect job for me (of course, working for myself would be the BEST, so the perfect job for me that involves working for someone else). I'm keeping my fingers crossed that things happen for me pretty quickly.

Working Girls, are any of you job hunting? If so, how's it going?

Would You Rather...?

by Working Girl One

Good Work & Good People. What a world it would be if we could always have both! If you HAD to choose, would you rather do work that you love with people you dislike or do work you dislike with people you love?

{image via}

Get Your 'Tina Fey' Glasses

by Working Girl One

Most of my commute last week was spend reading Tina Fey's Bossypants. If you happened to be on Metro North (oh yeah, I moved...more on that later) last week and noticed a girl in stitches reading an iPad and nearly spitting her coffee on it, you probably saw me.

Rather than providing a full review of her memoir, I thought I'd just share just a few of my favorite quotes. Because, really, if you like Tina Fey (and who doesn't?), you'll love, love, love Bossypants...even if the cover grosses you out a bit.

There were so many gems of advice sprinkled throughout the hilarious stories of Tina Fey's life that I nearly highlighted the entire book. These are a few of many career-related nuggets that I just had to share.

"Some people say 'Never let them see you cry.' I say, if you're so mad you could just cry, then cry. It terrifies everyone."

"Contrary to what I believed as a little girl, being the boss almost never involves marching around, waving your arms, and chanting, "I am the boss! I am the boss!'"

"This is what I tell young women who ask me for career advice. People are going to try to trick you. To make you feel like you are in competition with one another...Don't be fooled. You're not in competition with other women. You're in competition with everyone."

"So my unsolicited advice to women in the workplace is this. When faced with sexism or ageism or lookism or even really aggressive Buddhism, ask yourself the following question: 'Is this person in between me and what I want to do?' If the answer is no, ignore it and move on. Your energy is better used doing your work and outpacing people that way."

And finally, this might be my favorite because we all know someone like this at work:

"There was the Program Director, who talked exclusively in nonsense business language 'We are attempting to pro-activate the community by utilizing a series of directives intended to maximate communicative agreeance.'"

Am I weak?

by In Transition Working Girl

I have been dying to write about this for over a week and would like to pose a question to all of you Working Girls. But first, let me set up the situation for you.

Recently, I was given the opportunity to go to lunch with two of my co-workers. The first is someone who, I think, finds a reason to yell at me on a weekly basis and the second, is the person I replaced. It was sort of an odd lunch, but the person who always yells at me thought it might be nice to get to know the "old me" since we are around the same age. It was really great, the "old me" and I hit it off right away.

After the get-to-know-you conversations, the conversation quickly turned to how my boss is non-confrontational and how the person who yells thinks being non-confrontational is a sign of weakness. I stopped in my tracks, this is why I get yelled at! This had me thinking all week, since I would rather talk through the issue, this makes me weak? What do you think?

I think that in the workplace there are many different styles of management and dealing with issues in a confrontational manner can only escalate the situation. To me the word confrontation has negative a very connotation. I would rather talk through the issue, let both people state their point of view and come to a resolution. I do understand that there are people who run from any sort of confrontation, but that does not make them weak, it just means they need to be communicated to in a different way.

What are your thoughts on this issue?

Trash Talking the Boss

by Lawyer Working Girl

The past few weeks at work have been long and stressful. One week I worked Monday through the next Sunday. I was getting very little sleep and it was taking a toll on my mood. Yes, Working Girls, I was moody, but I can tell you that I was not the only one. I've been feeling the stress level rise around the office for the last few weeks. Smiles have worn off people's faces, colleagues are getting confrontational with each other, and employees are snapping at their superiors.

I have a couple of colleagues with whom I can bad talk the job or the people we work with only because I truly trust them and they trust me enough to be honest about how they are feeling on the job. I know some of you think that's probably a bad move--trash talking with coworkers--but I think some trash talk is expected at work amongst employees, right?

I also find myself tweeting my feelings some days. I'm never specific, never name names, and I've never tweeted the name of my company. It's usually something very generic like, "My patience is wearing thin" on a day when someone was trying to tell me how to do my job. If my boss read my tweets, I don't think he or she would find anything pointing to him or her or the company, but I have wondered if anyone monitors our personal online activities.

I recently read an article that discusses this very thing. There was a case in Connecticut where the National Labor Relations Board ruled that a company cannot fire its employees for complaining about their bosses on Facebook. I'm kind of for this ruling and against this ruling (just like a lawyer, huh?).

On one hand, I believe that employees should be allowed to live their personal lives without the company butting in; but on the other hand, if someone is out there bashing the company's image or disrespecting the boss, I don't think that should be tolerated. I mean, it's one thing to talk about your boss (which I never do because I actually like my boss a lot) or company or colleagues amongst your colleagues, but when you start bad-mouthing to the outside world that's different. You're possibly damaging your company's image. I think of it as most people think of their families--it's ok for you to talk about your family members, but as soon as someone outside of the family says something, it's not ok.

Working Girls, what are your thoughts on this? Do you find yourself venting through social media? How do you ensure that it doesn't affect your career?

E-mail Errors

by Editing Working Girl

I can be reached by e-mail at all times, both business and personal. I love the fact that though a few years ago this would seem obsessive behavior.But with the bounds and leaps of smart phones, pretty much every one of you can claim the same fate.

With all of this constant connection, something is bound to go wrong. Like that e-mail that you thought you only sent out to a coworker calling your boss' bluff but didn't realize you hit "Reply All". Maybe even that draft you keep to rant in that accidentally was sent? That e-mail to a customer that was meant for a coworker? Sometimes, it happens.

Luckily, I have only had this experience in a very mild manner. I was forwarding an e-mail to a coworker so he could see my prior conversations with a customer he was on the phone with and accidentally sent it to the customer. No harm, no foul. But what if I had said something bad in the e-mail? What would I have done?

I think the best way to handle that sort of situation, is to be completely upfront and claim responsibility. This can go further than you think. Instead of blaming it on the e-mail system, computer, internet, distraction - admit fault. Yes, you did accidentally send a horrible e-mail out, but trying to hide behind the computer further will only make things worse. Secondly, depending on how bad the e-mail actually was, make sure to throw the appropriate apology in there. Maybe it will open up discussion between you and your boss? Maybe your coworker will forgive the things you said? Hopefully, you will get the issue resolved.

As Editing Working Girl, this is where I plug the great habit of editing every e-mail. If you make it a priority to glance over your e-mails before you send it (starting with the Send To line) there is a good chance you can avoid this situation. I do it now for every work e-mail I send after that mishap with the customer. I take it to the next level and after I forward an e-mail I check my Sent folder to make sure it did, in fact, go to the right person. Be proactive.

As the woman in charge of Twitter at my office, I have, on more than one occasion, sent out a personal tweet on the work account, and vice versa. Luckily, I have always caught it right away and Twitter has a delete button.

Has this e-mail snafu happened to you? What advice do you offer Working Girls who may be going through this situation (or may go through it in the future)?

Image Source

The Generation Job Switch Factor

by In Transition Girl One of the things that I find interesting about my new job, even though I still feel in transition now more than ever, are my colleagues' knowledge about generational marketing. I find the trends and behaviors that define generations, especially mine/ours, the millennials, so interesting. In a meeting earlier in the week, my boss had mentioned an article about the millennials as it pertains to jobs, moving and careers in our 20's. I am not sure if this was the exact article, but thought this was too good not to share with you all. After reading this article, right away, I went back and counted how many times I have changed jobs to date since graduation! How does this article below make you feel about switching jobs? Twenty-Somethings: What You Risk by Switching Jobs Too Often By: Christina Vuleta

Millennials can't catch a break. They are criticized for not paying their dues (leaving a job that doesn't fulfill them), yet advised to find their "passion" (leaving to find a job that fulfills them). Before the recession it was career "suicide" to stay in a job too long, so flipping jobs was by choice. Now, with the job market yet to fully recover and unemployment for 20-somethings still outpacing that of the general population, it's by default. Today's millennial goes through an average of seven job changes in their 20s, and according to Pew Research, six in 10 have already changed careers at least once. But what happens when you haven't built up any experience that prepares you for the next level?

While interviewing 40-something women across the country about their 40:20 Vision hindsight on career, I ran across a few who learned the hard way that switching careers too fast in your 20s can leave you in the slow lane in your 30s and 40s. Their career roulette may have been for different reasons than the 20-something today, but their hindsight on the downside of too much switching provides valuable foresight on the risks of jumping jobs too often for 20-somethings today:

Risk One: You Miss Out On Your Prime Earning Years

Some of the 40-somethings I've talked to tried on one job after another in search of cool. Career options in the '90s had expanded from the mainstays of education, law and accounting to include media, marketing, the Internet and more. Many college-educated women back then grew up believing that having a career was a given, but now we had to find one that was creative, and anything but the path most followed. We grew up with "What Color is your Parachute?" so we wanted some color! Yesterday's search for cool is today's search for fulfillment. The problem is, as you start one job, it's not cool (fulfilling) anymore. Then you wake up in your 30s being un-promotable at a time when you often need start being responsible for other people.

This 40-year-old woman left her first job as a software tester because it was too "dorky." She went from gaming to photography to restaurants to fashion, only to wish she had stuck with the program:

I was quitting jobs left and right because I thought all my friends had cooler jobs, and I had that idealized 20s perception that I should be treated a certain way. It was ridiculous for me to think that way. Now I think, "Why I didn't stick with it?" I was really good at it. Instead, it set a pattern of switching in motion for me that came to haunt me. In my 30s I was still at entry level when I should have been in my prime earning years. Meanwhile, my friends were managing things, getting promoted and earning more money.

Risk Two: You Miss Out On What's Now

Similarly, this woman reflects on the opportunities lost. When you're young, you're constantly thinking about what's next, often at the expense of missing what's staring you in the face:

I was never satisfied with the job I had because it was always about what's next. I didn't realize the record label I worked at in the 90s was the place to be because all I could think about was how much I wanted to be at another record company doing a Nine Inch Nails video. I was blind to the fact that hip-hop was changing the world and I was part of that. Instead I kept thinking I had to get to this other thing. Then as soon as you get the other thing, you want to move onto the next thing. --40-something, producer, Los Angeles, Calif.

Risk Three: You Miss Out On Getting The Job You Want

One woman I recently spoke with had just interviewed a 20-something who had 20 jobs on her resume. She'd only been working for 3 years. Giving her the benefit of the doubt, the woman asked the 20-something why she left some of these jobs. Unfortunately, the answers all started with, "I didn't like (fill in the blank)." Suffice it to say, one her better answers was "the schedule." This did nothing to diminish the reputation today's 20-somethings have earned for being fickle, but even less for getting the job at hand.

There's a fine line between exploring what you want to do and following the road to nowhere. It's the difference between fulfilling yourself and filling up your resume with empty jobs where you don't learn anything. The risk is that you end up with no foothold to step up the ladder, or even start your own thing. This 40-something woman who now hires 20-somethings recommends pursuing passion, but only up to a point:

"Get as much experience doing different kinds of jobs until you find that thing you're really passionate about and then pursue that. But try not to do too many things in a period of time because it limits your choices to a degree. Eventually that bouncing will hurt you unless you are someone who's very gifted and learns new skill sets quickly."

It's a tough call. Without fail, 40-something wisdom says to explore, and not narrow down on a career path too quickly. But after a few years, try to do it in a way that builds on a set of skills and passions that can apply to many directions. Some final thoughts from the 40:20 Vision journey:

1. Don't switch only because of things you don't like.




2. Do switch if you aren't learning anything.






3. If you do switch jobs a lot, don't burn bridges. Always be able to take a good recommendation with you when you leave.






4. Look at other parts of the company to see if there is room to fulfill the need to explore and grow.






5. Reframe your skill sets to reflect an internal growth path, even if you can't show a "formal" growth path. For example, you were in a band, but you learned money management, event planning and you will never suffer stage fright while giving a presentation.






6. If you have 20 jobs, don't put them all on your resume -- choose the 5 that you learned something from.






7. Try not to leave a job before you have another one. Use your job to learn about other opportunities. Talk to everyone, from customers, to clients to co-workers, about what they do and what their path has been.

Of course, today's job market is not the same as it was 20 years ago but it's easy today to get lulled into the thinking that switching today is all good. But before you do, give a little thought to what you've "got" and what you've gotten out of it.

Original article via Huffington Post

What's In Your Closet?

by Lawyer Working Girl

Hey Working Girls guess what? Spring is here! Do you feel it yet? I have definitely gotten a case of spring fever! Are the days getting warmer where you live? By the way, real big sorry to those of you still getting snow this time of year - eek!

This change in weather sometimes makes picking out what to wear to work difficult. And since I walk to work I have to pay particularly close attention to the weather. Some days I want to wear a skirt or a dress, but it's not quite cold enough for tights and not quite warm enough for bare legs. Other days, it will be warm during the day and borderline cold in the evenings on my walk home, so I have to be sure to carry a jacket or coat. I long for the summer where I just have to deal with warm days and warm nights.

There is one thing though that keeps running through my mind each morning as I'm looking through my closet and trying to decide what to wear: it's time to go shopping. I feel like it's time for a brand new work wardrobe.

Some of my shirts are too small and some pants are too tight. I've got so many suits that I used to wear to court everyday that I don't even wear anymore. At my current job, I never wear suits to work. In fact, I don't think I've had a reason to wear a suit in almost 2 years! Also, I sometimes feel like I'm wearing the same things over and over again. It is definitely time for some new clothes!

As I sit down to make my list of must have pieces (cardigan, button down shirt, light gray pants, etc.), I would love your help Working Girls in figuring out some essential pieces for a new spring/summer work wardrobe. Also what are some fun colors that you plan to incorporate into your work wardrobe for the spring and summer?

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Balancing Work and Working Out

By: Editing Working Girl

As a fitness freelance writer, I constantly have running on the brain. I am training for my first half marathon now, so usually at work I am planning when I will get out on the road for my medium-long run, or yawning from the tough speed workout the day before.

Working out and working is hard.

At SXSWi two weeks ago, I made a point to go to the GeekFit panel. There, we discussed working out in the workplace – everything from getting your company to help promote fitness in the workplace, learning to stock your kitchen with healthy snacks and even quick workouts to perform at your desk – and we were all there because we have a desire to not only keep ourselves fit, but help others achieve this goal too.

I am definitely one to sit at my desk and eat lunch on occasion, which according to Shape magazine isn’t a good thing. I read yesterday that people who eat lunch at their desks are likely to eat more during the day, because without a break while having lunch they are less likely to remember what they ate and more likely to snack later because of it.

With my race about 22 days away, I am running an average of 20+ miles per week. Although the majority of these miles are put on during the weekend, it still takes a toll trying to have the energy to get out there for a 6-miler after a full day of work.

Because of this, I needed to change the way I thought about running. I needed to look at it as “me time.” Though I run with my training group on Wednesdays and Saturdays, those other runs are for me. They are a time where I can put my music on and sing, dance, think or clear my head. It is when I can focus on my goal and have control over my pace and breathing – when I may not have finished a goal or had total control at work.

Working out shouldn’t be work.

What about you, Working Girls? Do you juggle a fitness schedule with your work schedule? What is your favorite time to work out? On the weekdays, I am a total afternoon worker-outer. If I get up early to run, I am a mess (I really, really enjoy my sleep). On the weekends, I like to get up early and get my run out of the way, so I have the whole day to go to brunch, write and spend time with my boyfriend.

What is your favorite form of exercise? Do you run, take pilates or yoga, swim, etc.? Me? I am obviously a runner. Something I hope to be forever.

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