Contributed by Dia Kline, Career Coach at Personal Touch Career Services

 Recently, I was invited to speak at the inaugural seminar for the National Smell and Taste Clinic at the NIH in Bethesda, MD. You can watch my speech here.

Despite not being a doctor, scientist, researcher, or clinician a...

At Personal Touch Career Services, we have seen a disturbing trend: Tons of people are being told that their resume’s format is “not ATS-compliant.” Let’s explore what that actually means and how you can make sure that your resume follows these extremely important guidelines.

Where is this feedback...

How well do you understand the HR department?

The truth is that most HR departments receive a deluge of candidates daily, far more than they could ever hope to read with great depth or understanding. To process the mountain of resumes, every company – big or small – will create simple tricks to scr...

Congratulations, new graduate! You successfully navigated the hallowed halls of education and are now ready to dive into your first professional job. However, while you may know a lot about your new field, it may still be a struggle to formulate a specific job search plan.

Use this checklist to mak...

If you ever looked up a job online, you have participated in the open job market. However, statistics consistently show that only relying on these sources is not necessarily the best way to find a job. Let’s take a look at these numbers and what they mean – Plus, give you some other ideas on how to ...

Ah, mentorship. It's like the professional world's version of Yoda training Luke Skywalker, except with fewer lightsabers and more awkward coffee meetings. Let's break down why having a mentor can be a game-changer for your career.

What a Mentor Is

Before you go hunting for your career Jedi Mas...

LinkedIn, the veritable forest of professional networking, is ripe with opportunities—if only your profile isn’t camouflaged among the evergreens. Let’s talk about giving your LinkedIn profile the equivalent of a peacock’s plumage, a garden of delightful visibility that will have recruiters and netw...

As you navigate the challenging waters of the job application process, think of your cover letter as the vessel that will convey you to the desired destination: your next job. While the journey might be fraught with challenges, we’ve mapped out three tips to ensure your cover letter voyage is both s...

Chances are, you may never see our Administrative Assistant and Marketing Coordinator, Jasmine Giffen (they/them.) Well, other than a name in an email. However, they are a critical, behind-the-scenes piece in keeping our operations running.

What they do:

Jasmine takes care of the things we don’t w...

Does your resume feel like a fossil? Has it been a little while since you gave it a critical once-over? If you aren't certain of the best ways to freshen up your resume, check out our latest tips to make it effective without looking like something from the Jurassic Period.

1.  The "Objective" Pro...

Nasty, mean, awful, EVIL interview questions! How in the world are you supposed to answer them? What are employers really looking for? Is it to make you suffer, or are they hoping to see how well you handle challenging questions?

While some employers are probably a little bit sadistic, most are ...

In September 2023, we published our first list of Snarky Answers to Interview Questions https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/snarky-answers-6-common-interview-questions-donna-shannon-1c. Since then, employers have continued to ask foolish questions that scream for your best sarcastic answer.

While it’s p...