Annual review season is almost here – Issue #82 Annual performance reviews are dead, long live performance reviews! I think that the reports of the death of performance reviews have been greatly exaggerated. I keep reading articles proclaiming that they are fading away, but only 10% of Fortune 500 companies have done away with annual…

You have to do more than make claims – Issue #81 If you’ve ever been on an interview team, you know that the savvy candidates will talk about their love for your domain, company, and product. They know that it is something that they should say during an interview. When I was a Director of UX at eBay,…

Don’t rely on external validation – Issue #80 I read an interesting story yesterday about a freelance writer named Chuck Ross. After a disappointing attempt to get his first mystery novel published, he wanted to prove his theory that unknown authors always get their books rejected. So, in 1975, he sent out excerpts from the…

Important truths about growing older – Issue #79 Biomedical gerontologist Aubry de Grey believes that the first person who will live to be 150 is most likely already alive today. He also believes that we may reach a point of “escape velocity” with longevity research. If you can hang in there, you may live long enough to achieve immortality. “Once…

Look and act the part – Issue #78 Did you know that about 1/3 of interviewers make up their minds about whether or not to hire someone within the first 90 seconds? By the time your job interview has lasted between 5 and 15 minutes, 52% of interviewers have made their decision. When interviewers were…

It soothes the savage beast – Issue #77 Many of us have stressful jobs and lives. We slog our way to work in an unpleasant commute. We work hard all day, sometimes arguing with bosses, coworkers, and customers. We crawl back home through traffic. Then, we may face more stress at home. It’s easy to…

Feeling overwhelmed by potential opportunities – Issue #76 🦃 Take advantage of my Black Friday Special now! Get 50% off when you upgrade to a premium subscription to the Invincible Career newsletter. This limited-time offer ends this Saturday. 🎉 The Paradox of Choice is a controversial phenomenon that suggests that an abundance of options isn’t necessarily a good thing. The…

Rank your priorities and focus on the top – Issue #75 “What’s the One Thing I can do such that by doing it, everything else will be easier or unnecessary?” – Gary Keller Focus is a powerful tool. The people who achieve the greatest success tend to be the ones who have an almost maniacal…

Don’t expect a straight path to success – Issue #74 Sheryl Sandberg shared some insightful career advice on Quora. She’s had a successful career (let’s just not talk about Facebook’s recent stumbles right now), but life has also thrown painful challenges and tragedy into her path. As she states: “There is no straight path to where you are going” I…

Find the right balance with delayed gratification – Issue #73 Are you familiar with the famous Stanford “Marshmallow Experiment”? During the 1960s and ‘70s, Stanford psychologists conducted a marshmallow test with about 90 children enrolled in a local Stanford preschool. They tested whether children could restrain themselves from eating a first marshmallow when they knew…