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Conflict Management: When You Disagree with Your Boss
Even if you are in your dream job and have an amazing boss, there may—and probably will—come a time when you and your boss disagree, whether it is about a timetable, a strategy, a design idea or even something outside of work. We hope that you have a good enough relationship with your boss that you can have a conversation…
4 Questions to Ask Your Interviewer
When the end of a job interview is approaching, any interviewer worth their salt is going to say, “Do you have any questions?” Candidates should be as ready for this one as they are for “Tell me about yourself.” Keeping in mind that you don’t want to take too much more time since your interviewer is wrapping it up, research…
Putting the We in Teamwork
We recently came across an article that said that teamwork is a dying art. And although we agree that recent years have made it more difficult for teams to function efficiently, with fewer people doing more work and wearing more hats, teamwork skills are still important and employees and candidates who can demonstrate those skills bring great value to the…
Branding for 2013
Whether one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get a new job or learn a new skill–or even pick up a new hobby–now’s the time to get yourself in gear. One of the best things you can do if you are a creative starting a new job search or continuing an ongoing job search is revising your online brand….
Artisan Resolves…
Are you making New Year’s resolutions for 2013? We thought we would ask the Artisan Team what some of their goals for the new year might be: Sr. Account Manager & Recruiter Carol Conforti is resolved to “play golf once a month” in 2013. Sounds like fun! Creative Recruiting Manager Jamie Grossman wants to spend more time “getting more involved in the…
Tell Me Why
Anyone with children has definitely heard “Why?” a thousand-thousand times. Or maybe it just feels like a thousand-thousand. And there is no question that there is a point at which you want them to stop. But usually, that is because you have run out of answers. Adults are more apt to ask “What?” They ask their manager or even themselves…
Artisan’s Favorite Things
Maybe not raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens, but on this particular Tuesday, we thought we would ask our team at Artisan for their favorite things about the holiday season. Artisan President Katty Douraghy: “This year, I’m spending the holidays in LA for the first time in 10 years! I’m looking forward to taking in the sights and sounds…
Reflections: It’s Never Too Late
It might be too late for your gifts to arrive in the mail before Tuesday (although I hope not), but the world isn’t going to end tomorrow, whatever the Mayans may have said. It is never too late to change your thinking and it’s never too late to find the perfect job. As the US economy slowly recovers, creating more…
Getting Away: Tips for Taking a Real Vacation as a Freelancer
Time management is always something that can be improved and keeping to a routine with scheduled breaks is essential to working at your peak as much as possible. But sometimes you need a more extended break from work—no, not a whole hour. I mean a real vacation. Taking a vacation, say a week or two, can be anxiety-producing for a…
6 Tips for a Happy Holiday Office Party
Artisan Creative’s holiday party is being held today so we thought it was a good time to talk about some of the potential pitfalls of these traditional gatherings—and, of course, how to avoid them. While we are lunching at Artisan Senior Account Manager Margaret Jung’s lovely home, we will be following these guidelines: Being the first to arrive is fine;…
Artisan Creative Places Talent in 3 Top Jobs for 2013
We hear a lot on the news about jobs that are disappearing or being outsourced. But what about jobs that are expected to have growth in the coming year? Artisan Creative actually places talent in 3 of the hottest job categories for 2013: Social Media Manager—Online marketing gets bigger every year. And these days, no Digital strategy is complete without…
Is It Time to Quit Your Job and Launch Your Career?
The end of the calendar year is a time when many people re-evaluate where they are – and where they are headed. Are you one of them? You may have recently done some hard thinking about what you are thankful for, but if that process led to a list of what you would like to change about your job or…
5 Tips for Being a Super Secret Santa
It’s that time of year again! In addition to the stress caused by choosing gifts for your family and friends, you’ve also drawn the name of a colleague for the annual office Secret Santa event. What do you get?! Luckily, if your company or department honors this covert gift-giving tradition, it’s probably a pretty friendly culture already. But if you’re…
I’d Love to, But I Can’t: 6 Tips for Saying No
Being a freelancer brings many benefits especially the opportunity to control your work/life balance. Success breeds success and eventually you may find yourself unable to take on any more clients without either the work or the life suffering. Here are some tips on saying no to new work without burning a bridge with a potential client: Don’t give an excuse—As…
Reflections: Making a Commitment to Creativity
Creatives are inundated with ideas. They come to you while you’re sleeping, while you’re cooking, while you’re reading or working or running. While brainstorming or in solitude. Sometimes at such awkward moments you can’t write them down before they float away. How many of those ideas come to fruition? Probably not many. Some because they weren’t great ideas to begin…
Artisan Creative is Thankful
At this time of year, we are all making mental lists of what we are thankful for and the team at Artisan Creative is, too. Here are some of the things we are thankful for in 2012: Artisan President Katty Douraghy has gotten into the habit of being thankful every day but today she chooses: “My good health, my family…
How Freelancers Really Feel? Pretty Good!
If you are considering making the leap into freelancing from full-time work, we thought you might like to know how freelancers feel about making that decision: Did they get what they expected? A plurality of freelancers made the change from permanent employment to gain flexibility and freedom in their daily lives and that flexibility is one of the top three…
Enough About You, What Can You Do for Me?
Utilizing your network of friends and associates to assist in your job search, is nothing new. The relationships you have built in these areas are extremely valuable, offering a number of new contacts and warm referrals just a degree away. However, whenever you are networking for new opportunities, there is some etiquette to keep in mind to ensure your relationships…
4 Common Resume Mistakes (and How To Avoid Them)
We hope that you re-read your resume every time you send it out, especially since you should be tweaking and updating it often. But any time you make changes, you can also make mistakes. Recruiters tell us about some of the mistakes they see all too often: Incorrect contact information—You’ll never know if a company wanted to interview you if…
That Awkward Silence
There comes a time in every job interview…the awkward silence. No one is talking. It’s okay. Let it happen. With all the preparation candidates do for interviews—and don’t think we’re discouraging preparation!—one thing they don’t always take into consideration is how long their answers actually are. This is another good reason to practice interviewing with a friend or a colleague…
More Work? Yay!
If you work at a traditional job, this might not be your natural reaction when someone gives you a new project, but if you are a freelancer or an entrepreneur—or think like one—a day when you get more work is a day for smiling. Why is more work better? Well, to begin with the obvious, for a freelancer, more work =…
So What?
When I began a complete overhaul of my resume not long ago, under the tutelage of a wonderful career coach, the first thing she taught me was to quantify everything possible. Her first instruction for my resume rewrites was always to add numbers wherever we could: How many? How quickly? For how many people? Made of how many pieces? To…
Reflections: The Downside of Positive Thinking
Everyone says it—think positive! Imagine yourself at your goal and it will happen! Visualize success and success will come to you! It can get…annoying. Plus, it can work against you. A new study published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology looked at whether fantasizing about future success energizes people or weakens them and the results would surprise all those…
Marketing to the Boss
Last week we talked about some of the qualities of a boss who is also a leader. One of those qualities is a willingness to listen to and reward creative solutions offered by members of their team. As marketing professionals, we know how to develop successful strategies to reach our potential customers, but sometimes we could also benefit from thinking…
Any Questions?
There are many parts to a good job interview preparation process: Research Planning stories Writing out answers Role-Playing …but one of my favorites is this one: Preparing questions to ask the interviewer Why do I like it so much? This is the part of an interview where the candidate can really take control of the conversation. You’ve gotten (I hope)…