Articles from Lauren

How To Score That Entry-Level Job with Zero Experience

You’ve graduated, worked internships, maybe even freelanced. But how do you make the jump to actually start your career and find a job with zero experience under your belt? It’s a common issue – while you may have excelled at school, once you’ve dropped off the cap and gown, you’ve got a nearly blank resumé. But […]

The 31-Day Career Detox Every Woman Can Accomplish

Most people think about detoxes and resolutions on January 1st, but the real winners in life are the ones that think about setting and achieving goals year-round. And since summer is on the horizon and we’re already half way through 2017 (yikes!), my team and I at Career Contessa decided that May was a great […]

Is it a good idea to work with your friends? The answer might surprise you

In college, most of us learned that living with friends can actually be pretty tricky business. So when the question is whether to work with your BFF, the pressure’s much higher. So should you work with a friend? The usual advice goes something like this: No. Never. And… that’s the end of this article. Gotcha! If […]

5 Ways to Improve Your Career Skills on Your Coffee Break

If you’re one of those people who always plans to take a night class or attend a workshop, but ultimately you remember that your favorite show just landed on Netflix and opt to just stay in and order Thai food…you’re not alone. But given that the summer is looming and 2017 is almost halfway done, […]

The 90 Day Guide to Landing a New Job

All signs point to it being time to move on. You’re faking sick, doing the bare minimum work, and dreading Mondays. But your job also pays good money, and you’re living an OK life on that salary. So you put off launching your job search week after week, trying to ignore the frustration you feel at […]

7 Women-Only Resources For Growing Your Career

photo via edyta szyszlo We’re part of an elite club of career-drive women and we deserve some resources built specifically for us. From magazines like Cherry Bomb to dating apps like Bumble to Career Contessa’s own Hire a Mentor platform, ladypreneurs are increasingly introducing resources tailored to women like them. You know, whipsmart, snarky, and just plain cool. Here are seven platforms […]

3 Ways To Increase Your Emotional Intelligence (And Why It Matters)

First things first: let’s talk about what emotional intelligence actually is. Because we’re all kind of wondering. On the simplest level, “emotional intelligence” starts with the ability to read the room. It’s a person’s innate sense of what’s going on beneath surface-level dialogues, and how the people around them actually feel about the situation at hand. […]

Why You Should Have a Career Mantra

So there’s this largely forgotten film from 1999 called Bowfinger. Seen it? In the film, Eddie Murphy’s character, Kit Ramsey, has issues. Loads of them. But whenever he’s spiraling towards a breakdown, Kit’s therapist suggests he calm himself by repeating a personal mantra: “Keep it together. Keep it together. Keep it together.” K-I-T. I have a point, I swear. Crafting […]

This Is The Most Obnoxious E-mail Thing You Do

Before I tell you about the most obnoxious email thing you do, let me tell you a story. Picture this: It’s 4:52 P.M. on a Thursday and I have big plans to meet my girlfriends at a new swanky wine bar. It’s 8 minutes to Happy Hour and then I’m letting loose. Then this thing […]

The Most Common Job Interview Questions (and How to Answer Them)

Before I launched my own career site for women, I was a recruiter and spent the majority of my day interviewing candidates. From interns to managers and from phone screens to in-person interviews, I’ve pretty much seen (and heard) it all. Here’s what I know: the root of every poor interview is a lack of […]

The To-Do List Tweak That Changed My Life

I’m a pretty productive person. I consistently write out my to-do list, set (and keep) deadlines, and end my day at inbox zero. Still, somehow I still felt like I was struggling to get things done. I set out to find a better way to make my to-do list work for me, and the secret […]

How to Turn Your Anxiety Into Success

Anxiety seems to be a natural part of today’s 9-5. We frantically answer emails all day long, avoid ever saying “no” because of some crazy fear that we might miss out on the next big thing, and then, of course, there’s our obsession with needing to know exactly what’s next. What’s my next career move? […]

9 Habits That Will Make You Smarter

“Motivation is what gets you started, but habits are what keep you going.” My mother hit me with this pointer on the phone last week during our regular call on my commute to work, proving yet again that moms really do know best. That catchphrase stuck with me throughout my day, leading me to consider […]