Public Speaking: A Simple Strategy for Improving Your Skills
Over the last decade I have performed public debates and speeches in four countries and three continents in a variety of venues ranging from two-person rooms to theaters with hundreds of spectators to the maximum security wing of the Oregon State Penitentiary. In all...
Show Humility For Job and Career Success
All three of my daughters have volunteered abroad (two of them are in Africa as I write). Spending time seeing the world in vastly different contexts and cultures, political and socio-economic circumstances, can be a humbling experience. We can sometimes lose...
Is an HR Career Right For You?
I have had this HR career conversation with many a person looking to get into the field of Human Resources. Often it is with either a student who has commenced their studies in HR or has just graduated from an HR program. Sometimes this discussion takes place with...
Crisis in Blue Within the Policing Profession
Over the next 20 years, and more importantly the next five years, we will see a huge rush of Baby Boomers and older Generation Xers exiting the workplace and entering into their retirement years. This organizational memory and labor exodus is especially true of the...
Spin Sucks: Public Sector Communication Strategies in the Digital Age
Public relations for state and local governments has many parallels to its private sector counterpart. By definition, PR is a strategic communication process that “builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics.” (Public Relations...
Gender Inequality in Public Service
As we know, our elected officials are our representatives. They are our voices within government, influencers regarding our healthcare and other significant issues whether at the municipal, state, or federal levels. It is important for diversity to be present within...
Public-Private Partnerships: An Innovative Solution?
One of the many challenges facing all levels of government is consistently finding new techniques to innovate and undertake policy and project necessities while saving the taxpayers’ money and employing individuals. Local, state, and federal government all have strict...
Public Service: A Passion
When I started the University of North Carolina MPA program in August 2013, I knew that I had a passion for public service and that I was attracted to government work. But I wasn’t sure what level of government would be the best fit for my interests. In a previous...
The Psychology of Unemployment
According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 3.5 million people fall into the category of the long-term unemployed—defined as those individuals who have not had a job for 27 or more weeks. To put this into greater perspective, the long-term unemployed make...
Active Duty Mindset For Human Resource
Entry into the military is difficult. The training you receive will break you down, than rebuild you back up to become a basically trained combatant, than leader, and finally a specialist within an array of occupational fields. This process is where we lose the...
Lessons From the Possum
I once had a possum on my sorting line. Weird way to start an article I know but bear with me. The possum had come in the back of a garbage truck with a load to my transfer station. Who knows how he got there, one can only guess it was in the container when the...
Improve your LinkedIn Profile
Everyone has probably been told many times now that job seekers should be on LinkedIn. It’s a great networking tool and can help build your digital presence, impressing an employer when they Google you. It can also help you get found by recruiters and introduce you...
Find Your Federal Job Fit
The road to a federal job is sometimes rocky, never smooth, but navigable if you can follow their instructions. Some folks apply without really knowing what they are doing and give up in a pique of frustration. Below are steps to help you stay focused and, if you...
Service is Not a Dilemma
Each of us within our professional roles have a fundamental responsibility to support our organization to the extent that we must also support our colleagues and peers if we are truly dedicated to the greater success of the company. But, when exactly does that...
Achieve Your Dreams With Higher Education
As a first generation daughter of Salvadorian immigrants, raised in the predominantly Latino community of East Los Angeles, fulfilling my educational dreams has come with many struggles, which have nonetheless allowed me to grow as an individual. At a very young age,...
Branding Tactics for Local Government Managers
A question city managers need to ask themselves is: Why should my city set itself apart from others? The clearest answer is increased economic opportunities such as an influx of residents, businesses, and tourists. Place branding and marketing are becoming growing...
The Benefits of Hiring Military Veterans
Employing our nation’s military veterans has been an important topic for many years. Occupation and job training is one important aspects in order to end unemployment among veterans as well as homelessness. However, the men and women whom have served our country...
An International Relations Degree Can Advance Your Military Career
There are universal qualities that make a good leader. But in the military, a more specific skillset is needed—especially when operating in international settings. International relations master’s degree programs can help you develop the following qualities and gain...