Articles by Lea McLeod

Create A Platform For Success In Your First Job

7 Keys to Building a Good Relationship With Your First Manager

You mastered the job search strategy, the resumes, the interviews. Now you have a well-negotiated job offer and are ready to set the world on fire!    When it’s time to do that, I want you to pay attention to a big part of your job success that is often NOT a big part of your orientation process. Most onboarding processes revolve around the technical side of joining an organization: Benefits enrollment, rules and regulations, getting on the network, all that.    What is often...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in College Student/Recent Grad Job Search on August 27, 2013

There are 0 comments

Add to My Toolkit

5 Big Reasons New Grads are Failing the Job Search

A Step-by-Step Guide to Getting a Real Job After Graduation

By Lea McLeod, M.A. , Founder & CEO, Degrees of Transition “I've been sending out my resume for months and not hearing anything back.” I can’t tell you how many times I’ve had a recent grad call with, literally, that exact same statement. It’s practically epidemic.  But it’s an important statement because its simplicity and honesty belies the vast complexity of situations that created it.    Although a poor resume is one reason new grads are...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in Career Change, Job Search on March 28, 2013

There are 4 comments

Add to My Toolkit

Three Effective Online Job Search Strategies

Make that time you spend online count.

In last month’s article we talked about 4 job search strategies to get you started. The strategies are designed to help get you out of the online centric “spray and pray” approach to job searching.    Those 4 strategies that will get you started are:    Set your goal. Develop your self-marketing profile.  Target companies and organizations you’d like to work for.  Begin reaching out to your network.    This month...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in Career Change, Job Search on January 29, 2014

There are 2 comments

Add to My Toolkit

The Informational Interview: Job Search Strategies for Recent Grads

8 Tips for Conducting Great Informational Interviews that Set You Apart from the Competition

By Lea McLeod, M.A. , Founder & CEO, Degrees of Transition One of the most essential skills that make you a successful student is even more essential once you hit the job search process: Conducting Research.  Before any application or resume is sent out, research is the most important thing any recent grad can do. But by the time graduation comes along, college graduates are usually chomping at the bit to get out there and get that first job, jumping right into the job search...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in Career Change, Job Search on June 11, 2013

There are 4 comments

Add to My Toolkit

4 Job Search Starter Strategies for The New Year

What action are YOU going to commit to taking as you start the new year?

So often I get a call from prospective job search clients. They usually tell me that they are applying to jobs but not hearing anything back. To me, that’s a sign that they probably don’t have a good job search strategy in place.   If you look at the numbers, you’ll know why. According to research by InterviewSuccessFormula.com, there were 3.6 million job openings at the end of 2012. But only about 20% of those available jobs were actually posted somewhere.    So if...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in College Student/Recent Grad Job Search on December 19, 2013

There are 2 comments

Add to My Toolkit

3 Keys to Improve Your Employee Relationships

Address engagement, retention & happiness issues in your workplace.

The stats about employee engagement are dismal, there’s no doubt. Up to 70% of employees appear to be disengaged at some level. 75% of employees cite their manager as being the biggest source of stress in the workplace.    And it’s been well documented that employees leave managers not organizations.    So perhaps as a middle manager you are eyeball deep in not only working to execute the objectives you have, but keeping your precious team on board, and working...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in Management on October 3, 2013

There are 0 comments

Add to My Toolkit

Lea McLeod

Founder and CEO, Degrees of Transition

Lea McLeod Founder and CEO The Job Success Lab, Degrees of Transition   Biography   Lea McLeod, M.A. is the founder and CEO of Degrees of Transition, an organization focused on helping college and university graduates make the transition from college to professional life, as well as The Job Success Lab where employees are empowered to make more money, have more time, and find more meaning in their jobs.   Through Degrees of Transition, Lea combines her passion and talent for...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in College Student/Recent Grad Job Search on July 25, 2013

There are 0 comments

Add to My Toolkit

7 Mini Conversations to Have with Your Team

Important discussion topics for effective managers.

I am rarely shocked anymore when a client tells me they aren’t clear on the key deliverables of his or her job. Or that they don’t have regular conversations with their manager. Or that the relationship is difficult.    As a manager you must be able to deliver results by working with and through other people. So part of becoming a great manager, is developing good relationships with your employees. Relationships are how work gets done in today’s workplace.    One...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in Management on January 14, 2014

There are 0 comments

Add to My Toolkit

7 Ways to Engage Your Team

Improve Employee Engagement & Reduce Turnover

According to the 2014 Conference Board CEO Challenge, “Building a culture that supports engagement, employee training, leadership development, and high performance is something companies can control, and can mean the difference between growing market share and simply surviving in 2014.” But that lofty statement includes more than just the CEO’s effort. That means managers – at every level – have got to build some intention around how to better stimulate and engage...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in Management on January 27, 2014

There are 2 comments

Add to My Toolkit

Does your boss think you have a “Poor Work Ethic?”

5 Steps to Help Structure Your Time & Deliver High Quality Work

A new study by Millennial Branding reports that GenY employees may not be in sync with their employers. Findings include perceptions of new grads as follows:  47% of employers believe new grads have a "poor work ethic" 46% of employers say GenY employees are easily distracted at work  Yikes.    Regardless of whether these are generalized perceptions of higher-level managers, or street level experience from managers of Gen Y, it makes sense to reflect.    Two...Continue reading

By Lea McLeodPosted in Professional Development on September 26, 2013

There are 0 comments

Add to My Toolkit