Brakston

01/12/2026

It takes less than a minute to fully digest a resume and flag that person for follow-up.

This question originally appeared on Quora: What do recruiters look for in a resume at first glance?

01/09/2026

One crucial time to be an effective listener is when another person is discussing a problem with you that he or she feels strongly about.

Lincoln was patient enough to convey the unspoken message and strong enough to understand that every questions requires a detailed justified answer. Listening and acknowledging can sometimes be the strongest answer.

01/08/2026

A leader can be so preoccupied with the process of listening that they may forget to hear because their attention is focused on their body language and their physical actions.

Listening is an effective component of leadership when it becomes a behavior that builds credibility and supports a leader’s ability to guide others into finding their answers versus providing them. The highest level of listening is achieved when it supports leadership as a relationship. When trus...

01/07/2026

Take the time to do it right and you will learn a lot, polish your executive skills, and who knows, you might just land a great job.

Take the job interview as an opportunity to perform and as an opportunity to take your presentation and preparation skills to the next level.

01/06/2026

The recruitment and selection of professionals and managers is one of the most investments an organization can make. The cost of a bad hire can have a tremendous impact on time, money and company culture.

In short, a competence's focus in on the what and the competency's focus is on the how.

01/05/2026

The ability to captivate, excite and motivate with a presentation is one of the most valuable assets of successful people. They can make you or break you.

A quick search on Google will yield much information on how to prepare for an interview. You can find many interview questions and many guides on how to dress and even what questions to ask, but it all comes down to you wanting to spend the time to prepare yourself for the interview. Unfortunately,....

01/02/2026

If you are not paying attention and not working towards a firm goal, by the time you realize it, you may find yourself with knowledge and experience that are not aligned to where you wanted to be.

Personal branding is about everything you do: every job, every social and personal endeavor will define who you are and what you can offer in the next step of your career.

01/01/2026

As you focus on your development and develop competencies, question their portability. Portability is a key component of your market value and critical to guarantee your future.

Your potential performance outside of your current organization and your future potential for success can be debated if there is only evidence of success with a single organization, and hence, a single support structure and environment.

12/31/2025

The true success of a leader cannot be measured without considering the results of the succession plan.

If you collected every single article that defined leadership, you’d probably have reading material for a many years, and you’d probably go crazy with ideas and suggestions on how to improve your leadership skills. Leadership is much like parenting. You can read a lot, you can be taught, you can...

12/30/2025

Selling and describing yourself in a resume, a presentation, an interview or meeting is a crucial factor in getting noticed, getting promoted or getting hired.

12/29/2025

The silence that follows one of the basic interview questions tends to provide more insight about a candidate than the answer that will follow. What it says is that a candidate was not prepared for the interview.

Doing your homework is an important part of interviewing. So be prepared with your answers and be aware of the hidden messages that you will convey.

12/26/2025

Don’t expect someone to hand you profit and loss responsibility overnight. It is a competence that takes time to learn and master. It is something that you will not learn overnight, and it is better to learn how to get there and take progressive actions towards mastering the art and science of taking care of the money.

If you want a top job or any management position for that matter, you must have evidence of taking care of the money and making it grow. Let's call it "The Money Competency".