Landing your first professional job or corporate internship can feel overwhelming, but AI can make the process smoother and more effective. Generative AI tools, like ChatGPT or Claude, are powerful allies for streamlining research, improving your application materials, and helping you prepare with confidence. Think of AI as a trusted advisor:  an excellent editor and brainstorming partner that enhances your work, but doesn’t replace your unique voice or experience.

Nearly everyone, at some point in their career, will have to decide if they want to pursue a leadership role. However, many people focus their consideration on the wrong factors. Yes, leadership positions come with pay bumps, extra perks, and more prestigious titles. But to be a successful leader, you need to be honest with yourself. Are you ready, and is this the kind of role you want?

Moving into managerial or other types of leadership roles is a big responsibility. It impacts more than just your career. It could either greatly improve or hurt your entire company in some way, and as a people manager, it can certainly impact the lives of those on your team.  The choice is also complicated by the fact that a leadership role will, undoubtedly, be very different than your previous positions. The required skills are not likely strengths you’ve regularly been using. The position could even reveal weaknesses, so if you’re not ready, the transition can be jarring for your career.

Before jumping at that promotion, ask yourself the following questions to see if it’s truly time to take the next step and become a leader:

Thanks to rapidly advancing technology over the last few decades, you have access to more jobs and job search resources than could have possibly been imagined before the turn of the last century. Employers now get a better idea of which applicants are the best fit for their open roles. This allows you to show your merit for top jobs by making technology work for you.

Within three years of initial enrollment, about 30 percent of undergraduates in associate’s and bachelor’s degree programs who declared a major had changed it at least once, according to a study by the U.S. Department of Education. The same study found about 1 in 10 students changed college majors more than once: 10 percent of associate’s degree students and 9 percent of bachelor’s degree students.

Many current college students can relate to the desire to change-up their major. Whether you’re bored, it’s overwhelming, or it’s just not what you were expecting, it’s perfectly reasonable to graduate with a degree different from your initial major.

Changing your major for the better will decrease your stress levels and increase your motivation to excel in school. However, if you don’t consider every factor before making the switch, the results can negatively impact your career success years down the road.

Determining whether or not to shift careers is challenging. Even if you aren’t content in your current role, there are many benefits of remaining with the company rather than embarking on a new job search. Before making any move, you should first determine whether it’s better for your career to find a way to move up in the company, or begin searching for a new job.

It’s important, however, not to wait until you’re “burned out” to begin planning your next career steps.

Use these tips to gauge your satisfaction level in your current career track, determine if there are changes you can make to make the shift in your current job, and how to know it’s time to move on:

Thomas is an interview pro. He says all the right things and gives the impression that he knows his stuff. In fact, when Thomas gets job interviews, he gets the jobs.

The trouble is, Thomas usually quits or is fired after only a few weeks. His lack of skills and experience were masked in the interview by his confidence and smooth-talking nature. 

Meanwhile, Beatrice has more than 10 years of experience in her field. During that time, she’s collected various honors and awards for high achievement. Co-workers turn to her first to answer questions about complicated topics or gain helpful insight into a work problem.

However, Beatrice is not a good self-cheerleader. She gets nervous in interviews and often gives odd or incomplete answers to questions. Since trying to shift her career path, Beatrice just cannot seem to get a call back after interviews, despite having the skills and experience to excel in the roles. 

Both Thomas and Beatrice could benefit from a bit of interview guidance, but for different reasons. As a career counselor, you must know how to recognize job seeker strengths and weaknesses and steer them clear of sending up interview red flags or, arguably worse, pulling the wool over interviewers’ eyes.

Here is a look into how you can help job seekers appealingly present themselves while remaining true to the facts: 

Jennifer Faulkner, a marketing manager at Proposify, is the perfect example of why a freelance creative might want to make the jump to “nine-to-five” employment. Jennifer was a six-year freelance veteran who’d been working at Proposify for almost two years before she detailed her transition on the company’s blog.

When Jennifer was a freelancer, she was convinced she’d never go back to a regular job. She loved the freedom to choose her projects, relished the choice to pick her co-workers, and appreciated her options to work whenever she wanted.

Jennifer’s story is not unlike many freelancers currently in the industry. Working a “regular” job comes with benefits like steady pay, vacation hours, and a feeling of stability. Still, it can be difficult making the transition from full-time freelancing to the new office desk jockey.

So, how can freelancers make the jump? Here’s a roadmap to guide you seamlessly into steady employment: