Job Search Toolkit
Discover the latest tips and tools related to career exploration, resumes, LinkedIn, networking, interviewing, salary negotiation, and more.
1 Million for Work Flexibility
a diverse coalition of companies, nonprofits, and business leaders who understand that work flexibility benefits us all.
27 Tools Every New Remote Worker Needs
mega-list compiled by skillcrush, an online coding school. You may only use one or two of these tools but worth checking out to maintain solid communication with your remote and office-based co-workers.
5 Benefits to Ask For in Your Next Salary Negotiation
Whether you’re asking for a raise or negotiating a new contract, it’s important to research all of your options before entering such a discussion
7 Keys to Work-Life Balance
February 2010, Julie Cohen. This book provides a framework for examining how your current situation supports work-life balance.
7 Ways Women Can Opt Back into the Workforce
August 2013, Kerry Hannon, Contributor, Forbes.com.
Action-Verbs-for-Resumes
Use the strongest action verbs possible to appropriately reflect what you have done. Here are some action verbs to get you going.
Age Discrimination – How to Handle It in Your Job Search
September 26, 2014, Kathy Caprino, Contributor, Forbes.com. Kerry Hannon, AARP Jobs Expert, shares her take on age bias and highlights FlexProfessionals as an agency that has been successful placing seasoned workers into meaningful jobs.
Apres “Ask For It with Alexandra Dickinson”
Ask For It CEO Alexandra Dickinson pulls back the curtain on how to negotiate salary in the interview process.
Boston College Center for Aging and Work
promotes quality of employment as an imperative for the 21st century multi-generational workforce. The Center integrates evidence from research with insights from workplace experiences to inform innovative organizational decision-making.
Boston College Center for Work and Family
inks academic research and corporate best practices for creating workplace cultures that support the “dual agenda” of individual and organizational success.
Career Anchors: The Changing Nature of Careers Self-Assessment
May 2013, Edgar H. Schein. Schein uses a career assessment instrument to help individuals identify their anchors and to think about how their values relate to their career choices.
Career Planner
Fee-based on-line resource to help assess careers, personality type, values, and skills.
Center for Talent Innovation
a two-fold misson: to drive ground-breaking research that leverages talent across the divides of gender, generation, geography and culture; and to create a community of senior executives united by an understanding that full utilization of the global talent pool is at the heart of competitive success.
Clifton Strengths Talent Assessment
A book and online tool that helps you identify your strengths across 34 areas to discover what you naturally do best, and help you maximize your skill areas. A basic report is included with the book or upgrade for an expanded report.
Designing Your Life
A website, book, and workbook on how to approach career exploration at any age, and with an emphasis on wayfinding and growth mindset.
Don’t Let Weak Technology Skills Stop You from Getting a Job – A 6 Step Plan to Achieve Proficiency
September 2016, Sheila Murphy. Follow these steps for a new, tech-savvy you.
Encore
an organization and movement dedicated to tapping the skills and experience of those in midlife and beyond to improve communities of the world.
Families and Work Institute
a nonprofit dedicated to providing research for living in today’s changing workplace, changing family and changing community.
Getting to 50/50: How Working Couples Can Have It All By Sharing It All
February 2009, Joanna Strober and Sharon Meers.
Glass Ceilings and 100-Hour Couples: What the Opt-Out Phenomenon Can Teach Us about Work and Family
October 2009, Karin Moe and Diana Shandy.
Glassdoor
lets you see what real employees have to say about companies that you are targeting. Find salary and other information too.
Great Jobs for Everyone 50+: Finding Work That Keeps You Happy and Healthy . . .and Pays the Bills
September 2012, by Kerry Hannon.
How to Answer the Question “Do You Have Any Questions?”
Cleverism, February 2018. This article includes some great questions to ask during an interview.
How to Land a Great Job When You Are Over 50
July 2018, Julie Halpert, www.cnbc.com. This article contains some good advice for finding meaningful work after 50.
How to Negotiate Salary: 37 Tips You Need to Know
The Daily Muse Editor, www.themuse.com. If you are like many women and don’t think of negotiating salary, this is an important read.
How to Negotiate the Best Salary
by Liz Funk, Don’t leave money on the table by accepting less than you’re worth.
How to Respond to Difficult Questions/Concerns Raised in Interviews
FlexProfessionals, LLC. Refer to this handout for suggested language that will help you craft your response to common concerns specific to re-entry professionals expressed by employers during an interview.
How to Return to Work After a Career Break
The Balance Careers. Tips for creating a roadmap for re-entry following a career break.
How to Start the Conversation: Salary Negotiation Scripts
Aubrey Bach, Find the script that fits you best, then take a deep breath and start the negotiation conversation.
How to Use a Phone with Confidence
TollFreeForwarding, provides tips for boosting confidence and having a successful phone interview.
How to Work from Home and Stay Healthy
from Remote.co, a website dedicated to all things related to remote work, including forums for both remote workers and managers of remote employees
idealist
A great site for those looking for mission-driven careers. It contains jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities, networking opportunities, and career advice.
In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work
Kerry Hannon, a nationally recognized workplace futurist, author, work flexibility advocate, and financial strategist. provides strategies and tips for navigating the post-pandemic workplace.
In Job Search, Good References Are Key,
February 2011, Laurent Belsie, Christian Science Monitor. Having good references — and making sure that they aren’t undermining you — is an overlooked but important step in the job search.
Institute for Career Transition
(ICT) partners with experienced professionals, providing private coaching and cohort-based learning opportunities to navigate a changing economic landscape.
Interview Checklist for FlexProfessionals Candidates Interviewing with Our Clients
January, 2023, FlexProfessionals, LLC. A handy, one-page checklist for job seekers interviewing with one of our business clients.
It’s Not in Your Head: Negotiating Tips for Women
Jen Hubley Luckwaldt, “In repeated studies, the social cost of negotiating for higher pay has been found to be greater for women than it is for men,”
Kerry Hannon
jobs expert, author, journalist and speaker — always has wonderful advice for seasoned professionals looking to engage in the workforce.
Kids are Back in School – Is This Your Year to Get Back to Work? Here are 5 Tips to Get Ready
September 2014, FlexProfessionals, LLC
The premier on-line resource for networking. Connect with former colleagues and current contacts. Find new connections. More and more recruiters use LinkedIn for passive recruiting. Do you have a LinkedIn profile? What does it say about your personal brand?
List of the Best Skills for Resumes
January 2017, Alison Doyle. This is the most comprehensive list of skills, including soft skills, that we have found. Well organized and includes both hard and soft skills.
ME 2.0
October 2010, by “personal branding guru” Dan Schawbel. This book offers a 4-step process for discovering, creating, communicating and maintaining your personal brand. It also shows how to use social media for job search and career development.
Mobile Apps Galore for Managing Business Cards
July 2014, Heather Clancy for Small Business Matters. A list of the latest mobile apps that make organizing business cards easier.
Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families,
February 2007, Leslie Morgan Steiner.
Negotiation in 7 Easy Steps
By Linda Descano, CFA®, President and CEO, Women & Co, Forget “negotiating” entirely and focus on “influencing”
Off-Ramps and On-Ramps: Keeping Talented Women on the Road to Success
May 2007, Sylvia Ann Hewlett and Carolyn Buck Luce.
Overwhelmed: Work, Love, and Play When No One Has the Time
March 2014, Brigid Schulte. Brigid offers both a map of the stresses that have ripped our leisure to shreds and a blueprint for how to put the pieces back together.
O’Net Interest Profiler
free self-assessment tool that is a part of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Information Network (O*Net). The profiler will identify your broad interest areas so you can use the results to explore the world of work. This tool is especially useful to job seekers re-entering the workforce or looking to change careers.
Philadelphia University Functional Skills Worksheet
Help you identify your top transferable skills that you bring to the table no matter the job.
Pivotplanet
For an hourly fee, you can hire an expert in a career field of interest to mentor you and offer advice on the ins and outs of his/her field of expertise.
Profile Samples
January 2023, FlexProfessionals, LLC. It is important to have a profile or summary of what you bring to the table at the top of your resume. Here are a few examples to get you started.
Resume Formatting and Editing Tips
January 2023, FlexProfessionals, LLC. This is a useful one-page tickler to help you properly format and edit your resume.
Sample Interview Questions
January, 2023, FlexProfessionals, LLC. After researching hundreds of interview questions, we compiled and organized some of the most common questions for your reference.
Sample Resume 1 – Re-Entry
Januray 2023, FlexProfessionals, LLC. A simple, succinct one-page resume of a re-entry candidate. Yours should look different, but this will give you some ideas.
Second Act: After Leaving the Federal Cocoon, the Sky’s the Limit for Former Government Employees
June, 2014, David Tobenkin, naarf Magazine.
Stanford University Values Worksheet
Help you understand what motivates you. Use this worksheet to identify what is important to you in the world of work.
Stanford University Work Environment Worksheet
Help you identify your work environment preferences.
Target Employers for an Effective Job Search
YouTube Video presented by www.clearedjobs.net. This video highlights the importance of being proactive in your job search and targeting the employers you want to work for.
The American Association of University Women
(AAUW) offers a free online webinar on salary negotiation. Their goal is to train 10 million women in salary negotiation by 2022 to help close the pay gap.
The Best Interview Preparation Tool Ever
J.T. O’Donnell, Founder, CAREEREALISM. This is a well-done, two page “worksheet” to help you not only answer commonly asked interview questions but to ask good questions too.
The Future of Aging and Flexible Work
LPN-Q Journal, Summer 2016. In this issue of the Life Planning Network’s Quarterly Journal, FlexProfessionals Co-Founder Sheila Murphy writes about the current landscape of flexible work and how to best position oneself for competition across the ages. Article starts on page 22.
The Jimmy Falon Effect: 10 Qualities of Great Networkers
November 2014, Ariella Coombs, CAREEREALISM. A fun article with some good points about what makes someone successful at networking.
The Most Important Interview Question of All Time
August 2014, Steven Tulman, LinkedIn Pulse. Learn why one simple questions can lead to many other probing questions that give the interviewer many insights into how you perform.
The Occupational Information Network (O*NET)
This robust database is available at no cost and contains in-depth intelligence about industries and occupations. It is a great resource for exploring and researching occupations that match your skillset.
The PayScale Salary Negotiation Guide
compilation of expert advice, with dozens of articles from career and finance experts that answer your questions on how to negotiate salary.
The Second Most Important Interview Question
August 2014, Steven Tulman, LinkedIn Pulse. This question paves the way for a conversation that can help the interviewer understand what motivates you, how well you work with others, how difficult you are to manage, and more.
The Work-Life Equation Podcast, Episode 1: Returning to Work as a Parent
In this podcast by Bright Horizons, Sheila Murphy, Partner/Co-Founder of FlexProfessionals, talks about returning to work after parental leave or a longer career break.
might be used by your kids to learn about the latest party, but you can use it to follow bloggers, journalists, companies, and experts in the industry in which you want to work. You don’t even have to tweet!
TypeFocus
A leading developer of online personality type resources. For a fee, individuals can receive a personalized report to gain insights into your personality, interests, and values and how these impact career choices.
University of South Carolina Personal Qualities Worksheet
help you narrow down your top 3-5 traits that you consistently convey, no matter the job or activity.
Vault – Career Intelligence
A website for researching industries, job titles and potential career paths.
Video and Phone Interview Tips
Januray 2023, FlexProfessionals LLC. Practical, easy to use tips for interviewing successfully via phone and video.
Want a Job? Learn How to Work the Room!
March 2014, Mary Eileen Williams. Some useful tips for working a room at a networking event.
What Are Career Values?
June 10, 2015 by Alison Doyle is a useful tool for determining your top Career Values.
What Color is Your Parachute?
August 2013, Richard N. Bolles. This practical guide will help identify your passions and careers through which you can embrace them. It is also full of job search tips and guidance.
What Should I Do with the Rest of My Life?
March 2010, by Bruce Frankel. Through intimate narratives, this book introduces unforgettable everyday people who embraced a new sense of possibility late in life with almost unimaginable success, passion, and purpose.
What’s Next? Finding Your Passion and Your Dream Job in Your Forties, Fifties, and Beyond
April 2014, by Kerry Hannon.
What’s Next? Follow Your Passion and Find Your Dream Job
April 2010, Kerry Hannon. This book is filled with inspiring stories from real people who have changed careers mid-life.
Why You Should Negotiate Pay Even After Taking an Extended Break
Jingcong Zhao, Getting back into the workforce after taking an extended break is tough.
Why Your Bio Is More Important Than Your Resume
Your bio – short, sweet, and easy to read – is a great networking tool. When you meet someone, follow up by sending your bio.
Work and Family Researchers Network
international membership organization of work and family researchers whose mission is to promote understanding of work and family issues among global stakeholders.
Work-Life Equation Podcasts
By Bright Horizons, these informative podcasts (20-25 minutes) cover topics related to parenting, caregiving, and balancing work with everyday life.
YouScience
A combination aptitude assessment and insight tool for matching your skillset with in-demand careers. As an added bonus, your assessment includes tips for talking about your strengths on a resume or in an interview.
