by Bonnie Bell, MA, MDiv., Past Principal and Director of Career Coaching
May 12, 2020
Originally Posted March 15, 2011 Back in 2011, the world was in a different form of crisis. The Japanese earthquake, tsunami, and subsequent nuclear reactor meltdown dominated news headlines. The long-term effects were uncertain, and many of us struggled …Read More
July 15, 2019
Depending on how close you are to your planned retirement date, the above question will be either frighteningly urgent, or so far in the distance that you won’t be able to focus on it for any length of time at all. But what I have noticed most about …Read More
March 5, 2019
Right on the heels of all the “Happy New Year” greetings in January come the inevitable predictions about the future on just about every topic imaginable. It’s an ancient phenomenon, this deep human desire to know what’s going to happen before it …Read More
January 31, 2019
Ever since Jim’s Succession Letter went out last month announcing that Forrest has become President of Bell Investment Advisors, people have been asking me about my own plans for 2019, as if now I would be joining the Peace Corps or the circus, or …Read More
October 31, 2018
It seems like, every year, the very day after Labor Day I am ambushed by fall. While I am still holding onto summer, still wearing my white jeans, and still having barbecues, I don’t want to even think about fall. This year the weather even joined the …Read More
August 8, 2018
I’m older than most of my readers, so don’t write me off as some young thing with an abundance of energy bursting forth from my youth. I’m probably quite a bit older than most of you and am someone for whom sports was never a passion. Consistent …Read More
June 26, 2018
I’m sure you must have heard of Imposter’s Syndrome. You may have even experienced it at some point in your past, though maybe not for quite some time if your experience was at all like mine. When I was in my very first professional role, I often …Read More
April 5, 2018
Bell Investment Advisors’ staff is once again partnering with our office building neighbors three floors up, the legendary Oakland law firm, Wendel, Rosen, Black and Dean LLP, to work side by side on a project to rehabilitate the home of a senior …Read More
March 5, 2018
I found the following online 60-minute course on Glassdoor.com, a free online resource for job seekers. It’s an amazing resource that not only includes job listings, but reviews of businesses, reviews of employees who work at these businesses, and a …Read More
January 24, 2018
As you have probably heard — or experienced first-hand — the long-term success rate of New Year’s resolutions is pretty slim. Statistics for 2017 reveal that 80% of resolutions set by people in January fail by February. So rather than even spend …Read More
November 29, 2017
I frequently find myself reminding people that “career” is not a noun; it’s a verb. We evolve, the marketplace evolves, the people around us evolve, and the organizations in which we work evolve; nothing about career is static or likely to last …Read More
October 24, 2017
Many years ago I found myself racing from my then home in El Cerrito to the San Rafael Bridge, on my way to an important job interview. Just as I as I was about to make it to the freeway, the signal at the railroad crossing began to clang, causing me to …Read More
August 9, 2017
Why do you do what you do? is a very different question than the most often asked question in day-to-day life, whether in a social setting or the marketplace: What do you do? The latter is a fair question and a reliable conversation starter, one that …Read More
June 19, 2017
Who doesn’t love a vacation? The mere word, which means “planned time spent not working,” along with other descriptors such as “break, breathing space, intermission, recess, recreation, respite, and rest,” immediately releases some sort of …Read More
May 9, 2017
The cover letter will never go out of style or cease to be of importance in the application process. A well-written cover letter, or LinkedIn message, for that matter, can literally be the added attraction to the application package that grabs the …Read More
March 4, 2017
I heard this twist on a familiar phrase at a meeting recently. The person who repeated it didn’t know where she’d heard it either, so I have no idea where it came from. If you happen to know the source, please let me know. Meanwhile, I plan to assign …Read More
January 12, 2017
By the time you read this, the new year will be at least a couple of weeks old, and if you made any new year’s resolutions at all, you may have already broken them. The statistics on keeping new year’s resolutions are not favorable. According to Ray …Read More
December 23, 2016
Myth #4: The only type of work available to older applicants is part-time. This is so not true! And oddly enough, younger workers who would prefer to work part-time rather than full-time for various reasons, including child-rearing, are convinced that …Read More
