January is for resolutions, but some say the real work begins in February — today’s guest poster, Desiree Moore of Greenhorn Legal, LLC, wonders if that isn’t the case… Pictured: Dawn of a new day, originally uploaded to Flickr by rlanvin.
I have been thinking a lot lately about the way we judge time, and how we can change the way we feel about something depending on when we are feeling it. December is a great example. In December, there is a buzz in the office. For many companies, it is the end of the fiscal year. The holidays – or just some unbridled time away from the office – are around the corner. There is a sense of winding down, of peace.
And in January, we come back to the office with a renewed energy. With hope. Our personal and professional resolutions are in tow, and the weight of last year is a distant memory. This early lightness is surely an insight – this year is going to be a great one.
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A 
recent SNL episode featured a fictional campaign advertisement for a mayoral candidate. The character, Glenda Okones (played by Kristen Wiig), listed her flaws, including her reputation for being harsh and cold. “Here’s why,” she said: “I just have a naturally frowny face. Not ugly, but certainly severe looking.”
Ah, perfect, I thought: an opportunity to talk about bitchface.
I’ll admit: the main reason we haven’t talked about it before is because I didn’t want to use bad words in the headline of the post! But I think this is something that can affect a professional woman’s career, and something we should talk about.
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I’ve recently gotten a few requests on how to set up a home office. For example, from reader B:
I work part of the week out of my law firm’s office and part of the week from home. I would love to hear ideas for organizing a home office that isn’t just boring filing cabinets (but I need somewhere to stash files – points for nontraditional filing cabinet ideas).
Great topic, particularly as more and more employers offer tech budgets and other accommodations to make working from home easier. (Pictured: New Home Office, originally uploaded to Flickr by TypeFiend.) Some must-haves:
- A good Internet connection. I always take my Internet connection for granted until I visit friends or family with a slow connection, and I marvel at how they get any work done at home at all. (I think “a fast enough computer” goes without saying.)
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How can you improve your writing? Reader L wonders…
I am hoping that you and your readers can help me! I am looking for suggestions on how to improve my technical writing skills, either through online courses, tricks, tips — really anything.
This is a subject near and dear to my heart — in addition to being a writer, I taught Legal Research & Writing in law school. Here are a few tips from me; I’m sure the readers will have many more great ideas… (Pictured: Pen to Paper, originally uploaded to Flickr by Orin Zebest.)
- Nail down your grammar. No, it isn’t sexy, but grammar is really important. Most of my grammar knowledge comes from my time spent in journalism school (my undergraduate degree), where I became really, really familiar with books such as:
Nail down your spelling. Yes, really. If a writer makes spelling errors, it distracts the reader from what you’re saying and hurts your credibility. It’s really tempting these days to let technology “help” you quite a bit, and one tip I have is to use auto-correct judiciously, not automatically. If there are things you should know, don’t let your computer automatically correct you on those things! For example, for some reason, when I first got to law school I misspelled “judgment” about 60% of the time when taking notes. I’m not sure what my problem was, but I thought there was an E in there. That is a really commonly used word, and if I’d misspelled that on a handwritten test it would have hurt my credibility with the professor. So I needed to keep seeing the little red squiggle under the word — and review it every time I did a spell check — in order to teach myself how to spell it.
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Do people look down on professional women whose husbands have “blue collar” jobs? Reader C worries about her fiance, a mechanic…
My question is this: I am an aspiring law student who comes from a poor background. I really have no idea how educated people *truly* look at those who have less of an education than them. I am looking at T14 law schools and am very excited, with hopes for southern Biglaw (Richmond, VA). My fiance is a mechanic – he loves his career and would not change it for the world, however, I am worried – will my colleagues judge me because of this? Have you ever seen it be a problem? I hope I don’t sound shallow but I feel like it’s a legitimate concern. I want to know if I should expect anything out of the ordinary, or if the occupation of spouses is nil when it comes to things like raises, promotions, assignments, etc.
First, congratulations to you and your fiance! Whatever I or anyone else may say about this topic, the bottom line here is that as long as you love each other, it doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks. If, when you start work, you find it’s a problem, chances are you’re not with the right employer for you anyway. (Pictured: Grease monkey, originally uploaded to Flickr by Rowan Peter.)
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A reader alerted me today to a post on XO Jane about a fashion editor wearing a sheer top to work, entitled “DO THIS DON’T: WEAR A SHEER SHIRT TO WORK.” Uh, no.
Now, as this editor admits, she’s never worked outside the fashion and beauty world, so maybe our resumes just aren’t lining up — but even for a creative field, this is the kind of look that would just make me think “Wow, that poor girl must not realize her top is totally see-through. Maybe I should tell her?” In fact, I disagree with almost every single line in her column. So I thought I’d give my take on dressing in semi- or totally-sheer looks for the office, compared against her tale…
1. “Yesterday I knew I wouldn’t have the chance to stop home after work before going out that night, so I wore this completely see-through, sparkly Isabel Marant top with a tuxedo jacket.” Dear readers, there are these amazing things called “handbags” — sometimes called “purses,” “totes,” “briefcases,” or even just “bags” — into which you can put all sorts of things, including changes of clothes. Now, with all due respect to this editor, perhaps she had a big work function that night that required her to wear an edgy, sheer top. But for more conservative fields like law and others, the message you broadcast when you wear eveningwear to work is that your evening is more important than your day — not a good message to send.
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, apparently now in its 8th edition (and with lots of workbooks! what fun)
