HR

"The Chinese don’t give any feedback and they don’t come to the meetings" is the sort of thing I hear fairly frequently from my European clients. I respond by saying that actually they are giving pretty clear feedback by not coming to the meetings; it is just that they don’t give the sort of direct verbal feedback the Europeans are expecting.

WORKING PART-TIME: Would you like to work fewer hours? Switching to part-time work may be the right choice for you, but career experts say there are a number of aspects to consider before you make the change.

ELEVATOR PITCH: Can you describe yourself and your career goals in under 30 seconds? This sort of short, concise description is called an “elevator pitch” — named for the amount of time you might spend in a lift talking to the head of your company.

RETRAINING: There’s good news and bad news about the recession. The bad news is that people are losing their jobs. The good news is that many of those who still have jobs are learning new skills.