photo: Bigstockphoto The “war for talent” has been raging for years. Companies are doing whatever they can to attract and retain the highest caliber workforce in our fast-moving and hypercompetitive business environment. But some leaders in the talent space, like Mike Ettling, president of SAP SuccessFactors, don’t buy into the “war for talent” narrative, suggesting that we have created this pervasive belief due to the influence of our own biases.

Dear Liz, I shouldn’t doubt you because I got my last job using a Pain Letter, but until recently there was an aspect of your job-search advice that didn’t make sense to me. I loved my last job but my manager left and the whole atmosphere changed. It had been a fantastic job up until then but when my manager left, the culture went downhill immediately. I didn’t want to stick around. The new manager was an old-school command-and-control person.

Shutterstock As a parent, I naturally want my children to grow up and become successful, productive adults. For many parents, the path to their children’s future success includes a college education. Unfortunately, the high cost of college can become something of a dream killer for parents and children alike, doubly-so if those college dreams include attending a prestigious private institution of higher learning.

Dear Liz, I got hired into amanagement job back in February. I supervise a contract administrator, an estimator and a design engineer. I inherited three outstanding employees when I took the job. It was my first job in this company. Everything was going greatuntil my estimator resigned in September to go to grad school. I got approval to replace him and I ran a job ad. I interviewed about 15 people and I thought I hired the best person.

What are thekey tech challenges marketers are face heading into 2017? As part of my predictions for 2017 (see here for 20+ marketing predictions from the C-Suite), I interviewed Kraig Swensrud, CMO of Campaign Monitor, former CMO of Salesforce.com, and founder of two tech firms – Kieden and GetFeedback. Below are Swensrud’s 5 tech challenges and predictions for 2017.

Shutterstock Have you ever been so exasperated by someone’s rude behavior that you woke up in the middle of the night thinking about that individual? Or, have you ever found yourself coming home from work complaining about the same person every day? Negative people should occupy the least amount of space in your life. Yet, their toxic behavior can easily take up more time and energy than it deserves.

Especially in recent years, online courses have officially claimed their place as the future of affordable, accessible education. Whether you’re just entering the workforce and want more skills and credentials to pad your resume, you’re looking to upskill early to late in your career, or you want to change careers entirely, here’s why taking courses online should be at the top of your priority list. 1.

(Credit: Shutterstock) Love it or hate it, big data is here to stay. As data volumes and sources of data proliferate at ever increasing rates, leading companies will be forced to plan for a data-driven future. Data is pervasive. Businesses operate in an Age of Data. Rapid access to the latest data can accelerate innovation and disrupt traditional markets. Businesses are finding new ways to do business that serve their customers more effectively and responsively.

When someone threatens your businesses, denigrates your employees and accuses you of wieldingundue influence over Washington politicians, what do you do? Congratulate him. Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos made his first public statement on the election results on Thursday, taking to Twitter to send well wishes to President-Elect Donald J. Trump. “Congratulations to @RealDonaldTrump,” he wrote.

There is no question that the recruiting process in most organizations is broken. It simply doesn’t work, and job-seekers languish as they wait for somebody to read their resume or application and respond to them. They could be waiting for a long time! We can complain about the sorry state of recruiting, or we can take matters in our own hands. We can step up and empower ourselves. Empowerment is personal. It is a personal journey.