Shutterstock So many people have that passion project they’ve always dreamed of, and so many haven’t taken the plunge. There’s always a reasonable explanation. Maybe it’s not fully formed yet. Maybe you don’t have the right team yet. Maybe you’ll need extra cash to pull it off. Either way, there’s always a rationale for why you haven’t made the time. It’s time to make the time.

Dear Liz, I work with a great team, but one of my teammates is a problem. We’ll call her Annie. She is a back-stabber. Our manager can’t tell and who is going to tell him? I don’t want to go to my manager and say “Annie blamed me for her mistake” or “Annie told the customer that she created his project report, when actually I did it.” Annie will throw me or anyone under the bus to make herself look good.

Dear Liz, I’ve decided to leave my job after five years, but I don’t have a strong relationship with a recruiter who could help me find my next gig. I worked with a fantastic recruiter when I got this job. I met him through a friend of mine who recommended me for the job I have now. That recruiter went into a full-time job and so he’s not working with candidates like me anymore.

Shutterstock “I need two pairs of drawers, walking!” Unless you’ve worked at a diner before, that statement probably doesn’t mean much to you. That’s the thing about buzzwords: They bring teams together and streamline communication, but they leave outsiders in the dark. Worse, overused terms lose their meaning altogether. When you confuse people, you lose people—and that’s doubly true on LinkedIn.

Shutterstock If you’re in the process of job searching in a new field, it’s likely that your biggest concern is a lack of experience. This is normal—it may even be the “new” normal. I think we can agree the “job-for-life” model is finished as more and more of us change not just companies but entire industries. When you consider that more hiring is done based on skill sets than job titles, you can see a clear trend emerging.

Shutterstock Dear Liz, I am interviewing for a new job. I think my requirements are very reasonable and I’m getting good interest from employers. I’ve had three interviews so far, so that’s good. I am waiting to hear which if any of my three initial interviews will turn into second interviews.

Shutterstock The ability to manage your emotions and remain calm under pressure has a direct link to your performance. TalentSmart has conducted research with more than a million people, and found that 90% of top performers are skilled at managing their emotions in times of stress in order to remain calm and in control. Stress has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you least expect it, but how you respond is only half the battle.

Google’s Avinash Kaushik and Carmine Gallo discuss the power of storytelling to change minds (photo: Carolyn Kilmer) “Storytelling rocks.” Two words I never thought I’d hear from an expert in data analytics. But Avinash Kaushik isn’t like most data experts, and the lessons he offers can help professionals in any industry stand out from the competition. Kaushik loves data. He really loves it.

As of October 1, U.S. shoppers will have been under the payment card industry mandate called “EMV” for one year.  By all accounts, it has not been an easy ride. Lawsuits, delays, unwarranted chargebacks, and customer confusion seem to rule the day. And that begs the question: What exactly have we solved with this standard?  The short answer: Not much. It’s a pile of ugly, and it’s not getting any prettier.

By Chase Peterson-Withorn and Jennifer Wang Despite forays into airlines, casinos and steaks, Donald Trump’s fortune remains largely tied up in the industry that made his family rich: real estate. A new Forbes investigation into Trump’s wealth pegs his net worth at $3.7 billion, down $800 million from a year ago. Much of that drop — some $475 million — comes from a decline in the estimated value of his properties.