Becoming a manager is filled with a melting pot emotions: excitement, pride, and maybe a little fear because, truthfully, the transition to manager can often be a bit rocky. Whether you’ve been promoted within your organization or you’re a brand-new hire that has been brought in ...read more
Inbox zero. BCCs, CCs, and Reply Alls. "Apologies for my late response..." This is just some of the lingo us worker bees use to describe the (probably) most-used tool at work: email. Its essential role in workplace communication also means it's one of the most important tools to ...read more
If you’re back in the office after a great summer vacation and already feeling like you’re in a rut, you’re not alone. Studies show that 70% of people are more likely to look for a new job after a holiday or vacation. But finding a new job isn’t always the answer. Sometimes ...read more
One of the first—and most important steps—in our hiring process is the editorial test, which is exactly what it sounds like: a series of questions aimed at testing a candidate's editorial skills (in our case, editing an outfit post or pitching post ideas). While our own test ...read more
A few weeks ago, I had back-to-back calls all day-long with a seemingly endless pile-up of emails to respond to when a friend texted me, "Lunch later?" I'd felt overwhelmed since I'd hopped on the computer at eight that morning, but for some reason I agreed (I assumed it simply ...read more
At Career Contessa, we’re all about women succeeding at work, which means standing up for themselves when their coworkers and managers mistreat them. But unfortunately, workplace politics still matter, so we’re constantly tasked with deciding whether speaking up is worth the ...read more
Here’s the thing about careers: We expect a lot out of them. We expect them to pay for our livelihood, make us happy, challenge us, make us look good at dinner parties, and, well, I think you get the point. Careers and career paths are no longer linear for a lot of reasons and, ...read more
You may know our spring interns, Charlotte and Sabrina, as the "twinterns" from their appearances on our weekly emails and Instagram. Over the past several months the two of them have helped us with a variety of editorial tasks from sourcing the perfect yoga pants (coming soon!) ...read more
There’s something to be said for knowing that you’re excelling at your job. You walk into the office like you own the place, feel more self-confident in every aspect of your life, and take pride and ownership in the work you’re doing. Feeling good is great, but of course, ...read more
The second I saw the "We're Hiring" post on the Cupcakes and Cashmere homepage, I emailed it to my boyfriend with the subject line "Wanna move to L.A.?" At the time, we had been living in Manhattan for two years, but to my enormous surprise, he wrote back, "Okay!" From that ...read more
Welcome to the final installment of our month-long Career 101 series. Many thanks to those of you who left thoughtful questions about your job hunt (ranging from entry-level college grads looking to gain experience, to moms who want to re-enter the work force). Here’s Jenny to ...read more
Last week, my friend Jenny kicked off her Career 101 series by sharing tips about the most impactful way to go about your job search. The VP of human resources and talent acquisition is back for her second installment – this time providing some guidance around how to make your ...read more
I received some great feedback from last year's Networking for Introverts post and wanted to dig a little deeper into the entire career-planning process. Thankfully, my friend Jenny is an expert who can provide some guidance. Not only is she brilliant, but as the VP of human ...read more
I first met Cristina Thompson in 2005 when we were both bushy-tailed college graduates trying to lay claim at our first real adult jobs. Back then, we were both sales assistants at Conde Nast (she at DominoMagazine, and me at Teen Vogue). We hit it off right away, even though ...read more
