Open-Ended Question - Questions interviewers ask to see if you'll hang yourself. Example: "Is there anything further you would like to tell me about yourself?" This opens the door for you to blow yourself out of the water by saying something like, "I collect handguns. Is it OK if I bring one to work?"
 
Operationalize - Put into action. "The plans are great, but they mean nothing unless we operationalize them."

Outplacement - Company-paid career counseling aimed at helping a departing employee find a new position, usually provided after a layoff or termination.
 
Outsourcing - Moving functions previously performed by employees in a company to another company or another country.

Overused Strength - Any strength, carried to an extreme, becomes a liability. Example: Being direct and to the point can be beneficial, but when overused directness becomes bluntness or pushiness, both negative. Working hard is a plus; working too hard is workaholism, a negative. Independence is good; being too independent means you're not a team player.

Performance Management - Measuring and improving an employee's individual contribution, through performance appraisals (see below), 360 reviews, coaching, and similar tools.
 
Performance Review / Performance Appraisal - Written and verbal system to evaluate your contributions to the organization and your development or training needs.
 
Personal Board of Directors - A selected subset of people from your network, whose expertise, insight and candor you can call on for career advice and support. The key is to identify them, to involve them, and to communicate with them on a regular basis, either individually or in a group.
 
Personal Coordinates -- Contact information such as name, address, phone number, and e-mail. "Please leave your personal coordinates at the tone." Also: "Could you get me Sally's coordinates?"

PFML - "Will you Pay For My Luggage?" After accepting a job overseas, a physician sent his travel expenses to his new employer, including the cost of a new set of luggage. The reimbursement was denied, and perhaps sent the wrong signal to the employer. PFML can mean making any unreasonable demand of a new employer.
 
Pinball Career - Bouncing around from job to job, from assignment to assignment so that you never gain momentum excellence, or mastery in your career. See "Career Planning By Accident.")
 
Planted in the Right Pot - The job you're in is exactly right for you. (See Fit.)
 
Positioning - Defining yourself differently to set yourself apart from your competitors in the job market. For a while, Avis positioned themselves as "Number Two. We try harder." A physician executive could position herself this way: "I'm a businessperson who happens to have an M.D.--I'm not an M.D. trying to fit into business." See Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind by Ries and Trout. A classic, this may be the best business book you ever buy.

Pretzel Yourself - You bend and fold yourself into a job that isn't a good fit. This has bad consequences to your health, attitude, behavior, and community. There isn't enough income from some jobs to repair the consequences of trying to do them. See Too much success can kill you at http://www.careerlab.com/art_toomuch.htm/.
 
Product Differentiation - A word portrait of how you are different (and better) than others competing for the same job. One might say, for example, "I have better finance and accounting skills than most physicians, and I'm a real whiz on Excel spreadsheets." See Positioning.
 
Pushback - Criticism or counter-arguments. "The business plan is tight, and I'm not expecting pushback from the lender." Also used as a verb: "If you don't like your performance review, you're going to have to push back."
 
Quid Pro Quo - An equal exchange or substitution, as in I think it should be quid pro quo: I brought you a patient, you should do the same for me. This Latin expression, meaning "something for something," has been used in English since the late 1500s. Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. (See What Goes Around Comes Around.)
 
The R-Word - Retirement. Avoid using the R-word, even if you are leaving your practice or business. In our youth-oriented society, retiring means "old" and perhaps "over the hill," or "unemployable." Different words say the same thing but leave doors open to you. For example, "I'm winding down my practice, selling to my partners, and making an exciting new beginning."
 
Ready. Fire. AIM. - A business buzzword that means "get it done now." In a career transition it can mean papering the world with an avalanche of poorly-prepared resumes or C.V.'s because you fear unemployment. Mass mailings of this type usually produce little or no response in the marketplace. See Market Readiness.
 
Recruiter - See Executive Recruiter.
 
Rejection - What you experience when you mail unsolicited letter and resumes to people and make cold calls to strangers. Also, what you experience when you lack clear focus or clear purpose.
 
Religious Networking Conversion - The point during a job search or career change when you realize the immense value of personal relationships and say, "I've learned my lesson. I'm ALWAYS going to talk to job hunters when they call. I'm NEVER going to neglect my network again . . . EVER." This resolve generally lasts two weeks into the new job, then vanishes.
 
Resume - A precisely-worded 2- or 3-page document detailing your core competencies, chronological employment history, major accomplishments, community service, and education--usually in that order. The power of the resume is in the work accomplishments. Better achievements = better resume. Resumes should be FAT: Factual, Accomplishment-oriented, and Tightly-written. A C.V. is not a resume. C.V.s are "lists of lists." Resumes focus on achievements and are usually constructed to meet defined needs.
 
Riding Your Horse in All Directions - Not having clear focus. Trying to be all things to all people. Attempting to keep all your options open so you don't lose out on anything. Usually produces indifference or rejection in the job market, because no one can understand your goals and the value you bring.
 
RIF - Reduction in force. That's right, layoff. Also used as a verb: "I was riffed unexpectedly and need to find another job.

Rightsizing as in "We're rightsizing the organization" - The term used when companies don't want to say they're firing people or laying them off.  Rightsizing sounds much better, no? OK, it doesn't. Especially if you're the person being "rightsized."

RIP - Retired In Place. A person who shows up every day and collects a paycheck even though they're no longer working or adding value. Poor performers, they are targeted for termination any time an organization goes through a layoff or downsizing.
 
Selling by Not Selling - Selling by listening, caring about others, and building friendships and relationships. Once you establish a trusting relationship, people will often buy from you simply because of who you are. The sale is a byproduct of the friendship. We know for a fact that people buy from their friends.
 
Serial Enterpreneur - Someone who has started severl different businesses. Usually applied to oneself in a boastful way: "I'm a serial entrepreneur looking for a new gig." May be code for a job hopper or someone who never really succeeds in one venture.

Severance - Money an employer pays when "severing" an employee to tide them over while they look for a new position elsewhere. Unless spelled out in a pre-employment agreement, severance is often not required, and is given at the discretion of the employer. Two weeks per year of service is a common severance formula; thus, 20 weeks of pay for 10 years of service. Top executives usually get longer severance, partly because higher-level jobs are rare and harder to find.

Slate of Candidates - The 6-10 finalists a recruiter presents to the hiring managers in a company or medical practice.
 
SME  "Subject Matter Expert" (pronounced "SMEE.") - A guru on any technical topic. "Before buying Oracle software, we better talk with the SME in accounting to get his buy-in."

Soft Copy - An electronic or non-paper copy of a document. The printed version is called "hard copy."

Soft Skills - Non-technical skills, such as the ability to communicate, problem-solve, empathize, and be courteous. "Emotional intelligence" is the best book to understand and develop soft skills.

SOHO - Small Office, Home Office.

Space - A business or industry. Over-used mostly by young adults in computer, technology, and Internet fields. "Anyone in this space should know that second-round funding is an issue."