Stress has a debilitating effect on productivity; with reduced staffs, higher expectations and slim margins, we are finding increased burnout and a decrease in job satisfaction. As a result, stress-coping strategies are a requirement for every working woman who wants to make a meaningful contribution to her company.

Take some time during November and December to conduct a reality check of your professional life. This means evaluating your career path, updating your resume to reflect recent accomplishments, and creating goals for next year. Many companies do a lot of hiring and promoting in the first quarter of the year. If you take the time now to ready yourself for new opportunities, you can breeze through the holidays and be confident in your ability to meet new career prospects.

Employers have the opportunity to evaluate potential new hires and determine if the candidate is a good fit for the organization. At the same time, interns can use the experience to make great contacts, challenge their thinking outside of the classroom and evaluate a company.

Any activity online, from Facebook to Twitter to LinkedIn, provides a potential employer a view into your professional behavior. Job seekers need to pay particular attention to how they behave in the online world to preserve and build their professional reputation.

Women report that their lives are a juggling act that includes multiple responsibilities at work, heavy meeting schedules, business trips, on top of managing the daily routine responsibilities of life and home. Successfully achieving work/life balance will ultimately create a more satisfied workforce that contributes to productivity and success in the workplace.

“What we found most interesting in this survey is that women are not primarily inspired by compensation, but by respect, service and challenge. Job seekers are clearly looking for challenging work, and to be fairly compensated, but in an environment where they ‘fit’.