On Careers
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It's Time to Say Thanks—to Your Boss
Continue reading… 5 CommentsWhen was the last time you thanked your boss?
You may think your boss should be thanking you! After all, aren't you the one who puts up with the long hours, low pay, conflicting demands, confusing instructions, harassment, insecurity, and lack of recognition?
Even if not, even if you like your job, times are troubled. You may feel safer at work keeping as low a profile as possible.
So is it a good idea, especially now, to remind your boss of your existence with something as banal as a "thank you"?
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The Crucial Job Interview Meet and Greet
Continue reading… 3 CommentsFrom time to time, someone will bring a job candidate by my office. I am supposed to do the typical meet-and-greet deal, which I dutifully do.
I have rarely met a job candidate that handled this situation gracefully. I generally get a "nice to meet you" mumble, mumble, mumble a la Ozzie Osbourne.
These chance meetings are CRUCIAL for a job candidate. Yet, most fail due to lack of planning. Or they believe the job interview is over-and are trying their best to get out the door and have no time to be nice to some random person they just met.
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Why Bosses Call Us In to Their Offices
Continue reading… 2 CommentsThe class went "oooh" and "ahhh" when the note came down from above.
"Andrew G.R., please report to the principal's office."
Busted.
The blood rushed from my face as I journeyed to meet my maker. I walked down the narrow, fluorescent-lit corridor with my mind racing. How did he find out?
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Why Poor Performers Don't Get Fired
Continue reading… 18 CommentsAlmost everyone has had the experience of working alongside someone who is a chronically poor performer—and then puzzling over the question of why nothing is being done about it.
The answer is that nothing is being done about it because your manager isn't doing her job and is allowing her desire to be nice and avoid difficult conversations to trump her fundamental obligations as a manager—obligations like holding the bar high and expecting people to adhere to it, warning them when they're falling short, and taking action when warnings don't work.
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Mission Creep: Hey, Who Changed My Job Responsibilities?
Continue reading… 0 CommentsAt some point in your career, you'll encounter mission creep.
Sometimes, it's more like mission leap. You take on a project, and then ugly things quickly surface—matters that those charming souls who lured you into the task failed to mention. What initially seemed like a simple matter becomes a poisonous swamp.
As bad as mission leap is, at least it seizes your attention. You know that you're swatting snakes and gators. Mission creep, however, can be just as dangerous but much harder to detect. You take on an assignment and don't notice as it slowly shifts into an entirely different and more complicated world. An obvious challenge is that the resources and personnel dedicated to the original mission may be inadequate for the new one. The political support may also be missing. You're working on a project that has ceased to exist, but you're still responsible for the scope of its new incarnation.
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When a Rejection Holds Promise
Continue reading… 0 CommentsI had an internship for a large accounting firm. I applied for a regular position and did not even receive an interview for the one position availabl e. The start of the rejection E- mail seemed like a stock standard reply, but the second half spoke of specific things in my application, my strength as a candidate, and said that I should apply again for positions with the firm in the future.
Do you believe the Recruitment Partner was being genuine about me re-applying or just trying to apply salve to the wound? Logically, seeing as time is money, surely the Recruitment Partner would not waste time sending a quasi-personalized email, but still I do not really want to latch onto false hope. If I am not a suitable "fit" for the firm , then I understand — what can you do if the hole is round and you are a square peg? However , I do not really know what I should do in this scenario.
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How to Get Out of Your Negative Spin Cycle
Continue reading… 0 CommentsHave you ever found yourself stuck in a negative spin cycle when things go wrong? If you're anything like me, maybe you tried something new and fell on your face, and then got sucked into continually beating yourself up about it. That happens to most of us at some point. We take things personally, overreact, and wind up stuck in a negative loop.
One way to break free of that spin cycle is to use your "inner observer." Your inner observer gives you an objective snapshot of the situation. It doesn't get caught up in emotions or self-talk. It just takes a big-picture view and asks: "What's really going on here?"
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9 Layoff Signs to Watch For
Continue reading… 5 CommentsLike a nasty virus, fear of job loss is in the air. Don't panic! But do watch for these signs:
1. You start seeing memos about the company's "new direction." Not necessarily bad—can be harmless or can bode ill. Take a wait-and-see attitude.
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Career Advice: Dad’s Best, and Worst, Pearls of Wisdom
Continue reading… 0 CommentsI recently asked a number of folks to share the career advice their dads gave them. For more of these "conversations," visit my personal blog, www.whatwoulddadsay.com.
The best advice my dad—a self-made entrepreneur now retired from the grocery retail business—has ever given me is that when you're in doubt about a serious decision or situations seem uncertain, "buy time."
—Sue Markgraf -
Letters of Recommendation Are Worthless
Continue reading… 11 CommentsSomeone has to break it to you, so it's going to be me: Please stop with the letters of recommendation. Don't attach them to your resume and don't offer them up at the interview. I know you feel good about them but, unfortunately, they aren't useful.
Shocking, but true.
