On Careers
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How You Think About Work
Continue reading… 3 CommentsThere are plenty of ways to think about work. For many people, it is just something you do to make enough money to have some fun, go fishing, or party-hearty. I understand that.
For others, it's just something you do to make enough money to cover the basic necessities of family life. Nothing more.
Given that you're a reader of U.S.News, I am guessing you are neither, and that you want more out of your work life--whatever "more" is for you.
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The No. 1 Question Your Resume Should Answer
Continue reading… 35 CommentsThe vast majority of resumes I see read like a series of job descriptions, listing duties and responsibilities at each position the job applicant has held. But resumes that stand out do something very different. For each position, they answer the question: What did you accomplish in this job that someone else wouldn't have?
So sure, it's great that you were hired for a job with, you know, a job description. But what I want to know is what you did with that job. Did you just go through the motions and turn in an acceptable, but not particularly star-quality, performance? Or did you do an unusually good job, one that impressed your boss and coworkers and made them devastated to lose you?
The typical advice about resumes suggests showing what you accomplished by using numbers -- "increased sales by 40 percent," "instituted cost efficiencies that reduced overhead by 20 percent," or whatever. But what if you have a job where what made you great isn't numerically quantifiable?
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Whose Side is HR on, Anyway?
Continue reading… 3 CommentsI received an inaccurate performance appraisal from my incompetent manager and I wrote a detailed response (actually, longer than the original appraisal). I have some questions:
- Is it likely that the company will change the review rating?
- How does HR feel about employees who submit review responses?
- Even if the ratings are not changed, will the fact that I wrote a coherent, objective response be noted in my manager's HR file?
- My husband is a manager at a big company. He tells me HR is not my friend, that that they will protect my manager before me. Is this true?
I don’t know you, your manager, or your company policies, so this is going to be a general answer--your mileage may vary.
Changing the rating: It’s likely that your company has a formal review process. Just writing a response will not get a rating changed. You’ll have to officially request a review and a hearing. Will it get changed? I’ve seen it happen, but more often then not, the answer is no. Employees are often the worst judges of their own behavior. I’ve never had an employee say, “Gee, I’m average or below average.” Every employee thinks they are above average. This, of course, cannot be true.
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Why a Career Change Shouldn't Wait for the Recovery
Continue reading… 2 CommentsI recently had a conversation with a woman who was unhappy in her job. As we talked about whether it made sense to think about changing careers, she echoed a common refrain: “I’m just lucky I have a job in this economy.”
Is she fortunate to have a job? Yup. But being lucky to have a job and having the ability to set in motion the wheels of a career change have nothing to do with each other. Most of the successful career transitions I have seen have unfolded over the course of many months, even years. Which means you don’t have to jump ship to get started.
Let’s say you realize you’re on the wrong path, and you decide it’s time for a change. You may not be in a position to jump into something new right now, but you are in a position to start taking steps.
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7 Digital Job-Hunting Mistakes
Continue reading… 5 CommentsAs if job hunting wasn’t hard enough already, the Internet has added a few new twists to the process. Specifically, there are now more ways to shoot yourself in the foot. Beware of these digital faux pas:
Not having an electronic version of your résumé. Savvy job hunters go a step further and put their résumés in PDF format. These look more professional and they can’t be altered.
A silly E-mail address. If your E-mail is something like "ilovekittycats," you’ll appear unserious and unprofessional. ( Also, did you know some hiring managers say an AOL account makes you look out of touch? It’s true.)
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In Defense of Bozeman
Continue reading… 6 CommentsThere was big news this week out of the city of Bozeman, Mont. Seems that job applicants were asked to supply Bozeman officials with the usernames for their social media accounts, as well as the passwords, as part of the background check process.
Commentators piled on Bozeman city officials, ultimately leading to Friday's announcement that they were no longer asking for such information. It was a win for HR and the privacy-concerned everywhere.
But since most of us just got the rabid version--“Can you believe what Bozeman just did?!”--I thought I would come to their defense.
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Why Your Weekends Aren't For Work
Continue reading… 8 CommentsI recently blogged about things that I like more in my 30s than I did in my 20s.
Looking back on my "younger years," I can also see many differences in my attitude towards work. One of the big shifts is how much time I spend thinking about work when I'm not at work.
Over the years I have been able to re-train myself to eliminate work thoughts when I'm off the clock. I have found that this has improved my home life, reduced the feeling of dreading Mondays, and led to a better career experience overall.
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How to Build Credibility at Work
Continue reading… 9 CommentsOne of the most important types of capital you can build at work is a reputation for being highly credible. It takes time to build it, and you can significantly undermine it through even a single bad move.
Here's how to build unshakable credibility:
Never, ever lie. Never. Not only that, but go one step further. ...
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Obstacles Are Starting Points, Not End Results
Continue reading… 1 CommentHave you ever run smack into an obstacle--brazenly sitting between you and something you want--and let it stop you in your tracks? Most of us have. Sometimes we even create the story line, that if what we wanted were possible, we would never have encountered that obstacle to begin with.
But here’s the thing--very few things in life worth having will just drop into your lap. Everyone runs into roadblocks. So, what distinguishes the people who overcome them, from the people who give up?
One differentiating factor is how they look at the challenges they encounter. For one, an obstacle is a stopping point, while the other treats each obstacle as a starting point. One wastes time and energy railing against the fact that an obstacle exists, while the other accepts that obstacles are just part of the game and sets about figuring out what the road around it looks like.
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Relax, Job Seeker. Hiring Managers Understand.
Continue reading… 0 CommentsI've been putting together my resume and begun to fill [out] applications. My current job has become way more demanding than was originally explained to me, and my manager has since admitted that she intentionally misrepresented the work load when she hired me. I'm fine with working longer hours, but I stated that I should be compensated appropriately for my work and despite several flawless reviews, my salary increase has been "under review" for two quarters. To add insult to injury, in the meantime, I was permitted to hire a direct report, who was hired at the exact same pay as myself. At this point, I can handle staying in my current position for as long as I need to but it just seems like there are too many uphill battles to fight with management for this to be a permanent job for me.
So, until now, every other job change I've had has been for some obvious reason (leaving school, relocating to a new area, end of contract, etc.) So, I don't know what to say when asked my reason for leaving my current company. I know that if I were interviewing a potential hire who told these stories, I might begin to wonder if they were a problem employee. At the very least, it would cause me to look harder at a few of the other applicants. I want to tell the truth, but I know there are better ways to communicate the truth.
You are assuming that people leave companies only when they're forced, for reasons such as the ones that you've listed. But people change jobs all the time, and for more minor things than you've listed.
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12 Steps to Getting Your Resume and Cover Letter to The Top of The Pile
Continue reading… 2 Comments1. Spell every single word correctly.
2. Address your letter to a specific person.
3. State concisely how you can help the company.
4. Use language that is direct and straightforward, with no loose adjectives.
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How The Recession Has Changed Hiring
Continue reading… 6 CommentsI suspect hiring managers everywhere could tell you exactly when the economy really imploded: Last fall, I started to see dramatic differences in the hiring process from the employer's side. Everyone knows how the recession has impacted job seekers--there are fewer jobs and lots more competition--but here's what it looks like from an employer's side.
- To no one's surprise, there are way more applicants for any job I post. Overwhelmingly so. I look at every single one, so the amount of time involved has gone way up.
- I'm seeing more high-quality applicants. Generally, after the initial rounds of screening and phone interviews, I end up with a pretty small group of candidates who I'm interested in doing final interviews with--typically no more than three or four. These days, the group doesn't narrow itself down like that; I'm often left with far more high-quality candidates than I can interview.
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The Scariest Part of Work
Continue reading… 4 CommentsIf the scale is the most frightening element in the doctor’s office, what is its equivalent in the workplace?
Some nominees:
- The weekly staff meeting
- The annual performance evaluation
- The CEO reading a best seller on management
- Clearing things with Legal
- 360 degree feedback
- The cafeteria’s contribution to Diversity Day
- Waking up in a strange room the morning after the office party
- Reorganizations
- Lean and hungry interns
- The "Reply All" button
- The boss’s spouse
- The boss’s secretary
- Government audits
- Being assigned to Siberia
- Unhinged coworkers
- Weasels
- Consultants with an undisclosed agenda
- Motivational retreats
- Six Sigma
- Supervising peers
- Meetings in which everyone pretends they know what is going on.
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Why Brad Pitt Might Be Working in The Next Cubicle
Continue reading… 6 CommentsI picked up the morning newspaper yesterday to find out that Brad Pitt is in town!!!! Yes, it was front page news, and everybody was so excited. Except for me. I honestly can't see what the big deal is. In my opinion, he always looks like he could use a shower, a haircut and a shave. I don't think his acting is all that great either.
I know, I know, I'm out of step with the rest of the females on the planet. I just don't see what they see, and I would never have cast him in his first movie role. I probably wouldn't notice him if I passed him on the street. (Which could happen--because he's in town! Or maybe he left already. I admit I'm not monitoring this situation closely.)
Now if you're wondering why this career advice column has suddenly become a Hollywood gossip column (albeit a lousy one), hold on. I can't see what is so great about a particular actor, but the casting agent that first hired him could see it. And that person was right. I wouldn't have chosen him and I would have been wrong--not in a moral sense, rather, in terms of making good business decisions. It was right to give Brad his first break. That decision has made a lot of people a lot of money.
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How's That Been Working For You?
Continue reading… 6 CommentsKiller question, that. "How’s that been working for you?"
When you're talking to someone who searches the big job boards only, and ignores networking opportunities, ask: "How’s that been working for you?"
When you're with someone who complains endlessly about the job market and the economy, ask: "How’s that been working for you?"
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7 Reasons You Won't Want to Manage a Friend
Continue reading… 6 CommentsOne of the toughest challenges a manager can face is also one aspect of the job that, at the start, often seems like it's going to be great--managing a friend. Contrary to what nearly everyone thinks when they’re first considering it, it’s really hard. Indeed, very few people come out of it with their friendship intact.
But for some reason, no one believes this at the beginning. Everyone thinks it will be different for them. If there are problems, you'll just talk through them. It'll be great. And it often is at first. But then you discover things like this:
- Suddenly you have to keep secrets from your friend. You're going to have access to information that you can't tell her about.
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When Praise is Better Left Un-Given
Continue reading… 1 CommentA lack of appreciation is often cited as a reason why people leave organizations. In order to counter that, many organizations encourage supervisors to heap on the praise.
It is a good example of how the opposite of a poor practice is not always a good practice.
Handled poorly, praise can be a de-motivator and even a form of humiliation. Here are a few approaches that should be avoided:
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Stop Talking Yourself Out of Change
Continue reading… 0 CommentsIn my work, people typically come to me when the pain of a job that doesn’t fit becomes greater than the discomfort they think they would experience making a change. That reluctance to commit to change has often kept them feeling frustrated and stuck for waaaaay longer than they need to.
Change can be uncomfortable, to be sure. Even painful at times. But it is almost never as bad as people project that it will be.
Why do they think it’s going to be so bad? Because when they look forward at the future, they see one big hairball of change. Every step, every unknown quantity, every fear of things both imagined and real, all clump together in one big mess. And people look at that giant cluster of gunk and say, “Uhhhh…no thanks.” It just feels too overwhelming and scary.
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Why Your Coworkers Might Not Be the Problem
Continue reading… 12 CommentsI was sitting at my computer, working. The windows were open and I could hear the neighbors outside. Suddenly, a man's voice started to get louder and louder. I got up angrily to investigate. How inconsiderate could this guy be? It became clear that it was a television, and that made me more annoyed. Have some respect for other people, I thought.
Then I noticed that the loud noise was coming from my television and my one year old had managed to find the remote control and turn the volume all the way up. It wasn't my neighbors who were being obnoxious and rude. It was me. (Because, of course, it is my responsibility to monitor the toddler with the remote.) Oops.
When people write me with their questions, they often want me to fix the loud noise that someone else is making. They often forget that sometimes they're not only contributing the problem, but causing it.
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Are You Looking For a Job Backwards?
Continue reading… 5 CommentsToo many people run their job hunts backwards.
Meaning: They spend too much time on the activities that are least likely to land them a job. And not enough time doing the things that are most likely to result in actual employment.
For example, are you spending your days fine-tuning your cover letter, scouring the want-ads, shotgunning your résumé all over the Internet, and chasing down posted job openings?
