On Careers
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How to Stay on an Employer's Radar After a Job Rejection
Continue reading… 0 CommentsA reader writes:
I had a great interview with a company, but unfortunately did not get the job because they wanted someone with more experience. The HR manager said to check in with her from time to time. What is the best way to do this without seeming pushy? What is the best thing to say? My interview was at the end of June and I don't want her to forget about me!
Send her an E-mail roughly once a month. Anything like the following is fine—although you should vary it so you're not sending the same thing each time:
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9 Rules to Avoid Making Enemies at Work
Continue reading… 2 CommentsEd read Maria’s report and concluded that his approach was better. At the strategy meeting, rather than simply noting the advantages of his proposals, he described Maria’s recommendations as “juvenile and defensive.”
Ellen questions motives. Her opponents are never simply wrong. They are working toward some selfish or evil goal.
Carl is more generous. He regards those who disagree with him as “poorly educated.” The idea that they may be just as knowledgeable and yet reach different conclusions is not even on his radar screen.
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Look for the Job No One Else Wants
Continue reading… 5 CommentsMy family loves to ride on "rodelbahns," which are mountain slides that serve as the summer equivalent to winter's bob sledding. Two weekends ago, we found one about two hours from our house. It was a beautiful day in the Alps in southern Switzerland. There were only a couple of other families at this particular course and the ride itself was inexpensive. In the hour we had to play, we could go down the slide as many times as we wanted.
[See what to do when a dream job isn't.]
Last weekend we headed to another Alpine adventure. This one billed itself as the longest alpine coaster in the world. It was a fantastic ride. However, the wait to go down was about 1.5 hours and the cost was exorbitant. While the ride itself was a better ride than our cheaper adventure the week before, we decided that we wouldn't be back. We'd much prefer to go to the one that wasn't quite as good, because we got to ride on it as many times as we wanted.
So, what does this have to do with your career?
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Your Weakness Could Be Something Else Entirely
Continue reading… 0 Comments- Question: When is a weakness not a weakness?
- Answer: When it’s a “misaligned strength.”
Huh? Clear as mud, right? Let me explain. Some weaknesses—a tendency to procrastinate, for example—are pretty clearly weaknesses in any context. But others are situational in nature. Something that is a weakness in one circumstance might be a strength in another.
Here’s an example from my own life. For years I envied people who were able to maintain a deep, single-track focus. It seemed to me that that was the key to success, and I just didn’t have it. I got bored with too much of the same, and needed the stimulation of variety and newness. I beat myself up regularly for not having “what it takes” to succeed.
- Question: When is a weakness not a weakness?
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Try Using Twitter to Find a Job
Continue reading… 3 CommentsIf you’re looking for a job, the bigger your network, the better. That’s why Twitter, originally a micro-blogging “toy,” has become the newest hottest job search tool. Twitter is like an enormous, 24-hours-a-day, seven-days-a-week networking party. Join the party, strike up some conversations, and watch your network multiply.
As at any party, you need to be both engaged and engaging. Make intelligent comments, share tips and links, respond to calls for info and feedback—talk to people—and you will soon build a respectable list of followers.
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10 Essential, if Timeworn, Business Sayings
Continue reading… 1 CommentSome well-worn phrases you just have to know. People talk in shorthand all the time, in almost every career field. Here are a few you have heard:
1. Under-promise and over-deliver. Far too often, most of us make just the opposite: We say we can do something faster and better than what we actually can accomplish.
2. After the work is done, someone always has a better idea. This is nearly axiomatic, so one should plan for this, particularly if you have a hands-on boss. Or, you can institutionalize this as Pixar has done, always "plussing" ideas to make them better.
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How to Deal With Job Rejection
Continue reading… 5 CommentsIf you're a job seeker in this economy, in addition to knowing how to write a good cover letter, talk winningly about your accomplishments, and follow up without being too stalkerish, you'll probably need another skill too: dealing with rejection after applying for a job, maybe even one you really wanted and thought you were perfect for. Here are five things to keep in mind.
1. Even great candidates get rejected, so don’t take it personally. Especially in this job market, I'm turning down extremely qualified candidates constantly, simply because there are so many of them applying and I can only hire one of them for the job. Many times, I would happily hire plenty of the candidates who I have to reject.
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To Do Well at Work, Avoid Fights
Continue reading… 6 CommentsIf I were to select key bits of advice to give someone who is just launching a career, one of those would be “Avoid fights.”
Supervisors don’t like to get dragged into “he started it” versus “she started it” scenarios. They resist being forced to choose sides. Now, this may seem incredibly wimpy on their part (it is), and it may go against any reasonable person’s sense of justice, but that’s the way they are.
They’d rather pretend that the team is filled with happy compatriots who can barely refrain from linking arms and singing songs together. They don’t want to see signs of conflict because once they acknowledge its presence (yikes!), they have to make a decision about their level of response. Even if ignoring it is one of their choices, they can never quite put their knowledge back in the can. They knew and yet did nothing. Many a court case revolves around that decision.
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How to Get Time Sheets Filled Out
Continue reading… 6 CommentsWe have a long running problem of employees not logging in their online time sheets. We've gone so far as to put reminders on their outlook calendars but they still forget. I'm looking for ideas of how to motivate them to do this, and explain why it is important as well as a part of their job. Any ideas?
Yes. Don't pay them.
OK, it is illegal not to pay someone for time worked, and in some states you can get in big trouble for delaying a paycheck, but (check with an attorney in your state) why not just set a deadline and if they miss it, they don't get paid for that week until the next round of paychecks?
[See why Brad Pitt might be working in the next cubicle.]
A couple of missed paychecks and this problem will go away. (Unless, for some strange reason, your employees don't need the money.)
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How to Take a Vacation and Keep Your Job
Continue reading… 5 CommentsOf course, a lot of folks are worried about taking any vacation at all this summer. Many are just hunkering down, hoping to squeak through this recession with their jobs intact.
[See how to stay off the layoff list.]
But let’s say you do intend on taking a vacation. (Good for you, by the way. Time off from work is not a luxury; it’s a necessity. Overwork leads to exhaustion and chronic stress, which lead to poor health and low performance. Vacation makes you happier, healthier and more productive.)
The question is, how to take that vacation and not worry about the status of your job while you’re gone. Three thoughts:
