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:
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How to Tell If You've Got 'Snap'
Continue reading… 2 CommentsA friend and I were talking the other day about how easy it is for us to tell if someone has “it.” Perhaps you have this ability too—you can tell almost instantly if someone is the sort of person you would introduce to your trusted network.
I call this ineffable quality "snap," (as opposed to "it"). It’s a shorthand description for those people who show passion, engagement, connectedness, people skills. One dictionary definition of snap is "to be radiant."
The question is how to develop your own snap. This is not about your branding (I gag each time I read about your “branding efforts”), this is something that's both deeper and simpler.
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10 Observations on Time Usage
Continue reading… 1 CommentTen observations on the use of time:
1. We don’t manage or organize time as much as we invest it.
2. You can do some things in two to five minutes but important tasks generally require more time. That’s why saving two minutes here or there might not mean that much unless your job is in emergency services or an equivalent arena.
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Laid Off and Pregnant: Is There Any Recourse?
Continue reading… 7 CommentsI found out that my job was considered "redundant" and that I would be terminated at the end of August. I started this job 4½ months ago, which involved me paying for my own relocation. I am the only woman in my group and the newest hired. I just found out that I am pregnant. I have not told my boss. Do you think I should tell her? Would it save my job? Also, they are interviewing for my position, which makes it seem like it's not really redundant.
First things first: No one knew about your pregnancy. It played no role in the decision to terminate. Feel free to tell your boss (congratulations, by the way), but don't expect it to save your job. It shouldn't. Pregnancy doesn't protect you from termination. It's illegal to fire someone because she's pregnant, but it's not illegal to fire a pregnant woman.
[See what to do when a dream job isn't.]
Now, about the designation of your position as "redundant" combined with actively interviewing replacements for you. There could be several things going on here:
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The 2 Questions to Ask as You Pursue Your Dream
Continue reading… 0 CommentsPursuing your dreams may sound grandiose, but in reality, a dream unfolds day by day, and step by step. To make sure you’re taking those steps and not getting in your own way, here are two questions to ask yourself on a regular basis:
What do I need to do that I’m not doing?
So often we get blocked from our dreams by one simple mistake—we’re not taking the steps we need to take to get there. This might be because we haven’t identified the steps we need to take, or because we’re procrastinating. Either way, this question will shine a light on the action you need to take, but aren’t.
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7 Reasons You're Not Getting a Job
Continue reading… 7 Comments1. Your network isn’t big enough. Set yourself a goal—like making three new contacts every day. Your network cannot be too big. Think former bosses/colleagues, neighbors, friends of friends, relatives of friends, relatives of friends of neighbors’ bosses. Use your spouse’s network, too.
2. You’re not working your network. This especially includes potential employers with whom you’ve interviewed. Keep in touch with those people! Respond to their tweets and status updates. Send them links to interesting/relevant articles. Stay on their radar.
3. You’re relying on Internet job postings. You need to do more than post to the online boards. Lots more. Make like a detective and find jobs before they’re advertised.
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Are You Tough Enough for This Economy?
Continue reading… 0 CommentsYou don’t hear about this much.
You hear more about your branding, and your business model, your marketing effectiveness, and your “positioning.”
But what we need to talk about is how you just have to be tough enough during tough times to handle more rejection than ever.
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The 4 Biggest Myths About Job References
Continue reading… 7 CommentsOver at Ask a Manager, I get a lot of mail that displays misconceptions about job references—how they work, who gets called, and what he or she can say. Here are the four biggest myths about references that I encounter regularly:
References are old-school; no one uses them anymore. Don't listen to people who tell you that references don't matter in the "new economy." The vast majority of employers do check references, and they matter.
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Why the Promotion Didn't Happen
Continue reading… 2 CommentsSeveral years ago, in an organization that has since become worse, the director of a department announced his plans to retire. He’d done very well in his job, partly because of the outstanding work of his deputy director. It was widely assumed within the organization that the deputy would be promoted.
Unfortunately, when the time came for the chief executive officer to make a selection, he passed over the deputy director and picked an outsider who, although capable, was not in the same league as the deputy. People wondered why the CEO had made such a blunder. As time passed and information emerged, several things became clear:
1. The chief executive officer did not know the high caliber of the department. Although the director and the deputy had great reputations among their peers, the CEO had no inkling of their renown nor did he understand that they were regarded as innovators.
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Take a 360-Degree View of Success
Continue reading… 0 CommentsWhat does success look like? If asked to describe a successful person, most people would probably point to someone who has achieved great heights in their career. That's not surprising, since, as a culture, we tend to be fairly work-centric.
There’s nothing wrong with focusing on being successful in your career, but by itself it’s an incomplete picture. It’s one-dimensional, and it fails to take into account the full scope of our lives.
You can be a superstar in your career and an abject failure in other aspects of your life. Your relationships could be in shambles. Your health could be on a downward spiral. You might feel spiritually empty. How successful is that, really?
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How to Beat Typecasting in Your Job Search
Continue reading… 1 CommentI just graduated with my bachelor's in business/HR management and want to work in HR. The basic problem is that I have very little experience in this field.
I keep getting typecast in accounting (most of what I've done in the past four years) but have no desire to go into accounting full-time as a career.
I do plan on getting my MBA starting next year. In the meantime, what can I do? I want a job in HR SOOO badly!!!
