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What to Consider Before Accepting a Job Offer
Tweet Share on Facebook December 20, 2010 Comment (3)In your excitement over receiving a job offer, don’t forget to evaluate the opportunity with a critical eye.
In this economy, it’s easy to feel like you should jump at any job offer that comes along. But that could land you in a job that makes you miserable or even harms you professionally, so be sure to think it through before accepting.
Here are eight things to do and think about before accepting a job offer:
1. Always get every detail of a job offer in writing. Especially if the offer includes extras like relocation assistance or your new employer’s agreement to give you an additional week of vacation. That covers you in case there’s a misunderstanding later. It also guarantees the agreement will stick even if the person you’re dealing with leaves the company and her replacement doesn’t know anything about the special deal you negotiated.
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One Simple Secret to Managing Work Stress
Tweet Share on Facebook December 17, 2010 Comment (3)More books have been written about stress management than any of us could ever read. Consultants, psychologists and psychiatrists have made their living on helping others deal with stress. While a myriad of tactics and tricks can help us manage stress at our jobs, one simple action is often overlooked:
Arriving early.
There's no stress in being early. This small yet important tip can significantly reduce your own stress, and it also shows those around you how to act when work heats up.
Think about these scenarios and see if you can apply them when it comes to managing the stress in your job:
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Learn Career Lessons From 2010 to Thrive in 2011
Tweet Share on Facebook December 16, 2010 CommentBy the end of this month, you will have invested an entire year of your life into 2010. You can let that year slide silently into 2011, or you can do some additional work to make the most of your investment.
Your career (and life in general) can be an excellent research and development experiment, packed with insights and knowledge to build on in the future. But to unlock those insights, you have to pay attention.
Here are three questions that will help you mine the past year for all its value, and a fourth to help you create a positive foundation as you move into 2011:
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How to Use the Holidays to Boost Your Career
Tweet Share on Facebook December 15, 2010 CommentIt may sound calculating to leverage the holiday season to your professional advantage, but it’s smart, too.
The holidays are primo networking time. Most people are in a more jovial, giving mood. Many workplaces slow down a little this time of year, so you may have more mental space to think about ways to polish your resume and even set up informational interviews. And the end of the year is a natural time to reevaluate, refocus, and think strategically about your future.
If you decide to take advantage of this golden opportunity, whether to advance in the job you already have or find a new one, here are a few guidelines:
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10 Ways Hiring Managers Can Relieve Interview Pressure
Tweet Share on Facebook December 14, 2010 Comment (3)Job interviews are the ultimate pressure cookers—for everyone involved.
A hiring manager with precious few openings is looking for that perfect recruit, and doesn’t want to recommend the wrong candidate to a superior. For a recruiter, an ongoing relationship with a client may hinge on his ability to deliver relevant talent that fits a specific job description.
And then there’s the candidate. With interviews few and far between, the short window to talk with a hiring manager is a unique opportunity in this buyer’s market. Which means if you’re the candidate, you’ll probably feel a big knot in your stomach.
All of this pressure creates a less-than-stellar environment for putting your best foot forward, meeting new people or making an important hiring decision.
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Pros and Cons of Sticking With One Job for Years
Tweet Share on Facebook December 14, 2010 Comment (1)After holding three different jobs over the course of five years, job seeker Tom was told by a well-respected NYC-based career counselor that he had a serious problem.
"You need a 'stick' job," she proclaimed.
She urged Tom not to take another job until he found a gig he could see himself staying with for more than three years. At the time, her logic seemed made sense, so Tom set out to find a job he could endure.
But that was years ago, when employees were expected to stay with one job for most or all of their career. Now the rules of the job hunt have changed. Employers often seek out candidates who are on the move, honing their skills and seeking out the best opportunities, even if it means collecting employee handbooks in the process.
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How to Help Your Boss Have More Confidence in You
Tweet Share on Facebook December 10, 2010 Comment (2)There’s no better feeling in a job than when you know the boss has full confidence in you. You enter a zone where you can really be yourself, where you move beyond worrying about what others think or feeling concerned about being constantly monitored and evaluated.
So how do you get to that zone? How do you show your bosses and co-workers that they can rely on you? By showing that you’re disciplined, both in the work you create and in the way you work. Employees who show they have things under control—employees who are disciplined at work—are more likely to be handed greater responsibilities. And that means they tend to move up in their company faster than others. Somewhere along the way, they’ve won the confidence of the boss and likely, of the boss’s boss.
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Why You Should Attend Your Office Holiday Party
Tweet Share on Facebook December 10, 2010 Comment (2)Every year around this time, my mailbag fills up with letters from readers asking if they have to attend their office holiday party. Apparently an awful lot of people really don't want to spend a few hours eating frosted cookies and cheese balls with their co-workers.
I'm sympathetic. After all, if the idea behind a holiday to party is to reward employees with something fun, why should you go if it doesn't sound like fun to you? But therein lies the mysterious contradiction of the company holiday party: It's supposed to be a perk for employees, but, oh, by the way—you're expected to attend. Frustrating? Yes. Contrary to the spirit of holiday cheer? Probably.
But you’d best get over your dread and attend your holiday party this year. Here’s why:
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Job Seekers: Don't Make These Interview Mistakes
Tweet Share on Facebook December 9, 2010 Comment (27)Everyone makes mistakes once in a while. No matter how long you’ve been in the workforce or how much you’ve honed your interview skills, you’ll still make the occasional mistake. And when you’re looking for a job, some of those mistakes can be fatal.
Here are five common mistakes candidates make during the interview process and lessons you can learn from each:
1. Writing the wrong company name on your correspondence. Job seekers spend countless hours interviewing before finding the right position, so it's natural to use some of the same content from a previous follow-up letter. That’s fine—it saves you time. But double-check that you’ve addressed the letter to the company you’re interviewing with. It's also wise to double-check the spelling of the interviewer's name.
Lesson: A lack of attention to detail could cost you the job. As a job candidate, you must convince the prospective employer that you truly want to work for their company, not any company.
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Clues for Discovering the Job That’s Best for You
Tweet Share on Facebook December 8, 2010 Comment (3)If you’re like a lot of us, you’re not at all sure which career path makes the most sense for you. Figuring this out can be particularly challenging for recent graduates, but people of all ages struggle to decide which career choices will make them happiest.
The answer often lies in this question: What are things you can't not do? Which tasks do you do even though they're not part of your job? The answer will give you valuable clues about the types of career where you’ll thrive.
Confused? Here’s an example from my own career:
