The Career Salon

Horrible Bosses!

 

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With all that’s been going on, it’s made me think about leadership and how much it impacts one’s career. Leadership is a HUGE responsibility and many don’t understand how that influence or lack there of, can follow you along your career. I can’t even describe to you my experience with horrible bosses (I’ve had my share, unfortunately). You can have an amazing job and equally awesome co-workers but if your boss is horrible, it can make for a bumpy ride. Being in recruiting for so long, I’ve experience and read numerous studies and articles about people not leaving the company but leaving that “horrible” boss, a subject we can unpack for weeks.

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If your boss is condescending, unethical, unaware of your regular contributions, or just unwilling to collaborate with you on a career path within the organization than you should definitely consider some changes. Bosses can encourage you forward or hold you back. If you are a person with ambition and big goals for yourself that is definitely cause for you to have a collaborative boss who can provide support. Here are a few things to consider if you don’t have the greatest boss:

1. Be honest with your boss in regular one-to-one conversations (Ask questions and document)
2. Make sure you are exceptional in your work so those conversations will be positive and productive
3. Practice patience to see if changes occur
4. Seek another environment where your manager/employee relationship can be agreeable

Have you ever had a horrible boss? How did you handle it? Let’s chat in the comments below.

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If you asked me to…

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I just love having my own website to express myself the way I want. You’ll notice that my blog titles often relate to music, movies, or pop culture and this week is no different.  I’ve had conversations over the years and just this week, which have prompted me to talk to you all about asking for what you want in your career transactions. Patti LaBelle said it best, “If you asked me to, I just might change my mind and let you in my heart forever!”  Sometimes all it takes is an ASK, to a future employer or a client even. A question that is posed to me more often than not is, “They offered me this amount, can I ask for more?” Are you  kidding me!? Why yes you can ask for more. At the table with a client and prefer something in the contract that they haven’t offered? Just ask!

When you’ve taken steps to build your education, experience, and a track record of amazing work, you can literally ask for what you want. I’ve experienced so many times in my career, extending an offer to a candidate and they come back to negotiate (money, vacation, relocation, etc). Sometimes companies may not have the resources to accommodate, but in a lot of cases employers will exceed their initial offer to acquire a candidate with a ‘hot’ skill set or knowledge to get them to the next level. Now this is definitely not to say this happens for everyone, you need have something going for you that employers can’t live without. Whatever that is in your specific field, figure it out. If you’re stuck in the same technology and haven’t gone to get training or gain experience in the new stuff, do that now!  Make yourself irresistible so that when you put the ASK on the table the employer just might consider. Here are some tips to prepare for the ASK:

  1. Educate yourself
    1. Research the market and gather facts
    2. Make sure you’ve prepared yourself throughout your career to build a case for attaining the things you want
  2. Have confidence
    1. Know your worth in the marketplace
    2. Build your confidence by improving and gaining new skills that separate you from others
  3. Be tactful
    1. Chose a proper time to ask for what you want
    2. Be courteous
  4. Possess finesse
    1. Have some subtly about yourself
    2. Be strategic

I’ll leave you with a little Patti to end your day!

 

 

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The Interview that Ended Before it Started

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As a point of intro, this website will sometimes discuss simple topics that everyone should know and sometimes not. As an HR/Recruiting professional there are just conversations that I need to facilitate, especially if you’d like to take your career a little higher.  I find that after years of recruiting there are some things candidates should be reminded of, to prevent inadvertently ending the interview before it even starts. One of those things is definitely, not doing research on the company.

It happens numerous times per week to myself and colleagues, that phone screen/interview we’re excited about and then we are quickly let down at the onset of the phone conversation by simply inquiring, “Do you know much about the company?” While this seems simple to some I’ve lost count on a weekly basis of how many candidates haven’t done research on the company they are interviewing with and are totally clueless.  I’ve even interviewed graduates of Ivy League schools that give answers of dumfounded silence. Some candidates have even asked me to tell them about the company…the nerve! We all know that construction companies build buildings and toy companies make toys DUH!  Hence the GIF above from one of my favorite movies. When you get that question we’re looking for more, what you know about the company and where your interests lie. Your answer is a key indicator of things like attention to detail, preparedness, and generally caring about things that are important.

There are so many places you can research a company and I’ve listed just four below:

  1. Company Website
  2. Google
  3. LinkedIn
  4. Glassdoor

These sources are helpful to prepare you for the interview process whether it’s a phone interview with HR or you’re speaking with a hiring manager or team. There are too many resources to be ill-prepared and while conducting researching make sure to get information on the person you are going to be speaking with. I’m always impressed when candidates do their homework and can find commonalities between us, it shows a finesse that I don’t come across often.  I’ve just barely scratched the surface of preparing for an interview and we’ll dive into it a little more soon, but what are some ways you prepare for an interview? Feel free to post in the comments section below.

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