No Turn On Red

Over at Lightheavyweight, Finn has posted some excellent advice for recent college graduates who are seeking their first job. While geared towards recent college graduates in the design field, I think the advice is worth re-reading for anyone who is going through the job hunt at any stage of their career.

Two of his pieces of advice, “Be prolofic” and “Show your passion” are two things that I think are often forgotten by people as the grind of a job wears them down. During the first tech bubble in the 90’s, I remember looking around at some of the other people in my field who were just getting into technology for a quick buck. In 1998, a comp-sci degree became the new business degree and the industry was flooded with people who had no passion for development or the technologies they were creating.

I think Finn’s dished out some good advice, worth reading no matter what stage of your career you are in. Sometimes we need to look back and rekindle the passion that got you to love what you love, no matter what it is, in the first place. Whether it is design, development, marketing, customer relations, or any of the million other things people do every day, be passionate about what you do and never forget that.

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Consumerist has a detailed report about a worker, who was fired from his job at Wal-Mart, based on a comment he left on MySpace:

The exact quote said “Drop a bomb on all the Walmarts, trailer parks, ghettos, monster truck shows, and retarded fake “pro wrestling” events, and the average I.Q. score would probably double.” This was a silly statement, but in no way was a threat as Walmart said and used as reason for my termination and denying my unemployment benefits. On my “Exit Interview” they checked Gross Misconduct - Integrity Issue (which they describe as: Theft, Violent Act, Dishonesty, or Misappropriation of Company Assets) as the reason I was fired. They wrote on the exit interview that it was a threat posted on website; which it clearly is not.

Consumerist provides a more more detailed account from the fired employee. The comments on the story provide an interesting debate and look at employee vs. employer rights, and how far the line extends outside of the workplace.

We live in a digital age and we have to be careful what trace of our lives we leave online.

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Transworld has an in-depth article about the state of women’s skate footwear: Is Women’s Skate Footwear Still A Viable Category For Independent Retailers? I like this article because it talks about the state of an industry in relation to one single category. How can an entire segment of retailers (independent skate shops) better compete with an entirely different segment of retailers (everyone else). Good analysis, good article.

Walgreen has announced that they are buying in-store health clinic, Take Care Health Systems. They look to expand their in-store health clinics to 400 by the end of 2008. Like I said when Wal-Mart made a similar commitment last month, I think that this move is good for the company and good for consumers.

Finally, troubled VOIP company, Vonage, is having problems hiring and retaining talent. Who would have thought all of the bad press that they have been getting is having an impact on HR?

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Position opens up at a store and hypothetical person A expresses interest in it.

It is asked, “Why do you think you deserve the position?”

“Because I’ve been here two years.”

Wrong answer.

Time and time again I’ve watched people flounder in their career when they are approached about a possible promotion, and when asked the important question of why they deserve it, they answer with a reason why they are entitled to the promotion - not what they’ve done to earn it.

Instead of answering, “Because I’ve been here two years”, follow that up with what you’ve done in that time to earn it. “Because I’ve been here two years, and in that time I’ve overseen a sales growth of 10% per year, I’ve had two years of inventory numbers that have beat expectations, and I’ve trained every new employee to maintain a high level of excellence in their position.”

Employers don’t care about how long you’ve been there, they want to know what you’ve done in that time to WOW them. Two years doesn’t mean anything if the person who has been there six months has better results than you.

If your only answer as to why you deserve a promotion is “Because I’ve been here two years”, and you can’t solidify your results during that time, then you are going to be giving the same answer as to why you deserve a promotion at three years, four years, and five years.

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Two different blogs, two different sides of the HR ball:

Guy Kawasaki made an excellent post, detailing 15 things you need to know before you step foot into an interview. The post is called Everything You Wanted to Know About Getting a Job in Silicon Valley But Didn’t Know Who to Ask. Although it is geared towards the Silicon Valley tech types, there is very valuable information there for anyone who is interviewing for a new job or a new position.

To me, most of this stuff seems like it would be common knowledge - but I know that, unfortunately, some people just don’t get it. I know two people who recently went into job interviews with all of the right experience that the companies were looking for, but wound up bombing the interview and losing the job.

Could I just add one point to Guy’s post? Be confident. If you’re the interview, have confidence in yourself and your answers. Realize that you are in that spot for a reason, because someone thinks that you may a good fit for the position that they are interviewing for. The people I know that recently bombed their interviews, bombed them because they weren’t confident or didn’t believe in their ability - even though they were both seemingly ready and capable for the new jobs. Confidence, or the lack there of, killed them.

On the other side of the ball is retention. NFIB has a post called Keeping Your Best Employees: Seven Tips for Retaining Talent. Again, this is geared towards small businesses and not necessarily the retail industry, but there are tips there that are valuable and should be taken away by every manager. [via Bizinformer]

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Say you are a good photographer. You enjoy photography, you are good at it, and you decide to persue wedding photography as a freelance business. But you don’t realize - or underestimate - how much other stuff is involved in running a business; marketing, sales, business contracts, client relationships, and countless other details you never thought of. You may be good at photography, but eventually it may not matter how good you are at photography if you can’t get clients or if you can’t get bills paid on time.

This is why, I believe, a lot of businesses and freelancers fail: they just don’t realize the amount of work actually required in running a business.

I came across this article in today’s Asbury Park Press: Working Vacation. It is about a company that allows you to work alongside someone in a career or profession that you are interested in. From the article:

Skye Forbes, a contract administrator from Durham, N.C., recently took a little vacation at the Jersey Shore.

But she wasn’t here to check out the beaches or boardwalks. Instead, she spent two days at Ballroom Etc. in Wall, learning what it takes to open up a dance studio.

“It was only for two days, but there was a lot of information to be packed into two days,” said Forbes, 24.

The company, Vocation Vacations, lists a range of jobs that they offer this package for: from Dog Daycare Owner to Retail Buyer to Sword Maker. There are dozens of careers that you can look into and learn about. Although it is pricey (some of the packages run up to $1000 for two days), the article makes it sound very informative.

I think that this kind of information and training is great for someone who wants to make their hobby into a full time gig, leaving behind a career that they are no longer interested in. There are a lot of pitfalls to doing something like this, so the more information you have, the better idea you have of what you are getting in to. This allows you to make a more informed decision.

Say you are that photography who wants to quit their job and persue photography. Now you can work alongside a professional photographer for two days and they’ll show you not only how to take a photo, but maybe they will also show you a sample contract and tell you how to find clients and keep them. Now you are really aware of what goes into running a business and you can make a more informed decision about whether or not you want to quit your full time job and switch careers.

Of course, you’re not going to learn everything you need to know about a new field, but again, this gives you a great chance to learn something. Every bit counts, and before you invest a lot more money in additional schooling or training, maybe this counts as a minimal investment.

This is the kind of working vacation I can get behind.

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RecruitIreland.com has a fantastic article about salary negotiations. They offer some tips for getting what you are worth - some may seem obvious, some not so obvious - but good reading for anyone who is planning on going through a new job search.

They say:

Salary negotiation is one of the most delicate parts of the whole job search process, and it is at this stage that many candidates inadvertently disqualify themselves. At some point in the interview process, you will be asked, “How much do you want?” What they are, in effect, asking you is, “What do you think you are WORTH?” Or, put another way, “Do you have delusions of grandeur (or no self-confidence), are you going to be impossible to control, or are you a total wimp that I can micro-manage into an early grave?”

Good advice, I think. More here.

Via lifehacker.

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From the Boston Globe, eight reasons why “Blogs ‘essential’ to a good career“. It’s a small article but interesting ideas. An excerpt:

Blogging is good for your career. A well-executed blog sets you apart as an expert in your field.

Ben Day blogged his way into a career as a high-earning software consultant while maintaining the freedom to schedule frequent jam sessions and performances as a keyboard player.

Blogging gave him the opportunity to stand out enough to support the life he envisioned for himself. ”For your career, a blog is essential,” says Phil van Allen, a faculty member of the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena.

”It’s the new public relations and it’s the new home page. Instead of a static home page, you have your blog,” he said. It’s a way to let people know what you are thinking about the field that interests you.

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