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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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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Here is one thing I believe in: customer service is not one way street.
Customers, as well as businesses they deal with, have an obligation to better customer service. Customer service cannot go from bad to good if the company doesn�t know that they are providing bad customer service. On the same hand, customer service cannot continue to be good or great if the company doesn�t know that they are already providing that level of service. It is important for the customer to communicate with whoever they are able to in order to help build good customer service relationships.
I�d like to share with you five ways that you, as a customer, can improve customer service in the places that you shop. Although the scope of this post is geared towards retail, restaurants, and industries where customer interaction is one-on-one, the basic tenets that I will describe can be applied to almost all of our business relationships.
Most of these ways should seem simplistic and obvious, but that’s the point. Talking to friends and family, it doesn’t seem that a lot of people are doing these incredibly simple and easy things that they can be doing to help businesses improve customer service.
For a little back story as to why I wrote this, check out my other post: On poor customer service and me being a poor customer.
Continue reading this entry
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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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