ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2006 > October
October 2006
Recharging your batteries
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the early days of my career in corporate America, I skipped a vacation or two filling it in with work.
Feeling guilty that I had not got everything done that I needed to get done, I would sacrifice a couple of days of R&R with a trip to the office. If this is you, STOP IT.
Skipping vacations does not make you a better manager. It is the sign of someone who has difficulty managing time, people and priorities.
Whether you get two-weeks off or six-weeks off each year, it is in your best interest to take the time off you have earned.
Where you take your vacations are important as well. The average person today lives 4,160 weeks. You can not get these weeks back so enjoy each one of them.
Instead of cleaning out the garage or painting the house, take a trip, visit family or friends, visit a part of the world you have never seen before, relax on the beach or rest in the Georgia hills, but leave the honey do’s to nights and weekends.
Your time is extremely important. You can always make more money but you can never buy back more time!
Do you work non-stop and feel like your batteries are low? Ever skip a vacation because of your workload?
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Office spouse or just cube-mate?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Do you have a coworker who knows you better than your spouse or partner at home? Do you grab coffee or lunch together every day and know every detail about each other?
I once had an ‘office spouse’ at a previous job. Let’s call him Austin for the sake of anonymity.
Austin was such a great guy! He would listen to my gripes every day because we reported to the same grouchy boss and he knew just when to suggest a quick trip to Starbucks because I needed an energy boost.
Austin would pick up my office mail and faxes for me and even walk me out to my car every night to make sure I got in safely.
Saying goodbye to him was probably the hardest part of leaving that job and we still keep in touch, even though we were nothing more than good friends, or office spouses - some might say.
We ran a ‘Cubicle Couples’ story in Features section of the AJC a few months back which addressed this very workplace dynamic. The story revealed that a survey released by Vault claimed that out of 700 people, one in three people had a work wife or office hubbie.
The story then went on to say that these types of relationships were often great for employees because they gave them extra support and balance in the office. On the other hand though, just as quickly as these relationships formed, they could also quickly sour when promotions were announced or jealousy flared up.
Have you ever had a work wife or office spouse? How did your other coworkers or spouse at home react to this?
Does being part of a cubicle couple make you happy or do you feel all tangled up in an emotional web?
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Goodbye Unemployment…
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to Bloomberg, “The number of Americans filing first- time claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in almost three months, suggesting the labor market remains buoyant.”
Certainly a 4.5% unemployment rate that matches a 5-year low sounds like great news if you’re an employee. Saying goodbye to unemployment does make our country’s economic future seem brighter to gobs of discouraged, chronically unemployed job seekers.
While these statistics may have eliminated some of the pain for those left behind at the turn of the century that endured post-traumatic stress from no-warning downsizings and dot.bombed, disbanded companies, the story doesn’t end there. I recently read that there are 7 million underemployed people in our country.
So while you may have a job, the question is does the job match your capacity for performance and you desire to get ahead. Are you getting paid what your worth or are you an over-qualified executive reduced to working at Barnes & Noble?
Granted, some work is better than no work, but saying goodbye to unemployment and hello to underemployment is not going to make gliding into the ‘fourth quarter’ as graceful for some. Be careful when considering the stats proclaimed by an election-biased Administration about unemployment rates.
Typically the national statistics don’t reflect all those people who have run-out of unemployment benefits since they have been looking for a job for so long that they are no longer factored into the stats.
Statistics are great for politicians to shape the public perception, but if you are an underemployed Starbuck’s employee trying to fund your kids’ college education, reality is far more telling. So if you aren’t living up to your potential, analyze your approach to the job search process.
While you are roaming around the book store helping others, find a job search book for yourself and buy it with your employee discount. Help yourself get back to where you belong - in a job that stretches your skills and rewards you accordingly.
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Calling it Quits on your Profession
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ray Kroc, chief executive of McDonald’s, didn’t start out managing a fast-food business. He began his career selling paper products and milkshake stirring machines to restaurants all over the nation.
He made decisions throughout his career that led him to become an integral part of what he envisioned as the wonderful idea we all know as McDonald’s. We all make decisions throughout our career that directly affect our success.
First you should assess your personal skills and determine what you would be good at with the experiences you’ve had.
There are ways to successfully convey the transferable skills you have in one position to speak to a new profession on your resume. A functional or hybrid resume format is usually best for a career change.
Also remember to address the career change in the cover letter. If you are making an obvious career change, you must sell the skills you have that would benefit the new position in the cover letter.
Certainly, all career changes will not end up a multi-million dollar decision like Ray Kroc’s; just understand that your career is a journey, not a destination.
If you are not challenged by your position or feel that you are being underutilized, make a change.
Just be sure that you research your next path, so that you are not seeking an article next year about how to conceal the fact on a resume that you have worked for two companies in the past year and a half.
If you strategically move your career in the correct direction, it will dramatically increase your work performance, happiness, financial opportunities, and well-being.
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Broaden your Network
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most job seekers understand that networking is a critical part of the job search process. However, some people are more willing to actually do it than others, some people are better skilled at it than others, and others still confuse quantity with quality in their networking experiences.
There are many effective methods of networking and networking venues that don’t involve attending formal networking events, including informational interviews, volunteerism, small groups at places of worship, social clubs, reading groups, neighborhood gatherings, parties, sporting events, etc.
But most often, when people think of networking, they think “Ugh…not another stuffy cocktail party where I have to make bland conversation with people I don’t know.”
For the sake of this conversation, we’re going to concentrate on this formal (or if you prefer, you may call it stuffy) networking events. There are a lot of things, both positive and negative, that set people apart at a networking function.
We’ve all met attention-seekers who will take any attention they can get. It doesn’t matter if it’s bad or good. These people will definitely be remembered afterward, but are clearly not making a good impression.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, there are those people who could be described as “meek and mild”. They’re pleasant enough, but they tend to fade into the background. No one really remembers them after the event is over, except the people with whom they’ve had direct contact. Often, these people are dismissed because they don’t seem to have much to say.
Unless you take the initiative to speak to these introverts, you may never know that he or she is married to someone who is desperately trying to recruit someone with your skill set.
Likewise, we tend to gravitate toward people who we think are “like” us in networking situations. We believe that given our obvious commonalities that we’ll be able to come up with something to talk about.
Young women will often gravitate to young women. Older men will gravitate to older men. There’s nothing inherently wrong with this. It’s simply a human habit that we’ve been socialized to follow.
But if you remember, the purpose of networking is to expose us to people that we might not ordinarily encounter on any given day. Don’t be afraid to strike up a conversation with someone very different from you. You don’t know who might be in that person’s network.
Show some genuine interest in them and your conversation will flow smoothly. You never know who might have a neighbor who is looking to meet someone just like you!
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Performance Feedback: Too much or not enough?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“I never get any feedback in my job!” “Our boss never tells us anything!”
I hear it all the time, AND receiving feedback is one of the main ways we grow in our jobs.
If you have a boss like that, here is a link to what could be the perfect gift for your boss.
Oh, be careful what you wish for though! AND it’s never too late to give our boss feedback either!
If you want to get better at giving feedback, the guidelines for giving it fall into four categories: content, manner, frequency and timing.
Very often the feedback we get is judgmental and we get defensive. Then our ability to really hear the other person is cut off. You know the outcome of this type of interaction.
Why do you think we don’t give or get much feedback? I think that we’re afraid to do it. It “feels like” we’d be confronting the person. Or maybe we’re just unsure of how to do it well. Or we may think that there will be consequences.
On the other hand, when do you remember getting feedback on your performance and really appreciating it and learning from it?
A 4-step model for giving feedback that I think is very effective goes as follows:
When you (give the actual example of the person’s behavior),
I feel (state how you feel about it without being judgmental - sad, mad, glad, worried),
Because I’m thinking that (state the behavioral impact on you).
As an option, I’d like to suggest (state an alternative behavior).
Some of my experiences with getting feedback sound more like war stories. What’s been your experience? What’s been motivational and what’s been a turn off?
Coffee shop the new office?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My office or yours? Ten years ago, the most convenient places to do business weren’t all that convenient. Usually, sales meetings, networking interviews and project planning were all done within the confines of an office, a restaurant or a bar.
Fast forward to today. Starbucks, (or as it is sometimes called, “fourbucks”) has changed all that.
Walk into any coffee place in Atlanta and above the din of life and cell phone conversations you hear the clicking of keys.
It is a welcome sound for many people who, paradoxically, seem to be more productive in the midst of activity than in the solitude of their home offices.
These consultants and business owners have been joined by home based employees, whose companies have shed costly office overhead.
So what are the informal ground rules for working in Atlanta coffee houses?
Here are a few to start:
Don’t just take up space - Buy a drink every few hours or so.
Put something in the tip jar
Take it outside if you are going to have a lengthy conversation with your girlfriend or co-worker.
Let other people power up their laptops if you are sitting in front of a coveted outlet.
Respect privacy - Take a hint if the person doesn’t want to engage in conversation.
*Be open to making connections( I saw a sales meeting set up between two table mates the other day).
Any other coffee shop etiquette tips you can offer us?
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Containing office gossip
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Did you know that…? Can you believe that…? I heard that…! I am so mad that…! Do many of your sentences start out like this?
If you have to say it with a whisper or behind a closed door, ask yourself this question - are you a chronic gossiper?
Yes, men and women alike have made gossip rampant at work. Just ask the owner of Springboard Consulting, who built a training program called GossipStoppers. She’s getting paid by employers to help stop this counter-productive behavior. Go inside any company of any size and you will find a rumor mill of sorts.
When three or more people become dependent upon one another to produce results, inevitably you have potential for triangulation. Triangulation is one of my favorite psychology terms because it really describes how gossip begins. When three people have a relationship with one another a triangle is formed.
Unlike a two-some that forces direct communication, suddenly it becomes easier to communicate your feelings, frustrations, and discontentment to a third person.
Instead of directly addressing the boss with your concerns about their lame leadership style, boring lectures, or annoying habits, you tell a colleague or one of their peers. Once they’ve ‘heard it through the grapevine,’ your words have usually been misunderstood and even exaggerated.
Now the circle of trust with you and your boss is either broken or at least cracked. Even though indirect communication is a tempting way to try to get your point across, it’s usually construed as ‘backstabbing’ or ‘passive aggressive.’
Unfortunately, most of us don’t know how to directly communicate negative thoughts, feelings, or information. The fact that we may suffer retribution makes it even harder to do in the workplace. Blame, accusations, criticism, and unsubstantiated rumors can be extremely destructive to productivity, reputations, and careers.
My advice is if you have a something on your mind, instead of standing around the water cooler and complaining; buy a book called ‘Crucial Confrontations’ by Patterson, Grenny, McMillan, and Switzler.
It’s a bestseller because most of us still need to learn how to address ‘touchy, controversial, and complex topics at work and at home.’ Be your own GossipStopper by starting with yourself.
Do you have a coworker or group of colleagues that just can’t stop gossiping? Are you the office mouth?
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What good are sick days?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
After reading the responses to my last blog entry, “My Office Makes Me Sick”, I was rudely reminded that employers these days just don’t believe in illness or the germ theory.
As respondents indicated, taking sick time can be just as perilous to your professional health as not taking sick time can be to your physical health. Now really, does that make sense? Evidently, the answer is yes among Atlanta employers.
Employers seem to have lost track of the fact that there is a connection between working sick and the spread of disease organisms to other workers.
This just increases decreased productivity - RIGHT? Having one person out ill is sooo preferable to having the whole office decimated by disease. Where have we lost sight of this concept? Productivity? Bottom line? Aren’t these factors impacted when people are working sick?
Employees can be just as bad - people who work sick are becoming the rule instead of the exception.
Some of us have jobs that have to be done regardless and taking a sick day does nothing but make the work pile up higher than it already is.
Right-sizing and workforce reductions mean there’s probably no one else there to do what you do every day. A sick day just complicates things.
When you return you know there will be the need to work extra hours to catch things up and what’s the use of that? With the advent of Paid Time Off, sick days and vacation days have been merged and taking sick days in October screws up the time available for the spring ski vacation.
But hey, thinking of vacation days, if there is no one on your job to take up the slack or complete your work when you aren’t there, WHAT GOOD ARE THEY?
Remember the old days when sick days were fun and the challenge of coming up with a good excuse was a pleasurable experience?
Think of the skill and challenge needed to convincingly act out the illness of choice to make everyone in the office believe you really were really sick.
Do you remember the excitement of being sent home when your skit worked and everyone became afraid you were contagious?
Did you revel in the possibilities of a flu epidemic that would provide some really excellent away time? All of that is evidently gone in the new work place - or is it?
What’s an employee to do when illness strikes? Just pretend it isn’t there and wait for it to go away? Drag yourself into work and share the germs with colleagues and friends?
Make bets on the progress of the contagion throughout the whole organization? Does anyone have the imagery of an office full of people wearing surgical masks just to make sure the work is done?
7 Deadly Sins of Resume Writing
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
1, Pride: Resumes may proudly represent your successes, but back them up with numbers so those reading your resume can understand how you were able to accomplish your professional successes.
2, Envy: Resumes should never mention you did your boss’s job on a regular basis or acting “Acting Vice President” because you did all the work anyway.
3, Anger: Resume writing must be completed without emotion. Even if you were fired, mistreated or sexually harassed.
4, Greed: It is important that a resume not list any sort of salary requirement. A cover letter could mention a range only if required.
5,Sloth (laziness): Be sure that you articulate how you made a difference specific to your background. Do not use a friend’s resume with the same title with your company.
6, Gluttony: Do not take all the credit for projects you worked on in your resume. Give credit where credit is due.
7, Lust: The only place in a resume where lust could come through to a reader is in the e-mail address. Many people put e-mail addresses that are inappropriate for a resume (making sexual references in one way or another).
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Are you sick of your job?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Are you sick of your job, or is your job making you sick?
A recent Integra survey found that 12 percent of employees have called in sick as a result of stress.
Alice was a paralegal and was off to a great start with her job at a big, slick law firm in Atlanta. She couldn’t wait to get to the office each morning.
Nine months into the job she started getting somewhat lax. Arriving a bit late in the mornings … not quite making the deadlines for reports. From having car trouble to calling in sick, Alice’s enthusiasm had left the building.
The result?? Her job wasn’t getting done. Her coworkers were the first to notice, since they had to roll their sleeves up and take up the slack. Sound familiar?!?
The bosses finally caught on but it wasn’t so simple because she was really sick.
You know the routine … sneezing … coughing … the ‘no-make up’ exhausted look. Dropping hints about headaches and tiredness.
What was the real problem? Alice was getting sick! Her symptoms were real!
Have you been stuck in a job that you hate so much that it is making you sick? Or have you been the person who has to make up for someone else’s absenteeism?
Did you stand by and gripe or make your voice heard? Do you desperately need a lifeline thrown out to you before being forced to go down because of a coworker’s neglect? Or do you have a similar coworker?
Have Commuting Nightmares?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
My husband and I drove downtown this morning in the HOV lane on 85 South. It was 6:30 a.m. Over 1000 cars to our right creeped along from the effects of one fender bender.
We remarked how fortunate we felt about avoiding the morning nightmare on Atlanta roads. He takes MARTA to his downtown workplace. I travel frequently for work and take it to and from the airport. With the flexibility of our jobs, we are able to time our driving trips around non peak driving times.
Many of us changed habits when gas prices were high this summer. It was no coincidence that MARTA rider-ship rose, more people carpooled and thought twice about making that extra trip to the store.
These adjustments were probably driven by financial reasons but also brought focused attention on how slight changes in our commuting patterns could collectively make a difference on the planet.
Of course, now that gas pump prices are declining have we reverted back to the same old habits?
I know carpooling and mass transit are not always the easiest solutions. It requires adapting to new schedules and logistics. Check out The Clean Air Campaign, which has a strong track record of providing resources to support employers and employees.
Telecommuting or flex hours been the fix for any of you out there? Other suggestions to manage the Atlanta commuting conundrum?
I am usually an optimist but believe with fair certainty that Atlanta’s roads aren’t going to get any better.
The Resume Abyss
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
So, you’ve spent hours and hours poring over your resume. After 15 major revisions, you’ve finally settled on a crisp, concise one-page masterpiece. This is the perfect resume!
Now it’s time to navigate the online application process of ABC Widget Corporation. It takes you 30 minutes to complete and when you’re finished you walk away hoping that this resume doesn’t go in to the Human Resources Black Hole; the land where resumes languish in a kind of cyber-purgatory waiting to be seen by a hiring official.
Alas, after weeks of no response, you check the company website again to see that the job posting is gone. Your hopes are dashed as you realize that the position has probably been filled, but at the same time you’re annoyed because you’re sure you had the exact experience that the job description called for!
So what happened to your resume? Well, chances are that it’s still stored in the database, should you be a match for another position within the company. And there’s always the possibility that the person who was originally selected to fill the position might not work out and the company could re-open the search. And of course, yes, it is possible that your resume will never be seen by human eyes.
While it’s true that the Internet has made job searching easier, what it does not do is make it easier for you to get a job. Only your qualifications can do that. The Internet can help you to identify and apply for more job opportunities in a shorter period of time. It can provide you with sample resumes and job search tips within seconds and it drastically reduces the amount of time a job seeker spends researching a company.
Since hiring decisions are still very human functions, your resume ultimately has to be seen by human eyes in order to get an interview. The online convenience that helps you (the qualified applicant) apply to many jobs in an afternoon is the very thing that allows thousands of completely unqualified applicants to clutter up the recruiter’s electronic inbox, making it much more difficult for the hiring official to find the masterpiece that is your resume!
Electronic resume submission may not be the perfect solution for job seekers. However, it does help hiring officials manage the vast influx of resumes they receive by allowing them to screen out candidates who have absolutely no relevant experience, so that they may instead focus their attention on resumes from more qualified applicants.
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Looking to books for inspiration
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In our main story this week, we discuss how many companies and their leaders are using inspirational books to breathe life back into their workplaces and employees.
Building and sustaining motivation can be a big problem in today’s job market, especially when huge workloads, meet busy lifestyles in this technology-infused era.
Our story mentions certain books that have really perked managers and workers up. Have you read any books lately that have inspired you? Can you name any books that you used to lift your team up to the next level?
UPS planning to slash jobs
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
UPS just announced that is it laying off ‘an unspecified number’ of its white collar workers from the Metro Atlanta area and beyond.
No official numbers have been released but the company which employs 10,000 people plans to cut these jobs to ‘align the organization more effectively’.
Read more: UPS planning job cuts.
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Decisions, Decisions, Decisions
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The job market, though volatile as ever, still offers many candidates the freedom to choose.
Choosing one job over another can be a big challenge.
Despite all the uncertainty surrounding interviewing, fact-finding, and job offer negotiations, candidates often find themselves having to choose between one job or another.
If you are fortunate to have a choice in the matter, choose wisely.
Remember the dog that looked in the lake and tried to grab both bones? It works that way with job offers too!
A fortunate job seeker looks in the mirror one day and thinks not just one company but two want me. How cool am I? Good for you. It’s nice to feel loved.
While you’re feeling proud, remember to give yourself a reality check, if one of those two companies is your current employer.
Bring your ego back down to earth if the day you give your notice is the day you finally feel appreciated.
If that’s the day your boss starts ‘laying it on thick’ about your worth and begging you to stay, take the compliment, but forget any future job opportunity with them.
People will say almost anything to keep employees from walking out the front door at an inopportune time.
With mergers, acquisitions, and every conceivable corporate uncertainty facing leaders today, rarely can they live up to the promises made to you under duress of your unplanned departure.
Think about the last time you left a relationship. The promises made in response to fear of loss are not the kind you should plan your future around.
Whether it’s about careers or love, when people value you most when you’re heading out the door, it’s probably a good idea to keep on going.
Once you’ve made a clear, well-thought-out decision, rethinking it is likely to cloud the issues and ultimately create havoc in your life.
Often, making good decisions simply means sticking to the ones you’ve already made without looking to the past rather toward the future.
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The evolving JOB Landscape of Atlanta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“I used to work for ….!” “I (We) used to be a supplier to ….!” “I wonder what’s going to happen with …… company?” I’ve been hearing talk like that more and more lately.
BellSouth will be AT&T, Georgia-Pacific has been acquired by Koch Industries, and Cisco Systems has acquired Scientific Atlanta. These are just a few of the recent changes in the business landscape of Atlanta Metro.
When changes like these occur in a city, large or small, there are ripples. To some it may feel like waves and to others like the “perfect storm.” (Once, the site has come up, click on The Book, then Synopsis)
One person I know, who worked with one of the companies for just under 20 years and had a career in IT has now begun his next career as a financial planner … elsewhere of course.
Some folks have or are planning to retire. Others have moved on to similar positions in other Atlanta companies. Others have left town for their next opportunity.
Individuals and businesses that have been vendors of or suppliers to these companies have expressed feeling unsure of what the future holds.
The employees that were their customers have left, been reassigned, are working under new purchasing policies, etc.
At the same time, there’s the old saying that “when one door closes another door opens!”. We are often the determinant of how such changes affect us.
What are your thoughts about the changed/changing landscape of Atlanta?
How have you been affected? How has your business been affected? What have you already done? What are you planning to do?
My Office Makes Me Sick!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Most people believe that they contract minor infectious diseases from home or from being in public places but recent studies show that your workplace may a cesspool of infection.
A study by the University of Arizona in 2002 found that the typical worker’s desk has hundreds of times more bacteria per square inch than the office toilet seat.
Other items on the desk such as your phone or your computer keyboard serve as prime real estate for germs that cause colds, flu or gastrointestinal diseases.
Did you know that some of the most vicious germs can live for 3-5 days on office surfaces? Now even though I am a registered nurse by profession, I never dreamed that desktops could be this nasty.
When you think of your own personal hygiene habits? Do you wash your hands after every trip to the toilet?
Do you cover your mouth with your hands when you sneeze and then begin keyboarding immediately? It’s no wonder that these surfaces are so inundated with viruses and bacteria.
When was the last time you cleaned your desk, computer or phone? Most people don’t clean anything in the office until it’s so obviously soiled that fingers stick to it or until something is spilled and has to be wiped up.
Another thing to consider is the fact that most of us come to work sick these days. When you have the sniffles, sneezes or just a touch of diarrhea, don’t you usually take some pills and go into work, hoping to feel better?
Would you do this to your kids or by extension their classmates? Why would you share your germs with everyone else in your office?
So what do you do? Well, the answer is simple, wash your hands with soap and warm water for 18 seconds or so after using the toilet or covering your mouth with your hands during a sneeze.
Use a tissue if available (if not available, get some). Use alcohol-based gel sanitizers or disposable hand wipes if a sink isn’t available. Wipe your desk surfaces with disinfectant wipes occasionally!
Above all, you should stay home when you’re sick. With avian flu and other strains already of a concern to employers, you could impact the bottom line of your company and avoid a little discomfort and downtime yourself!
Do you have stories of people working when they are sick and being proud of it? Has your entire office come down with the flu or bronchitis because of one person or their child? Is your desk filthy or are you OCD about these things?
