ajcjobs > BlogBreak > Archives > 2007 > December
December 2007
Workers’ Christmas wish: A boss with feminine touch?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
In the past, women’s leadership has fallen into two distinct categories: leadership in roles already perceived as innately feminine (like teacher or care-taker…think Mrs. Claus) and roles in which women have set new precedents themselves, forging new ground in order to get ahead.
With all the enormous strides for women at work, the corporate world has been fraught with ambiguity for many females. Often woman in leadership still believe their careers are colored by their gender. Most women with corporate authority have felt pressured to leave their femininity at home. Many women have had to work against ‘stereotypes’ and be careful not to be perceived as “weak” in the work force. With a large segment of society still associating bravery with masculinity, even today women have to guard against being singled-out unfairly, or have their failings be written off as gender-specific.
However, the tides may have turned and the feminine touch may be just want workers are wishing for this holiday. Recently on Good Morning, America a test group of prospective employees received short bios and chose who they would rather work for out of three possible executives. The first was the bio of a man who was a corporate all-star, having catapulted to the top of his profession. The second was the bio of a woman with the exact same success story, only the name was changed. The participants who received that woman’s bio tended to perceive her as harsh and a potentially unpleasant person to work with.
More significantly, there was a third bio of another woman. This woman’s profile was, nearly word-for-word; the same story of fast corporate advancement, but phrases had been inserted about this woman’s nurturing, team-building, and encouraging leadership style. Guess what? Participants responded with resounding favor about wanting to work with this third person.
It certainly challenges the stereotype of old that women who are successful must be unfeminine. On the contrary, this woman’s potentially ‘feminine traits,’ instead of detracting from her strength as a leader, were contributing to her authority. The participants saw her as someone under whose direction they could thrive. She was not seen as an “easy boss” but rather as a “dynamic” professional.
Women’s particular strengths, in combination with intellect and experience, continue to break down barriers and to challenge the definition of a “woman’s place” in the world. The question is if you are asking Santa to bring you a new boss, do you prefer a male or female?
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One, two or three-page résumé?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
How long should my résumé be?
Congratulations on your knowledge in even considering how long a résumé should be! This question puts you miles ahead of your competition. Most people do not consider length in terms of writing a good résumé. Here are a few things that will assist you in determining your personal needs in terms of résumé length.
You might consider a one-page résumé if: * You are right out of school or are just beginning your career (less than 9-10 years). * You’ve been a loyal employee with only a few jobs. * You’ve had a position (like real estate agent or mortgage associate) that does not change much in terms of typical responsibilities. * You are going for a sales job. People reading resume for a sales position prefer a short resume with numbers and percentages.
You may want to think of a two-page résumé if: * You’ve had more than 9-10 years of experience relevant to the position that you are seeking. * You are making a career change and need to explain your career history that will assist you in that effort as well as explain your successes throughout your career. * You’ve had many changes in your career and have decided on a job that you had in the past. This layout usually requires a “Relevant Career History” and “Professional Career History” to emphasize key skills.
A three-page résumémay be a consideration if: * You are going for an executive role -Vice President, Director, President or C-level roles. Employers looking to fill these types of jobs want to know a lot about their candidates. * You are a scientist, professor, or doctor that needs to list all publications and speaking engagements (usually referenced as a CV). * You have a lot of technical or engineering skills that will need to be listed to prove your qualifications for the job.
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Staying healthy at work
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As I sniffle and sneeze, I wonder; where I picked up this bug? Was it when I took a call on the secretary’s phone - the one who’s out today? Did it come from one of the many hands I shook yesterday or was it on the stair rail as I left the building? How many people were coughing in that three hour meeting in the conference room?
Even though we know so much, I find that even among health care professionals, it’s like the germ-theory has never been proven. It seems as if no one washes their hands any more. Before you accuse me of being phobic, look around you. If you have to remind doctors and nurses to wash their hands, think about your coworkers!
Keeping well on the job can be a struggle in this season of colds and flu. Hearing rumors of a deadly cold virus should make anyone sit up and take notice. How can you stay well and feeling good? It’s as easy as this:
Wash your hands often, especially after shaking hands with several people or touching common surfaces. Soap and water is best but the hand sanitizers will work if you’re in a hurry.
AVOID touching your eyes, nose or mouth especially if you haven’t washed your hands in a while.According to the CDC, germs can live up to 2 hours on surfaces touched by sick folks!
Keep your work environment clean and don’t use phones or computer keyboards of the working bearers of infection.
It’s probably not realistic to wear masks in long meetings in small rooms but encourage those who look sick or are coughing or sneezing to go home. If they can’t go home encourage them to cover their mouths when they cough.
Ask your company to stock sniffle stations. Several strategically located tissue dispensers with hand sanitizers can make a big difference in the spread of office germs. If it’s all about the bottom line, sick and absent employees cut productivity.
Stay home if you have a fever, sore throat, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting or diarrhea. The clinics in many pharmacies are convenient points for quick treatment.
If you have other pointers or horror stories from the office of the walking germ bombs that come in to infect others, feel free to share.
Make that holiday party count: Network!
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
It’s that time of year again when you pull out your holiday finery and get ready to go to another holiday party, or two, or three. If you’re lucky you’ll get at least one weekend off between now and the end of the year to relax and enjoy the season.
If you’re not so lucky, you’ll bounce from one holiday party to another, sipping eggnog and struggling to find a common topic to chat about with the random strangers you encounter. How many of us would rather be in front of the couch watching a re-run of, “It’s a Wonderful Life”?! Probably more than we’d care to admit.
Well, if you want to make the event less painful…productive, even…why not follow the old adage “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em”! Take advantage of the holidays to do some networking! You’ll enjoy yourself a lot more and you’ll probably end up with some great business contacts in the process.
Never assume you have nothing in common with someone at a party. If you’re both at the same party, you clearly have something in common. Everyone has something to offer regardless of whether they’re similar to or very different from us.
If you’re searching for something to say, turn it into a question. You might say, “Maybe you can help me. I’ve been doing some research on the banking industry. Who do you know who works in that area?” If they’re able to identify someone in your area of interest, offer to meet with the three of them at sometime soon over lunch or coffee, so that three of you might become better acquainted.
If you know the host well, you can ask questions in advance about the guests that are expected. You can even ask the host who she thinks would be a valuable person for you to meet and ask her to introduce the two of you at the party.
If you’re networking to expand your business, you probably won’t close a sale at a holiday party, but you might meet a few people, that with some further cultivation, could provide excellent references or become potential customers.
You want to avoid announcing that you’re out of a job, and you especially don’t want to get into a detailed conversation about all the jobs you’ve applied for and the lack career options for someone in your field. That’s way too heavy for such a festive occasion.
Still, you can have some light, yet strategic conversations with the people you meet and follow up afterward to set up a better time to talk business. Even if the well turns out to be totally dry for your own networking purposes, you can still use your time there to better understand what others networking needs are and do your best to share you own contacts with them. ‘Tis the season for giving, after all!
So, next time you’re dragging yourself to a holiday party, think about how you can use this time wisely and maximize your networking efforts.
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Ever skipped work to go holiday shopping?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
During the holiday season while I’m at work, my mind often drifts into gift mode and I find myself wanting to browse amazon.com to cruise for presents.
I have to also admit that in the past I have been tempted (but never bold enough) to leave the office an hour early to hit the mall too.
Have you ever left work early, took an extended lunch break or called in sick just go holiday shopping?
With Christmas just two weeks away, is the pressure to find ideal gifts mounting?
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“Engaged” more at home or work?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
According to a recent survey, only 21 percent of workers worldwide — 29 percent in the United States — are “engaged” at work. The survey of more than 88,000 workers in 19 countries was conducted by the consulting firm Towers Perrin, which defined “engaged” as the degree to which workers have an emotional connection to their company and know their roles, which they believe are important and valuable. These are the workers who are willing to go above and beyond to help the company succeed and who believe that their employers are interested in their well-being.
The survey found that 41 percent worldwide are “enrolled” — on the way to becoming engaged. Not surprisingly, the workers in the “engaged” and “enrolled” groups were less likely than the disengaged workers to be looking for new jobs. The survey also linked the level of worker engagement to a company’s financial well-being. In other words, companies with happy, enthusiastic employees do better.
Does the relatively low percentage of workers who are fully invested in their company and job mean that many people are skewing the work/life balance more toward life and less toward work? What about you? Are you “engaged” at work? Do you feel that you’re an important part of your company’s success, and do you care whether it succeeds?
Where are you more “engaged” — at work or at home?
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Is somebody watching you at work?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The holiday rush is on! That means many of us will be trying to sneak in a few moments of personal time during the work day to check some things off our personal holiday to-do lists. We may find a few moments to do some on-line shopping or put off working on a new project in favor of sending a friend some photos from last week’s holiday party.
From time to time, we all have to attend to something personal during the work day. For a lot of people a quick personal email or even an on-line purchase made during your lunch hour may not be a major problem. Most companies have some kind policy in place that regulates on-line activities.
Ever get the feeling that your every move is being monitored at work? The degree to which your on-line activities are monitored does vary, but in many cases this policy states that employees should have no expectation of privacy in using company technology.
In the past several years, we’ve seen the introduction of Instant Messaging, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, as well as the advent of blogging. You may assume that your company has instituted “Big Brother” policies to monitor your on-line activities because they don’t want you wasting company time.
While this is probably true, a lot of people don’t realize the risk of liability a company faces when an employee’s on-line activities get carried away. To mitigate the risk of potential lawsuits centered around confidentiality leaks, harassing communication, inappropriate email content, or even illegal on-line activities, companies are continually revising their policies to keep up with new technology.
In the end, they’re much more interested in protecting the company from damage than they are concerned about the gift you bought on-line for Aunt Mabel last week during your lunch hour.
If you’re unaware of your company’s policy on on-line activities, your human resources staff will happily share this information with you!
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Enjoying the holidays on the job
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Talk about a mine field, celebrating the holidays in the workplace can be a challenge. Decorate or no, party or not, who to gift and who is off the list? How long do you take off and still be considered a serious employee? Do you struggle with holidays?
Who do you gift? How about the boss, will he think you’re sucking up, will you over-gift or under-gift? Secretaries should get something nice - duh, of course, who will help when you need it the most? Who really has the power in the organization? Colleagues - well, maybe, but only if they’ve been good. Don’t let me get started on drawing names.
Do you party with colleagues? If so, be careful, that one drink over the limit can land you in a lot of trouble. It can be a career-changer, in the wrong direction. If you all decide to have lunch out, don’t you hate tallying up the bill and dividing it out? Is that really the holiday spirit? Is the economy good enough for the boss to pick up the tab? Is it politically correct to party at lunch? What about Kwanza or Hannukah?
Do you decorate the office? If so, who does it? The administrative assistants and secretaries usually handle the duties. They always seem to be in a better mood. Is it because they know they’re indispensable and have to be gifted? Is it politically correct for bosses to decorate, if they do, will they outdo someone else? Has there ever been a friendly competition between divisions that sort-of got out of hand?
If you have a Christmas lunch, who cooks or do you order in? If everyone brings a dish, are there folks whose food you’d just as soon not eat? I remember the church suppers when my mom would carefully point out the food from folks whose kitchens were suspect. If you order in, once more, who picks up the tab?
Do you take three weeks off at Christmas to really enjoy the holidays? Ever returned to find someone else at your desk?
Maybe I’m just a little too irreverent but what happens in your office that borders on the absurd? What would you toss and what would you keep?
Here are some tips to help you survive during the holiday season. Happy Holidays!
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