The Best Career Advice I’ve Ever Received

the best piece of career advice I've ever received

How many times throughout the course of your career have you uttered the words, “well, THAT wasn’t in the job description”? Frustrations on the career front have come to be expected. Very seldom do we encounter the person who is 100% satisfied with their gig 100% of the time and when we do, they immediately fall into the category of “love/hate.” Feeling unheard, incompetent or as if you are being completely misunderstood is not out of the ordinary and neither is feeling completely defeated by any of the above. It’s safe to assume we’ve all been there but I’d like to share with you the best career advice I’ve gotten in a while that has actually helped me to keep both my trajectory and self-worth intact.

Don’t Play the Victim

It’s so easy for us to throw our hands up when that email sits unanswered or that project takes an unexpected turn. What isn’t easy is to look to option b, c or even d to help us pivot and adjust the sails accordingly. Easier said than done, right? Below are a few tactics that we all have in our arsenal and help to keep this mindset at the forefront, even in the most defeating of scenarios.

Enlist Help Early On

No one likes to raise their hand admitting that they need help, especially not from their boss. Most of us approach projects with a self-deprecating expectation that asking for assistance will be perceived as a sign of incapability. That is not at all the case. Stay ahead of the pitfalls and maintain a transparent channel of communication with your manager. More often than not, they’ll have some really great advice or have access to a resource that you may not have considered. There is nothing worse than sitting in on your one on one late in the game and admitting that a detail has fallen by the wayside. Speak up and do it sooner than later.

Document and Recap

If it’s not on “paper” it didn’t happen. Be sure to document every detail and send out recaps following discussions, no matter how minor they might seem. You never know when you’ll need to refer back to that paper trail and if there is ever a question pertaining to accountability, you’ll want to be able to look back and quickly provide that documentation. It’s also important to keep your boss informed of progress, roadblocks, setbacks, plans for moving forward, etc. Send a progress report every so often so that they feel informed and can speak to their own contacts with surety.

Leverage Your Network

To be fair, this one depends heavily on your company culture. Not all employers cultivate an open door policy so it can be challenging to take action when waiting for a response or when escalation is in order. Do your homework early. Build your list of cross-functional contacts so that when the time arises, you are comfortable looping them in. Are you still waiting for that deliverable? Is that email sitting idly? Reach out to someone else on the team who can help keep the momentum moving. The concern may be a breaching of trust if you start pulling in additional points of contact so do it tactfully. Utilize that CC option when appropriate, start with a dose of gratitude for the help provided thus far and most importantly, stay persistent so that you have grounds for tapping into alternative options.

The most important component to staying confident in your role is taking control of the things you can and trusting your expertise. It’s so easy to cower when you’re feeling defeated. Keep the “don’t play victim in it” mantra at the forefront and you’ll notice your feeling of defeat quickly turn into one of empowerment.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received in your career thus far?

The Truth About Working For Google or Other Startup Giants

the truth about working for google and other startup giants

LinkedIn

Google

Uber

Airbnb

Pinterest

The list goes on…

What do all of these startup giants have in common? Well, everyone wants to work for one, of course. Or, have at least fantasised about it.

These days you can be the CEO of Ford and not many will blink an eyelid.

But drop casually at a party that you work for LinkedIn or Uber (even if it’s an entry-level role) and get ready to be the most fascinating person at the said party.

What’s the Big Deal?

There’s a palpable sense of romance, prestige and enigma that enshrouds the world of startups and, specifically, the idea of working for one of Silicon Valley-based unicorns.

There’s even an HBO TV comedy series named after it—that’s how hip it is.

By now, you’re probably wondering if diving into this scene would be everything it’s cracked up to be. Or is it mostly just hot air?

On the off chance you’re thinking that living and working in the San Francisco Bay Area for a few years would be a good career move, I’m taking a closer look at the pros and cons.

All I ask is that you hold off on buying your Tesla (and signing up for that $10,000/week one-bedroom apartment in Telegraph Hill) until you read this article.

First, a few basics about you:

What Do You Do For a Living?

If you’re a coder, great! A Stanford University graduate, by chance? Ah, too bad.

But all isn’t lost. Just know that some of the big unicorn startups give top priority to Stanford grads.

Not a coder?

If you’re in sales, marketing, customer service, product management or recruiting, you might be in luck. One caveat is that salaries trend lower than big corporation salaries. And negotiating equity can be tricky, depending on where the startup is in its lifecycle.

Quora is a great place to read real conversations on this topic.

How Many Years of Experience Do You Have?

What I really want to ask here is, well, um…how old are you? The average age of a worker in American is 42. In Australia and the UK, it’s 40.

But the average age at all the companies named above hovers around 28-29.

Something to consider when you think about who your colleagues will be, and how much you’ll be able to relate.

And, the Valley is known for rampant ageism.

When Zuckerberg was a tender 22, speaking at Stanford (naturally), he said “I want to stress the importance of being young and technical. Young people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30?

So there’s that.

What’s Your Tolerance for Risk?

No surprise, the market ebbs and flows. As of this writing, there’s a bit of ebbing happening.

Recently, Dropbox announced that it was doing away with certain employee perks to save money, such as meals, dry cleaning and shuttles.

They estimated the cost savings at about $25k per head.

Then there’s Twitter, which is a bit puzzling at the moment: Relevant because it’s emerged as Trump’s favourite way to communicate with the American people. But revenue is suffering, and not too long ago they made redundant about 350 people, or 9% of their workforce.

Point being, you have to be ready for anything.

Now On to SF and the Valley

It used to be that most startups were down in the Valley. But that’s changed.

Since 2010, San Francisco has seen 1 million square metres taken up by Silicon Valley startups. Twitter, Dropbox, Airbnb, Uber, Yelp, BitTorrent, Square, Slack, and Pinterest all chose SF as their home base.

Between 2012 and 2013, 24 companies relocated to SF – including Amazon, Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, Mozilla, eBay, and LinkedIn.

Now, bear in mind that San Francisco is a petite 5-kilometre by 5-kilometre peninsula. It’s tiny. One of its nicknames is “Little City”.

Also since 2010, 50,000+ new people have moved there to work for startups: Ouch.

Bring On the Cons:

In 2015, SF became the most expensive city in America.

As of this year, a mere 11% of the city’s population is able to afford home ownership while 85% of the city’s new real estate developments are targeting the high-income market.

Hence, there’s a housing shortage.

To the point where Google is talking about building housing near Mountain View and incentivising their employees to live there—10K bonus to live in a startup dorm, anyone?

And, according to sfgate.com, homelessness is at an all-time high.

Oakland used to be a viable option for less-expensive housing, but now Oakland’s pace of rental increases is only surpassed in the U.S. by San Francisco.

Foiled again.

While we’re on Oakland, no doubt you heard about the 36 artists who lived (and died) in the Ghost Ship Warehouse fire last year. It was never wired for residential use, but these artists couldn’t afford other housing in the Bay Area.

Case in point that it’s getting tougher to live in SF and not be a technocrat anymore. Conflicts between the tech elites and natives/long-term residents are alive and well.

Two poignant examples:

1. The Black Tech Buses that shuttle these workers back and forth to the Valley, or from the Valley up to the city, use Municipal transit stops.

Until fall of 2016, their use of the stops was not permitted. And residents protested across the city claiming these stops were raising the rents in their neighbourhoods.

2. Anti-AirBNB Posters can be found plastered to telephone poles and corner store windows throughout many SF hoods.

Sure, Airbnb was founded in SF. But the proliferation of its concept is taking potential housing away from residents whose landlords can make more money through Airbnb than with a long-term tenant.

The social dynamic is complex, to say the least.

Now On to the Pros

Whew. Time for a deep breath.

After all that heavy social stuff, I think we’re ready for a little nature. Luckily, the entire Bay Area is rich with natural beauty and blessed with a mild climate.

Depending on where you live in the city itself, there are great beaches (a couple more urban and a couple that feel like you’re in the Mediterranean). Golden Gate Park and the GGNRA are also really spectacular.

And foodies will find endless local, organic, vegan, free-range, gluten-free and raw options.

Plus, some of the best Mexican food north of the border and any kind of yummy Asian food you can imagine.

Winos likely already know that great regional wine is everywhere.

The question is…

Will You Be Able to Afford Any of This?

The good news is (these are the pros, remember?) your salary will be higher. So it may just barely even out if you watch your budget.

Plus, unlike anywhere else in the world, you could actually meet for coffee with someone who works at a company you’re curious about—Zendesk, Slack, Salesforce, Google, Uber, you name it.

They’re all just a short Lyft ride from each other. Or, if you prefer, a brisk walk in the fog.

And the Blue Bottle coffee is out of this world. It’s backed by the Valley’s elite – of course – including one of my favourite Valley characters – Shark Tank’s outspoken loose cannon Chris Sacca.

It’s like a LinkedIn network gone wild.

Speaking of wild, Trump’s immigration policy is a definite wild card for anyone considering relocating to America. So keep your eye on that one.

And the Last Pro Is…

You don’t even need to move to the Bay Area to join one of these legends.

Most of the companies we’ve referenced have international branches, offices and remote teams. Or, you could explore a more reasonably-priced city in another part of the U.S. such as Seattle, Austin or even Charlotte.

And while none of the big names offer this, some startups don’t even have offices.

TopTal – an American company that provides freelance software engineers and software designers to other companies – insists that you work remotely. Even it’s from a beach, mountaintop or a tropical island.

As long as there’s Internet.

So, clearly only a crazy person would pay Bay Area rents if they didn’t have to. Unless, of course, you’re one of the crazies from way back—an adventurer who wants to experience firsthand the reality of this unique point in time in the global hub of innovation.

Unless you’re one of the ones Steve Jobs talked about in that first Apple ad from the Think Different campaign:

Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels. The troublemakers. The problem child. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently….

“They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you cannot do is ignore them. Because they change things….

“They invent. They imagine. They heal. They explore. They create. They inspire. They push the human race forward. While some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

Unless that.

Encouraging men to take parental leave | Macquarie Group

Encouraging men to take parental leave Macquarie Group FlexCareers

Taking parental leave wasn’t something that Andrew Wilson had always intended to do. He didn’t think it would work for his circumstances at home or at work, and his wife was already taking the first 12 months off work after their daughter, Violet, was born. A Human Resources Business Partner at Macquarie, Andrew has recently returned from parental leave after “circumstances both at work and home changed so that it became a viable option for me to take paid leave before Violet was two years old.

“My experience has been amazing but equally I have felt the full range of emotion – from being apprehensive about leaving work, worried about my capability to look after my child and exhausted from the experience – to euphoric about seeing my daughter, Violet, grow and develop.”

This sentiment was echoed by Conor Tierney, a Senior Business Development Manager at Macquarie, who recently returned to work after two months of parental leave with his second child. He too hadn’t planned on taking parental leave, but heard a colleague speak about his experience. “I had heard that a colleague had taken parental leave, so I sought him out to ask about his experience. He couldn’t speak highly enough about it, so after that, I jumped at it. I took three months parental leave with our eldest son, Finnian, and another two months with our second son, Patrick.”

Conor was recently photographed as part of the ‘Aussie Dads’ exhibition by photographer Johan Bävman. The exhibition, aimed at advancing parental leave equality for Australian fathers, was supported by Parents at Work, which wrote on its website that “in Australia, approximately only 1 in 50 fathers take paid parental leave according to OECD [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development] data.”

Reflecting on why he thinks so few men take up their employers on the paid parental leave schemes, Andrew said “I think there can be many reasons, including financial, professional or cultural. Some men feel ill-equipped to care for their children due to lack of experience. I also think one of the biggest barriers in some organisations is managers not empathising with the request to take parental leave or managing the transition back to work after such a big life change.

“For me these were all very real considerations, but my actual experience from application, to going on leave and then return to work was positive”, he said.

Conor agreed that how colleagues would perceive the situation was something he was nervous about, but said “it turned out to be unfounded as everyone was really supportive. Colleagues were seeking me out when I returned from leave asking for feedback on my experience.”

When asked about the biggest preconceptions and challenges that they had before taking parental leave, Conor said “in terms of being the ‘primary’ carer, I had some nerves, as I was very much the ‘secondary’ carer for the first nine months of our son’s life. I remember the first Monday morning when my wife went back to work – I was concerned how I’d go. Though, after a few hours I got into the groove and thoroughly enjoyed it.”

Andrew said, “I thought it seemed like such a long period of time where I would have time for myself to fill with other things… how wrong I was!”

“My first five days were the most difficult, but also very rewarding. I had to learn something new each day to manage so many different and challenging situations. My approach to parenting had to grow and it did by using a learning mindset—which is something I have applied coming back into the workplace,” he said.

Andrew said that working in HR he always thought he would take his own advice and believe in the support that the company would provide. Despite this, he also “felt anxious about the decision to take parental leave.” However, he said that “this was balanced by an overwhelming feeling of joy, happiness and excitement about the journey I was about to take. I kept telling myself I will never get the time back and it genuinely felt like the start of something that would stretch and develop me unlike anything else.”

Both agreed that there is more to be done to encourage men to take parental leave. According to Andrew, “we need to normalise the role of parenting for men and women as equal. This will involve the education of a whole generation of managers (especially male) who have not experienced men taking parental leave as the norm.

“I think having male senior managers who take parental leave talk about their experience would help to normalise it, as will training team members to ensure they are aware of the changes someone who has taken parental leave has been through and how they can help and manage that person and the transition back to work,” Andrew said.

Conor echoed that “the more men that take parental leave, the easier it becomes for the next person” and that it will help break down outdated views.

Andrew added, “I feel very supported with my return from parental leave and the flexibility that has been provided. There’s always more to do, but encouraging others to take the opportunity is one of the biggest things I want to focus on. My experience has been extremely positive, and I would like to think that this can become the norm for all fathers wishing to take parental leave.”

Find out more about working at Macquarie here.

7 Tips for Recovering from a Major Mistake at Work

 

mistake at work

So, you’ve had one of those awful stomach-drop moments. You’ve made a major mistake at work – maybe you yelled at your bully boss, deleted a critical company file, or failed to pick up a software glitch that’s cost a client thousands – and in the aftermath, you’re feeling that crippling mix of horror, shame, and anxiety. Good news is, even though you might be convinced your career is over, it is possible, in most cases, to come back from a workplace slip-up if you respond in the right way. We recommend taking the following steps to minimize the damage caused by your blunder and to up your chances of recovering completely.

 

The worst thing you can do when you’ve messed up majorly at the office is reacting impulsively or defensively – do this and you’ll probably just dig an even deeper hole for yourself. You need a solid plan of action, and in order to put one together, you need to be thinking clearly. So, step out for a while to let the panic pass – go for a walk, phone a friend or consult a superior if necessary. The critical thing here is that you take time to reflect on what happened and to gather yourself before moving forward.

 

There might be a thousand excuses running through your head right now, but if you’re serious about bouncing back, you won’t use a single one. When you’ve made a major mistake at work, honesty is always your best approach. Own your error. Say, “Yes, I messed up”, and leave it at that. If your slip-up directly impacts client relations, then offer to get on the phone with the client and personally explain what went wrong – don’t expect your boss or HR to do it. By accepting responsibility and responding with grace, you communicate to those around you that you’re taking the situation seriously and are genuinely remorseful. 

 

 

A simple apology can go a long way towards rectifying your wrongdoing and saving your professional reputation. Just make sure it sounds sincere and is directed at the right person – don’t apologize to management alone when you should really be saying sorry to your co-worker. Keep your apology brief and professional, too. Don’t ramble, weep or collapse into a heaving, self-loathing mess. This won’t feel all that genuine to the recipient, and in any case, you don’t want to bring more attention to your epic fail than is necessary.  

 

  • Pinpoint the origin of your mistake

It’s hard to move forward if you don’t fully understand why you made the blunder in the first place. Take time to dissect the event and its causes. If you messed up an important procedure, could it be because you’re not actually sure how it should be done, and you’ve just been too nervous to ask for help? Or are you dropping balls because you’re trying to juggle too many? Did you scream at your co-worker because you’re feeling overwhelmed at work? Or going through something difficult at home? Get to the bottom of the “why” behind your screw-up and you can turn your mistake into an invaluable learning opportunity.  

 

Maybe your mistake can be fairly easily corrected – by working all weekend to recreate the document you deleted, for example. If this is the case, then be the first to suggest a solution, and demonstrate that you’re 100% ready to start implementing it. If there’s no quick fix, then at the very least, you’ll want to take your learnings from the step above and convert them into a plan for change to ensure that you never repeat your mess-up. This might mean attending courses to improve your skills or even changing something in your work environment so that you’re better able to cope.

The key thing here is to communicate to your boss how you plan to prevent future errors. You might even want to document the events surrounding your major mistake at work in a post-mortem report so that other employees can learn from your experience, too. Not only will this approach show emotional intelligence, but it’ll also help to position you as a problem-solver who’s committed to righting wrongs.

 

 

Ideally, your apology and proposed fix will be enough, but HR might feel the need to discipline you in other ways. If this is the case, don’t throw your toys out of the cot and harp on about the injustice of the penalty. Accept the repercussions quietly and move on like the genuinely regretful professional you are.

 

  • Let your actions speak for themselves

Once you’ve apologized and committed to doing better in future, all you really can do is show management, and your colleagues, how serious you are about putting your major mistake at work behind you through your actions. Be a first-rate employee in every way – put extra effort into your duties, go out of your way to assist co-workers, take initiative and spearhead new projects, attend after-work events and catch-ups. Essentially, do everything you can to remind your boss and work peers of your value and to turn your blunder into a distant memory in their minds.

About the Author: Instantly create a resume that employers will love with Resume-Now. Whether you’re applying for your first job, changing careers, or returning to work, Resume-Now gives you the tools to help you find a career you will love, including resume templates, formatting tools, a collection of resume samples for every industry, and a resume builder.

New to HR? Confidence vs. Arrogance

confidence vs arrogance

Believing in yourself and your skills is important in any career field. You want to be the very best at the job you’re doing at all times. As an HR Newbie, there will be a lot of challenges while you’re learning the job, the workforce, the company, and upgrading your skills.

Walking into a new workplace and knowing nothing can be daunting, especially for an overachiever. You must understand and acknowledge how you come off towards others, and yes, in our profession, that is extremely important. An HR professional saying, “take me as I am” might not be the greatest way to start off a new relationship. Knowing your job is great, but it doesn’t make you better than anyone else in the building.

Confidence in yourself helps others grow their confidence in you. It is knowing that you can possibly be the best in the building and not turning others off or being selfish. Trust throughout your organization will take the HR department far, especially when you expand to working with more than just the CEO.

Image result for confidence vs arrogance meme

Being arrogant in the workplace will put the entire organization against you. Pride creeps in and destroys the work that you’ve done.  Just because you’re new to the company doesn’t mean you don’t know what you’re doing, but there is also much to learn and much more that should be taken into consideration. Arrogance will ruin the culture of the company if too many people possess the trait and no one is willing to work as a team.

It is very easy to come off as an arrogant person when you’re actually trying to show confidence. It is the same with learning how to have a conversation in which you might not agree with something that is being discussed.  When you’re new to the organization, you want to prove what you can bring to the team. If you’re not careful, it might be taken the wrong way, and yes, that is something you will need to deal with in the workplace from time to time. You can state your opinion – I’m not telling you to hide who you are as a person, but instead, helping you understand how to talk with others.

Listening is key in this situation. When you’re arrogant, you know it all, and nothing is necessarily wrong with having a lot of knowledge to share, but how you share it makes a big difference. If someone tries to approach you and you can’t take the time to listen to their opinions on the subject, you’re telling that person and your company that you’re not willing to learn. This also makes it extremely hard for others to come to you with an issue or an idea.

Being confident in your work is a beautiful thing, you should be proud of everything you’ve discovered and want to share it with others. Take the time to be a better person and a better leader.

5 Signs to Turn Your Side Hustle Full-Time

side hustle

More and more Americans today are going all-in with their side hustles. What started as a way to make ends meet or get some extra cash for the weekends turned into an unstoppable movement. Suddenly, 9-5 employers are turning into first-time business owners, and this means they finally can reclaim their time for themselves and their businesses.

A survey in 2017 reported that over half of all Millennials today have some kind of side hustle. There’s nothing more exciting than making some extra cash from your favorite hobby or skill. Whether you’re selling crafts on Etsy or freelancing web design, it might be time to take that skill of yours full-time.

While all entrepreneurs have to take a risk, there is a right time and a wrong time to strike it out on your own. Here are 5 signs you’re ready to turn your side hustle into your full-time gig. Are you ready to take the plunge?

1. You have a safety net.

Unless you’ve got a million dollar idea, it’s unlikely you’ll start making big bucks overnight. Don’t worry, this is normal, and it’s just a part of running your own business. That’s why you need a financial safety net to fall back on before you give up that paycheck. If you’re used to receiving a certain paycheck every week, it’s hard to rough it on your own if you don’t have funds stored away. You also don’t want to squander your credit right away by making bad financial decisions.

You’ll need at least a few months of living expenses saved to start off strong. Make sure you can pay for rent, all bills, and even extra spending money for at least 3 months prior to quitting your day job. This will help you not feel so panicked when you first get started since you don’t have to rush to just get food on the table.

2. You’re motivated.

When your side hustle is a hobby, it’s easy to make time for it. Maybe you love to dive into your hustle after work every day or you spend a few hours here and there keeping up with it on the weekends. These are all good things, but you need to be ready to go the extra mile. When you work for yourself, there’s nobody there to make sure you get your work done every day. It all falls to you.

If you’re not sure you can stay motivated to stick it out even when times get tough, you might not want to jump in full-time yet. Having great ideas and talent are good first steps, but that alone won’t keep you motivated to wake up early on the weekends or to put in extra hours.

3. You understand how to start a business.

Starting a business is not always as easy as just making a website and landing a sale. You need to consider business formations, you might need to learn how to start an LLC, and you’ll need to keep your own taxes in mind. These things can be overwhelming, especially if you’ve never studied them before. Again, that’s okay as long as you’re ready to learn.

You don’t want to mess around when it comes to the legality of running a business. You need these things to be understood clearly before you put yourself in the swing of things full time. The more you can learn before you quit your day job, the better equipped you’ll be to handle new challenges.

4. You know how to market yourself.

You can be the most skilled Etsy crafter or freelancer in the world, but if you don’t know how to market yourself you won’t get far. Self-promotion doesn’t always come naturally, and that’s okay. As long as you’re willing to learn, try new things, and put yourself out there, you can make it work.

The art of promoting your business is complicated. There is no one-size-fits-all, but you need to be ready to put in the work. How are you going to find new clients? It’s safe to assume they won’t fall in your lap, at least, not at first. What’s your plan for finding new customers in your niche?

5. You have too many projects to keep up with.

Finally, the biggest indicator that you have a winning side hustle on your hands is the demand. Are you getting so many orders or projects that you have to turn many of them down? Are clients reaching out to your left and right? If so, it might be time to call it quits with your day job and go full-time.

There are limits to how much you’re able to do if you’re also working another job. If you’re sure you have enough demand to commit yourself to this full time, then do it! It’s time to say yes to more projects.

Leaving behind your full-time job to start your own business out of your side hustle is nothing to scoff at. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it to own your own business. Side hustles are becoming the foundation for today’s entrepreneurial spirit. Are you ready to take yours to the next level?

New to HR? I Have My Degree…Now What?

You've recently graduated with a degree in human resources. Now what?

Spring graduations have been put up on social media over the last few weeks and we still have many to go. It’s exciting to see people completing the college journey and finally earning their degree, no matter what degree or what age. Sadly, many college graduates finish the same way they started college, confused.

You Have a Degree in (Human Resources) HR…Now What?

Getting a degree in HR and human resources is just the beginning of starting your new life and career. It can lead to more questions than answers, a lot more research (yes, the work never stops), and the beginning of the job search. I recently obtained my Master’s in HR and now I’m trying to understand where this will take me and if I’m ready for everything that’s coming.

HR is a field of experience, in my opinion, the more you have the better you’ll be accepted. Recently during a search of HR Positions in my state and worldwide, there a lot more jobs available than I thought there would be. But, that doesn’t mean it’s the perfect job for you. You’ve gotten that degree, now here are a few next steps to take.

Understand Your Goals Post Graduation

This can be hard, there are so many areas of HR, who exactly knows where they want to end? It’s tough, but it’s necessary. Understanding your end game will help you through the rest. It allows you to understand what jobs you’re going to need to be held responsible for and get experience in before applying. While yes, you might want to take your employers job within the first 3 months because you THINK you could do it better, that’s usually not likely. If you don’t understand your end goal, how can you understand your positions?

What Does HR Mean to You

You’ve gotten the degree, so hopefully, you really believe this is the career field for you, but sometimes that’s not the case. You finally get that official HR Title and realize you hate it and everything it stands for. Leave. No matter how much you’ve collected in student loans. Figure out what it is you actually want to do, but don’t ruin employees lives because you’ve decided this isn’t it. Don’t stay in HR for the money, the speaking gigs, the books, or whatever it is that you see fit if it’s not for the better of employees and the company.

Job Search

Hopefully, you didn’t leave this until you actually graduated and you’ve already been filling out applications, sending resumes, and creating a network that will be a source of support before the big day. If you haven’t this isn’t the time to party and wait around. Some people can get jobs 5 days after graduation, while some might be 5 months. You never know exactly where you will land in this game of life. While waiting for that callback, you should be keeping up with laws, policies, creating systems, attending webinars, anything free that will get your name out there, in a safe place. HR isn’t a career that you can just hope and wish you’ll get something correct every time an employee comes to your office with a question. This also shows your potential employer that you’re serious about the job.

Research and Plan Your HR Educational Goals

A lot of this boils down to researching what is possible in HR. Certifications, teaching, more degrees, joining an HR organization. How can you get yourself out into the HR world and continue learning, growing, and advancing in your career? One thing I’ve learned over these last 2 years in HR is that the job never stops. There will always be an employee needing something, a government agency wanting to request something, some forms needing to be completed. Buring yourself out early (or at all) shouldn’t be part of the game. Your job is not defined by the generational differences. If you’re not happy with the company you decided on, leave. If you’ve stayed for a few years and the money isn’t adding up, leave. Don’t stay where you’re not wanted or valued.

Congratulations, you received your degree in Human Resources! Now comes more work, but with the joy of actually helping someone in need and not just turning in your assumption in a paper. This journey, long or short, to achieving this goal, will now help employees who are searching to be heard by their non-existent HR department, hopefully, you’ll be the change the company is searching for.

Lawyer Career Myths That Need a Good Busting

lawyer career

If you’ve been interested in becoming a lawyer for a long time, it may well be because you’ve watched a lot of legal-related TV shows or movies over the years. Big productions such as “Suits,” “The Good Wife,” “Boston Legal,” “Law and Order,” “Legally Blonde” and “Erin Brockovich” have made the legal career path more popular than ever. However, many people don’t realize that what’s portrayed on the screen isn’t necessarily true to life!

As you would imagine, what gets shown on films and series is purposely created to excite, enthrall, amuse and entertain viewers, and as such, the portrayal is amped up and lacking all of the more “boring” parts of legal jobs. This means that if you want to pursue a career as a lawyer of any type, and are about to enroll in or complete a higher education program like a Master of Jurisprudence or the like, you need to be clear about what your day-to-day work life could really be like.

To get ahead in your career ASAP, you need to be able to hit the ground running rather than be taken aback by what’s involved or the types of tasks (or rewards) you get. Read on for some of the most commonly perpetuated legal myths which need to be busted.

The Job Is Glamorous

For starters, one of the biggest pervading myths is that the job of being a lawyer is always glamorous. While we watch popular legal television series and movies because of how exciting the cases and work seems to be, in reality, things can be quite different. Rather than spending all their time in court, orating great stories and appealing to jurors’ emotions, most lawyers actually end up doing a lot of research, planning and client meetings.

Most of the cases depicted on-screen are those which cover mass civil suits or big criminal trials. While a select number of lawyers do work on these types of cases, most don’t, and none do so all the time. For most people in the legal arena, work is about mediating between two or more parties, attending short civil court cases and providing consultation to clients.

Furthermore, a lot of would-be lawyers get the idea that being in this field is exciting because, on the screen, it seems like everything happens quickly. In real life, there is much less drama and a lot of cases actually go on for months or years (often it’s many months before they even get to court).

Lawyers Do Everything Themselves

Another misconception that keeps doing the rounds is that lawyers do everything themselves. On the screen, it appears like most attorneys know everything possible about the law, in all areas, and apply this knowledge to cases solo. However, while attorneys certainly do tend to be very smart, they’re not experts with photographic memories who never need any help!

In reality, the majority of lawyers specialize in one particular area, not multiple ones. They also typically choose to be either transactional lawyers, who assist clients with things like regulatory filings or mergers, or litigators, who represent people in court cases and arbitration.

Note, too, that a lot of the time attorneys work in groups. Rather than there being a single “hero” who finds ways to score last-minute victories and save the day, teams of lawyers, clerks, and other assistants typically put in dozens of hours together on research, fact-checking, investigations and other preparation to get results. It is important, therefore, for attorneys to be adept at working well in groups and interacting with a wide variety of people.

It Always Pays a Lot

Lastly, a very prominent myth is the one that lawyers always earn big bucks. While we see people on the screen wearing designer outfits, living in luxury pads, driving expensive cars and always having impeccable haircuts, accessories and the like, not all attorneys have high incomes.

Those working at large firms (usually with 100-plus lawyers) tend to be highly compensated, but these people make up only a fraction of the legal workforce. The majority of attorneys work in small organizations where they receive a fairly standard wage, or they’re government employees or work for public interest groups and as such are paid quite minimally. Once you factor in the huge amount of hours that most lawyers work, their per-hour rate is actually low — but their job satisfaction can still be quite high.

 

Reboot Your Confidence blog n# 8 – Your Tool Kit

Your toolkit to make confidence a way of life

Congratulations and thank you for joining us for this blog series!  We hope you’re making fabulous progress towards your dream career!!

Our mission has been to help you reboot your confidence and make the journey from self-doubt to self-belief.

We’ve looked at how your mindset can hold you back and offered practical steps to find work you love, and that works with the rest of your life.

Now we want to help you maintain your confidence for the long term!!  We want you to achieve your work dreams and flourish!

We know you want to be confident and bravely keep moving forward

When reality bites

We all want to make steady progress. But the reality is that it’s hard to build consistent self-belief, to make confidence a way of life.  Luckily, like physical fitness, we can develop it bit by bit.

Here are eight things you can start doing to build and maintain your belief in yourself.

You might like to pick one or two to focus on at a time or choose what’s most needed each week.

The Confidence ToolKit

  1. Notice what’s working for you! We need to learn to pay attention to the positives.  It’s so easy to be critical of what we feel we haven’t done well that we often don’t pay attention to our awesomeness!
  2. On a regular basis – quickly run your mind over the last day or so and look for examples of things you’ve done really well.
  3. Do more of what’s working – once you get into the habit of appreciating your achievements you can be on the lookout for opportunities to repeat them and repeat them………….
  4. Mentally rehearse what you need to do before you actually have to do it. Visualising the process AND the desired outcome helps us to believe things are possible and gives us a boost of confidence to carry out the steps needed.
  5. Build your support networks.  Try to surround yourself with people who will cheer you on, people who believe you can do it.  Also look for role models who will inspire you and provide new ideas.
  6. Keep your eyes on the prize – if you’re feeling overwhelmed, go back to your goals and values.  Remind yourself of WHAT you’re trying to achieve and WHY.
  7. Keep calm and carry on!  There will be weeks when it’s almost laughable how many things go a bit wrong.  Sometimes we need to flex our self-regulation muscles and just keep on going.
  8. Nurture yourself! Sleep, diet and exercise all play a role in priming us for confidence and achievement. Exercise allows us to feel a sense of mastery and achievement at what our body can do, whilst sleep and diet play a key role in our energy levels.
  9. Seek out positive emotions for a mood boost to drive positive action – look for moments of amusement, joy, love, inspiration, gratitude and serenity.

So are you ready?

Are you ready to continue your journey to do work that thrills and fulfills you? If so, we have developed a comprehensive resource to help you – -The Ultimate Guide to Do Work You Love.

This is your step-by-step roadmap to move towards LOVING your work and life.

If you’re at a crossroads with work and it’s time for a rethink, this guide is for you.

Click here to receive your FREE copy of our guide. It might just change your life! www.flourishingmothers.com.au/workyoulove

We’re in your corner,

Debra and Kate

 

This 8 blog series was co-written by our amazing FlexCoaches Kate Wilkie and Debra Close. You can reach out to them for more guidance and help here.


About Debra and Kate

FlexCoaches Debra Close and Kate Wilkie are specialists in Positive Psychology coaching for mums. Whether you are at home raising a family, or are balancing a career with family commitments, Debra and Kate can help you to solve challenges you struggle with and answer life’s big questions.

FlexCareers offers a free 30-minute introductory meeting with our FlexCoaches, to help you establish if coaching is right for you and you can find out more about their practice, Flourishing Mothers.

Seven Types of Support and Training Managers Need

seven types of training and support managers need

We have all heard about the importance of learning and development, aka training, yet not many employers do it. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employers with fewer than 100 employees provided only 0.8 hours – that’s only 12 minutes – of manager training per six-month period. Organizations with 100-500 employees provided only 0.9 hours (6 minutes) of training for the same time span. Why is this? The number one reason is cost. Whether it is a small business or a Fortune 500 company, training is looked at as just an expense with no return on investment. WRONG! Training is an investment in your employees. The return is better productivity, higher retention rates for top performers, and the creation of a culture of learning.

When you have a top-down structure – think of a pyramid – with the CEO on top, middle management, then regular everyday employees filling the majority, it’s the majority that keeps the business moving forward. It is a common phrase: “Employees leave a manager not a company.” By training those managers more effectively, you can help reduce turnover. In fact, a Gallup poll stated that, every year, disengaged employees cost the U.S. economy $370 billion. And the primary driver of that lost productivity is poor supervision.

What types of training do managers need?

The first step is to find out where the issues lie and conduct a training needs analysis. Creating a survey for anonymous answers from all employees is a great start. Employees feel a better sense of security and less likely to be retaliated against when it is anonymous. By asking employees where they feel management is lacking you receive a better picture of areas where training might be beneficial.

Typically the top seven areas for manager training are:

    • Leadership Development – Holding effective meetings and expanding the capacity of performance.
    • Communication – Business writing, conflict resolution and negotiation.
    • Harassment Prevention – Sexual and non-sexual harassment.
    • Organization – Time management, how to delegate and project management.
    • Diversity – Examining biases, learning to see all views and all laws associated with it too!
    • Performance Management – Building strong teams, employee performance reviews, setting goals.
    • Customer Service – Without a happy customer, you don’t have a business.

What’s the best way to start offering training?

There are several avenues for implementing a training program. For example, if the company is smaller, they probably won’t have a learning and development professional on staff, so outsourcing videos, consultants, and online courses are a good option. Being in the technology era, there are many games and apps that can be used too. Consider having multiple options for managers to learn from and evaluate the progress of each training. If people aren’t engaged in what they are being taught, chances are they aren’t learning. When implementing a training plan, be aware of the content. Is it relevant to one of the seven areas above? Is is relevant to a business need?

The takeaway is that managers need continuous training, not a one-time class. A person retains information by repetition. Solicit continuous feedback from both the managers receiving the training, and the employees of the managers, to ensure the trainings are effective. The better a manager is trained, the better job he or she will do, and the higher the bottom line will be for the company.