Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

A Manager's Guide to Mentoring

I swear by mentoring as one of the best ways to teach your team members what they need to know to be productive and send the message that you think they’re important and care about their growth. Obviously, an official mentoring program is great to have, but what if your company hasn’t gone down this road before? 

The Mentoring Group says that before implementing a formal initiative, you should consider how much support mentoring has from executives and employees, the time and resources people have to spend, and the overall health of the organization.

For other preparation and execution musts, check out my post on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

Can Your Boss Count on You?

You know what I've realized in my tenure as a manager? The number one quality I appreciate most in a direct report is reliability.  By reliable, I mean a person who says she is going to do something, and then actually does it in the agreed-upon manner.

You’d think this one would be kind of a no brainer for employees, especially when it comes to the boss who hands out the paychecks. But time and time again, in both my personal and professional life, I come across people who nod and smile when I ask them to help out with something, make promises they never intend to keep, or volunteer to assist with projects because it makes them look good.

As a result, I develop the dangerous expectation that I can stop worrying about that particular aspect of the project, that I can count on this person to take care of it. And imagine how disheartened I am when the deadline approaches (or worse, passes), and I either have to nag my report to complete the task and put it back on my own plate. I’ve fallen victim to my mother’s old warning: “if you let someone else’s lack of planning become your emergency, you’re a fool.”

A lot of the time, people who don’t keep their word aren’t doing it maliciously. They fully intend to get the task done, but they forget, get distracted with something else, or keep telling themselves they’ll get to it eventually. Nevertheless, it’s exactly these types of situations that make me a manager who delegates reluctantly. I know that if a project is in my hands, I can control how and when it gets done.  But if I have to trust another person, it’s a different situation entirely.

I know that I’m not alone in this. If you want to be the kind of employee bosses love, do your job without being prodded, and once you agree to a task, don’t let it slide. Always meet your deadlines, and if something comes up that makes that impossible, give your manager plenty of heads up. Never underestimate the importance of being the person who brings peace of mind to the team, the person who makes it possible for the boss to ask once and then walk away confidently, knowing that the task in good, capable hands.

How to Get from College to Career: Advice from Lindsey Pollak

My good friend Lindsey Pollak recently released a terrific new edition of her well-loved book, Getting from College to Career.  In the midst of the craziness of having a new book and baby, she generously shared some thoughts about what college grads can do to improve their careers in 2012:

What made you decide to do a new edition at this time?  

We’re living in a time of such rapid change in the world of business and careers that five years ago, when the first edition of Getting from College to Career was published, feels like “the old days.” At that time the economy was good and we were at the very, very beginning of social media and smartphone usage. I decided to write a revised edition of the book to make sure that readers would have the most up-to-date, relevant and forward-thinking advice for their job searches and careers.

 What's the most important piece of advice readers should take away from the new edition?

The most important piece of advice in the new edition is the same as the original edition: take action every single day to find a job and build your career. More now than ever, the people who succeed are the people who take consistent action. Momentum matters.

The good news is that today’s job seekers have so many more tools they can use to take action – LinkedIn and Twitter have both grown tremendously over the past five years, more organizations are providing job postings by social media and text messaging and Meetup.com and other technologies make networking opportunities more plentiful.

 How has job hunting changed in the five years since you launched the original edition of Getting from College to Career? What new tips have you added?

The two biggest changes since Getting from College to Career was published five years ago relate to the economy and technology.

In 2007, there were plenty of available jobs for recent grads, so my advice focused on figuring out what you wanted to do and taking the steps to get hired into a full-time position. Since 2008, job openings are much more scarce so I added a lot more advice on alternatives to full-time employment, such as freelancing, post-college interning and taking on project work.

The recession has also meant that job seekers have had to become much better at marketing themselves to employers. I don’t think the phrase “personal branding” appeared once in the original edition and now it’s everywhere. Job seekers need to be able to tell a clear story of what makes them unique and how that uniqueness will benefit an employer. Generalists are out; specialists are in – even at the entry level.

In terms of technology, Twitter didn’t even exist when I wrote the first edition and now it’s a crucial tool for career research and networking. In this edition I also include recent grad-specific advice on using LinkedIn, Facebook, Google Apps, Skype and other tech-based tools for job seekers. Of course, technology is moving so fast (just look at the skyrocketing growth of Pinterest!) that job seekers need to keep an eye out for new tools that could help them stand out and get hired.

You interviewed a number of successful professionals and asked them to share what they wish they'd known before starting their careers. What answers most stood out to you?

I was really struck by the number of people who credited their success to two things – their relationships and their passion. Yes, a lot has changed over the past five years, but these are two elements of a successful career that are timeless: build and maintain authentic professional relationships and find a career where you’ll be doing work you love. I expect I’ll be giving that exact same advice five more years from now and fifty years from now.

In addition to being an author and speaker you serve as a global spokesperson for LinkedIn. Can you share your top LinkedIn tips for recent grads?

Absolutely! LinkedIn is a very important tool for recent grads and far too many of them are still not aware of how valuable professional online networking can be at the beginning of your career. Here are my top five LinkedIn tips for recent grads:

1. Write a profile headline that displays your desired career. Your headline does not have to be a job title. The best student headlines clearly promote who you are and what you want to do when you graduate. For example, "Honors Student & Aspiring Public Relations Associate." Or “Pre-MBA Finance Major Graduating in 2013.”
2. Include a ton of keywords in your profile. Recruiters search for candidates by keywords, so make sure your profile is full of them. Find relevant words and phrases in the job descriptions of the positions you want and then pepper them throughout your Summary, Specialties and Skills sections.
3. Connect with everyone you know. Build your network by sending personalized LinkedIn connection requests to everyone you know -- friends, family, neighbors, classmates, everyone. Next, send each personal a customized message (no mass emails!) to tell them you’re job hunting and to explain what position(s) you’re looking for. Request some advice or a phone call to talk further, or ask if they can refer you to anyone they know in your desired field.
4. Join your alumni group. Join the LinkedIn group of any college, university or graduate school you’ve attended. Once you’re a member, you’ll begin to receive updates on the activities taking place – discussions, job postings, event announcements and more. Jump in and start participating, just like you did in college!
5. Search the Student Jobs Portal. The Student Jobs Portal is a collection of all entry-level job postings on LinkedIn. Search by job function or check out postings from featured companies. When you apply for a job through this portal, the employer will be able to see your full LinkedIn profile along with your application.

Manage the Needs of Multiple Supervisors

It’s a fact of modern work life that many of us have multiple supervisors.  And even if you’re an efficient multi-tasker, you’re never going to be Superman. It’s not a good idea to sabotage your goals by taking on more work than you can do just because someone above you said so.

Formalize Daily Responsibilities

In general, you want to be perceived as a can-do employee by all of your supervisors. A good first step is to formalize your daily responsibilities with your official boss. Find out who on your team is authorized to delegate work to you, and note the type of assignments you can expect from each person.

Let’s say that Joe, who is outside this core group of delegators, gives you a stack of client status reports to do. How should you respond? It’s perfectly appropriate to politely reply that you would be glad to help, but that you would appreciate it if Joe would check with your official manager first. Joe may or may not pursue the matter, but, either way, you have extricated yourself from an awkward situation and have placed the ball squarely in your official boss’s court. In all likelihood, your boss will say no to Joe for you, especially if doing status reports is outside your area of responsibility.

Be Assertive

Now imagine that Jane, a member of your core group of delegators, leaves an urgent assignment on your chair that must be done by the end of the week. Jane has known about the task for a few days, but now it’s Friday morning and the deadline is looming. As my mother used to say, don’t let another person’s lack of planning become your emergency. If your own “to do” list dictates you do something else, speak up.

Tell Jane that you wish you could do the task for her, but you are currently working on a project with Tom that requires your attention. Give her the option of resolving the issue with Tom or your official boss, and emphasize how much you enjoy working with her. Ideally, Jane will leave the interaction with the perception that you sincerely do want to help her, but that you can’t help being caught between conflicting responsibilities.

Get Help Prioritizing

What if your official boss is the one with an urgent request that you don’t have the time to attend to? In a way, this is the least painful scenario, because all you really have to do is ask her to help you prioritize your various assignments. You can say something such as, “I’d be happy to take care of that, but today I’m researching statistics for Tom’s client presentation. Which do you think I should do first?”

If your official boss wants to snatch your time at Tom’s expense, that’s her prerogative. Again, though, you have made someone else accountable for deciding which of the competing tasks you should direct your energy toward. By always striving to present yourself as a hardworking and disciplined employee with the best interests of the organization at heart, you will be able to maintain good relationships will everyone above you without killing yourself in the process.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

How to Succeed as a Young Manager

Before the age of 28, Aaron McDaniel had been appointed regional vice president at a Fortune 10 company.  He has managed over 100 people and has been responsible for a variety of job functions from business development to network operations.  I asked Aaron, who now writes the Young Professional’s Edge blog, for his top tips for how to succeed as a manager who is younger than or the same age as most of your direct reports.  Here are some of his key recommendations:

Don't Readily Reveal Your Age

Don’t make references to college or other things that show your team you are younger than (or the same age as) they are. Instead of describing your experience by highlighting the amount of time you have worked, emphasize the concrete results you have achieved.  You will be more likely to be taken seriously.

Set and Maintain Expectations

Especially with a younger manager, people like to see how much they can get away with, so sit down with your team and outline your expectations at the very beginning.  It is also important to understand what your team’s expectations are of you.

Be Present and Inclusive

Considering all you have to do, it’s tempting to move into your managerial ivory tower.  However, by being physically around your team, you will make your employees feel noticed and valued.  It’s particularly important to ask your staff for ideas based on their experience, and then implement these whenever you can.  If you have to make a difficult decision that affects everyone, bring the whole team into the conversation.

Remove Obstacles

One of your primary roles is to remove obstacles that are hindering your team from achieving an optimum level of success.  The best way to do this is by listening and keeping a pulse on what is going well from your team and what is not.  By taking the Jerry Maguire "help me help you" approach, you will be able to fix issues and build positive momentum.

Leverage Your Energy and Ideas

Take advantage of the fact that younger managers tend to bring a higher level of enthusiasm to the job.  Leverage your ideas for making work more fun and your team more efficient – the more creative the better!

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

 

4 Ways to Succeed at an Online or Offline Start-Up

I recently had the opportunity to meet Sarah Fudin, a young professional working with 2tor, Inc, an education start-up company that partners with elite universities to bring master degree programs online, in particular USC's Masters in Teaching online program.  Sarah felt that my readers needed some tips for succeeding in a start-up organization, and here's what she suggested:

Be prepared to work hard and expect rewards: The start-up climate is fast paced and crazy at times so expect to work hard, but also expect that people will notice your hard work and reward you.  The environment is not so crowded that stellar results get lost.

Ask for help when you need it: Don’t be afraid to ask colleagues or managers for help if you don’t understand something.  Everyone is stretched thin in this sort of environment, but everyone also deeply cares about the work you are all doing for the greater good of the company. 

Don’t turn down happy hour:  The start-up environment promotes working closely with your colleagues and you’ll probably become pretty friendly with most of them.  Be prepared to be invited to happy hours, office bowling events, etc., and be sure to show up.  Such events are a great way to get to know colleagues on a personal level, make new connections and network.

Know what your colleagues are working on:  Remember that you're all on the same team.  Find out what others are working on and share what you’re working on – sometimes they’ll overlap and you can help each other achieve the company's goals.

How To Make Money Off Your Social Media Skills

Who better to learn from than someone who has been successful at what you're trying to do?  That's the case with Alexis Grant, a former writer and editor at US News and World Report who has just launched a thriving social media consultancy.  Alexis has written a book, How to Build a Part-Time Social Media Business, and was kind enough to share some of its highlights with us:

1. Recognize the opportunity. Yes, most people make money through a full-time job. But if you can’t find one, or you want to make some money on the side, putting your social media skills to use can be a great way to do that. The challenge: finding someone who will pay for those skills.

The good news is, there are lots of individuals, organizations and companies that will pay to tap into your knowledge and ease using social media. While it’s second nature for you to use Facebook and YouTube, business people often don’t have the time or desire to learn how to use those networks strategically. That’s where you come in!

2. Think about what services you want to provide. Do you want to coach individuals one-on-one to use social media? Or draw up strategies for companies that want to create communities online? Or maybe you want to run social-media campaigns for organizations – an approach I recommend in my e-guide, partly because clients often pay for those services on a monthly retainer rather than with a one-time check.

3. Beef up your experience. If you took advantage of summer internships during college, you might have enough experience – both to know what you’re doing and to convince clients that you know what you’re doing – to jump right in.

If you don’t, look for ways to practice these skills. Can you create a social media strategy for a parents’ friend’s business? Sit down with a neighbor for a social-media coaching session? Volunteer to spread the word online about a campaign or cause?  Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you need a full-time job to gain this experience. Look outside the box for other opportunities.

4. Use your network to land clients. You’ve built up awesome followings on Facebook and hopefully Twitter and LinkedIn – now use them.

Tell your network about the services you’ve decided to offer, so they’ll think of you when an opportunity arises. Don’t be shy about asking your friends (nicely) to spread the word; if they like and trust you, they’ll want to help you succeed. And make sure to take advantage of an often-overlooked networking gem: your parents, and even your friends’ parents. Let them know about your new consulting biz, so they can refer you to their friends when the timing’s right.

5. Figure out how – and how much – to charge. It sounds like it should be simple, but charging for consulting can be daunting, especially at the beginning. In most cases, you’ll want to charge an hourly rate or a project rate (which is loosely based on the hourly rate), so think ahead of time about which fee structure works best for any given client.

If you want to get a sense of what other consultants charge, ask that question in LinkedIn Answers or look for other inquiries that revolve around the same issue. Beware though, that prices for social-media consulting run the gamut. Base your rates on what you think each individual client will pay and how much you want to make off the work rather than what other people are charging.

 

What Does Being a Mentor Mean?

I received this e-mail from a reader, and it’s not the first time I’ve gotten this question:

Dear Alexandra:  A college graduate asked me to be her mentor.  What does this mean?  I have two kids in high school and I’m a little worried that I don’t have time for such a thing.

Attached at the Hip?

It’s a valid concern.  You want to help out a young professional, but you also have a day job and a family.  You don’t want to spend several hours every week helping her navigate through every minute aspect of her job search, college-to-career transition, or problem at work.

Lay out the Relationship Clearly

Fortunately, a good mentor relationship doesn’t necessarily entail that you become your mentee’s third parent.  The key is to concretely establish the parameters at the beginning of the relationship so that you and your mentee are on the same page.  What are her expectations, and will you be able to meet them?  What is she looking for help with specifically? How often will you meet, and how/when will she contact you outside of those meeting times?  How long will the engagement last?

It’s Easier Than it Sounds

You don’t have to turn a mentoring engagement into your next giant project.  In fact, you may well find that you have the ability to help your mentee meet her goals and pursue her path with confidence simply by occasionally sharing your own experiences and what you learned from them.  This can often be done over one or two lunch meetings.  Most of my mentoring relationships have been relatively short-lived, and it’s a pleasure to see that the few hours I invest on the front end often significantly influence my mentee’s future.   You can make a difference without having to replace the time and care you spend nurturing the important individuals in your life.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

8 Tips for Managing Summer Interns

It's that time of year again! College students and recent grads are starting their summer internships and their managers are wondering how in the world they're going to keep them occupied while providing a valuable experience. Over at the Intuit Small Business blog, Liz Magill has some excellent suggestions for leaders implementing an internship program this summer.  Among them:

Offer a real learning opportunity

Making coffee and copies won’t do. Bright, energetic interns want a chance to do something meaningful. Although you can start with basics, gradually increase the complexity and scope of the job so your eager talent feels a sense of accomplishment.

Set challenging, but attainable goals

Don’t expect a writing intern to win a Pulitzer, a science intern to develop the next great patent, a sales intern to land your company’s biggest client, or a tech-savvy intern to build the next Facebook. Setting goals outside the capabilities of your intern may lead to frustration, while goals that are too easy will bring on boredom.

Don’t babysit

Interns should be mentored, not watched like a hawk.  You can put them on a leash, but make it a long leash. Interns come with a huge bucket of enthusiasm; don’t stifle it.

Enforce deadlines

It may be summer, but it’s not summer camp. Let your interns know that their work is very important to the success of your business, and that you expect deadlines to be met — and work quality to be high.

Abide by labor laws

In order for internships in “for profit” companies to qualify as unpaid, they must meet six federal legal criteria  as outlined in this United States Department of Labor fact sheet. If these six criteria are not satisfied, then an “employment” relationship exists, which means the intern must be paid.

Additionally, I believe open communication with interns is essential.  Get your interns started on the right foot by encouraging them to:

Look around and listen

Interns should pay attention to the comings-and-goings of more experienced colleagues, and routinely ask for feedback on their performance.

Be social

While they have the opportunity, interns should network with as many colleagues as they can, going out with the group for Happy Hour and attending the summer party.

Show appreciation

When dealing with other team members, interns should come across as gracious  and can-do.  They should constantly look for ways to share their expertise and add value to the team’s operations.

With the right preparation and guidance, your interns will contribute substantially to your team, both workwise and interpersonally.  You know you’ve managed them the right way when, at the end of the summer, your team members ask if an intern can stay on as a full timer.

This post was originally published on Intuit's Quickbase blog.

5 Tips for Moving up the Corporate Ladder

My friend Jenny Blake, who works at Google and just came out with her first book, Life After College: The Complete Guide to Getting What You Want, sent along these tips for newly minted college grads.  I couldn't have said it better myself!

1. Don’t just focus on promotion as an end in itself.

It’s like losing weight: you can either focus solely on the number on the scale or on getting healthy overall. Getting healthy has many more fringe benefits. Similarly, don’t just focus on the promotion itself. Focus more on the competencies, expectations and behaviors that will lead to a promotion; you’ll be better off in the long run, happier and most likely get there faster.

2. Think of your career like a smart phone, not a ladder.

Build a strong foundation and don’t be afraid of horizontal moves; if a lateral move leads to greater happiness and productivity, it’s probably worth it in the long run. Even better? Think of your career like your smart phone -- take responsibility for downloading various apps (skills, classes, experiences and 10-20% projects) that will make you a valuable asset to any team.

3. Know what you are working toward; ask for more responsibility not just a promotion.

Get a clear understanding of what success looks like -- ask your manager: in 3-6 months, what would you love to see me doing? What else could I be doing to operate at the next level? It’s a common refrain that people generally have to already be operating at the next level before getting promoted. Keep asking for more responsibility instead of just asking for a promotion.

4. Be an observer.

Pay attention to people who have been recently promoted or who work in the level above you. What skills, experiences and attitudes do they have? Bonus: schedule them for lunch and ask!

5. Ditch any entitlement.

You may think you deserve a promotion (and you might be ready) but also be aware that a lot of the time people think they deserve promotions earlier than their managers do. Be willing to compromise and remember that it often depends on many factors outside of your job performance alone (for example: the economy, other people in the company, open roles, etc).