Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

How a Successful Job Search is Like War

I admire creativity a a great deal, especially when there 
are only so many ways to provide the same career advice.  
So when Operation Freedom War vet and sporting goods 
entrepreneur John Durfee e-mailed me his tips for how 
surviving a job search is like surviving war, I was intrigued.  
John and I corresponded for a few weeks, and here 
are some of his suggestions:

Applying for jobs is like going on patrol.  It's repetitive, 
boring and often uneventful - but when you least expect it, 
an opportunity comes looking for you. If you get side-tracked, 
discouraged or lackadaisical, you'll miss your opportunity to 
get the first strike.

Keep your troop morale up. Whenever you start to get 
discouraged or frustrated, take a step back, stop thinking 
about how difficult job hunting is and take a little personal
time to get your spirits up.

Don't go overboard with time on leave! Keep in mind
that every moment you're not hitting the pavement, 
other people are getting hired.

Do your reconnaissance. Having a good amount 
of knowledge about the company you're applying for
can help you buffer your resume and also looks 
really good in an interview.

Don't get ambushed!  Practice interviewing before 
you go out for one.  Get some aces up your sleeves 
to impress your interviewer and land the job.

Beware of the Overshare

I’ve noticed a workplace trend lately – the overshare.  It seems that people work so much that they consider colleagues like close friends or family members.  And when they’re diagnosed with a long-term condition with an acronym like PSTD or ADHD or become pregnant (for example) it’s the most natural thing in the world to tell officemates immediately.

My advice is to think twice about this.  Don’t get me wrong – I’m sure your manager and co-workers care about you.  But the truth is, their first priority is to the work that needs to get done, and even if you are personally convinced that your affliction will not affect your ability to perform, they may begin to unconsciously doubt you as a result of receiving this extra information.

Even non-medical disclosures might undermine your reputation and cause you unnecessary headaches.  For instance, last year, a piece I wrote on coming out at work was much more controversial than I expected – sadly, a lot of work environments are still hostile to openly gay employees.

Bottom line: just be discreet.  If your medical condition or lifestyle choice truly doesn’t impact your job, then people at work shouldn’t need to know about it.  If you must share out of necessity or because it’s causing you too much stress to maintain complete secrecy, then keep your circle of informants small and limited to people you really trust.

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).

 

Is the Google Ultimatum for You?

Larry Page recently replaced Eric Schmidt as the CEO of Google, and he’s made some interesting changes.

According to BusinessInsider.com, one of Larry’s passions is social networking, and so he’s decided to make sure his employees are better at it.  Larry is said to have sent a confidential memo to select employees, dictating that 25 percent of their annual bonus will depend on how their 2011 Social Networking strategy performs.

If you're a manager, this is a great strategy.  Far too often employee compensation is based on a predetermined HR decision, or worse, the subjective viewpoint of an individual manager.  Matching metrics and the achievement of specific tasks to compensation reduces the amount of arguing among team members and helps ensure that everyone is treated fairly.  It also reduces decision-making complexity on the manager’s part.

The danger of a move like Larry’s is that the definition of “performance” is too vague.  If you are going to issue an ultimatum like this, you’d better be sure you can measure it, and that you clearly communicate your expectations in advance.  For instance, in the case of Google, which employees are responsible for which aspects of Project Emerald Sea, and what will they do exactly to get those bonuses?

Ultimatums can drive employee motivation and boost productivity if done right, but they can be destructive if done wrong.  You don’t, for example, want to tell your people that they will be laid off or fired if they don’t make their numbers, for this will merely paralyze them.   You also want to make sure that your request is not unreasonable or irrational, and that you aren’t springing it on employees without giving them adequate time to prepare.  And finally, you must follow through.  Nothing is more ineffective than an ultimatum that is not delivered upon.

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

Letting Go of Control

I don’t know if I would describe myself as a control freak, but I am definitely not comfortable with uncertainty.  I typically like to know exactly what’s going to happen, and would rather deal with the concrete knowledge that something bad is about to occur than worry endlessly about the possibilities.

I am trying to work on this, because not only is having total control impossible, but it also takes something important out of the experience of living.  When something unexpected happens in your career, for example, you are forced to use all of your faculties to generate a solution on the fly.  You don’t have time to second-guess yourself or intellectually analyze the situation from every angle.  You do the best you can with what you’re given, and you grow as a result.  You may increase your competence in a new skill area or learn a timeless life lesson.

Talk to most leaders and they’ll tell you that surrendering control, having faith, and trusting in others, are critical to success.  Although this approach undoubtedly makes us feel naked and vulnerable at times, it also boosts our confidence and sense of well-being when things go well, and better prepares us to cope with unforeseen events in the future.

Google is Forever

A few weeks ago, I received this e-mail from reader Ryan Miner that I wanted to share with you:

"When I was a 19 year-old undergraduate student at Duquesne University I created a Facebook group in opposition to a proposal to allow a Gay-Straight Alliance to form on campus. I used the term subhuman to lament homosexuality.

I could not have been more wrong. My words were unabashedly despicable and unambiguously insensitive. My actions were the antithesis of the same faith I used to defend myself, and it was an indelibly poor reflection on my personal character. I embarrassed my family, my friends, my hometown, and Duquesne University. I was in no position to cast such blatant judgment, and I pray that I can be forgiven and learn from this awful experience.

As a result of the media attention and the emerging technology of this decade, I am infinitely attached to my mistake in the annals of Google. The stories you read from the Google results paint a polar opposite picture of who I am today. However, actions inevitably and invariably have consequences, and the reckless comments I made at 19 continue to plague me in my professional career. I have been denied employment and was even fired from a great opportunity as a result of the incident at Duquesne.

I am now looking to expand my career, but each time I submit a new resume, a sense of bleak fear overcomes me, wondering whether or not a company will Google my name only to toss my resume in the trash and move to the next applicant. If only I could relay to a potential employer that my beliefs have changed and I would never engage in that type of behavior in the future. But you reap with you sow, and I will continue to deal with the consequences of my mistake."

There can never be too many stories like this to remind us that Google is forever. 

Be Great at Any Task

I enjoyed Tony Schwartz’s blog post on Harvard Business Review, Six Keys to Being Excellent at Anything.  The post is based on the advice Tony extols in his new book, The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, and I feel that a lot of it is wise enough to pass on here:

In his work with executives at dozens of organizations, Tony has found that it’s possible to build any given skill or capacity in the same systematic way we do a muscle: push past your comfort zone, and then rest.  Aristotle had it exactly right 2000 years ago when he said: “We are what we repeatedly do.”  By relying on highly specific practices, you can dramatically improve skills ranging from empathy, to focus, to creativity, to summoning positive emotions.

According to Tony, here are a few strategies for learning to excel at any task:

Do the hardest work first

We all move instinctively toward pleasure and away from pain. Most great performers delay gratification and take on the difficult work of practice in the mornings, before they do anything else. That’s when most of us have the most energy and the fewest distractions.

Practice intensely

Do so without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break. Ninety minutes appears to be the maximum amount of time that we can bring the highest level of focus to any given activity. The evidence is equally strong that great performers practice no more than 4 ½ hours a day.

Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses

The simpler and more precise the feedback, the more equipped you are to make adjustments. Too much feedback, too continuously can create cognitive overload, increase anxiety, and interfere with learning.

Ritualize practice

The best way to insure you’ll take on difficult tasks is to build rituals — specific, inviolable times at which you do them, so that over time you do them without having to squander energy thinking about them.

Thanks to Tony for providing some solid guidance that goes beyond the non-specific cliché “practice makes perfect!”

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

Do You Dread Sunday Nights?

There have been times in my life that I’ve been unhappy at my job, and I recall that Sunday evenings were always the worst.  The precious weekend was over, and now I’d have an interminably long work week stretching ahead of me like miles of barren desert.  I’d start getting anxious around dinnertime and would have trouble sleeping that night.  Sound familiar?

The good news is, if you find yourself dreading Sunday nights but aren’t in a position to leave your job, there are definitely things you can do to renew your enthusiasm, including:

Find something in the work day to look forward to:  When I was in high school, I always enjoyed my French classes the most because I could anticipate seeing my crush.  Look for ways to weave fun into your day, like having lunch at your favorite sushi bar.

Get yourself on a project with high stakes:  Risk and competition are major motivators, and if your daily responsibilities don’t incorporate them, you may need to seek them out elsewhere.  For example, can you get involved on a cross-functional team that’s developing a new product, or assist the sales group with critical new business initiatives?

Join a company volunteer initiative:  There’s no better way to make you feel better about your own life than to act in the service of others.  If your company has initiatives that you can step right into, take advantage of them and sustain your participation over time so that you gradually become more invested in the chosen causes.