Ahull Unfurled

Bridges to Career Conversations

Career conversation can happen anytime and be about so much more than how to get a promotion. But I often hear people say they can’t initiate them without hitting a wall.

If your manager doesn’t seem warm to the conversation…

What’s your history with similar conversations? Is it always about more money or a promotion? Its good to let her know you want these, but don’t wear it out.
Is your current work performance top notch? If not, then the conversation needs to be about how to better use your skills, strengths or work processes so you can excel.
What’s your timing? Pay attention to the issues and dynamics of the day.
Would you be thought of disloyal?
What is your goal of these conversations? You should have a plan, even if it is primarily exploration right now.

No matter what the barrier seems to be, you must consider what’s in it for her? Why would she want to help you to outgrow your current job? Some organizations, but not enough, have staff development goals to meet. Generally your growth is not a high priority unless your organization tracks and measures talent development. Your manager’s #1 priority is to get the work done, meeting/exceeding her own goals.

4 career conversation starters are:

Am I doing everything you need me to do to meet your goals?
How else can I help?
What could I learn (software, process, procedure) that would help you focus on other things?
Propose what you want to learn and outline how it could improve, streamline and achieve dept/organization goal.

In my next blog, I’ll explore starting career conversations with others, not your manager.

What are other barriers to your career conversations?

Translate Your Resume: Show How You Make a Difference

To all my scientist, engineering and IT people – your resume needs translation! Your CV needs to showcase how your work makes a difference! No longer will just a list of technical qualifications be enough.

If you want to take your passion to the next level, do you know what that next level is? Is it a technical, management or policy path? Each of these requires a resume that showcases you for that purpose, not just a list of your technical knowledge.

Talk with people in the role you aspire to fill. Find out what their daily grind is like. Ask what they like most about it. Ask what they wish they knew in hindsight as well as any advice. You can then fill out your resume with your relevant experience for that role.

Link the work you do to the larger goal or mission of your organization. Briefly answer, “Why was this important?” Tell the problem you were solving and, if necessary why that problem mattered. Include who benefited from your work. Rather than listing your activities or duties, connect the dots for how your knowledge and work is valuable to the new employer’s projects and initiatives.

In the day-to-day grind, its easy to forget the bigger picture of our work. I was talking with an engineer that designed and built fuel systems. He didn’t think it was very important. But he had redesigned and worked with a team that built a system for a satellite which now collects climate data that is used by hundreds of organizations around the world.

Every job is created for a reason. Ask yourself, “What would happen if I didn’t do [fill in your work]?” Many of us are a lynch pin for projects and can lose sight of our contributions. Describe how what you did and the way you did it accomplished a project or task.

Remember that your resume may be read by three entities – a software system, a layperson to your field (Human Resources) and hiring manager. Use the vocabulary and acronyms that are common to your field, but not just to your current employer.

What may be everyday work for you, may seem like magic to others!

Coasting Through Your Career?

Do you have more days at work when you are bored than engaged? Are you counting the days until the next big thing will be over? What have you done to jump-start your career lately?

Check your career map. Oh, you don’t have one? What happened to that plan you drafted, the professional development plan that is languishing in the system or an unopened folder? Have you accomplished or lost interest in your goals? Update them. You can’t move forward in your career without a bigger road map.

What type of project or work would you like to be doing a year from now? What’s happening in other departments and divisions of your organization. What jobs are opening up as people get promoted or re-assigned? Could they use your expertise while you’re broadening your knowledge? Look at volunteer opportunities that will challenge and help you develop communication and leadership skills. Add these to your professional development plan and then your resume and LinkedIn profile!

Ask yourself which new responsibilities you’d like to have. Do you have the technical skills? Look at similar job postings and the technical skills required for your current and the next role you want. If there’s a skill that keeps showing up but you don’t have it, you can add it to your professional development plan. Don’t stagnate in your career because of a critical skill gap with a new tool or technology. Let go of a piece of your “expertise” when its time to learn a new way or process.

No one cares more about your career than you. Be sure to feed and nurture it.

Getting Real in the Job Interview

You’ve likely seen someone who was great in the interview, but turned out to be a jerk under day-to-day interactions. And the opposite also happens – the stress of the interview makes someone tongue-tied or goofy, when they would be a good asset to the team.

By the time you are asked to interview (F2F or video) the employer has already determined you have the qualifications for the job. The interview to see if you are good “fit” with the organization and the team.

Work experience still trumps all other qualifications in the recruiting process. Personality and fit with the culture ranked ahead of such factors as leadership experience in a 2014 survey of more than 2,300 chief executive officers, human-resource managers and other executives in 18 countries. The study, by Universum, a consulting firm for employer branding, found nearly half of respondents rate personality profile as one of the most important hiring considerations and about 40% cite culture fit.

Picking the wrong personality is expensive for both employee and employer. The individual will be unhappy and ultimately unemployed, while the employer will have wasted thousands of dollars on recruiting and training.

Getting real in the interview does not mean you should wing it, nor should you recite a script. But you should be able to pull your thoughts together to both answer and ask questions to determine if this is a good fit you.

Practice what you want to say for the basic interview questions (search on “commonly asked interviewing questions”).
Know the examples you want to talk about. Make sure they are relevant to the organization’s needs.
If you don’t have a response to a question, say so, and ask to come back to it later in the conversation.
Ask a career coach or trusted colleague to do a mock interview with you and tell you how you come across.

Everyone knows you’re a bit nervous about the interview. Remember, this is a business conversation. Focus on understanding their needs and how your experience can help them. Let your natural personality show them who you are.

Do You Deserve a Raise?

Last October I posted Ask for a Raise the Right Way with good tips and infographic.

You absolutely must do your homework to effectively leverage your value to your employer. Start with your accomplishments – the stand out things you did this year. But go further. Update your inventory of the knowledge and skills you use to accomplish your assignments. Then, add what you did that was different than others and made it successful, quicker, cheaper, sustainable. Add all quantifiable results. Do this for every task. Now, go back over the list and mark which skills or knowledge you’ve acquired in the last year. Show in quantifiable detail how you’ve overcome extenuating circumstances to achieve measurable results. That is what you want to discuss for a raise – how you’ve increased your value to your employer.

Know your organization’s policy and process for giving raises. Yes, there are exceptions, but it helps to know the basics.

Have a reality check conversation with your mentor and two other knowledgeable people about the percentage increase you can ask for without being laughed at. What is your organization’s current business environment? What is this year’s average salary increase?

Have you noticed all of this is about the organization, not about your personal financial needs?

Discuss with your boss how your work contributes to the organization’s growth. Talk about how your work helps your boss attain her goals. Alignment is key. It helps you focus and work on the high priority things.

If your boss hasn’t already offered you the raise, ask for it. Make no assumptions. You don’t know if you don’t ask!

You just had a Career Conversation

Were you paying attention?

Not all career conversations are directly about you and getting ahead. Getting personal feedback is great, but it is only one aspect of career conversations. Career Conversations come from many sources, not just bosses and mentors. They may be hiding in meetings and other conversations.

If you just had a hallway conversation about someone leaving or moving to another position, THAT was a Career Conversation. Note where they went and what gap that leaves. If the role is already back-filled, note what skills and expertise was selected. Another Career Conversation could be your follow-up with the perspn who moved.

Did you just leave a meeting about a persistent problem your department or a customer is facing? Add that to your journal of career impact information. Do you see a trend developing? Do you see a skill that you can offer (or that you need to acquire) to be part of the solution? And THAT was a Career Conversation, too.

We need many different sources and views to continuously manage our careers. In addition to the daily and on-going work we do, we need to pay attention to the business of the organization and the public served via budgets, customer needs, regulations and issues such as hacking, climate and demographics that effect how and where we work.

These make for fascinating and on-going Career Conversations. You can discover new tracks and ways to do what matters most.

Career Conversations, part 4 – Raise Your Hand

One of the most effective career conversation you can have is asking to do something for your boss.

When my boss was sharing some of the company’s plans for re-structuring, we could see that there was a big piece missing (aka “opportunity”) in managing the transition. Turf protection was high and we knew that getting support would be difficult. Often these discussions end with a shaking of the head and an “oh well” sense of defeat. My boss was already overloaded. Knowing it was a risky endeavor I asked, “Could I take a shot at it?” Incredulously he asked, “Why?” I had nearly hit the top of my job level and thought this could be a way to break through. At worst, it could be a great story to share at future job interviews. And I truly had a deep desire to do it. With his support, I was able to quickly do the due diligence, build the business case, offer a solution to the President and Council and roll out a successful change management initiative.

Encourage your boss to delegate more of her projects or tasks. Ask to attend meetings in her place. Perhaps she will be willing to share you with other leaders in the organization for a few hours a week to work on a project or add your expertise. These will help to develop your leadership capability, visibility and relationships. Remember the WWIFYB (What’s In It For Your Boss): It shows her ability to develop her staff, her teamwork and you can make her look good.

Does a planning meeting for another meeting sound dull? It is ripe with opportunity! Consider who will be attending the big meeting. If it is decision-makers and thought leaders, just being in the room is valuable. Does a speaker need someone to advance the slides during the talk? Raise your hand. You’ll get a ring-side seat at the discussions, hear the questions and learn what’s is important and not important to these influencers.

If you don’t ask, others won’t know that you are interested.

5T Approach for Career Conversations

In my March blog, I gave you 9 tips for starting career conversations. Some of the most important career enhancing conversations are about getting meaningful feedback – observations of the impact of what you’re doing both successfully and things that could be done better. Do others share the same opinion of you and your work with you? Do you come across to others as you intend? A recent conversation with a client revealed that his intention of improving his team’s work was coming across as judgmental and critical. As much as that hurt to hear, he can now adjust his approach to reduce alienating team members.

You can get useful feedback by doing one simple thing: Ask for it. But if you just ask for generic feedback you’re sure to make eyes roll. Try the 5T approach:

1) Tactical: Outline the areas you currently know you want or should improve based on your current work. You can use your job description to get started. Perhaps your boss has mentioned something. Many organizations and professions have competencies that provide a wealth of direction for these conversations. Look to the people who are considered the leaders in your division, profession, organization. What is it about them that you and others respect? Repeat this list for the kind of work you want to do next. The result should be a list of specific knowledge or behavior that you want feedback to validate or improve.

2) Target: Consider people you trust and respect for their perspectives. Who observes your work or is the recipient of it and can give you specific tips on what’s working and what could be better? Ask the people who have a stake in your work how you could do it more economically, better, or faster. When asking for feedback from your boss, what aspects of your work are most important to her? Establish an informal agreement with colleagues, mentors or others with whom you work to provide ongoing specific feedback. But how?

3) Timing: Immediately following an incident while its fresh in their mind, ask for a their take on how you came across, or what went well or what you could have done differently. Use the time walking from the conference room to your office, or an IM after the teleconference. Grab a cup of coffee the morning after or chat on the train delivering a project, completing a task….you get the picture.

4) Take it: Ask for 1-2 things you could learn, improve, start doing, or stop doing that would enhance your credibility or professional reputation. Then respect their perspective, especially if it is different from your own. That’s the point in asking for it. Avoid justifying or excusing your actions to get them to change their mind. Ask for specific ways to improve, resources and commit to using their feedback.

5) Thanks: Express your gratitude for their candor. Many people are uneasy in being honest and your graciousness will be appreciated.

We build our careers by our good work and our relationships with others. You can enhance your chances of doing the work you really want to do, and make a difference by paying attention to doing your work well and being open to making adjustments along the way.

Update Your References This Month

A few months ago I posted some tips on the Care and Feeding of Your References and this month here are some more tips to get past your procrastination. May 4-8 is Update your References Week.

References are people that vouch for your work. Your boss is a key person, but not the only one. You work with many people who have valuable perspectives to help in your career.

Collect your references before you need them. Keep a list of references in the same file as your resume. It should include the person’s name, current title and contact information. Write one sentence describing your relationship like this: [Name] was my [manager, colleague, a vendor, etc.] at [where you knew them if different than their current place or if they are retired]. Don’t embellish, just the facts.

Keep your references up-to-date. You most likely have references from work you’ve done in the past. Too often we lose track of where they are now – and they lose track of you! Reach out via your social media of choice to stay in touch. Be genuinely interested in what they are doing and let them know in one sentence what you are now doing and looking to doing next.

Ask for 2-3 testimonials each year from a variety of potential references. You’ll see if you are branding yourself for your next career step. Timing is of the essence – ask just following getting a compliment or hearing that your efforts were appreciated. Tell them that you are gathering testimonials as part of your on-going career portfolio. All you need is a short 1-2 sentence description of what they thought you did especially well and why it mattered. It could be your technical prowess or quick responsiveness that enabled them to meet a deadline. This is much more helpful than a vague, “Jim was great to work with.”

Help them write it. While it seems awkward to write it for them, you can ask them to write about a particular attribute you will need going forward. You can suggest your contribution to a recent project in terms of your ability to collaborate, lead, influence, analyze and find unique opportunities, cost savings… you get the picture. If you’ve just received some verbal kudos, rather than ask them to put it in writing, ask if you could draft it and if they would put their name on it.

How many of these four tips can you do this week?

Friends – What are you expecting?

I’ve been hearing a theme from people and reading the advice columns of how often we are disappointed with our friends. It sounds like this: “I always do [fill in the blank] for her, but she never reciprocates.” “I was there for him, but now he’s too busy to help me.” Whether its remembering birthdays, helping with projects, initiating meet-ups, mutual griping, or asking for help there are many ways we depend on our friends. We are drawn to them because of the things we share in common and we like being around them. When we’re in sync, everything is fine. Having strong social relationships at work and in life is fundamental to our happiness.

Have you noticed that you are the one that always initiates a lunch? What does that say to you? Unless you ask, its easy to assume that s/he doesn’t care as much. Or it could mean s/her knows you’ll do it and has fallen into the habit of waiting to hear from you. The concept of reciprocation just doesn’t occur to them. But you really don’t know, unless you ask.

When you break your foot, your close friend is now too busy to help you get around. It’s not convenient for her to pick you up. Should you break off the friendship? Or does it just redefine the boundaries?

In “Vital Friends,” Tom Rath takes a look at the roles our friendships have in our lives illustrating that not everyone can be the same kind of friend. This applies to our friends at work, family and others. Initially, I recoiled at categorizing my friendships into eight roles they play in my life. Then, it began to make sense that I expected to get from them the same thing I gave to them. Not everyone can do that. And I was often disappointed. For example, I found myself getting frustrated with a friend who took all the “air” time we had together and considered ending the friendship. When she told me how much my listening meant to her, I realized the friendship was my gift to her. What I got was knowing that I mead a difference in her life. Now I know to set my expectation of how to both give and get the most from our friendship. Friendships are rarely an even trade.

Friends take care of friends…sometimes. Some people are just more attuned to what is needed in certain situations – a break-up, an illness, any loss, or opportunities for career advancement or fun. When you discover a friend didn’t include you on a project, you may hear, “I didn’t know you’d be interested.” Some don’t want to deal with the not-so-pretty side of the friendship. Many people really just don’t know what to do or say. Still others cannot be inconvenienced or don’t see anything in for them in the situation, so they avoid it.

If you didn’t get the plum assignment, let them know how you are feeling and how you’ll move forward. Especially in times of loss, its very helpful to let others know specifically what would comfort you: Let them know if you’ll need motivation to get some exercise – come take me for a walk or go to a class/gym. Bring cookies, but also stay and tell me what’s going on outside my painful universe. Get my list and pick up groceries.

Our friends reciprocate, just not in the same way. Recognize the person who will keep a secret, but not necessarily give you guidance. Don’t ask for help in finding a new job from someone who doesn’t have a broad network. Share ideas with people who can broaden your perspective, not just agree with you. Be specific with easy-to-do requests to help others be a better friend to you. And let it be OK for them to say, ‘Sorry, I can’t do that.’

Check your assumptions about what others “should” know. We didn’t all learn the same lessons of courtesy nor know what’s unique for your happiness.

Aligning my expectations with what others are capable of bringing to the friendship helps me go to the right person for the friend I need. It also helps me be a better friend to others.