It’s no question that we all could use a higher salary, and I’m sure we all think we’re worth more than what we’re getting paid. But what do you do when the economy isn’t so hot like in recent times? Companies are obviously downsizing, many are in a hiring freeze—is this the right time to ask your manager for a raise? It may not seem like it, but in some situations, it actually might be.

When companies aren’t hiring and instead laying off the expendables, that can only mean one thing: more responsibility for you. Just take a look at the work you’ve done over the past few years; have you been taking on more duties, assigned to more projects, asked to work later? If so, then these are all excellent reasons to bring up when asking for that raise. Be sure to jot it down and make note that some of these are responsibilities assigned to seniors in your workplace. Emphasize your value and how you have become an increasingly important asset to the company.

In addition to your increased responsibilities, you also need to do your own research of comparable salaries in your profession and regional area. Make sure you have a realistic range when asking for an increase—the last thing you want is to look like a doofus and ask for something unreasonable. There are a number of internet sites out there that will help you with this—in addition to the normal job search sites such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com—among them: payscale.com, salary.com, and glassdoor.com.

Other things to keep in mind when you are contemplating asking for a raise: make sure your boss is in a good mood—if he or she has had a rough couple of days, wait till next week; be cognizant of how your company is doing financially—if they’re hurting, you might want to wait a little bit; and be prepared to mention some other ways of compensation if your boss doesn’t feel like a raise is warranted—maybe ask for an extra vacation day, or flexible hours such as leaving early on Friday’s or coming in later on Monday’s.

Now reality’s reality, asking for a raise now may not yield as high as you would like—and it may be nothing at all—but it’s worth a shot if you feel you’ve got an argument for your case. Even if you get a little increase, it’s still better than what you were getting before. And if you do get that increase, we’ll all be relying on you to help stimulate this economy!

Alex Brown

Getting a Gold Star!

Great Job! Thanks! Excellent! Don’t hear those words enough at work, huh!? Well, you’re not alone. Too many work environments neglect recognizing their employees. Recognition—which can be simple—goes a long way for associates psyche. With companies hiring less people, those lucky ones with jobs are working longer hours, so recognizing their efforts can have a tremendous impact. Positive reinforcement creates a more fun, happy and satisfying work environment. It can also help lead to a corporate or office culture that will keep associates from wanting to go someplace else. Most importantly, less turnover should lead to happier employees and better job results.

When trying to come up with a good recognition program for your company/office, it’s important to take into account your employees, office culture, and desired outcome from the program.

Potential Desired Outcomes:

• Fun (working together is better than working alone)
• Motivation (to be recognized and work as hard as others)
• Unity (creating a synergy brining everyone together)
• Chemistry (positivity creates a closer bond)
• Commitment (for each other and for company goals)

Now how do you get the outcomes for the recognition you desire? There are three forms of recognition: verbal, tangible and written. Recognition can be between colleague to colleague and/or from managers/leadership to employees as well.  Each has its own advantages/disadvantages. Do what makes most sense for your situation. Recognition programs can run for a week, a month, quarter or yearly. Having a program in place if there isn’t one already is a good move for all work places. Here are a few examples of programs to help the brain storming process:

Management to Employee:

Spotlight Cards: Managers give cards where they write down something they observed and what they liked about it, and then get one or two other management members to sign the card and present it to the employee. (Written)

Quarterly Emails: Managers send quarterly emails recognizing accomplishments for that quarter along with a sentence or two of significant accomplishment for some employees. (Electronic)

Employee to Employee:

Certificate/Award: “Pat on the Back” Award. Employee can give this award by simply writing in a person’s name who they feel has done an outstanding job and give it to them. (Tangible)

“Pay it Forward” Plaque: A plaque is given from employee to employee for exemplary work. So you get honored twice—once in receiving the award and also in selecting the next recipient. (Tangible)

Monthly Email: Allow employees to recognize each other through a monthly email. Ask employees to write a short statement about an accomplishment or effort they witnessed from a fellow coworker. (Electronic)

An apple a day keeps the doctor away…well a gold star a day or once in a while can keep your employees happier and more productive. So give it a go!

Alex Brown

Your Network

There’s no denying the economy has slowed down recently—not good news if you’re currently looking for a job or seeking a possible career change. With unemployment rates continuing to hover at high levels, it’s clear that businesses aren’t hiring at paces seen earlier this decade. Remember when websites such as monster.com and careerbuilder.com were filled with job openings? Well, not so much anymore. There still are postings on those sites, but don’t be surprised if it seems like there aren’t as many—or if they seem less lucrative—than if you searched back during the first half of the 2000s. It seems that these days, people are finding jobs through their networked connections. With the acceptance of social networking spreading across all age groups, each of our individual networks is larger, stronger, and continually growing—and this needs to be embraced.

Traditionally, networking in the business world has involved attending mixers or dinner functions with colleagues and peers: best pressed suit, name tag on the left chest, cocktail in hand, firm grip and business card ready, and schmoozing turned up to the top notch. This is still a great way to network in your respective industry—and is a very good skill to possess—however, there are other ways you can build your professional network. Below are a few that many of us have access to.

Alumni Association

All hail the alma mater! Joining an alumni association is an excellent way to network. Larger universities and colleges tend to have alumni associations all over the country and often hold monthly functions. My alma mater has associations based on city, region, ethnicity, and specific degrees. The best thing is, you already have something in common with everyone in the group (you attended the same school!), and people are more apt to help those who share a common bond. Search your school’s alumni website and see if there’s a group near you. Attend the functions—they can range from luncheons, to speaker series, to dinners, happy hours, and football/basketball viewing get-togethers—and build a comfortable rapport with other members. Fees may be involved, but it’s worth it.

If your school doesn’t have an alumni association in your area, most schools will have a Homecoming event—which is often paired with a football or basketball game over a weekend. Try and attend this to help build your connections.

Facebook

Social networking has become such a large part of our daily lives, there’s no way you can ignore it—so use it to your advantage! Add some people you’ve met at your alumni association meetings. I’ve got 300+ friends on my Facebook account, and I probably talk to about 10 of them on a regular basis. I’ve accumulated most of these friends from college, but I’ve also added some from work, people I’ve met through work, and the occasional randoms. For the most part, I won’t ‘unfriend’ any of these people and neither should you. All of my ‘friends’ on Facebook make up a huge network of working professionals. Think about it, most, if not all of them have jobs and likely know other people in higher places. So keep that network intact—in the future, if you ever think about looking for a new job or career change, you can send a simple note to that college acquaintance, ex-coworker, or random person you met on the airplane. Who knows what doors that could open.

Also, a tip: I’m no longer a big fan of posting a lot of status updates on my Facebook. However, you might want to post something every now and then, just so people remember you. It’ll show up on your friends’ newsfeeds to help you maintain visibility to the contacts you don’t really talk with; thus, when you do send someone that note, they’ll at least have an idea of what you’ve been up to.

Twitter

Twitter is a good resource for instantaneous updates, whether it’s breaking news, sports news, business news, entertainment news, and endless amounts of other topics. I have a Twitter account, but I don’t tweet anything—my main reason is for news updates. For example, I follow @cnnbrk (CNN Breaking News), @WSJ (The Wall Street Journal) and @SportsCenter (ESPN, SportsCenter), among others. You can also use Twitter for job postings. A quick search of the Twitter user database (search: jobs) shows a variety of twitter accounts that strictly post job openings. Some are specific industries and others are regional. Follow some of these accounts and you’ll see jobs being posted daily as they become available. Even though it’s not an actual, personable connection, this still builds your overall network. And, if you want, start posting your own tweets, follow other users you find interesting, and build your overall reputation—just always be cognizant of what you tweet.

FYI, you don’t need to follow actual accounts that post job openings. For example, just recently, @WSJ posted a job opening for VP of Digital Products and a Senior Editor for Custom Publishing with links to the actual job posting on their careers website.

All three of these examples are excellent ways to build your network of connections. Take advantage of them and use each to build and maintain your network.

Alex Brown

Bump in the Road…

You’ve been unemployed going on three months…five months…maybe even nine months. The resumes have been going out, you’ve been networking, asking friends and contacts to keep an eye out for job openings—waiting for that one ray of hope of being employed again. But so far, nothing. The gap from when you last worked to now is increasing at an uneasy pace, and you ask yourself, how is this going to look good to potential employers? The truth is, it may not, but you can alleviate this—dare I say it—black hole.

There is the oft used statement that a six month gap will automatically send your resume to the trash, even if the job seeker is a fantastic candidate. However, as your unemployed period continues to extend, there are still many things you can do to ‘pad’ that resume. With the recent economic downturn, more and more people are becoming unemployed and are turning to other opportunities to better themselves and their skills. It’s not quite ‘funemployment’—that newly developed term describing the unemployed spending their days at the beach and traveling—but depending how you define the word fun, it certainly can be. Instead of waking up at 10am every morning, applying to a few jobs online, and then being lazy the rest of the day, get out and do stuff!

Give yourself an upgrade

Build on your current skills or develop new ones. Many community colleges and city community centers provide classes for affordable prices. A quick search on my city’s website shows, among others, classes for “Chinese Business Culture” and “Digital Photo: Intro to Adobe Lightroom 2.0.” Less technical classes also exist that can help you network, such as fitness, cooking, ballroom dancing, and painting classes. Go out and try a few, and when you’ve completed them, add it to your resume if it’s related to the job you’re seeking.

Or, if your line of career requires specific credentials or certifications, buy the study guides and take classes if they are available. When you’re ready, take the test and add that to your resume if you pass.

Help out with what you already know

If your current knowledge and skills can be useful to others, provide some consulting, freelance work, or volunteer. You can be well versed in almost anything that someone else can find useful, whether it be for advice, technical help, or freelance contributions. For example, people with an accounting/finance background can offer advice to friends for their personal finances or businesses. Are you a writer? See if a local newspaper, website, or blog will let you freelance for them.

Ask around. It doesn’t matter if it’s for free or paid, it’s still ‘work’ and will show that your skills are valuable. Add it to your resume, but also make sure your ‘clients’ will acknowledge your work should a prospective employer reach out to them. Not only will this fill in space between employment, but it also shows that you’re proactive.

Sabbatical—not just for the college professor

We’ve all heard it: that college professor is taking a sabbatical for a semester. If it seems that your unemployment has dragged on and will continue to drag on, there’s no harm in saying you took a sabbatical. Whether it be to spend more time with family, accomplish a goal you’ve had, or to travel and research other areas (both domestically or internationally). Maybe you have a skill or knowledge about a specific topic, research and see if you can teach it for a few months to a small class. Or maybe you’ve always had a genuine interest in cooking and decided to travel to Spain to learn more about their culture and took a cooking class.

However, you’ll need to use your judgment about whether or not to include this on your resume. You don’t want it to seem like you’d rather be doing something else than working. A spin you might want to take is to say I needed some time to reenergize and focus on some personal goals, but now that that’s done, I’m ready to go back to work. And who knows, maybe this sabbatical will open your eyes to an entirely different career path.

These are just a few ideas of how to fill in the gap between work. All of them focus on your skills and making yourself a better candidate for the positions you apply for. Take advantage of being unemployed by developing and making yourself more marketable. If you can do this while not losing your persistency, a job offer will come to the table sooner than later.

Recently I viewed a great video on Youtube.  It was about validation.  I watched the video thinking how powerful the concept is and how it is relevant in many aspects of our lives.  After thinking about the workplace impact, I realized that managers and team members play a huge part in building team morale and empowerment simply by applying affirmations in their words.  Many times we deal with our fellow employees in a way that is always leading us to take a defensive stance because many times we are planning CYA in advance.  Especially in a difficult job market.  This erodes our opportunity to work to build stronger and more effective teams.

This becomes very apparent during performance and annual reviews.  During these sessions, it would be imperative to provide validation with positive constructive criticism to position an employee for future growth.  I’ve seen many times that these sessions turn manager and employee into a defensive situation where the employee feels that he/she needs to justify their existence.  And while that might be necessary in the end, but by delivering the news in the most effective manner the employee will be better positioned to receive it.

Please go ahead and see what you think of this video for yourself:

Validation

Jack Frost

New Kid on the Block?

Hopefully some of you are getting those hard fought and very coveted job openings out there…and if you are, you are going to be the newbie! It is never easy being the new person in any situation, especially in the workplace. As work environments are constantly shifting, so are faces of those in the office as well. Being a new hire presents challenges for all parties involved.
Assimilating to a new environment is a skill. There are actions that can be taken to help this transition into a new “family” go smoother.  Hopefully as the new hire, you already have a good idea of the company culture—through your own research and interviews—as a baseline of what to expect. Knowing the environment you’re going into is vital. Knowing yourself is just as important. If you tend to be too aggressive, then tone things down. Or, consequently, if you are a very shy individual, break out of that mold and become more social to get to know your new coworkers.
In the first few days on the job, take the time to introduce yourself. Take the time to walk around and say hi…don’t be afraid to mingle a bit.  Hopefully there is a new hire training program at your workplace. If not, that could be a potential idea to bring up to management since it’s always good to have processes in place for new employees. You could bring this up during your first review.
Keep in mind that your new colleagues may be viewing you as a potential threat. With that being said, it is critical to create a sense of comfort with them. Invite your colleagues to lunch. Get to know them better on a more one-on-one basis. And try to avoid group lunches at first, since it can be overbearing and you might not be in the loop with everyone yet.
If all else fails, reach out to your hiring manager or management and seek out a mentor. Hopefully this individual can lend you a helping hand getting to know not only your colleagues better but also maybe your workload as well.
Most importantly, stay positive, be visible and keep a good attitude. Regardless of any situation, you can only control what and how you do things…

A few reminders for all you potential newbies:

Know your environment.
Keep a positive attitude.
Do not show off all your skills and talents too quickly.
Be PATIENT, fostering relationships takes time.
No “negative talk” (employees/corporate).

Good luck!
Alex Brown

The weather is getting warmer, you can smell the BBQ in the air, and gyms are getting more packed…that can only mean one thing. MID-YEAR Review time! You were thinking summer huh!? Time flies, doesn’t it!? The mid way point of 2010 is almost upon us. For companies and employees alike that is the signal of the infamous mid year report cards and evaluations.

Most companies have a process in place for assessing their yearly development plans and most do it-at a minimum-on a bi-annual basis. For many employers, this is just around the corner, meaning employees need to focus on how to approach their assessments. Too many people think that quarterly, mid year or annual reviews do not develop talent or improve accountability. Rather, they often view them with the stigma of just being an HR requirement to check off the list. To some extent, there might be some validity to that point. However, it is not one of those tools employer’s are going to get rid of anytime soon, and thus, it is something we all need to learn how to maximize.

Achieving goals and desired outcomes is a process that requires monitoring and measuring progress. Thinking about your mid-year review this way will hopefully make it less painful and more productive. Below are my best practices for ensuring a more successful mid-year review:

• Attitude: Bring a positive attitude to your review.  Show that you want to reach your goals and that you are willing to continue making progress during the second half of the year.
• Accomplishments: Bring a list of significant milestones, projects, and positive feedback (both internally and externally) with you. This should be inline with your development or action plan for the year. (And if you don’t have a development plan for the year, this would be a great opportunity to come up with one to show that initiative to your boss).
• Opportunity: If something on your development plan for the year has not been achieved yet, use this review as time to set a plan to accomplish the specific task or goal in the 2^nd half of the year.
• Responsibilities: Be prepared to take on new responsibilities. It is important to communicate that you are performing current tasks at a high level and want to grow.
• Proactive: Look ahead at potential problems (if they do exist) and try to solve with solutions.

Good luck…and remember, half times are just a pause in the action. The second half is your opportunity to improve your position and push ahead to reach your goals. Keep working hard.

Do you partake in the “water-cooler” talks at work? I think nowadays, it’s probably “coffee” talks, but regardless, work is not a place for gossip. Remember, everyone is looking out for themselves so you should always be careful of what you say. You never know who might be around the corner listening! Once it’s out of your mouth, you really don’t have any control what can happen after that. Now, I’m not saying don’t have coworkers as friends, but you have to be very careful of who you trust and what you say. Just be cognizant that rumors can develop into something very negative for you in the workplace after being passed through the “grapevine.”

Staying productive is vital to anyone’s job security and success. Getting caught up in work rumors and gossip can only lead to distractions. With companies downsizing or trying to find cost cutting measures, the rumor mill can get fired up very quickly nowadays. Most of these work related rumors stem from fear, anxiety, or unhappiness…and while some notions are credible, others may not be.

If something seems to be causing a major stir in the office, I would suggest seeking out management and ask them. You could say, “I have been hearing this about the company’s future,” or “I want to ask about our job security, as I have heard…” By taking this route, you are being responsible and proactive. You are not involving yourself in the chit-chatter in the office. Rather, you are going to a resource that could have some valuable and accurate information about the situation.

You don’t want to be known in the office as the one that knows the inside personal details of everyone. You want to be acknowledged for your work, your attitude, your professionalism, and the ability to do your job well. It’s often a gray area deciding how to balance being overly social or not social enough with coworkers, but make an effort to steer clear of the office rumors and gossip. It can be fun and interesting at times to listen to, but there is no need to involve yourself in them. Keeping your job is your #1 goal at work, not being a talk show host!

The Truth Shall Set You Free!

The Orange County Register had a great article a few weeks back about being honest and truthful on résumés. That sparked me to comment on the topic. No doubt, honesty is the best policy. Now more than ever, there are so many different tools at employer’s fingertips to delineate the truth, that it is critical to have all your facts straight on your résumé. Google is one of those tools. Wouldn’t you Google someone before you hired them? Having said that…GOOGLE yourself! See what’s out there. The more you know, the better; and the better you’ll be prepared to discuss something if it comes up. Sorry, back on course…résumés.

Résumés are a unique document when you think about it. It’s your calling card. You are putting your accolades on a piece of paper hoping to impress, stand out, and eventually lead to a successful hire that will pay your bills. Ultimately, it’s the first impression you make without even being there in person. With the unemployment rate on the rise again, there are many potential job seekers applying for the same jobs as you. So your impression needs to be a good one! The ultimate goal of a résumé is to win you an interview, but you have to be able to substantiate and backup whatever is on that resume. Your résumé most importantly reflects you, so it needs to be accurate and honest.

If you work in Finance and spend 75% of your time focused on economic forecasting and 25% on IT-related work-but are now pursing an IT related job-there is nothing wrong with highlighting the 25% you do in IT to put more emphasis on those skills. You want your résumé to have the “strongest possible presentation that is truthful,” says Louise Kursmark-an executive résumé writer and career consultant. However, be cautious of exaggerations. They can be costly mistakes. Do not claim you run an IT department, when you don’t. Remember, Lots of employers have a zero-tolerance policy against lying on résumés and if you get caught you will most likely be fired.

Lies lead to more lies, but fortunately with background checks (up 24% in Q1 2010 compared to Q1 2009 according to ADP), they will get caught. Honesty is still the best policy, as I’m sure we have all heard since grade school!

A Few Résumé Rules:

• Omit the reason you left your last job (personal or if you were fired). This will most likely come up in the interview and that’s where it should be addressed.

• Do not state salary requirements. Everyone wants more money. If you get an offer for the job, then negotiations on pay can be made.

• Focus on the truth and representing the facts in the best possible way, without crossing the line.

• Accurately reflect your education. Examples: Bachelor of Economics Candidate, anticipated completion Fall 2010. Or Completed 75% of required courses for Bachelor Degree in Accounting, expected completion date of June 30^th.

Strengthen your STRENGTHS!

You’re not smart enough, you’re not fast enough, you’re not thin enough, you’re not this, you’re not that…ringing any bells? In our society, focusing on what you don’t have or what you are not good at is all too common. After reading Tom Rath’s New York Times’ bestseller, Strengths Finder 2.0, I realized we all have it wrong…well, to a certain extent. To summarize Rath’s book, people do not take enough time to maximize their strengths and natural talents, rather, we as a society (coaches, teachers, managers) focus on an individual’s weaknesses and try to strengthen those. Rath’s concept can apply to all aspects of one’s life, not just professionally, but socially as well. Let’s say you have great eyes, try accentuating that feature or focus on something else positive about your appearance. This is not to say to let your short-comings or weaknesses just fall by the way-side. Those areas can still be minimized and improved upon, but just realize you may never be six feet tall if you’ve passed your growth spurt or a rocket scientist if math is not your subject.

Take the self-assessment test. It will indentify key areas that you can work on to develop as strengths. It helps in nurturing your natural talents rather than always focusing on fixing your weaknesses. There are 34 different “strengths” you could have and the online assessment will provide you with a brief report of your top 5 talent theme areas. There will be a short definition of each theme and a descriptive paragraph that is UNIQUE to you.

It will be great to finally answer the simple question, “What are your strengths?” with a more intelligent and descriptive answer that is individual to you. Knowing yourself and being honest with who you are will not only make you more successful, but also happier with who you are.

Remember, at the end of the day, knowing your areas of strength are fantastic, but time and effort are still the cornerstones to improvement. Use this newfound knowledge to re-focus where you spend your time to progress yourself to the next level.