Are Your Innovative Ideas Unappreciated?

Ah, so you’re the creative one. Someone with innovative ideas that you offer up to management in your organization with the goal of making the workplace a better place to be and transforming the experience of your customers and clients. You’re the person who continually looks for best practices elsewhere and to be completely honest, you have your own share of workable ideas that you put forth. You’ve got a reputation as an ideas person as a result because you just can’t shut off the innovative gene that seems to be at your core.

And yet, despite your best efforts, your ideas for innovation and improvement end up being nothing but that – ideas. It seems that the status quo is easiest for management to maintain; that change comes only when external pressures forces your organization to morph. Even then, change only occurs to the smallest degree possible in order to survive rather than thrive.

Despite your best efforts to make the case for embracing innovation and change, doing things the way they’ve always been done seems to be the motto where you work. After all, it’s how they got where they are today. “At ________ we do what we’ve always done, because we’re complacent and comfortable.”

So guess what? When you’ve done your best to bring others on board with innovation and creativity to no avail, the best thing you can do for yourself sometimes is move on. Walk away. Leave. Quit. Get out while the getting is good.

It doesn’t matter whether we’re in the middle of a pandemic or not, nor your age, nor your current seniority, pension contributions or current debt load. While all these things are important and not to be taken lightly, none of them are as important as your personal state of mind and good mental health. No, not one of them.

Ideas people are constantly looking at things with improvement in mind. It’s in their nature to see things and instinctively wonder how they might be better experienced, displayed, communicated, interacted with and as a consequence, improve the organization one improvement at a time. When a creative person is continually shut down and their ideas taken but rejected or worse yet, not even looked at, the message is all too clear; your desire for innovation just isn’t being acknowledged nor appreciated. The ‘fit’ just isn’t there.

So a few things happen as a result of having one’s ideas consistently shut down. A person can walk away and go somewhere else where their ideas and creativity are welcomed and appreciated. A person can continue to push as they’ve been doing and keep hoping for a different result. Or – and this is the worst – they can shut down their own ideas, smothering them before the spark inside them bursts into a flame of an idea and in so doing, deny what is in their nature to do.

Breaking free is often the best alternative. Now sometimes the answer is transferring from one department or division to another where you hope to land with a supervisor who embraces change. If your organization is large enough, that might be possible. However, it’s likely that at some point, your ideas will flow to the same source as in your former position and the further away someone sits from what you’re attempting to improve, the less inclined they will feel the motivation for change.

Leaving your job can be an incredibly powerful release of pressure and the freedom that comes with moving may stimulate your creativity and give you optimism and hope for growing your innovative ideas. It may be just what you need.

Start looking to your network and asking your contacts about what it’s like to work where they do. Forget the typical, “Are you hiring?” question for now. Get to the culture, appetite for innovation and creativity issues. From your contacts, connect again with those people who, like you, are ideas people and change advocates. You can bet that these people are the ones to tap into for help and will best understand your situation. Listen to their stories where they faced what you’re facing now and how they managed the personal change of putting themselves in positions where their own creativity and innovation is welcomed and embraced. Then ask about opportunities and leverage your network.

The alternative in denying a big part of who you are at your core is to slowly die inside. Too big a stretch? Not at all. If you don’t nurture something that is at your core, it doesn’t get used and it slowly dies inside you. When that part of you dies, you can’t help but feel sad, perhaps become bitter. Your frustration with doing things as they’ve always been done increases, and you’ll loathe the day you hear yourself trying to save someone else with a bright idea the grief of your own experience as you shut them down. Yikes! At that point you realize you’ve been worn down and gave in to the dark side.

Put your fantastic gift of innovation and creativity to work and find a place to flourish. Celebrate embracing change by taking care of what matters most – YOU.

Starting Well In A Remote Job

How times have changed. Up until this year, if you told your friends you just took a remote full-time job, they’d ask when you were leaving because they’d like to throw you a farewell party. However, here in the 2nd wave of a world-wide pandemic, working remotely doesn’t mean you’re moving at all, but rather you’ll be working out of your home through your computer using a platform to connect you with others. The other possibility is working out of a central location with co-workers, but each of you is sequestered away in a place of security and privacy while you interact with clients or customers strictly online.

Organizations who traditionally dealt in-person with their clients and customers have transitioned to this new way of conducting their business, and employees have sometimes had to navigate change on their own. IT departments in larger companies have been called upon to support people over wide geographical areas and employees with no training in the use of Zoom or Teams have had to learn both on their own and from each other.

But what of the new hire? How do you come on board not only having to learn the technical aspects of the job, but also manage the soft skills of interacting with co-workers, demonstrating your worth to a boss you only see on a laptop monitor? How do you prove yourself so that your probationary period moves behind you and you’re accepted as a lasting member of the team?

This question of getting off to a good start was raised with me by my good friend Lorraine, following a post I wrote yesterday on getting off to a good start in a traditional workplace. Working remotely from your home is anything but traditional. So Lorraine, thanks for the inspiration.

There are drawbacks for sure when you’re introduced online to your new teammates. You can’t shake hands, you get out and get to know each other over lunch, nor can you sit side by side as you job shadow your newly assigned mentor and they walk you through what you need to learn. But here’s some sage advice for all kinds of challenges in both work and personal life: focus on the positives rather than looking for and focusing on the negatives. And there are plenty of positives.

For starters, this is your home and your space. You control what others will see and hear when your camera and microphone are activated. So think about what’s behind you in your work chair. Establish a look for your space that makes you the focus, rather than your background. Tilt the monitor so you project prominently to others rather than appearing to peek over the bottom or off to the side. If you’re in front of a blank beige wall, avoid wearing a beige sweater, otherwise you might just blend in so much you challenge people you interact with to fix on you.

While it’s true you can’t go out for lunch with your teammates or sit in a lunchroom, think of the positives. There’s no added costs to dine out, no awkward chicken wing sauce on your cheek, no worries if you unknowingly slurp your soup and if you drip on your top while at home, you have your wardrobe at hand to save you. What you can do is have a coffee or tea break with your team and get to know each other sharing a mug and sharing your stories.

If you do get assigned a mentor, it’s likely they’ll share their screens with you and thus you’ll be able to see them as they work and follow their cursor around a screen. This can actually be more helpful than sitting too close for comfort next to them in a tiny office or too far away to read their screen. On your own screen, you can increase or decrease the text for your own needs. Advantage you.

It’s still important to know the expectations others have for your learning. What do you need to know and by when in order to be fully productive? Where you might not be able to take certain materials out of an office, working from home might be an advantage where you have electronic documents to read anytime you wish.

More advantages?  No worries about personal body odour or bad breath. No uncomfortable shoes to wear, no slush, snow or rain to trod through and no gas or parking fees to fork out. Saving these costs can even allow you to take a lower wage if your expenses are largely eliminated.

You still need to mix and get to know your co-workers and having a team meeting just means you see all the faces and hear the voices on a screen rather than a boardroom table. It’s doable. You might even find you get closer to people because you work together better without the distractions in a traditional office. The other big advantage in the middle of a pandemic is you can see the faces of everyone you interact with rather than their eyes only peering over a mask.

These are just a few of the advantages of working remotely in a new job. Thanks Lorraine for asking. Last piece of advice is to get out of the pyjama bottoms in case you have to get up while on screen!

Advice When Starting A New Job

I’d like you to think back to some point in your past when you heard the words, “Congratulations! I’d like to offer you the job.” Whether it was 2 month’s ago, 2 years ago, or over a decade or two ago, you’re probably able to recapture some of the feelings that came with those words. Relief, joy, pride, happiness etc. Likely a combination of many things all jumbled together. With the success you’ve just achieved, you emerged from a stressful job search, and the satisfaction you feel at the moment feels good.

It was important back then – as it always is – to celebrate your success and share the news with people who were most invested in your search, because like you, they felt stress and worry along with you to a lesser but equally real degree.

Know however, that the stress of the job search has been replaced with the stress of now living up to those expectations of your new employer. Your goal in the short-term is to successfully pass your probation period. Actually, while it’s important to pass probation which could mean month’s from now, you’ll have shorter goals, which if achieved, will go a long way to taking care of performing well enough to pass probation.

So let’s look at some of your short-term objectives. For starters, there’s your very first day, so don’t look past it. You’ll want to choose clothes that fit in with others who perform the same work as you will. Presume that your co-workers are all past probation and may have relaxed some of their clothing choices and behaviour, so don’t pick the most casual employee to model either after. For all you know, someone you take as a role model could be a poor choice. If you’re really unsure, you could ask your supervisor for guidance with respect to who provides a good example to follow.

Something as simple as what to do for lunches might stress you out. Eat out or pack it? If you can’t find out in advance, pack a lunch but be financially ready to accept an invitation to join a few people on your team and eat out on day 1 if the offer comes. Your goal is establishing connections and relationships with the people you’ll be working with closely here in your new role. When people are at lunch, they are likely relaxed, more at ease and friendlier too. Take care you mind your manners, pass on ordering alcohol (you have to return to work remember), and engage in conversation so you all get to know each other.

Remembering names is a challenge for a lot of people in the first few days on a new job. The more people you get introduced to, the harder it becomes. Everyone understands this, so don’t put undo pressure on yourself to memorize them all. Look out for nametags on uniforms, name plaques on desks or cubicles, or on  employee ID/swipe cards if they are easily spotted. You’ll eventually get there, just take it slowly and learn one at a time.

One of the best things you can do when you first start is learn what you’re expected to know and by when. In other words, how are you going to be evaluated when it comes to making a decision on whether you stick around? You’ll likely have some orientation to undergo too. During this time you might have manuals to read, agreements and contracts to sign, additional people to meet such as in Human Resources and Finances. There could be off-site training to undergo with other new hires, someone assigned for you to job shadow, or a person you’re told is your ‘go to’ person when you have questions. Employers may do any or all of these things in an effort to give you every chance at being successful.

Of course many times, you simply learn on the job and one person does all the above. This is true in small organizations, and your goal above all else at these times is to find positive chemistry with the one, two or three people you’ll be spending 7 to 12 hours a day with for the foreseeable future. When employers talk about finding a good fit, what they are referring to are your soft skills; your people skills. You may know their product inside and out at hiring, but if you don’t gel with the existing workforce, you could be viewed as disruptive to the harmony the company is looking for and find yourself again unemployed. “It’s just not a good fit; I’m sorry it didn’t work out”, is what you might hear.

In the simplest of terms, keep your professional guard up and don’t suddenly become so comfortable and self-assured in your new job that you leave early, show up late, take long breaks, or cause friction with your co-workers. Because it’s assumed you’re on your best behaviour, they’ll assume things will get worse not better.

The painful stress of a job search has been replaced with the good stress that comes with fitting in with a new employer and possibly in a new role. It’s a good stress of course, but stress nonetheless. It’s normal, so be prepared for it.

And if you did indeed recently begin a new job, a sincere congratulations!

 

Need A Better Job?

Much of the time, my blog focuses on helping unemployed people find work. Today however, I want to reach out to those who are currently working, but increasingly feeling the desire or need to find a new job.

I hear from a lot of people who are interested in moving from their current job to a new one. Their reasons vary from dissatisfaction, not liking management and their boss in particular, a drop in hours, no room to grow and being passed over for promotions when they feel it’s their time. Sometimes it’s being harassed on the job site, new owners making sweeping changes that don’t go over well with existing staff, a desire to work closer to home, or yes, more money.

You can see that there are a lot of valid reasons for looking for a job when you already have a job. In many ways, that’s the best time to look for work. After all, you don’t have a gap on your resume to explain, you don’t feel desperate to grab a job just for the sake of having one, nor do you have the stress and mental anguish that comes with no income while you look for work. These are just some of the reasons why you may have heard, “it’s easier to get a job when you have a job.”

Before I proceed further, let me give everyone who is currently working, a few tips which, if you heed them, will help you greatly in the future when you need a change. First update your resume with your current job. I know you might feel this is something you can do later, but it will only take 10 minutes. Next, if you have a good performance review stashed somewhere in your locker or desk at work, bring it home. This document will be of great help should you eventually need a reference from your current employer only to find that they have a policy of only confirming your job title and years of service. Third, get a copy of your job description and again, take it home and store it somewhere you can easily find it.

Those 3 tips are going to help you should you need or want to make a change. The performance review will help you prove your worth to interviewers, the job description will put in words all the good skills and responsibilities you have now and both will help you defend your credentials during an interview. Don’t wait. Do these two things this week. You’ll thank yourself for doing so. And if you work with an Employment Counsellor to help you out, show them copies of these so they can best market your experience and accomplishments.

Now let me remind you of something you need to hear; you’re entitled to work in a positive and supportive environment and be paid fairly for the contribution you make to an organizations success. If you find your hours of work are dropping, you have no benefits or your salary and hope for advancement seems frozen, you owe it to yourself to land somewhere better. But to do that, you have to motivate yourself to actually actively job search.

I’ve said this so many times before, but phone or get yourself into an Employment Centre in your community.  I know this might be your morning or afternoon off, but it’s a good place to start. Ideally, bring your current job description, resume, identification and an idea of what you’d like to do. The people you meet with will have a good idea knowledge of your local labour market, jobs in demand, know who is hiring – and many of these employers don’t put signs in their windows anymore.

Here’s some encouraging news if you’re looking for work. Employers are crying for workers. Not just anybody mind you. They are looking for enthusiastic people who get along with co-workers, are dependable, punctual, problem-solvers, good communicators with both verbal and written skills. They can’t find workers!

I’m going to guess many of you are really good at whatever it is you do. In your line of work, you’re experienced and you’ve got a pretty decent work ethic. You may have put in several years in your current job and yet, feel unappreciated and taken for granted. The one thing you know you’re not good at perhaps is resumes and cover letters, along with performing well in job interviews. That’s actually expected. No one is great at everything.

The main reason to drop in to an Employment Centre is to partner up with a job search pro. Hey, you’re good at what you do and they are good at what they do. Get these people working with you to shorten your job search and help you find your next job faster. You might even find Counsellors have more time to devote to you due to the pandemic as it keeps other job seekers from seeking help.

Think you don’t need their help? Think anybody can put together a great resume? That’s like me saying I could do your job just as well as you do – and I can’t.

You’ve nothing to lose and everything to gain!

Launching From The Job/Career Rut

Yesterday, I blogged about the Career Rut. Today, I’d like to continue with some thoughts on escaping it’s hold on you and moving forward successfully.

The big challenge for many is once having come to the decision that they want something different than what they are currently doing, the immense challenge becomes WHAT to do. The only thing that’s become clear is what is no longer wanted.

This is a period of flux, of uncertainty and should be both anticipated and embraced. After all, you’re stepping away from what you’ve done in the recent past (or perhaps present) and you’ve been using skills you’ve mastered and understand to do the work you no longer love. As your energy has previously been poured into that work, it may have drained your energy reserves sufficiently that of consequence, you’ve not been able to look with enthusiasm at what might come next.

When we were children and in our emerging teen years, if we were fortunate, we had parents and role models who encouraged us to do different things. They exposed us to arts and crafts, sports, reading, music and took us places to see interesting things. Simultaneously, they stoked our imaginations with the idea that we might be anything we put our minds to; the world was ours to explore.

How ironic it is that now as adults with expanded skills and experiences behind us, that we feel diminished in our choices; conventional thoughts limit our options, and we tell ourselves, “I can’t do that!” Those same role models of our past now worry that we’re going to make some regrettable decision to quit our stable employment for the uncertainty of something new.

What you know however, is the mental anguish, strain and stress of your current unhappiness and lack of fulfillment. To save yourself from growing increasingly bitter and despondent, change must happen. And I say, good for you! Save yourself!

If you know what you want to do then by all means get going! If the career you have in mind requires additional education and retraining, go for it and consider your time preparing for this new role as an investment in yourself. Well done.

If however, you’re feeling just as stuck, now wondering what it is you should do, there are things you can also do to move forward. One key thing is to assess not just what skills you have, but determine what skills you have THAT YOU WISH TO USE NEXT. These are highly probable to be transferable skills; ones you can apply to various occupations and jobs such as organization, punctuality, communication and interpersonal skills. You may have job specific skills you decide to either leave behind or take with you too. These are the skills you acquired and developed in your past role such as a software program, driving a specialized vehicle or teaching a specific subject. Complete an inventory now of the skills you have and emphasize the ones you want to use moving forward.

Now it truly depends on your mental state as to your next step. You might be very well served in looking for a short-term job rather than a career, that stimulates your need for something new. One that you can handle well and be successful at to reinforce your self-worth, yet one that you can walk away from when your longer term career objective reveals itself. Purely as an example, suppose you look to drive a school bus. There you would use communication skills, punctuality, organization and certainly interpersonal skills; the very transferable skills you earlier identified you want to use moving forward.

The thing is to look at a variety of jobs and envisioning yourself in those roles, determine what might be appealing. Driving your bus would distance you from the overseeing, micromanaging boss you want to avoid. It might give you that independence to work, yet still come with responsibility and perhaps the gratitude from riders and their parents would fill a void you only dreamed of in past roles where you were unappreciated.

Breaking free of the rut you’re now in is exhilarating, uplifting and liberating. You’re free!

Next up, you may decide that your short-term job turns out to be just the answer you wanted. Equally possible, you may decide that with your mental crisis of being in a rut over, you can now see with greater clarity what you might truly like to move to next. Had you stayed in your previous role, that clarity would never have come about.

The right time to leap forward and find new employment shouldn’t be determined by the market, when your mortgage or car is paid off or after the kids are all in University. The right time is when your inner voice that you’ve been listening to for some time finally gets through and tells you this is the right time.

Career Counsellors and Mental Health Counsellors are options you might want to have conversations with. Share what’s on your mind with people you trust because you might find that sharing illuminates possibilities.

Launching Yourself From A Career Rut

It doesn’t happen to everyone of course, but if it should happen to you, well, you’ll appreciate the paralysis it can bring on. I’m speaking of the dreaded Career Rut.

This is the phenomenon that occurs when you feel trapped in your job; mired in the routine of going in day after day, week after week with an absence of true passion or satisfaction in your work. It’s more than just annoying. Left unchecked, it can fester and grow, robbing you of happiness in how you spend the majority of your working day and soon becoming your prevailing worry outside of working hours. It brings on apathy and feelings of hopelessness. It steals self-esteem as you feel annoyed with yourself for not doing something about it and changes how others view you too. And physically? Make no mistake, you’ll feel aches and pains, headaches, feel overtired and sleep more to ‘turn off’.

Have you found yourself wondering more and more often, “Is this all there is?” “I don’t  know what to do with the rest of my life but it sure isn’t this.” As the days go by without a plan for change, tension rises at about the same rate your patience with others around you drops.

It’s important to get what’s at the source of the problem and accurately define it.  I mean you have to separate going through a short phase of needing some additional stimulation in your work versus that persistent, all-encompassing feeling of being stuck; unfulfilled.

Give yourself credit for one positive; there’s a problem and you’re consciously aware of it. That’s the good news. Now a question to ask of you – and it might sound trite – are you happy? Oddly enough, there are some who are quite happy to carry on going in to jobs they no longer have the least bit of satisfaction doing. They’re willing to trade personal happiness for money, benefits, seniority or vacation time. The trade off is one they rationalize as worth it and they do their best to convince themselves that this is just the reality of work; that it’s called work for a reason, that feeling motivation during your work is a joke.

Okay so if you’re not happy. The next thing to ask yourself is whether you’re willing to do more than just long for change; for change is what’s required. You can hardly expect to carry on in the same job with the same behaviour day after day and magically come to feel better about yourself. Change in such a situation is critical.

Change of course can be scary. There’s an element of risk as you move from what you know intimately to something new, and with anything new comes uncertainty. This however is about YOU; this single life you’ve got to live and spend. Maybe you’re feeling out of control; bound to carry on with your ‘responsibilities’, your ‘commitments’ and your ‘obligations’. Congratulations on being accountable.

Your choices when you’re in such a state are:

1. Do something completely different with a new organization
2. Do something similar but with a new organization
3. Do something different in the same organization
4. Quit and retire from work altogether

Doing something similar elsewhere from where you work now is fine if you determine that the role itself has appeal but the organization is what’s robbing you of your happiness. You might even take on a mentor or leadership role if you bring a great deal of experience and insight into a startup.

Quitting outright might be the answer if you’re on the cusp of retiring. However, when you’re in your 40’s, that short-term satisfaction of walking away may prove to be a delusion as you still find yourself pondering, “What to do now?”

Thinking you’re happiness might be rekindled in a new role where you work now? This is dependent on whether the company is large enough that the opportunities exist and whether or not your education and experience actually qualifies you in some other role.

So you’re left pondering the leap to another role completely and making a fresh start with another firm. Let me tell you, this is invigorating and stimulating; like jumping off the security of a dock into chilly waters. It can wake you up, jolt you out of your lethargic state and energize you.

To make a leap such as this, you’ll need to take stock of your skills, experience, interests and courage. Practically speaking, access your financial security, your comfort with risk and the impact on others where there’s family involved. Have conversations and you may find your ‘old’ self is missed and they’ll stand behind the change you’re contemplating if it brings you happiness.

As soon as possible, complete a self-inventory of likes, interests, education, experience, transferable skills and start looking with fresh eyes on jobs out there. Tap into your LinkedIn and personal network for advice and leverage these folks as a sounding board.

What you do is up to you. If and when you change and embrace the risk or remain securely locked in the rut is yours and yours alone to choose. We all evolve over time and our interests change. It’s not truly uncommon to feel the rut; but it is uncommon to actually take the initiative to do something great and save your mental health.

Job Hunting When You Have One

Looking for a job to replace the one you have now makes a lot of sense. When you’re looking at the postings out there, you aren’t as desperate as you might be were you not working at all. You can afford to be selective, choosing to put off applying to jobs that don’t fully interest you; jobs you might actually have applied to in your unemployed past.

This job you’re on the hunt for has to pay you more than what you’re making now, be more stimulating, more meaningful and more of a career than a job; any or all of these possibilities. It might have to be closer to home, closer to the cottage, perhaps nearer the person you’re dating, have benefits or growth opportunities etc. Your next job has to in your view, be better than the one you have now.

And there you have it, the reason for looking for some other job; you’re seeking something better than what you have at the present. Lest you think you’re the only one looking for work when you have a job, let me assure you there are a great number of people who job hunt while working.

If you’re out of work, or you’ve been out of work in the past, perhaps you can identify with the anxiety and desperation you’ve felt in past job interviews. The increased pressure to get a job and stop the financial bleeding of your resources. Maybe you remember telling people you’d do, “anything” too. Hopefully, now that you are actually working, you’ve dropped, “Anything” as a job you were willing and happy to do. When I hear people say that – and just yesterday I heard that from 3 people – it’s a sad message to hear. I’ve yet to find the person who will actually do anything by the way.

One problem of looking for a job when you have one is your level of motivation. Most employed people don’t work at getting a new job with the same vigor they’d apply if they were not working. So many skim a few job websites daily, maybe apply to the odd job every couple of weeks or more. You know, there are other things to do that seem like more of a priority. The out-of-work person is more focused, determined, desperate, hungry – take your pick of words.

The upside of looking for work is coming from a position of strength; as you’re already employed, an employer interested in your services has to present something better than what you have now if they truly want to pry you away. But don’t delude yourself into thinking that just by telling them your present circumstances they are going to open the vault and ask you to name your salary. That might be the case in movies or if you’re the potential CEO of a company, but for most of us, it’s just not the case. Still, there’s a reason applications often ask you to state your current employment status and present salary.

One thing you need to address is whether to tell your current employer you’re looking for another job or not. There are clear advantages and disadvantages. On the one hand, you might work for an employer that doesn’t want you using company time and resources to look for work, send emails, go to interviews etc. Then again, some employers encourage their workforce to grow as individuals whether that means advancing internally or sincerely wishing them the best as they move on.

At some point you’ll need to inform your employer. Maybe when it’s down to you and one other person for a job and the potential employer wants to speak with your references. That call to your current employer might not go as well as you’d like if it blindsides them completely. Then again, you might be imagining the scene when you just walk in and announce your impending departure.

I’ve found that people who are looking elsewhere for jobs – for the most part – mentally check out to some degree. As they look for a future with another firm, they stop investing themselves 100% in the job they have at present. If you listen to their words, watch them in team meetings or as they go about their day, they just perform differently. That may be only logical, but your present employer isn’t paying you less as you invest less in them, so you’ve got a responsibility to still deliver on your responsibilities.

If you’re the kind of person who likes to share your thoughts, you might even want to confide in a colleague at work; someone you can trust with your plan to leave. If I can give you one piece of advice on this, be respectful of that person. You might be putting them in some emotional conflict and divided loyalty. Is that fair?

Hopefully you work for the kind of boss who promotes personal development; who wants to see you move up and yes, sometimes move on. These Supervisors invest in the people they work with and share your enthusiasm for something new. They are the kind of people who appreciate a heads up that you’re looking, and give you the time to go to interviews etc. By setting the right climate where you can share without fear, they can better plan ahead for your possible departure.

Good fortune with your search. How’s it going?

 

Want To Get Past Probation At Work?

Hooray! You’ve landed yourself a new job! If you were unemployed, all that stress of looking for work is behind you now. If you left one job for this one, you’ve got a lot to look forward to, presumably this opportunity has more for you than where you worked last. Congratulations either way!

Your goal has actually shifted in any event, from finding a job to maintaining this job. So how long is your probationary period? 3 months is a good guess, but it might be longer. Oh, and if it’s a contract job, you’ll be hoping perhaps to perform so well they’ll keep you on. The same is true for many of you out there who land yourself a seasonal job for the holiday season approaching. Unless of course you’re the new Mall Santa; your job has a definite end date just before Christmas day!

Here then are some things to do to maintain that new job. Again, congratulations!

1. Show up when you’re scheduled. It sounds completely obvious I know, but I’m continually surprised by the number of people who upon taking a job, think it is well within their rights to show up late or not at all. When your name is on the schedule, you’re being counted on to be at work. You might have good reasons to be absent or running late, but just the same, your new employer has a business to run and needs employees there to do the work.
2. Get your childcare in place now. This isn’t exclusive to single parents. Get childcare arranged now – before you start a job – and work on getting a back up on call if your primary source of childcare isn’t available. In other words, a private sitter won’t watch your child if they are ill, or on vacation, have an accident; maybe even if they have medical appointments of their own one day – and they will. Don’t plan on figuring this out after you accept a job; you’ll be too busy.
3. Dress the part. You want to last don’t you? Okay then, fit in. Now I know that individualism counts, that it’s your right to express yourself as you see fit, and yes, if people don’t accept you for who you are then that’s their problem. Sure, this all sounds noble and under many circumstances I’d agree entirely. It’s also just a tad self-serving too. If the job calls for safety equipment to be worn, wear it as it’s designed, not how you think looks most fashionable. If you interact with the public, keep in mind it’s not just your right to express yourself that’s on display, so is the reputation of the employer who hired you. Keeping up that desired image is expected of you.
4. Be positive. Be friendly and accentuate the positive. People generally like being around people who are optimistic, personable and yes the odd smile goes a long way. Try a little experiment today – smile and see how many people smile automatically back at you. It’s a reflex motion!
5. Stay until your shift is over. Cutting out early gets noticed. If you expect to get paid right up until your shift ends, you are expected to work until your shift ends. When you’re off at 5 p.m., that doesn’t mean you start putting on your coat and heading out the door 10 minutes early so you get to your car at 5 p.m.
6. Pitch In. When appropriate, lend a hand to others. By appropriate, I mean make sure your own job gets completed and helping others doesn’t distract you from doing what’s expected of you. Where possible, a simple, “Hey can I help?” might win you some goodwill, get you noticed and signal to others that you’re a team player.
7. Be careful who you listen to. At the start of your job, you haven’t any idea who the gossips are, the idle workers, the ones Management has targeted as in line to be let go. Be wary of comments, advice or conversations that just feel wrong, paint the employer in a bad light, or taint anyone badly.
8. Focus on the work. Make sure the job you were hired to do is actually your focus. While you want to get along, you’re under the microscope more than the other long-standing employees. You’re being evaluated and if you can’t hit targets, seem to be standing around more than working etc., they’ll cut you loose and hire someone else.
9. Ask for feedback. If you’ve got a 3 month probation period, ask how you’re doing long before you get surprised with being released. It’s too late to say, “What? Why?” You should have been told any concerns so you could improve in any areas they identified as needing attention, but it’s still your responsibility to find out how you’re performing. Ask your Supervisor this one, not a co-worker.
10. Show some enthusiasm. Enthusiasm is my mantra; it’s the number one quality employer’s want in their employees. It’s no longer enough just to, ‘do the job for a pay cheque’. Employers look for workers with some passion, some investment in what they are doing; people who understand WHY they do what they do and HOW what they do contributes to the overall success of the organization.

I’m happy for you! Yeah! Follow the above and I you’ll hopefully keep your job long past your probationary period. Getting hired and staying employed are two different skills; don’t start coasting now.

Employed But Stuck

The earlier blog I penned had to do with feeling stuck. It focused primarily on both deciding between two or more options and the advice was to do something, do anything to get moving; and the focus was when you’re unemployed. I’ll stand by that.

But what about you who are already employed? I mean you’ve got a job and while it’s okay – possibly even good, you have become restless wanting a change. The question is really what could be next? A promotion? A change of employer? What other jobs within or beyond the company you’re with now would be possible and what’s stopping you from launching a concentrated job search campaign? In other words, even though you’re employed, are you feeling stuck in your career? Oh I know you’re not alone in this one!

The problem in a nutshell is you’re experiencing some motivation to change, but the level of motivation required to actually start looking beyond a casual glance at job postings hasn’t grown enough. You’ve got a steady income, some security at the moment, and the lure of something new is less than the status quo. Doing nothing is safe, comfortable, takes less effort and yet this small but growing feeling that a change is needed is there. So yes, at the moment…. you’re stuck.

Now this is different from when you’re out of work entirely and stuck deciding between two career options or stuck deciding what to do at all. It’s also different from having a job you enjoy in all aspects and just feeling a mild tug every so often. What makes this unique from those others is that the job you have now fulfills many of your basic needs, it’s got a good upside, but there’s this growing and persistent idea of something else wanted that the job doesn’t meet.

Only when your satisfaction with the present wanes enough that your wish for something more tips the balance will you actually find the motivation to explore change. The key is not to wait so long that the job you have becomes intolerable; that would be unfortunate, especially if you then find new employment takes considerably longer than you would have imagined.

The interesting thing is that sometimes other people recognize your need for change before you might. It’s true! You might have a change in behaviour; subtle at first, such as coming in on time instead of coming in 15 minutes early, or taking your full lunch hour away from work instead of donating some of your time to the job. Not big things, but signs of change if they become your new norm. You might also be quieter in office meetings, a little less vocal in promoting innovation and new ideas. What you may be doing is stretching and challenging yourself less and less because your investment in the job itself is ebbing.

Now on their own, like I say, these may not mean much. However collectively, they can indicate to others that something has changed in you. Suddenly people are asking you if you’re happy; is everything good? One person asking might be normal, but two or three people asking, or someone who knows you well, and you might realize those subtle changes they picked up on are cues you should address and think about.

The motivation to change then is worth addressing. What would motivate you to change? For some, the obvious answer is more money and benefits. However money is less of a motivator than you might think as the current job is already providing a consistent income. Feeling challenged, reinvigorated and mentally stimulated by the work you do might be more accurate. You might even be contemplating how to take many of your current skills and find a way to incorporate them into a self-employment option; especially if you see retirement on the horizon. Transitioning to a part-time enterprise, working on your terms and answering to yourself might be appealing as you wind down your full-time employment.

If you’re in your 30’s or 40’s, retirement might not be on your mind, but nonetheless, you could feel the urge to make a difference, give back in some way using your experience but challenging the conventional way of doing business that you’re in now, constrained by the parameters of the company who employs you.

Oh, and let’s not ignore the idea that you might just want an entire break from what you do now altogether and rediscover your passion through some other line of work. How many of you can agree that there’s a hobby or past interest you’d love to turn into your full-time job. Why aren’t you exploring that option? Don’t dismiss it quickly because you’re too old, it would cost too much to go back to school or you’ve got responsibilities! At least invest some time crunching some numbers and getting factual information to base your decision on.

In my previous blog, I advised you to do something; do anything. I’d suggest the same thing again if you feel stuck in your current job. Talk to people in Human Resources, take a night school class, update the résumé, put out some feelers. There is a lot you can do without going to the extreme of quitting or just giving up and feeling trapped in the present job for the next 14 years.

Yes, do something!

You Need Acknowledgement, Progress And Success

Talk to anyone looking for a job and you’ll find what they expect at the minimum is to have their efforts acknowledged and feel progress is being made towards ultimately being successful.

If a person applies for work repeatedly without any acknowledgement from employer’s, or if they feel stuck without making any progress, their effort will likely ebb and flow at best, or they will give up altogether.

Now, depending on your personal circumstances, your motivation for seeking this new job and the results you are achieving, can have a significant impact on your self-worth, self-esteem and your confidence. Although very similar, they are different from one another, and all three are critical to your self-perception. You do want to feel good about yourself, feel valued; that you have something to give which others recognize and appreciate. When we feel appreciated, we feel better about who we are and that positivity  carries over into other aspects of our lives. Without feeling valued, we can start to feel doubtful, our ability to contribute suspect, and our worth as a person comes into question.

Acknowledgement and progress lead to success no matter what the situation. Were you to buy some carrot seeds and plant them in the garden, you’d feel optimistic when you laid them in that shallow trench. With the first sightings of some fragile green leaves popping up through the soil, you’d feel encouraged. As the plants take root and sprout, the higher the green leaves grow, the more you believe the orange carrots below are getting bigger and thicker. The promise of successfully harvesting some vegetables becomes stronger. When you do dig up those carrots, there’s satisfaction in washing them up and eating them.

However, without any seeds germinating, you wonder what went wrong. Not enough sun or water? Planted them too shallow or too deep? Bad soil? Bad seeds? Or maybe you just say you obviously don’t have a green thumb. That lack of progress in seeing something grow can put you off trying again. If that lack of success happens not only with the carrots but also the onions, potatoes and tomatoes, you might believe you’re not cut out to be a Gardener. In short, you’ll give up.

The thing about growing your own vegetables is that if you’ve never done it before, you might ask others with more experience or at the very least, read the instructions on the packets you buy and follow the directions. When you do this, you’re taking advice from professionals, and you do this because you trust their experience and want to give your seeds the best chance of ultimately being successful vegetables.

When it comes to applying for jobs, you’d be surprised how many people don’t follow this same pattern of behaviour. No, a lot of people – perhaps yourself – go about applying for work as best they can figure out on their own. It’s ironic don’t you think that someone will buy a package of carrots for $1.50, read the instructions and follow the advice to the letter, but then ignore the advice that’s available from professionals when it comes to finding work that could potentially bring in tens of thousands of dollars a year?

As I’ve said in many articles over the years, job searching without success is frustrating. That’s got to be a major understatement of the obvious. However, job searching with progress or even basic acknowledgement is even more disheartening. Resumes and cover letters take time to make, applying online takes time as does even finding the right jobs in the first place. You feel your time is valuable, and the last thing you want to do is put in a lot of time and get nothing in return. For some, even just being acknowledged by an employer that they’ve received your résumé would be nice.

Look, you have to decide what’s best for you personally. That has and will never change. If you are getting regularly acknowledged and are getting interviews, you might feel progress is being made and success is imminent. However, if you feel stuck and you’re losing momentum or have no progress whatsoever, what are you going to do about it? Your choice would seem to be keep doing what you’re doing and hope for a different result, or change what you’re doing and hope for a different result.

Changing what you’re doing is almost impossible if you don’t consider advice from others who have had success in what you’re trying to do – get a job. Without learning how others have gone about it, you’ll just be guessing about what you need to change or how to go about things differently. For all we know, how you’re going about looking for a job now might be like buying a packet of carrot seeds and planting the packet while still in the envelope or scattering the seeds on gravel. There’s always a chance one or two might grow, but the odds are slim.

By all means, do what’s best for you. Hammer away doing the same thing or enlist the help of a professional who can share some ideas on how to improve your odds of success. It starts with having your skills and experience as well as your applications acknowledged, moves forward with feeling you’re making progress as interviews start coming, and ultimately you’ll be successful when the job offer is made.