After my first year at my first professional marketing job, I felt in control, wise beyond my years, like I was paving the way for an unprecedentedly successful rookie year. When I sat down at my first annual review, I radiated pride and enthusiasm. I expected my manager to tell me I blew through the criteria and exceeded all expectations.
Instead, I was met with the kind of calm and deliberate voice used to explain things to a small child. My performance for the year had been adequate, however, co-workers and clients found me inaccessible, cold, or intimidating at work. While many of the ideas and innovations I presented to the group seemed like they could hook, my colleagues supported them reluctantly at best because I did not work well with the team. Most of them found it intimidating to ask me questions or present changes to me as I rebuffed them. I need to clarify that I believe I am a bit of a cream puff.
While I took my career seriously that first year, I never considered myself a ballbuster or particularly tough in any way. I completed my work ably and on time. I supported my colleagues to the best of my abilities. I considered myself the ultimate team player.
My jaw literally dropped open, like a cartoon character, and I fell speechless in front of my manager. I told him I didn't know how to fix this perception, because I felt like my co-workers were my family and that I would do anything to make business run smoothly. I did not want to be branded cold or unapproachable. In a work environment that relied heavily on collaboration to elevate creativity being shutoff from the herd meant death. My manager, still one of the best supervisors of my life, told me to take a week to evaluate my interactions with people.
While I never raised my voice in anger or willfully manhandled anyone, I did notice that I often avoided more casual conversation. When running into people in the hall I averted my eyes or gave a half-hearted smile. I never asked questions, preferring instead to quietly research and fix problems on my own. I rarely said goodbye, and even avoided many of the team bonding moments like birthday cake in the breakroom or ping pong tournaments in the lobby.
I thought that my actions proved that I was a diligent, self-sufficient, focused employee, but instead I inadvertently built walls between my co-workers and I. Resolved to do better in all areas, I quickly set in a plan of action to earn the brand of ultimate team player legitimately.
How To Be More Accessible At Work
Ask Questions
I started by asking more questions. While I originally thought this would make me seem an incompetent nuisance to my co-workers, I found that asking smart questions allowed my colleagues to demonstrate their knowledge and worked as an easy ice breaker to developing more collaborative relationships. Two heads are in fact better than one, and I found that my productivity increased by just getting up from my desk and asking when I needed help. Far from making me seem vulnerable like I originally anticipated, asking questions helped establish me as a part of the team and made others more confident to come ask me for help or advice when appropriate.
Increase Social Visibility
I also increased my social visibility among my peers. Instead of waving them off to the bar while I plugged away into the weekend spending another late night at my desk, I allowed myself to shut down my computer and take discussion outside of the office. Whether discussing work or the latest baseball scores, taking time to relax with my co-workers helped us relax around each other and the easy communication of happy hour transitioned to more fluidity when it came time to get down to business in the office.
Remember Birthdays
I got better about remembering to celebrate birthdays - I even bought thoughtful gifts or cards for my co-workers. Luckily the Internet has my back! You can find so many different gifts that have quick delivery online, gifts can be things like chocolate covered strawberries to a fruit basket that can be delivered to the office (or to my dad when I nearly forgot Father's Day...). I also occasionally order a tray of sweets to keep by my desk to invite people to come snack and talk - it works!
Sometimes people do not perceive us the way we perceive ourselves. While I thought I was doing everything just right, it turned out I needed to fine tune my habits to present a more open and accessible version of myself. Sometimes personal branding is a simple as remembering to look up from your screen and say, "Hello!"
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Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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