By CAREEREALISM Founder, J.T. O'Donnell
Recently, an Excelle community member asked me how to successfully turn down a promotion without being punished. (See full question here.)My Response: I see this situation all the time. An over-achieving employee sets themselves up for failure by allowing her boss to equate her value on the job to the number of hours she works. In particular, I see this as a re-occurring issue with young women.
They put in tons of extra hours to impress management. The problem arises later in their careers when additional personal responsibilities like relationships and children enter the picture. Suddenly, the focus changes and they want to be paid the same but only do 40 hours/week of work.
Unfortunately, they’ve taught management that their real worth comes from their willingness to work 60 hours every week to get things done. This has got to stop!
Our actions define our perceived value. Being a work-o-holic sends the wrong message, especially, when you suddenly decide to stop working those hours. After all that time and energy, suddenly choosing to pull back actually results in management feeling like they are the ones being short-changed.
I’m not saying you shouldn’t go above-and-beyond every once in a while to show you are a team-player, but far too many employees take this to the extreme, only to burn out professionally, as well as disappointing management – the very thing they were trying not to do!
Here’s the good news…
You’ve been given the opportunity to set things back on course! By accepting the promotion you are giving yourself the chance to address this and get back on track to better work-life balance. I suggest you accept the promotion, but sit down with your boss and explain that you will only take this new role if he is willing to work with you to make the job manageable. Explain how you want to be able to leverage company resources and build expertise to work smarter, not harder.
By opening up this dialog, you and your boss can work together to make this promotion effective for the company AND for you. This includes:
Considering who can be trained to do some of the things that you do.
Identifying areas where the company could be more efficient.
Looking for ways to streamline processes.
The goal is to define how this expanded roll can be done successfully in 40 hours/week.
But, what if it can’t?
Well, at least you and your boss will recognize that fact and be able to target a game plan to address it. Maybe this is just what he needs to be able to quantify a request for more staff and/or resources. By addressing this together, you just may help your boss in his job!
If you want career success and satisfaction, then you need to find ways to move forward on your terms. Choosing to pass on this promotion indicates you aren’t willing to grow as a professional. Why not take the plunge and start to learn how to do more in the same amount of time? I think you’ll find that once you learn how to move up without stressing out, you’ll find your career soaring to new heights.
|J.T. answers questions each week via Excelle on topics ranging from finding your first job, to getting a promotion and managing office politics. You can check out all of her articles here.Excelle is Monster's premier online community for female professionals in the United States.
The leaves are changing, the kids are back in school, and that familiar chill is in the air. You think it's the perfect time to look for a job, and it is! But are your job search fears preventing you from making that leap?
It's not uncommon to feel lost when embarking on your job search journey. After all, school teaches us everything except how to get a job. What should you put on your resume? What questions should you ask in an interview? How can you stand out in the hiring process when there's so much competition?
Are you feeling spooked yet?
Believe it or not, there's no need to be afraid of the job search process! You can land your dream job with the right tools and strategy. You can find a job that won't give you nightmares. Here are three spooky secrets every job seeker should know as they look for a job this fall.
1. An Effective Job Search Starts With An Interview Bucket List
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Despite your fears, you've decided to take the plunge and look for a new job. You might be asking yourself, "Where do I start?" The answer is simple: start by creating an interview bucket list.
An interview bucket list is a list of 10-20 companies you'd love to work for. Are you passionate about a company's products or services? Do you feel connected to its mission? Can you relate to its values and beliefs as an organization? If you answer "yes" to any of these questions, that company probably belongs on your interview bucket list.
Once you create an interview bucket list, you'll be able to conduct a targeted job search, one with direction and a foundation upon which everything else will be built. An interview bucket list helps you focus your job search and networking strategies on the right opportunities, making it easier to get your foot in the door at one of your dream companies.
2. Your Job Application Needs To Disrupt Hiring Managers
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In order to stand out in the hiring process, you need to disrupt recruiters and hiring managers. You accomplish this by doing two things: optimizing your resume and writing a disruptive cover letter.
A well-optimized resume includes keywords from the job description. This ensures your resume gets past the ATS and into the hands of the hiring manager. Once it's in front of the hiring manager, it needs to grab and keep their attention. Quantifying your work experience—adding numbers to your bullet points—will make you stand out from other applicants. Hiring managers will want to know more about you and your accomplishments, and that's how you land a phone interview.
Before that, though, a hiring manager will read your cover letter. To disrupt them, you need to write a disruptive cover letter (obviously!). A disruptive cover letter gives you the opportunity to tell a story about why you feel connected to the company you're applying for. It's that storytelling aspect that will stand out to hiring managers and compel them to pick up the phone and give you a call.
3. Employers Hire You Based On 3 Things
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You can't get hired unless you know what employers are assessing you on in the interview process. While your skills and expertise matter, companies actually hire for three things: personality, aptitude, and experience (in that order).
Most job seekers don't realize how important it is to demonstrate their personality, aptitude, and experience in an interview. You could have the right experience for a job, but if the hiring manager doesn't think your personality is a good fit for the company culture, you probably won't get a job offer.
Make sure you demonstrate your soft skills and learn how to answer behavioral interview questions to prove you're the best candidate for the job you're applying for, not just the most qualified.
Want To Learn More Job Search Secrets?
As you look for a job this fall, it might be helpful to know some more spooky secrets so you can get over your job search fears and finally take control of your career.
We know the job search process can be scary. However, it's important to get clear on what you want to do next and focus on conducting a strategic job search, or what we refer to at Work It DAILY as job shopping. This is the only way to effectively market yourself to employers. If they can't see exactly where and how you add value, then that's going to decrease your chances of landing the job.
The competition is fierce, and there are a lot of factors that are out of your control. But the one factor you can control is your job search strategy, the tools and tactics you use to land a job.
If you want to learn the secrets to conducting a strategic job search, sign up for our Job Search Bootcamp, a two-hour, on-demand video workshop that comes with a free workbook.
In this video workshop, you'll learn:
How to use backchanneling to get directly to hiring managers.
The secret to using a connection story to stand out against the competition.
How social media can be your secret weapon to get job interviews.
The resume format that is getting job seekers more job interviews.