The Daily Grind

Home/ At Work/ The Daily Grind

Reinvent Yourself – Developing the New You

By Jennifer Kenley on Friday, September 14, 2007

Now that you have started your reinvention process and repackaged yourself for your new career, you’re ready to start your journey.

Remember, changing your thought process takes time and practice, but if you can stick with it, the result can be a bright new career. Here are a few tips that will prepare you for some of the obstacles that can send individuals running back to the comfort of their old habits.

Take your time. Reinventing yourself doesn’t happen overnight. If you want to be successful in your transition, go slowly. Test the waters to see if a new career really suits you. For example, if you work in accounting but want to transfer to event planning, try taking a part-time job as an assistant to see if it’s really the exciting job you’ve always dreamed of.

Be prepared. Don’t expect to be an instant pro at your new job. Even if you’re staying in your current position and learning new skills, understand that it’s OK to make mistakes. And, don’t be afraid to ask questions, it is often encouraged. Also, be willing to take a pay cut. Often times, when you’re venturing out on a new career, it may be a lateral move or even a step down at first.

Enjoy the ride. Be proud of your transition. It takes hard work, dedication, strength and courage to get the best results and become the best you. If you want to see a difference in your career, you must change your behavior. Albert Einstein said the definition of insanity is: “Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Reinventing yourself and trying something new just might take you on an adventure you never dreamed.

The world is constantly evolving – from the environment to our jobs. If you allow yourself to change with it, you’ll continue to grow and prosper. Focus on the positives of change and keep your goal in mind.

Career Options Dress for Success The Daily Grind The Job Search

Reinvent Yourself – Repackage Yourself

By Jennifer Kenley on Thursday, September 13, 2007

Yesterday, I talked about starting the process of reinventing yourself for a new career, or rejuvenating yourself in your current job. Today, I want to talk about what to do after you have found your new direction – repackaging yourself.

Even after individuals find their true passion, they still sometimes find it difficult to shed the old image and be perceived by others in a new way. By following these tips, you can showcase the new you to employers, as well as to yourself.

Tweak your résumé. Rewrite your résumé to reflect your new image. Regardless of whether you are venturing out on a new direction or just reigniting your passion in your old job, refreshing your résumé will help you stay focused with who you want to be and the direction you want to go. When updating your résumé, use a functional résumé format. This type of résumé focuses on specific skills you possess, instead of the progression of jobs that a chronological résumé format focuses on. Write your résumé with an emphasis on your new career goal. The point is to make sure potential employers can see who you are now, not who you were.

Change inside and out. If you list on your résumé that you’re an outgoing and innovative salesperson, make sure your appearance reflects the attitude. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. If you have an outdated hairstyle or are in need of a new wardrobe, search online, peruse through current magazines or contact an image consultant for what’s in style in your particular field of work and region. Improving your outward appearance will project confidence to employers.

Make the connection. You have pinpointed your new career goal. Your résumé is updated, and your looks reflect the inner you. Now, you’re ready to start making connections with prospective employers to boost your current career track. When searching for jobs in your market, try attending job fairs and networking with friends to find out what jobs are out there. This will help you test the waters and get the inside track on companies without having to make a commitment. Staying in your current position? Try scheduling a one-on-one meeting with your boss. You can use this time to inform your boss that you’d love to try some new projects or learn new skills.

Creating a new image can be a tough process, but by following these tips, you can make the transition a positive experience.

Tomorrow, I’ll offer tips that will help you sustain the new you.

Career Options Dress for Success The Daily Grind The Job Search

Reinvent Yourself – Take the First Step

By Jennifer Kenley on Wednesday, September 12, 2007

We recently received a question from a reader inquiring whether or not she wasted her time working in a specific industry for too long. She wants to get into a new field of work but feels as though future employers look at her past employment history and typecast her in to one role. Many workers seeking new direction face this issue. So what’s a job seeker to do? This series will highlight general strategies for reinventing your career self.

Whether you’re new to the workforce, considering a career change, or just trying to stay ahead of the competition, reinventing yourself just might help you land or keep your dream job. Reinvention is simply the process of re-examining yourself, taking what you’ve learned over time, evaluating who you are as a person and committing to a positive course of action. Over the next few days I’ll offer several tips on reinventing yourself and starting a new career!

Go back to the beginning. Take a moment to re-evaluate yourself and reconnect with what gets you excited. Assess yourself. Look at the things that you loved to do as a child. If you have a hard time figuring out your passions, ask your friends or colleagues what they think you excel at, or what they believe your strengths are.

Unite the old with the new. Once you have figured out your passions, match them to the skills and experience that you have gained throughout the years, whether during school, at work or through a hobby. This process will help you determine what jobs and careers will best utilize your strengths. Matching your skills and experience with your passions will show you what career choices are most suitable for you. Even if you want to stay on your current career track, this exercise will help you re-energize and focus on what you like best about your job.

Research your findings. Look at what you’ve learned so far in the process to discover the career path that complements your strengths. Ask questions of other individuals within that field. For example, ask those in your desired field about what they would change about their jobs, the pros and cons and tasks they perform on a day-to-day basis. Their answers will help you get a better understanding of what might be expected of you if you picked that career path. If you’re trying to rejuvenate yourself in your current job, ask yourself or someone in your field or company the same questions. This will help pinpoint what it is that you truly love about your job.

Tomorrow, I’ll discuss tips on how to repackage yourself from updating your résumé to putting yourself in the right position to move into a new career.

Career Advancement The Daily Grind Workplace Relationships

Don’t Complain, Communicate: Boost Your Career with 7 Tips

By tiffany monhollon on Friday, September 7, 2007

Yesterday, I covered why complaining is dangerous to your career. That said, it’s important to understand the fine line between communicating and complaining, because one can hurt your career while the other can enhance it.

One of the most critical skills for employees seeking to grow professionally is communication. Sometimes, it’s necessary to communicate about negative things. Perhaps you need to tell your boss about an abusive co-worker. Maybe as a manager, you need to deal with an employee who messed up an entire product line.

Excellent communicators know that even when they’re dealing with negative subjects, they can keep things positive through what they say and how they say it. You can communicate professionally and make sure you don’t cross the line into the complaining zone by following these tips.

1. Prepare first. When you don’t take time to prepare your thoughts, it’s easy for communication about negative things to become complaining. Think of yourself as a politician who has bad news to deliver to the media – you wouldn’t go into it without well thought out points. Take the time to sort out your ideas, cool off if necessary and prepare your comments before taking on a conversation about a not-so-happy subject.

2. Communicate formally. Most gripe sessions are spontaneous, unplanned, secret and informal. To keep yourself from falling into the complaint trap when it’s time to bring up something negative, do so formally with an in-person meeting.

3. Don’t make it personal. This one is tricky, especially when other people are involved. But you should avoid making things personal when dealing with a negative situation. Otherwise, you’ll become too emotional and won’t be able to handle the situation with a level head. To keep things professional on the job, discuss issues, not people.

4. Discuss the problem briefly. Make sure you outline the basic issue, but don’t give more than a few minutes to communicate it, or you will end up in the midst of a gripe session. If you’re talking to someone else involved in the situation, you will need to take responsibility for limiting this part of the discussion, or you may find yourself dragged down a long path of negativity.

5. Focus on solutions. To keep the conversation grounded and to avoid getting personal, focus on talking about solutions, outcomes and opportunities. Sometimes, worst case scenarios are opportunities in disguise. Talk about what positive changes can be made or what needs to be done to address the situation fully.

6. Follow through. Because it’s a self-serving, emotional process, complaining rarely results in action. It usually starts and ends with negativity. To make sure your hard work and effort in addressing a bad situation properly don’t end up getting lumped in with complaining, follow through on your proposed solutions with actions to change things for the better.

7. Be positive. People often say that complaining is contagious, but positive communication is as well. No matter what negative things are going on, put a smile on your face and focus on the positive aspects of your work, life, co-workers, family and employers. You will realize that thinking positively changes your perspective and helps you communicate rather than complain – and it rubs off on the people around you, too.

Have you ever been in a situation where you found yourself complaining when you were trying to communicate? How do you make sure you stay professional and avoid workplace negativity?

The Daily Grind Workplace Goofs Workplace Relationships

5 Reasons Complaining Can Hurt Your Career

By tiffany monhollon on Thursday, September 6, 2007

Everyone can think of someone who never stops complaining. They have too much work to do, dislike their boss, have annoying co-workers, struggle financially, have family problems, etc. The thing is, they may have very valid complaints. Maybe their boss is a micromanager and they have a co-worker who refuses to act professionally. They may be bogged down with boring tasks or have too many things assigned to them.

Regardless, you’ve probably had moments where you’ve pegged this person as negative, self-absorbed and socially inept. Perhaps you’ve found yourself complaining about their constant state of negativity – after all, it brings down morale, ruins your productivity and is distracting.

But, if you’re honest with yourself, you probably have to admit that you complain at work too. It’s natural to want to talk to your co-workers about issues, frustrations and struggles – work related or otherwise. But complaining at work is a dangerous habit. Here are five reasons complaining is bad for your career.

1. Complaining plants seeds of negativity. You may start by complaining every once in a while about your finances or your spouse. But complaining about one thing sparks complaining about other things. When you give in to the habit of complaining, it increases your stress level, pushing you into the downward spiral of negativity. Before you know it, you may be complaining about everything from your car to your boss. Your outlook on your job is bound to get worse the more you complain.

2. Complaining about your workload makes you look incompetent. Wasting time complaining about how much you have to do merely demonstrates to your boss that you’re not focused, skilled at time management or capable of doing your work. Smart employees know to approach their boss for help balancing their workload instead of complaining about it.

3. Complaining about your tasks makes you seem entitled. Complaining about not liking the work you are assigned makes you seen ungrateful and high maintenance. It also demonstrates to your boss that you don’t have the skills or confidence to propose new tasks or projects.

4. Complaining is a sign of a bad leader. Leaders don’t complain; they foster change. Complainers make bad leaders. They encourage other people to complain rather than taking action to improve things. This puts the entire team in a negative environment that kills productivity, cooperation, creativity and innovation.

5. Complaining stunts career advancement. Here’s the thing about complainers – they rely on complaining to cope rather than relying on their skills and abilities. Being dubbed the complainer can kill your career advancement opportunities because it becomes the attribute that sticks out most in your employers’ minds, no matter how good your work may be.

It’s important to keep in mind that there’s a difference between communicating and complaining. Communicating focuses on solutions and positive change, while complaining is usually self-serving and focuses on how you feel. Check back tomorrow for more on how to get past complaining and start communicating.

Do you have a co-worker who always complains? How often do you find yourself complaining at work? What do you complain about? Have you ever considered how complaining can affect your career?

The Daily Grind Workplace Goofs Workplace Relationships

Life in a Sardine Can – How to Survive Cubicle Dwelling

By summer on Friday, August 24, 2007

Forty million Americans work in cubicles, according to an article in Fortune magazine. That’s a lot of people squeezed together in tiny workspaces across the nation. Working in close quarters creates unique stressors. That’s why practicing cubicle etiquette can make life in the box much more bearable.

Wear headphones to drown out noisy co-workers. Listening to music while you work can actually increase your focus by eliminating outside distractions. Headphones are a much better option than just bringing a personal stereo to your desk because even if you play your music quietly, chances are your cube mates will still be able to hear it and may feel annoyed at the added noise pollution.

Clean up your area every now and then. Since most cubicles don’t have doors, there’s nothing to keep co-workers from seeing your space. If you have three mugs of week old coffee, a half-eaten sandwich and piles of crumpled paper cluttering your desk, chances are, your cube mates resent your sloppiness. Not only are these messes distracting, when food’s involved, there’s the germ and odor factor to consider.

Wait to be invited into a conversation before offering your two cents. Because cubicles provide very little privacy, it’s common to overhear co-workers talking in other cubicles. But, just because you can hear them and there isn’t a closed door doesn’t mean they want you to join in their conversation. To be sensitive to your cube mates, don’t chime in just because you’re curious or even happen to have the exact answer they’re looking for. Let them come to you instead. This will help your fellow cube dwellers feel like they have more independence and privacy.

Don’t shout over cube walls. Even if your co-worker is only a few feet away, it’s best not to try to talk over cubicle walls. The reason is that everyone else sitting around you will also be forced to hear your conversation. Sending a quick e-mail, picking up the phone or getting up and walking to the co-worker’s desk will help to keep the noise level down.

Avoid habits that may grate on others’ nerves. Things like loudly clearing your throat and blowing your nose, spraying cologne or perfume in the cube, eating smelly food like onions or fish or talking on speakerphone are cubicle taboos. Any behavior that accosts your neighbors’ senses is best to avoid.

I’d like to hear your cubicle stories. What are your pet peeves? How do you make the most of working in a small space?

The Daily Grind Workplace Relationships

The Workplace Classroom: Creative Moments Allow Lifelong Learning

By summer on Monday, August 13, 2007

workplace classroom Most of the children in my area are starting back to school this week or next – which got me thinking about my own school days.

I remember lying awake the night before school started filled with excitement about wearing my new school clothes, meeting my teachers and finding out who I’d sit by in class or play with at recess.

The start of each school year was filled with eager anticipation for the new things I’d experience and discover.

When I graduated from college and entered the working world, I really missed the ever-changing class schedule that promised challenging ideas and unfamiliar faces. But, after my first year in the professional world, I got in the groove of my new lifestyle and missed my scholastic days less.
In my current job, I still have the opportunity to take new classes (projects), meet new students (vendors, clients, co-workers) and learn from interesting teachers (supervisors, colleagues, books). While my recess (lunch break) doesn’t involve swinging on the monkey bars or playing tetherball, it probably could if I wanted to head to a local park in my work clothes.

One of the things that made elementary school great was the opportunity to cut loose and experiment with new ideas – whether that was increasing our understanding of politics by sculpting world leaders out of Play-Doh or learning about teamwork by running a three-legged race.

Those moments stimulated our minds and helped us kids refresh from a sometimes draining day of reading, writing and arithmetic. I think those same moments are invaluable in the “workplace classroom.” Employees need to be able to try out new ideas and shake off the hum-drums when their enthusiasm wanes.

Infusing creativity and fun into the workday helps employees stay sharp and engaged.
Of course no classroom or workplace is all fun and games, but my favorite classes were always the ones where I learned without realizing I was learning. The same can be true at work. If we have enough moments that stimulate our minds and shake up the status quo, we don’t feel like we’re working, but rather exploring and making contributions to our world.

What were some of the best learning moments from your school days? How could some of those creative learning times be brought to your workplace?