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| © Getty Islamic republics' businesswoman working at the office |
As 2019 comes to a close, it’s time to focus on making some big—and
some not-so-big—changes to your situation at work. We’ve listed 11 of
the strongest pieces of advice we received in 2019 with the hope that
active and passive job seekers can use one or more tips to improve their
current gig or land a better job in 2020.
1. Target creative companies:
If you’re looking for a career with potential, focus your job search on
those companies that prioritize innovation. “You should be asking about
what the company is doing to stay on top of customer trends, attract
diverse talent and keep pace with fast-changing technologies and
competitive maps,” says Amy Radin, a former executive with Citibank and
American Express and author of “The Change Maker’s Playbook: How to
Seek, Seed and Scale Innovation In Any Company.” Look for indications of
collaboration, experimentation and openness. This has little to do with
whether there is an open floor plan and is more about talent and
culture, where resources are being invested, how fast things happen, how
decisions are made and whether the business accepts that failure is to
be expected as a necessary part of what it takes to iterate a concept
and achieve market success.
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| © Westend61/Getty Images Business meeting in conference room. |
2. Consider manufacturing: John Morehouse, director of
the Center of Innovation for Manufacturing for the state of Georgia’s
Department of Economic Development, says high school graduates shouldn’t
be so quick to discredit manufacturing jobs. “Everyone thinks
manufacturing is important to our country and to our economy but there's
definitely not as much support for those people who want to go into
manufacturing,” Morehouse says. “These are well-paying jobs and you can
build a future with them. There’s a demand for workers with a complex
set of skills, a combination of technical skills, soft skills, creative
thinking, critical thinking, communication, advanced problem solving and
more. We’re talking about rewarding work that doesn’t have to come home
with you. And you can earn a good salary—money to buy a house, go on
vacation—if you can see through the old perception and instead look at
these jobs for what they actually are—strong, interesting, stable jobs
that can provide a person the means for a great life.”
3. Move beyond online networking: If you’re looking
for a job, don’t rely solely on online networking, says Marty Gilbert,
founder and CEO of the NorthShore Executive Networking Group in suburban
Chicago. While Gilbert understands the importance of sites like
LinkedIn, he thinks some job seekers think their networking begins and
ends with an online connection. “Use your contacts wisely. Find out who
your connections are connected with and then try to go to the source,”
he says. “Go to the people that have the power, the influence, the
money, and the position to make a decision.”
Gilbert warns
against over-relying on friends and family. “Those are people who know
you really well—in most cases, too well. They may not feel comfortable
mixing their professional and personal lives if a job comes up in their
department that would be an ideal fit for you,” he says. “It's usually
better to use those contacts to introduce you to other contacts. You can
use them to grow your network.”
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| © Yagi Studio/Digital Vision/Getty Images Senior designer working in the office. |
4. Expand your skill set: Today’s college seniors
looking to enter the workforce upon graduation should know that they may
have impressive academic records and quality internships but if they
lack the soft skills needed to succeed at work, they may have to settle
for a lesser first job. The same goes for experienced workers looking to
improve their careers as well. “Soft skills are the differentiator
between people getting many job offers and maybe just a few,” says Paul
McDonald, senior executive director of staffing firm Robert Half. “You
can have great university training, you can take the right technology
courses, but I urge all students to branch out into public speaking, to
take writing courses, to take courses that will make them more
emotional-awareness-type courses. And don’t let your soft skills suffer
once you start working. You’d be surprised at the number of people
who’ve advanced their careers because they took the time to learn—and I
mean, really learn—Microsoft Excel.”
5. Don’t assume you’re a perfect fit for the job:
What if your personality rubs a job interviewer the wrong way—or more
likely, doesn’t fit in with your desired company’s culture? Amanda
Augustine, a New York-based career coach and resume writer for
TopInterview, says most times when that happens, it’s to the benefit of
the job seeker. “Whether or not you’re hired is going to come down to
the key stakeholder, which is ultimately the hiring manager—the person
who’s going to be directly in charge because they’re the ones who know
what type of person works not only with the culture of the company but
also for their team,” she says. “If a company has a very clear mission
statement, it has very strong leaders who are helping promote and
cultivate that culture from the top down, as well as from the bottom
up.”
6. Get past the “chipple:” In a recent episode of
the podcast “Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend,” guest Tina Fey brought up
her love of O’Brien’s invention of the word “chipple,” which he urged
staff members to use when they would preface a complaint about writer
and performer Robert Smigel—the voice of Triumph the Insult Comic Dog,
among other noteworthy comedic projects—by telling O’Brien how much they
loved Smigel and appreciated his comic genius. “They would say
‘Robert’s a genius and he’s fantastic and he’s the most prolific comedy
writer I’ve ever encountered,’ and they would go on and on for five
minutes and they would say ‘but the studio’s on fire … .’” After tiring
of listening to the usual preamble to the problem, O’Brien suggested
using the word “chipple” instead of the “Smigel is great” intro and then
getting right to the “but” portion of the conversation.
“It’s a
super, super useful word in any workplace,” said Fey, who recommended
that people use it in their own workplace situations. So the next time
you want to tell your boss that you really respect Paul from marketing
and you know how hard he works and you appreciate his great ideas … but
he’s been stealing your lunch, skip the “really respect” part, offer up a
“chipple” and get right to your complaint about your missing leftover
eggplant parmesan.
7. Remember, failing is an option: Tim
Bono, author of “When Likes Aren’t Enough: A Crash Course in the
Science of Happiness” (Grand Central Life & Style, $25), and the
assistant dean in psychological and brain sciences at Washington
University in St. Louis, says today’s employees shouldn’t be afraid to
fail. “People who overcome adversity do better in life because they
learn to cope with challenges,” Bono says. “Failure is a great teacher,
helping us realize what doesn’t work so we can make changes for the
better.”
8. Consider a mentor: Jesus Bravo,
assistant professor of management at the Carson College of Business at
Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, says finding strong
mentors can help employees prepare for the future. “Mentors can give you
valuable career information, expand your social networks and help with
honing professional skills,” says Bravo, adding that there are benefits
to mentors within and outside of your organization. “Internal mentors
can help with organizational issues and opportunities while external
mentors can offer insights into larger career issues. Goal setting,
career planning and role modeling are all ways that mentorships can help
open your mind to new opportunities and experiences you may have not
otherwise considered.”
9. Calm down: Feeling a
bit on edge before your job interview? Take a few minutes to settle
yourself down before meeting with your interviewer. If you don’t,
prepare to be judged by everything but your skills and experience.
“People play with their pens, rub their hands and tap their feet without
even realizing what they’re doing and that’s a problem. Constant
movement isn’t the way to an employer’s heart, that’s for sure,” says
Paul C. Green, author of “Get Hired! Winning Strategies to Ace the
Interview”. “If you find yourself fidgeting during the interview, take a
deep breath, place your hands on your legs for support and focus on
sitting still.”
10. Basic decency applies in all settings:
Spending time with co-workers away from the office—whether at company
events or casual, after-work get-togethers—doesn’t mean you no longer
have to follow the behavioral guidelines you use inside the workplace.
Stephanie Davis, an attorney with Maynard Cooper Gale’s Labor and
Employment Division in Birmingham, Alabama, says harassment of a
co-worker in a restaurant or bar is often less obvious than it is at
work, which can make it difficult for women to come forward.
“Inappropriate behavior in a quiet office is going to be amplified if
the right people are present. In a bar, it may just sound like part of
the scene, part of what happens. But it’s not. Ever,” Davis says.
“People say ‘hey, that was on our own time.’ Fine, if that’s your
defense, fine. But don’t think you won’t be held accountable. Don’t
think the women you say lewd things about or the women you lock into
extended hugs or the women you casually, jokingly touch as they walk by
are assuming it’s OK. Because they’re on their own time, too. And they
don’t choose to get harassed on their own time. That’s you. You made
that call. And you should suffer the consequences.”
11. Walk it off: Does your brain feel a little cloudy during the workday? Step away from your desk
and take a brief walk. According to scientists at the University of
California Irvine Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, as
little as 10 minutes of exercise
can result in increased memory and problem-solving skills, meaning a
quick walk around the office or up and down the stairs can help shake
free some of the workday cobwebs. If you’re looking for additional
benefits, as well as a quick mood boost, try a vigorous 20-minute walk,
suggests Michelle Paulson, a personal trainer in Concord, California.
“It’s one of the obvious aspects of life that we don’t really put into
practice,” says Paulson. “Whenever we exercise, we get a small rush of endorphins. People think they have to work out
for 60 minutes and hit a jacked-up heart rate to achieve any sort of
chemical change in their bodies but in reality, it varies from person to
person.”
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