Dress for the job you want
Ok, I will start with this one because I find it’s a crucial career advice for younger people. My first few jobs all required uniforms so this didn’t apply. But once I entered the professional world, I realized how important this advice is- and I wasn’t ready. I was a broke busy University student trying to juggle full-time school and full-time work. All that to stay afloat and pay for rent, food and debts (yes, University ain’t cheap)! My wardrobe consisted of jeans, leggings, t-shirts and sweaters. I had little income left over for new clothes and thought “since I’m just a student hired to do scheduling, photocopies and answer the phone, who cares!”
Oh boy oh boy, was I ever wrong! One day, my boss called me to his office. What he had in mind was to have me staff him at an important event since the Executive Assistant was unable due to scheduling conflict. The moment I walked into his office, he took a look at me and said “Ok, I’ll have to go alone.” He didn’t need to stay more. I understood. I wasn’t ready. Although my skill set was there, my presentation wasn’t. He was ready to start giving me bigger responsibilities but I didn’t show him that was ready to take them on.
You have to dress for the job you want. For that next step up. Unless you work in the tech industry, jeans and t-shirts won’t cut it. Any executive or managerial position requires a professional presentation. And while your boss or your peers might never comment on your attire (because in today’s era anything someone says can get them in trouble) it doesn’t mean they aren’t paying attention. So do yourself a favour and ditch the Converse and flip flops and show up dressed for the game (yes, I see people wearing those at my job).
Negotiate (and re-negotiate) your salary
I personally find women struggle with this one. Men have no problem doing this while women still struggle. Also, men tend to oversell themselves while women undersell themselves. This needs to stop ladies. Know your worth! I graduated at 24 and by then I had already accumulated 3 years of experience at work. I was taking on big responsibilities but not getting paid for it. As soon as I got my degree, I printed the job description for the Executive Assistant job and carefully went through it line by line.
Build your case:
Skills: check. Education: check. Years of experience: check.
Additionally, I was already doing all the tasks described and was able to find a list of examples for each task described and how I successfully accomplished them on a daily/weekly basis.
In the following days, I asked my boss for a meeting and went through it all with her. I got it. I got the Executive Assistant title and salary right then. It represented a big salary jump for me and I was thrilled to finally have that tile on my business card.
A few months later I went for coffee with a friend of mine that worked in a different office but same organization. She was much older than I. Somehow the subject came up. I couldn’t believe that this 40+ woman still wasn’t getting paid to part. I had caught up to her. When I asked whether she had re-negotiated her salary throughout the years the answer was “No, I couldn’t!” It still boggles my mind.
Demand what you deserve:
Suddenly all those articles I have read in the past talking about women underselling themselves hit hard. It made me sad. How can an intelligent capable woman with so many years of experience be stuck at the same salary scale from when she started? She is not alone. A lot of women tend to let this slip by. We shouldn’t. This happens in all fields and more often than not to women. Let me share this old but good snippet from an interview with actress Robin Wright who played Claire Underwood in House of Cards (ok, ok- yes … not only do I work in politics but it also influences what I watch)!
While her example wouldn’t apply to us all and is bit more “forward” (she threatened to go public) the fundamentals remain: she did her research before then demanded what she deserved. So, if you are getting the job done and well done, go ahead and negotiate! You of course need to take other things into account such as, can you realistically get a salary increase from that particular job or are you working at a small organization that simply cannot afford to pay more? If they can’t maybe you’ve outgrown that position or organization. Then it’s time to consider something new.
Don’t BS yourself through a meeting
Always show up prepared. This is such a basic requirement. However, I often see people show up unprepared and everyone quickly realizes this fact. Often, they try to camouflage their lack of preparedness by trying to add to the conversation with some irrelevant comments. This makes things worse. People quickly realize what you are doing and not only does it make you look bad, but it can hinder future career prospects. If this happens to you and you show up unprepared, stay quiet, listen and simply be honest with your answers.
When it comes to preparing for meetings, ditch the “less is more” idem. There is no such thing as over preparing for a meeting. I prefer to show up with more information than less. Also, a notebook and a pen is another basic requirement.
You don’t need to have all the answers
The biggest mistake we do is wanting to impress our boss or coworkers and over do it. Making up answers on the fly is the worst thing you can do. Not only do people eventually find out that you were wrong and completely lose your credibility, but you are also inducing other people in error which can also hurt their own reputation. It is very simple to say “I don’t know, but I will find out.” No one expects you to be perfect and have all the answers but you are certainly expected to be truthful, precise with your answers, and when you can’t, you are expected to figure it out and make things happen. So a simple “ I don’t know boss, but I will get you an answer right away!” is the best approach.
Don’t make excuses
Apologize, say it won’t happen again and move on. No one needs to hear the million reasons why you were late for work or why you couldn’t do what you were tasked to do. I am not heartless. But listen, we are all humans with complicated lives. We have children to drop off and pick up from daycare, family members that are ill or are simply having a bad day with a strike of unfortunate events, etc. But that is the point, we are ALL human. We can’t sit at work and tell each other stories about our lives and why things are difficult to juggle while the work sits there and piles up.
Do your best, get the job that you are paid to do done AND make sure to set up a support system. What does that mean? Having friends at work with whom you can go for a coffee break and tell your story. Or go for drinks after work and then get personal about life. If your problems are more serious and require more attention, I recommend that you ask your work what employee support system they offer. The Government of Canada has something called EAP (Employee Assistance Program) which includes therapy sessions. Bottom line, do your best at compartmentalizing things. When you are at work-get the job done (I have a personal story where I learned the hard way but I’ll save it for another post).
Be pleasant to work with
This don’ts mean to let people walk all over you. This doesn’t mean to always “smile”. But what this means is that there is no reason to be a jerk. If a situation requires for you to have a more assertive, direct tone- go for it. You will earn respect from your peers when you stand up for yourself or what is right in that particular situation. But the simple cordial gestures shouldn’t be so difficult to pull off. “Good morning, Charles. Hope you had a good week-end with your family. Have you had a chance to look at that email I sent you on Friday?” And actually yes, smiling doesn’t hurt! A simple good morning smile to anyone you encounter along your path goes a long way.
Reverse engineer your career
We are often chasing for something “better” without truly knowing what it is that we are truly looking for. We get tired of our jobs or feel we aren’t getting paid enough and so we look for the next best thing. A lot of us are guilty of this and I am no exception. But even when we move onto “the next best thing” , it doesn’t take long that we feel lost and unsatisfied- again! That is because we are chasing without a real goal. It is important to know what your ultimate career goal is and work your way backwards. Look at people who currently hold that position and check them out on LinkedIn. Check what their career and education path has been.
Note: people can have different career paths and end up in the same or similar position. There is no need to 100% follow someone’s career journey but it is good to take a look at it and reflect on it. It can tell you a lot about what type of skills and experience it requires to get there. Also, don’t forget to check out what type of compensation your ultimate job has has to offer. You can do so by looking up that job title and company on Glassdoor. This is important. Salary matters. We can be very passionate about what we do but if it doesn’t pay the bills or if it doesn’t allow you to have that lifestyle your are aiming for then you could potentially quickly lose that passion. Being financially stressed impacts all aspects of your life.
Bonus: done is better than perfect
Ok this one I have heard a million times and also read it in a few self-improvement books. But I will not lie to you, I personally struggle with this. Yes, I get the job done and on time. But there are things and goals I keep pushing off because I feel “it’s not quite ready.” I have a hard time taking the advice that done is better than perfect because I struggle with the idea of showcasing a work that I am not quite proud of and feel it doesn’t properly reflect my set of skills. But the alternative is no better! Showing up empty handed and always dragging the work but later because you feel is not ready is a worse alternative. So this career advice is definitely something I aim to work on this year.
What are your career goals and what career advices do you struggle following?
For more career advice or self-improvement tips check out these blog posts:
