As a manager, it’s easy to fantasize about an idealized world where you build trust and rapport with your staff that leads to open and honest communication about their on-the-job frustrations and career ambitions (whether that means staying with your company or not). And, as much as I’d like those I manage to feel comfortable enough to share that kind of information with me, I have to admit I am a hypocrite.
When you work for a crazy boss, the thought of letting them know you’re actively seeking another job is pretty much the furthest thing from your mind. In fact, you probably spend most of your time trying to figure out how to manage and cope with their craziness through a combination of avoidance and commiserating with coworkers.
And then there are the great bosses--the managers who look out for you and promote your professional development. They’re the tricky ones because, no matter how much they want to see you succeed, in a lot of ways when you’re looking at an opportunity with another department or company, it feels like a break up. And with break ups come emotions. On one hand, they’re happy that you’re happy. But, on the other, they’re now left to come up with a plan for finding your replacement (never something most managers I know look forward to) and covering your duties.
But it’s not just managers hoping their employees will confide in them about their career plans…I’ve also been on the other side of the coin when I felt I had developed a great rapport and working relationship with a former boss yet I didn’t even have the slightest clue that this person was about to leave the team for another position. In reality, I realize people, especially managers, have to keep these things close to the vest—yet, for some reason, I still find myself living in this idealized world where employees would have open and honest conversations with their managers and vice versa.
So, in the end, as much as I’ve always hoped my team would feel comfortable enough to come to me before making the decision to leave the organization, in reality that’s something I’ve struggled with myself regardless of whether I was working for a great boss or a not-so-great boss. Regardless, I’ll continue to strive to create a work environment that fosters open communication about pursuing other job opportunities.
How about you? Do you expect your staff to tell you they’re looking?
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
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In my current role as Director of MBA career services, I am charged with the difficult task of trying to convince companies that haven’t recruited with us before to hire our students for full-time or intern positions. Even when times are good, this can be incredibly difficult (think immovable object) as most companies focus on a handful of “core schools” and rarely, and I mean rarely, waver from that list no matter how compelling your pitch.
Now, waist deep in a recession and smack dab in the middle of the campus recruiting season, companies are struggling with how to justify hiring freshly-minted MBAs or undergraduates when they’ve just announced thousands of employee layoffs. So, when faced with the choice, many companies are deciding to furlough their campus recruiting programs altogether instead of trying to maintain their talent pipeline, even if only at a fraction of normal hiring levels.
Companies are obviously faced with some incredibly tough choices, many of which will impact whether they’ll even be in existence past the end of the week (if even that long). But cutting campus recruiting programs altogether can be costly.
The time, money, and sweat equity you spent building your on-campus presence is a sunk cost. It’s gone. You can’t get it back. If you decide to pull the plug on your college recruiting program, there’s a good chance you’re going to have to start from scratch once we start to crawl our way out of the current economic mess we’re facing. And that can send ripple effects through your campus recruiting efforts for years to come.
Instead of completely eliminating campus recruiting, continue as many companies have, to consider any and all low-cost recruiting alternatives. Substitute phone interviews for campus interviews. Post jobs and internships with campus career centers. Stay in touch with candidates of interest--especially if there’s a chance you might be able to offer them an internship before the start of summer. If you can’t commit to bringing someone on full time, consider hiring an intern or two. Even if you can’t do any hiring, maintain your on-campus presence with a company presentation or attendance at a career fair (utilizing local alumni as representatives if you need to), making clear to students that hiring opportunities presently don’t exist, but that you want to meet candidates for future openings.
Though the temptation exists to cancel all recruiting activities, that’s a costly approach. Limit the scope of your involvement, but maintain the relationship. It’s critical for long-term hiring success.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
If you would have asked me that question when gas prices were not only through the roof, but also through the cumulonimbus clouds (take that 8th grade science class!!), I would have likely had a much different response. But now that gas prices have subsided a bit (although it looks like they’re inching back up again), it’s easier to appreciate some of the benefits that go along with a long work commute.
A few mornings ago, I was speaking to one of my colleagues and he mentioned how much he missed being able to download after a long day at work during his commute home. And I know what he means. When I lived in North Carolina, I lived six miles from work. And as my ex-fiancé will attest, there were plenty of times when I came home from work all wound up because I didn’t have a chance to decompress.
For me, a longer drive means leaving the house before dawn. And luckily, I happen to pass a 24 hour Dunkin Donuts on my way into work. The coffee is great but I’ve also developed quite a fondness for their sour cream glazed donut…but we’ll worry about that if I get to the point where I need an intervention.
And then there’s the radio. There’s nothing like a good morning show (of which Pittsburgh has plenty), to start the day off right. And on the ride home, I catch up on local and national news and, or of course, Steeler football.
Sure traffic jams and bad weather can be a pain, but I’d like to think my coworkers, friends and family all benefit from my having a longer commute into work. I know I’m definitely less stressed when I get home after an intense day at the office.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
This was something I didn’t think I struggled with, until a recent staff meeting when day my boss asked me for an update of how things were going in my department. I’m pretty sure I started out on the right path, but, as I continued to think of all of the things we were working on, the update dragged on and on and on. In reality, it probably only lasted about two minutes, but after the dust settled, I provided much more information than was needed or that was even digestible.
It’s easy to forget that your boss might also have a boss to keep in the loop and that he or she has to report, not only on your department, but possibly other departments as well. So, the issue isn’t “whether” to update your boss, it’s “how” and “how often.”
I usually find it helpful to try to frame updates by putting information in a few (no more than five) big buckets. I’ll then provide a few concise details for each area. But in this case, I found myself talking through all of the things that my department was working on, transforming into a human tornado of information.
Following the meeting, I stopped by her office to ask if she thought it would be helpful for me to pull together a high level status update. She said it would. She also encouraged me to stop by her office to give her periodic updates on what was going on in my department. With everything going on, it would have been easy to shrug off her request and leave it for the next staff meeting, but that would be a missed opportunity. In my experience, if your boss makes a subtle suggestion like that, it’s in your best interest to follow through.
A lot of our success hinges on preemptive periodic pings—our ability to concisely package and articulate what were working on at any given moment. As I work to keep my boss in the loop, I make a point of doing so in a way that doesn’t cause indigestion.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
Holidays and/or nice weather usually mean employees are going to schedule vacation days…and lots of them. And with that, it’s up to management to make sure the department is staffed accordingly and honor vacation requests in an equitable manner.
I’ve been lucky enough to work for some great bosses. And one of the things that made them great was their making sure that everyone on the team was able to take the time off they needed even if that meant they themselves had to work on a day they would have normally taken off just to make sure we were fully staffed.
However, that’s not always the case. Working for management with a “me first” mindset often means they are more worried about scheduling their own vacation than they are making sure that the person with the least amount of seniority gets to take a day or two off (even when that person technically has more seniority than they do). Or, even worse, they refuse to cover for one of their direct reports because they feel that would be beneath them. Regardless, it creates an obvious morale problem-- especially for those managers with a very small staff.
Around holidays and other lulls in your business cycle, when possible make sure everyone on your team has a chance to take some time off…even if it’s only one day. And if that means you have to come in to cover for them, why not take one for the team?
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
One of the cool things about working at a university (and in particular a business school) is having a chance to sit in on presentations by business leaders from an almost limitless number of industries. Each has their own unique story and each leaves me with at least one takeaway.
I first became familiar with Brunner Advertising (formerly Blattner Brunner) from my friend Andy who happened to work there at the time. I don’t know if it was their cool website or a little Andy-bias, but since then I’ve always thought they were one of the coolest businesses around. And others must agree as they’re consistently ranked as one of the top 100 advertising firms in the country. So, when I heard their CEO was coming to speak at the business school, I jumped at the chance. And, although Michael Brunner’s presentation focused on the advertising business and advertising a business, I thought a lot of the principles he talked about related directly to personal branding. In particular…
Do compelling work--clients notice. As he pointed out, consumers (or in this case recruiters) have “thousands of choices. You want to be noticed and scene.” Use the quality of your work (or your pre-interview preparation) to differentiate yourself from other candidates.
Invest in your brand. This can apply to so many areas. Invest time—figure out what you want to be known for. Invest financially—make sure you’re dressing the part and that you have the right training even if it means enrolling in some courses on your own dime.
Learn and grow professionally. One of the cool things about his vision for the firm is their focus on professional growth. At work, ask questions and take on new responsibilities. Set stretch goals for yourself.
Define and articulate your vision, mission, and message. At Brunner, he mentioned that the vision, mission, and message are posted everywhere. He did that so members of his team keep them top of mind in everything they do. As a job seeker, what is your vision (both your personal vision, and your vision for the position for which you’re interviewing), your mission (what are you about? What do you hope to accomplish?), and your message (those 3-4 sound bites that you want recruiters to remember about you).
Stay connected. Whether you’re a business or an interviewee, you’ve got to stay on top of industry news and trends. I’ve said it before, but Ii you have time to update your status on Facebook, you have time to read relevant industry publications before a job interview.
If you have some extra time before you leave for the holidays, you might want to take a second to check out Brunner’s site—especially their mantra.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
I'm happy to report that I arrived safely back in the states yesterday (Tuesday) after a two day bus/van trip from Bangkok to Kuala Lumpur and a 20+ hour flight.
For now, I've got to focus on filling out one heck of complicated expense report and filing a claim to try to get my employer reimbursed for the additional costs.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
The good news is I'm safe and I have food and a place to stay. The bad news is protesters have taken over the Suvarnabhumi International Airport and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight any time soon.
I was scheduled to leave for Manila yesterday morning. I was packed and ready to go but, uncharacteristically, decided to glance at the local newspaper as I headed out the door. The headline read "PAD shuts Suvarnabhumi." I didn't know what PAD stood for at the time (People's Alliance for Democracy) and i wasn't quite sure if that was my airport, but the secondary blurbs caught my attention "Thousands stranded as outbound flights canceled," "Army refuses to step in to boost airport security," "Somchai to call emergency meeting of security agencies." I might have been half asleep when I picked up the paper, but I woke up in a hurry.
So that was yesterday at 6am in Bangkok. Updates have been few and far between.
I'm lucky to have some awesome friends and colleagues. As it turned out, I don't have a global phone--in retrospect, not the best idea when traveling to Singapore, Bangkok and Manila (oh, and i missed the Manila leg of the work trip). But, because I was only going to be out of the country for a few days, I thought I could use calling cards and emails to stay connected with friends and family. And that's where my support network has checked in. Everyone has been offering to help me find transportation, update my family back in PA, and otherwise giving me a lot of moral support.
For the most part, I've been able to remain pretty cool. Except for when I was on the phone with a travel company and the person I was speaking with told me she didn't believe their insurance policy covered war. Needless to say, at this point I'm really not too worried about their policy on war. Hilarious.
Then news of the terrorist attacks in Mumbai. Reading about that conflict really made me appreciate having safety, food, and a place to stay.
I'm not sure when I'm going to get out of Bangkok but I hope it's soon. That's all for now.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
As a good friend and mentor put it after learning that he was going to be laid off, the hard part of learning the news wasn’t as much about the actual layoff as it was those awkward conversations that followed in the hours and days after news of the layoff started to find its way throughout the department, division, and company. As word spread, instead of reaching out to console him or offer to help, coworkers instead started to avoid eye contact or speaking with him at all costs. I’m not sure if it’s guilt over their not getting laid off right along with you or not knowing exactly what to say, but it’s one of the unpleasant aftershocks of being let go.
Do you cut all ties with the colleagues or do you use the layoff as an opportunity to build networking opportunities once you’re gone?
My friend decided to confront the situation head on. Instead of waiting for colleagues to come to him, he launched his own campaign. Shortly after the news was public, he visited informally with former coworkers one-on-one to reassure them he was going to be fine.
He joked around. When approaching a coworker, he might say something along the lines of “Just think, when you’re sitting in that eight-hour staff meeting, I’m going to be sitting on my deck drinking a margarita.” His light hearted (while still professional) approach immediately took some of the edge off of conversations and also steered them in a positive direction.
When asked how they could help, he was able to clearly articulate the types of jobs, companies, and industries he is considering. He also asked that they keep him in mind if any leads cross their desk.
However, most layoffs are swift—you’re told your job ends today and you’re instructed to pack up your belongings. So, if you get the feeling that a restructuring might be possible, save a copy of your contact list or company directory. That way, if you have time to access it, you can identify the coworkers you really want to connect with before you make your exit. Or, if not, having the list will allow you to follow up within a few days with phone calls to those you were closest to and emails to everyone else to set the tone and let them know you'd appreciate their assistance.
Will my friend’s efforts pay off? It’s still too early to tell. But, based on the initial response, it seems like his approach has resonated well with his former coworkers. And, if nothing else, he’s making sure he maintains his network of former colleagues now that he’s officially exited the organization.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
I got an email from my friend Jeff about using Google calendar to input/track his trips and those of friends and colleagues when he’s traveling with his job or even while he’s on vacation. As has happened to most of us when we’re traveling on business, he often found out after he’d returned home that he was in the same area at the same time as someone he would have liked to meet up with. By creating a designated travel calendar on Google, he’s able to share his travel plans ahead of time with people (like me) in his network.
Using Google calendar or a similar application also allows you and your colleagues to coordinate simultaneous trips to the same city. By knowing travel schedules ahead of time, you could coordinate hotel stays, flights, and even client meetings.
I hope I will be diligent enough to add my travel plans to his calendar going forward…even if I missed a good excuse to connect with him during his current trip to Vegas.
Shawn Graham is Director of MBA Career Services at the University of Pittsburgh and author of Courting Your Career: Match Yourself with the Perfect Job (www.courtingyourcareer.com).
