Beyond Folders : career advancement

Is it Time to Switch Jobs?

Community Manager — Fri, 19 Oct 2012 14:26:00 GMT

Switching jobs in an uncertain economy may seem unwise but sometimes it's just time to move on. But how do you know when the time is right to leave the security of your current gig for the unknown?

Know When It's Time to Go

Look closely at your current role. Are you growing? Adding skills? Moving successfully along your career path? If you're in a holding pattern because moving on seems too daunting in this economy, you are doing your career a disservice.

Moving on provides the possibility of finding a role which is a better fit for your abilities and sets you up for future growth. As a bonus: switching jobs can also be more lucrative.

Before you whip out your resume and start cold-calling your network, take a minute to assess your readiness to move on with the Monster.com "Are You Ready for a Career Change Quiz."

Other Factors to Consider

How happy are you in your current job? If the answer is not very, it's time to start looking. Life is too short to be miserable over a paycheck.
Do you have the time and energy to devote to the process of job hunting and starting afresh in a new role? Job hunting and onboarding in a new role takes mountains of time and energy. Be sure you are not distracted by health or personal challenges.
Is your current job imperiled? If your company or role is in jeopardy, job hunting is a no brainer. Don't hang in hoping that something will change; be proactive now before the ax falls.
Have you changes jobs recently? Do you have a history of job hopping? The average American will have 3 to 4 jobs or more in a lifetime, but if you've had that many in as many years, it may be time to hit the pause button and stay in your current gig awhile.

For more food for thought, read 8 Signs You Should Think About Quitting and its follow up piece Yes, You (Probably) Can Change Jobs Now.

Why Be Ordinary? How Unconventional Resumés Get You Noticed

Community Manager — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 15:11:00 GMT

Hoping your resume gets a second look? Consider building an unconventional resume to stand out from the pack. Gone are the days when career success was easy to chart: start at the bottom and work your way up.

Now, the world's economy is increasingly global and volatile. Knowledge rapidly becomes obsolete and experience often isn't as prized as the ability to be nimble and flexible. In this economy, an unconventional resume can trump a predictable, linear path.

Wondering what exactly constitutes an unconventional resume? We've rounded up some eye-opening resources on the benefits of taking the career path less traveled. Enjoy.

Has your career path been unusual? What are the benefits (and drawbacks) to taking the road less traveled? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Best Career Advice I Ever Got

Community Manager — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 14:53:00 GMT

Do you ever look at successful people-business honchos, inventors of must-have devices, celebrated authors and speakers-and wonder how they got there? What magic recipe transformed them from Average Joe to front-page news?

While there is no "secret sauce" for success, listening to career advice from people you admire comes pretty close. We've rounded up the best career advice you never got (at least in person anyway). Follow these gems and you will be well-served, both at work and in life.

Get Seduced: Passion is the key to balance says writer Susan Tardanico in this Forbes.com piece.When you love your paid work, and pursue other things you love, be it family or hobbies, you find time in your life for it all, says Tardanico. Other advice? Be resilient and don't fear failure: mistakes get made, things fall apart, you need to learn from what wrong and move on. Calling her entire career an "accident," Tardanico also cautions against spending time planning for the future and instead advocates cultivating one's own "brilliance." Bottom line: Find what you love, do it well and trust that the rest will take care of itself.

Pay Attention: Joyce Lain Kennedy's wonderful year-end career advice piece can be summed up thus: pay attention. Don't coast along assuming job security is yours and that you remain employable. Rather, pay attention to your career; fight obsolescence by keeping your skills fresh, your network cultivated and overhauling your job hunting tools (i.e. when did you last update your LinkedIn profile?) Bottom line: Jobs are awarded by HR departments, not careers: be sure to nourish your own.

Be Yourself: Sometimes the best advice is to ignore bad advice. This tip was shared by many of the New York City women making up a recent list of Crain's Top Fifty most powerful women. Top executives in fields as different as education, the cultural arts and fashion, all revealed the bad advice they received over the years. Instead of heeding advice that didn't sit right, these women remained authentic and on-track by listening to their inner voice. Bottom line: Too thine own self be true. Props to Shakespeare for this solid career advice.

What is the best career advice you ever received? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Failure: One Stepping Stone to Success

Community Manager — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:33:00 GMT

Celebrated British Prime Minister and quote-maker extraordinaire Winston Churchill famously said, "Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

The brilliant life of Steve Jobs is just one such example of this philosophy in practice. Jobs created breakout technologies and the biggest brand on the planet, but not before stumbling publically along the way. Jobs was famously ousted from Apple, the very company he helped launch, before eventually returning to the fold and leading it on to greater glory. For more on this chapter of Jobs' storied history, read Steve Jobs: Why His Biggest Success Was Learning from Failure.

For more on the link between failure and success, you may be interested in reading:

Failure Leads to Success: A look at how the failure of the Columbia Space Shuttle Mission lead to greater success of the space program over the long haul.
Why Failure is the Secret of Your Success: This article examines the role failure plays in creating resilience in students and how helicopter parenting is cocooning children from failure, depriving kids of a valuable learning tool.
Learning from Success and Failure: An academic look at the business benefits of "failing forward" and how systematically assessing both failure and success in the work world is necessary to continue to learn and achieve.
Executive Suite: Knowledge of Failure Helps Lead to Success: Former CEO of Coca Cola and Warren Buffet board member Don Keogh wrote the book on successful business failures, literally. Keogh shares his philosophy on the importance of making the most of failure in The 10 Commandments of Business Failure.

How do you convert failure into a learning experience? Has experiencing failure lead to greater success down the road for you? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Looking Ahead: Navigating a Career Path as a Young Woman

Community Manager — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 20:58:00 GMT

There is a reason why hindsight is 20/20: looking back is a heckuva lot easier than guessing what's up ahead. Smart women beginning their careers can take the guesswork out of what lies down the road by learning from the women who went before them.

Been-there, done-that insight from talented women further along the career path can help up-and-comers shorten the learning curve and avoid common pitfalls.

While no two women will ever tread exactly the same path, savvy women everywhere can glean fabulous advice from our round-up from across the web.

Facebook Advice: We've blogged in the past about the smart, succinct advice for young women from Facebook powerhouse Sheryl Sandberg. It's worth another look here; Sandberg suggests that working women must take three steps to advance in their careers:

Sit at the table. Take your rightful place among the players, negotiate your salary and own your power. More than 50 percent of men negotiate salaries while less than 10 percent of women do so.
Make sure your partner is a real partner. Women wind up shouldering a majority of the child rearing duties and house chores, even when they work. A true 50-50 split is needed.
Don't leave before you leave. Women often stop gunning for promotions and projects when they contemplate having a family. Sandberg says women shouldn't "lean back" but should rather keep full steam ahead and not undermine their careers even before the take a break for family.

Ten Women, Numerous Tips: Women's Day magazine interviews ten dynamic women with careers ranging from CEO of a skincare company, to foreign relations expert to dentist, for their take on the best way to achieve a work-life balance, how to make opportunities out of setbacks, and more.

Smart Cookie: The unofficial first lady of New York State, celebrity chef Sandra Lee, heads a multimillion dollar business she created from scratch. Lee dishes up smart financial advice for working women including: know your market worth, negotiate your own contracts and ask for the salary and raises you deserve. Lee also reveals that she negotiates all her own contracts rather than using an agent.

Feedback Vs. Perfection: Author Hannah Seligson, who wrote the book "New Girl on the Job: Advice From the Trenches," uses this NYT article to distill her advice to women starting off in the corporate word. In a nutshell, Seligman advises women to jettison perfectionist tendencies and instead court feedback to learn how to become a more valuable employee. Seligman also encourages women to view a job as a two-part process: first, do the actual work, second, talk about what you've done, preferably in bottom-line terms.

What would be your advice to your younger self if you were just starting out in the work world? What is the number one thing young women should think about as they navigate their career? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Same Office, Different Generation: What Younger Employees Can Teach

Community Manager — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 20:43:00 GMT

Whoever said "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," obviously never conceived of a world where a generation of workers raised in the pre-Internet era would make daily use of smart phones, software, apps, etc. A more accurate maxim might be, "It's never too late to learn something new."

Given that new tricks are the tools of the trade in the business world, a commitment to lifelong learning is a smart career strategy. Who better to teach older employees what's new and next than the newest generation of workers?

Young millennials can teach older employees valuable lessons including:

New Technology: Younger employees are incredibly tech savvy. Older employees can keep abreast of the latest trends in technology by checking in with their knowledgeable young colleagues. Ask frequently about apps and social media; the landscape changes daily.

Diversity: The newer generation is more diverse in background and ethnicity resulting in a more multicultural, diverse worldview. Social norms change from generation to generation and spending time with younger colleagues will help older workers stay current not only on cultural trends but on changes in social mores.

Risk Taking: Younger people are traditionally more entrepreneurial and less bound by convention. The "sky's the limit" worldview often fades with time, so recharge your "anything is possible" mojo by spending time with forward thinking millennials.

Flexibility: Younger workers tend to be more malleable, willing to acquire new skills and open to different paths in their career. In today's tough economy, it is crucial for older workers to adapt as easily and nimbly as their younger counterparts.

Cost Effective: The unhappy truth that older workers must often confront is that younger employees are often willing to work hard for less money. While it is illegal to fire someone because of their age, as companies look to save costs, they often look to buy out or retire older workers. And when a company looks to hire for a vacant role, a younger hire is generally preferred to an older one. Smart older workers will look carefully at their younger competition and continually work to make the case that a seasoned employee is a cost-effective hire, one that can contribute to the bottom line.

What is the best lesson a younger employee ever taught you? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Same Office, Different Generation: What Younger Employees Should Know

Community Manager — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 20:41:00 GMT

For young employees transitioning from dorm room to desk job, one of the biggest challenges can be interacting in a multigenerational setting. After all, during the school years, people are generally in lockstep with their age group. Workplaces, with a community of mixed ages, are a different story.

Smart millennials can take advantage of the diversity of experiences in a work setting by learning valuable lessons from older employees. Older employees can offer:

Experience: Older workers know the ropes. Smart newcomers can shorten their learning curve by both emulating older workers and tapping into their deeper reservoir of information about company policies, politics and industry information.

Perspective: Seasoned workers have a big picture perspective that younger workers lack. They have experienced cycles at work and in life and can provide a valuable road map for younger counterparts.

Interpersonal Skills: The previous generation developed interpersonal skills without the benefit of social networks and newer technologies. While almost all workers now make use of newer technologies, the previous generation also recognizes the value of face-to-face interactions and polite conventions such as thank you notes and in-person phone calls. Younger millennials would do well to acquire the same breadth of interpersonal skills.

Independence: Older workers generally were raised with an emphasis on self-reliance. Workers in their 40s and beyond often demonstrate greater independence and require less hand-holding than a generation raised by helicopter parents to expect constant attention and feedback. Younger workers should try to emulate the independent style of older workers.

Work Ethic: Experienced workers, who have steadily and progressively risen through the ranks, generally have a strong work ethic and are conscientious employees. They understand that an excellent work product, loyalty and hard work are necessary to get ahead. Savvy millennials will take a page from this lesson: diligence and hard work are necessary to achieve success.

What is the best lesson an older employee ever taught you? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Relationships Matter: Creating Career-Boosting Alliances

Community Manager — Mon, 07 Nov 2011 20:39:00 GMT

To land a plum assignment is it more important to a) have a proven track record, b) have a strong work ethic, or c) have a good network?

Trick question: the answer is all of the above. Many people might assume that a proven track record and a robust work ethic is enough but what truly distinguishes two proven performers is their network. Strong alliances can be career differentiators for strong performers.

Given the choice between two first-rate performers, smart employers choose the person who is a proven relationship builder. After all, relationships are the pipelines through which information flows and projects are moved forward. If your pipeline is weak or broken in spots, your ability to effect change and drive momentum is compromised.

How to build strong alliances:

Network: Build (and maintain) relationships at your current and past jobs. Schedule time for networking just as you would any other task; send e-mails, have lunch with colleagues and try to attend conferences and seminars in your field every few months. Join industry associations but don't overlook your personal life: be active in alumnae associations and in civic and community groups.

Mentor: Take time to mentor up-and-coming colleagues. A mentoring relationship can be incredibly rewarding both personally and professionally. Successful mentoring is a two-way street: mentors pass along their knowledge and perspective and mentees share fresh outlooks and a younger generation's knowledge of hot trends and technologies. Plus young mentees will grow and move on, expanding a mentor's network.

Partner: Seek out opportunities to collaborate with peers both within your company and more broadly, within your industry. Look to work across departments within a company or join a steering committee of a trade association that will allow you to meet industry peers. Consider partnering with another business on a joint venture. Opening a door to a new group of people grows your network and expands your perspective.

Ally: The bedrock of any relationship is built on trust. Look to have the back of the people you work and interact with every day. By acting as an ally to your colleagues and clients, in matters both large and small, you forge a strong bond. Cultivate a reputation as a trustworthy, loyal, people person. When you extend yourselves to others, that trust is generally repaid in kind.

How do you cultivate valuable career alliances? Share your thoughts here and at the Pendaflex Facebook page.

Renew Your Commitment to Your Career

Community Manager — Thu, 12 May 2011 13:46:00 GMT

Flower buds and slender green leaves are popping up all over signaling spring's arrival. Take a cue from this season of renewal to take stock of your career. Too often, we're so busy punching the time clock, meeting deadlines and moving from project to project that there's no time to stop and evaluate where our career is heading. Do yourself a favor and put the spring-cleaning projects on hold for a weekend and instead take some time to assess your career and its trajectory.

Not sure of how to begin? We've assembled some useful reading material to get you started.

Own It

We like the advice in A To-Do List for the CEO of Your Career. The article encourages people to understand that their skills and career are not static, but rather must be constantly reinvented. Adding new skills and embracing new opportunities is not only smart, it's essential in order to remain marketable. In a nutshell, say good-bye to the notion of climbing a corporate ladder, rung after rung, and hello to the idea of a career lattice, composed of different paths and branches.

Be Prepared

Even if a job hunt isn't on your to-do list, advancing a career can look a lot like job hunting. For terrific tips on steps that all employees should take for advancement even when you're happy to say put, read Top 10 Career Moves Even the Happily Employed Should Make. Advice includes networking ideas, building your online brand as well as resume updating.

Get Networked

Nurturing your career isn't just about adding new skills; it's about nourishing your network. Commit time and energy into building your network - both vertically and laterally. Vertical networking might be about finding a mentor and as well as extending yourself to mentees. And don't neglect lateral networking across your peer group. For more ideas on networking as a savvy career move, read Test the Strength of Your Network.

How do you nurture you career? How often do you evaluate your career? Share your thoughts here and on the Pendaflex Facebook page.

by Candie Harris