My Gen Y Life

Changing your career within the same company can be an incredible benefit for you (and your retirement account), especially in a market where employment rates are down.  Companies love hiring internally for several reasons, but there are some benefits for you too.

Internal applicants get higher priority in the hiring process. Most managers feel obliged and HR recruiters encourage them to interview any internal applicants for a position first, while external applicants are more scrutinized. One note though – don’t tell your boss until you are in the final rounds for a position. You don’t want to cause a commotion when you might not get the job.

Internal transfers are less expensive. You’ll likely not get as big of a raise by transferring internally compared to moving to a new company, but you can interview during your work hours instead trying to hide your mystery appointments. You also don’t have to worry about not having a paycheck right away with the new job, or worrying about losing your benefits. The company benefits from not having to pay as much recruiting costs.

Easier transition period. Instead of leaving the company, you may be able to start training for your new job during work hours and be available to train the person who is filling your old shoes. Careful not to let the latter take away from your new job though. Let your replacement and former boss know that you are not “on call” just because you’re a few floors away, and specify how much time you will spend on transitioning.

Decreased learning curve for new job. Learning how the company works can take a lot of time. While you may still be new to department processes and people, you are already privy to the inner workings of the company and can get up to speed much quicker than if you were new.

So don’t be afraid to regularly look at your company’s job postings! (More employees do it than you think.) Your next career move could be right under your nose!

Knowing where to cross the line on helping out others can make or break your career. My approach to taking care of my husband when he’s hurt or ill taught me a great lesson about what I should or shouldn’t do at work if I want to be successful.

When I came home from work one day I found my DH sitting on the couch with his hand lying limp above his head and a miserable look on his face. He was supposed to be at class already so I asked him what was wrong. The poor guy had a ‘man cut’ (if you haven’t seen it, view the “man cold” on YouTube). He had accidentally cut his thumb with a razor knife when opening a package and it was making him feel lightheaded so he was holding his hand above his head to stop the throbbing - for three hours. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t get much sympathy from me. My approach is self-service: you do what you need to do to get better and move on. I never got doted on by my parents unless I had a life-threatening injury. With four of us girls in the house my parents had no room for a bunch of whiners – we were taught to “toughen up” and chastened that we “should have known better.” It was a rare incident to be catered on and oftentimes made us miss out on doing what the others were doing, so we learned quickly that there was no benefit to being sick or injured very long.

Some guys may have been brought up with similar nurturing styles from their parents, but it’s common belief that men have less tolerance for pain. Therefore, a minor cut for my husband is suddenly much more severe than if I were to have a cut. At one point his self-pity reached an all-time high when he said that he didn’t feel it was “safe for him to drive,” which is why he had to miss his night classes. On the business side, women generally tend to put up with more “pain” than men and are more willing to help people out. I learned from my experience with my husband how important it is not to let others take advantage of you and to set a precedent from the beginning. If I had given in and done everything for my husband when he was perfectly capable, he would likely expect the same thing to happen the next time around. If you’ve ever had to train a new person to do your former job, you know how easy it is to just “do it for them” rather than teach them how and why you did it. For some coworkers the old adage applies where if you give an inch they take a mile – if you step outside your responsibilities to do their work once they will expect it again. Before you know it, you will be extremely frustrated and they will be getting the credit for all of your work.

So next time someone at work asks you to do something for them, make sure you think twice about how you will respond. If you decide to help them out, make sure they know it is a favor and that you normally wouldn’t be responsible for that. Although you may feel “bad” at first, it will be for your benefit in the end.

I knew the honeymoon period was over in my marriage when my DH told me to “stop whining” when I stuck out my pouty lip about something instead of him saying that I was “cute”. After the honeymoon period there is a tendency to criticize more and forgive less.

My coworkers that have been at the company for a long time (7+ years) tend to criticize the most. They see the “writing on the wall” and read the “tea leaves”. When they immediately deject an idea because of what they think they foresee, they breed negativity and give up. “We’d never get funding for that – don’t plan on it” or “They never recognize our accomplishments – we’re never gonna be rewarded.” I just want to ask them, have you ever thought about doing something different? Maybe you’re not communicating well enough to the boss – maybe there’s something you can do about it!

Am I just naïve for having optimism about making change? I think not. If there ever needed to be change it’s now when we are in a recession market and need to be more creative with how we spend our money and how we prove our value to the company.

Maybe I’m focusing on the small issues? Some issues that I care deeply about at work may be in the very back corner of the CEO’s mind, behind a door in a box. In order for them to surface I need to be able to connect them to a “big picture” objective, and I need my boss or an executive sponsor to support me and not just put my idea aside. Small issues can become big issues if they are not addressed early on.

Am I in the wrong department? It’s no secret that some departments (usually the sales force or other central business) get more attention than the departments that “keep the lights on”.  Consequently, they tend to be more influential. This group is a key supporter for making a change at work.

Is the honeymoon period over? Perhaps I was coddled as a new employee and everyone smiled and nodded when I would suggest something, and in the backroom say how “ambitious” and “good spirited” I was. Now that I’ve been here a couple years and have gone through the “test of time” they are more honest with me and we can all wallow in our trials together.

Is anyone else feeling this way at work? Please comment.

In a Harvard study, 90 percent of men and 82 percent of women said their motivation comes from the adrenaline rush of high-pressure situations, compared to only 43 percent and 28 percent, respectively, saying motivation comes from high financial compensation.

It’s like an adrenaline rush to be on the go and busy and have the day fly by. I love days where I have lots to do, places to go, and people to see.  I thrive on the more thrilling days – that can happen even in the corporate world. Like when there is a high priority project that only certain people are asked to be a part of – and it takes precedence over everything else you’re doing that day. Sure you had other things planned, but this is more fun! Or when you are going five different directions all day and realize how versatile and multi-talented you are. Any time you get a big win on a project or in a meeting. It feels like you’re on top of the world!

If I’ve gone too long without an adrenaline rush at work, or anything that resembles one, I tend to get bored of the job. Even just once a week keeps me going and makes me feel satisfaction in what I’m doing. The adrenaline rush can be the confidence booster that gives me that extra edge.

In Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, self-actualization is striving to be the best you are and making the most of your abilities. Having an adrenaline rush gives you the motivation and confidence to make it to that point where you are doing your best – and enjoying it. If your job isn’t meeting your needs – psychological needs – then you should re-evaluate your job and start looking around. It’s more important in the long run to find a job where you can make the most of your abilities than to make more money.

I’m generally a happy person, but there are times when I’m not smiling at work. I may be concentrating on a report, thinking of ideas, just had a frustrating conversation, concerned about someone, or so on. I don’t think anyone could smile throughout the day and really mean it.

There are also some people who are paid to be nice, like receptionists for example, so they can be approachable for guests, etc. That’s part of their job. There are some people out there though who are “too” nice, and have ulterior motives for doing so. These people put on a fake smile and ask everyone how their day is going, and force conversations with people just to say they “know” them.  

Instead of this superficial nicety, just be genuinely nice to people you respect. You could lose respect quickly by being overly friendly. Most people can see right through it and it can discredit your persona for the long-term. Here are three reasons not to be nice to everyone:

1. You’ll be the “nice” guy. This is never a compliment you want. The person saying this obviously couldn’t think of anything more valuable about you then being “nice” because you over-exaggerate the very meaning of the word.
2. Co-workers won’t take you serious. Being too nice to people will automatically mark you as a pushover. Unless your co-workers only want to hear “nice” things from you, they will likely not consider you a credible person to offer critique.
3. You’ll be passed over for promotions. Good managers know when to be tough and stand up for their employees. If you’re too nice, how can your manager trust you to stand up to people if it could ruin your “nice” image?

Most companies don’t use the word “secretary” anymore - companies have become more creative with terms like “administrative assistant”, ”client service representative”, and my favorite, “project coordinator”. I don’t care what they call it, it means you’re going to be answering calls, setting up meetings, doing paperwork, filing, and copying. If that’s you’re calling in life - great, we can’t live without you. If the sound of doing that the rest of your professional life makes you cring, read on.

You know in college when they chanted the alumni phrase: “Once a [insert mascot here], always a [insert mascot here].” Now insert “secretary” into that blank. I received sound advice from a former employee who told me not to take a secretary job for the company just to get in. Big mistake, she said, because from that time forward everyone thought of her as the go-to person for completing the daily administrative duties regardless of what her job description said. She was even turned down for other jobs because of her perceived limited abilities.

Thankfully to her, I passed over the secretary jobs and waited for the right opportunity to come up. It took me interviewing for 4 positions before I was offered a job as a web specialist. It wasn’t my ideal job (who’s first job is?), but it was something related to my skills that would teach me a lot and open up more opportunities.

Unfortunately, I still had to fight the label as the secretary of the group. I don’t know if it was because I was young, blonde, or sat in a cube outside a conference room, but people would ask me where the manager was, ask me to setup meetings, and assumed that I knew how to fix the copy machine. After feeling a little peeved at first, I would tactfully respond with the name of the actual secretary for the manager and send them on their way.

Luckily, over time, people took the hint, I focused on my real job, and did work above and beyond. Proving that I could handle project management, write well, and think outside the box were key in distinguishing me from any previous perceptions people had about me. My manager was also my champion, and would include me on projects that would give me greater exposure in the company. Now I feel that I have created a good persona for myself and it shows with the promotions and projects that I’ve been given.

Your first year or two in the company in crucial for developing your persona, and if you do it well you will be rewarded. Do yourself a favor and don’t make secretarial duties the main focus of your job - let the real secretary do what he/she does best.