This question came from a busy professional.
How Can We Get an Interview When We’re Under-Qualified?
Some people may be interested in a job, but they don’t apply for the job because they don’t meet all the qualifications or have the specified experience. Why should they apply anyway?
If a candidate is under-qualified–as per the job requirements–what are three things he or she can do to still stand out on his or her application and snag an interview
anyway?
This question came from a busy professional.
I’m searching for career experts who can tell me the biggest mistakes people make
when making a presentation at work.
Most everyone has heard of the more common mistakes of not making eye contact with the audience and relying too heavily on note cards. But here are some of the bigger mistakes that you may not be aware you are making.
We will go through each in detail, explain why it’s such a big
mistake and then give advice on how a presenter can avoid making the mistake.
This question came from a busy professional.
How do you quit a job without burning bridges?
I work for a consulting company and just got assigned to a 3-4-month project at the client site due to begin in early May or early June. I found out about this project last week and unfortunately, I wasn’t given a choice. The concern that I have is that I was already planning to give my resignation notice in early May and leave the company by the end of May at the latest.
I would like to tell my supervisor now that I won’t be around to take on the critical project, so they can find a replacement right away and run it by the client – but I need to iron out the details with my potential new employer first. I don’t want to put the cart before the horse. My supervisor has been good to me and I don’t want to put her in a difficult situation, as she would need to find a replacement immediately after I begin the project and the client will not be thrilled about potential delays in project delivery.
Given the timing and importance of the project with a key client, I run the risk of burning bridges. Not sure what I should do. Any advice helps.
Without knowing much about your current situation – the problem doesn’t seem to be your current job. The problem is how long it is taking the new employer to iron out things with your new position. Therefore, I recommend focusing on fixing that area first.
If you cannot iron out things with the new employer relatively quickly, this is a red flag that any future issues will also be difficult to complete. If your new employer is unable or not willing to complete these things in a reasonable time frame, this is not a good sign. The new employer is putting his/her best foot forward at the time of hire. This is as good as it gets.
So, you need to start on the right foot with the new employer.
Transparency is always a good thing when starting a new position.
The new employer will appreciate that you don’t want to put your current employer in a bind. This illustrates that you will be as conscientious with the new employer as you are with your current employer.
At this point, you have 2 directions to go:
If the new company makes the agreed-upon deadline, at that time – talk to your current manager about your plans to leave at the end of May.
If the new company cannot make the agreed-upon deadline, consider this a RED FLAG.
You always have options and say when it comes to your career and future employment.
A busy professional asks a question regarding career advancement.
When do you need a new career vs. just a new job?
When you’re burned out in your current job, how do you know if it’s time for a new career vs. just a new job? What questions should you ask yourself? What criteria should you be thinking about?
This is a question that everyone should ask – even before “burn out”. But, as you pointed out, many don’t consider it until they are “done” with their current job.
To avoid burn – have a career development plan (3, 5, 10-year plan) and regularly do a career assessment against that plan.
Some steps to get you on that path:
If you don’t have a career development plan, create one now. Decide where you want to be, do and have in 3, 5, and 10 years. Consider a 360-degree view of your life in 3, 5 and 10 years. To assist you in this, feel free to download this Dream Sculpting Worksheet.
Once you have your career development plan, it is critical that you regularly evaluate it. As you gain new experiences, skills and interests, you are changing. The career path that you defined 3 years ago may not fit the person that you are today. Take the time to reassess your professional and personal desires. Make sure you are not only staying on target – but that this target is still what you want.
The Next Career Step Challenge Worksheet may also help you with deciding if you need a new career or just the next logical step in your current career development path.
I know your situation is different. If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complimentary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ
With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.
Today’s question comes from a busy professional:
I can’t seem to stay motive past a few weeks on my New Year’s Resolutions. How can I stay motivated in my New Year’s Resolutions?
You are not alone. Although many of us make resolutions, only 10% of us actually keep them.
Today’s question comes from a busy professional:
What are some things to avoid saying during a salary negotiation? Please respond with any top tips
for mid-career people looking to negotiate a higher salary.
It’s time to ask for a raise, what are some things to avoid saying during a salary negotiation?
What do you look for when you’re building an all-star team of employees?
Do you seek out those who fit into your company culture, focus on skill sets, or look for enthusiasm? (Or maybe all of the above!) We’re a small business and entrepreneurs looking for tips when hiring team players.
Executives discussing documents at meeting
What makes this a difficult situation is that you are a small business. You don’t have the time to invest in training someone green. At the same time, you may not have the money to match the salary requirements of the more experienced candidates.
I’ve met with several entrepreneurs that focused on enthusiasm and personalities, with the hope that the new hire would grow into the position. The problem is that as busy entrepreneurs and small business owners – you don’t have the time to train the new hire. What eventually happens is that the new hire never meets expectations, because they are never given the training that they were expecting.
There are a few ways to break this cycle.
The advantage of hiring contract or freelance talent is that you only hire when you need that particular talent or task completed. It depends on the task that is required, of course.
For simple administration and executive assistant duties, you can call upon Virtual Assistants services. This is great if your needs are a few hours or days a week.
There are also several freelance services for graphics, audio, video, copy-writing, social media and marketing.
The assumption with these contract services is that there is little training required, and if you are not satisfied with their work, you can change resources at the end of the short-term contract.
If you need full-time, in-house staff consider hiring a training consultant to create your orientation materials, your employee handbooks, document your desired procedures and then train your new hires.
This allows you to hire younger, less experienced staff (at lower rates), give them the training and orientation attention they deserve, without adding to your already overflowing plate.
The last possibility is to look at experienced but older candidates. Often times, older candidates have less expenses. Their children are grown; they own their own home with no mortgage; and they have little debt. They may even understand the difficult situation of the small business owner.
Therefore; they may be open to sliding salary scale (a lower starting salary with regular review for increases based on the success of the company).
I know your situation is different. If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ
With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.
Today’s question comes from a busy entrepreneur:
How can we tackle multiple language issues within our portal?
I am currently involved in the management of a B2B platform, eWorldTrade. The problem is that we cannot hire thousands of customer service representatives to deal with the huge number of clients registering everyday belonging to different countries.
The problem with most of the countries is that they prefer to speak a language other than English and we cannot hire that many people to tackle this issue. How do you handle such a problem?
Congratulations for fully embracing the global trade environment. As you know, the language and time zone obstacles are just a few of the challengers you are experiencing. Staffing for every language is a daunting.
First – don’t assume that all customers need the same level of support.
Here are a few things to consider before hiring.
Find out exactly where your clients are, the language they speak, and their communication preference. Even though you may have a large percentage of clients in a specific country – many of those clients may prefer to communicate via email or “not at all”. They may prefer getting their information via whitepapers, videos, or other means.
You can log and track their preferences quickly through a registration form. A simple questionnaire on their communication and language preference will manage this piece. Also ask if they understand English (or whatever your primary language for your company will be).
Update your CRM (Customer Relationship Management system) with this information.
Update your List Management server to create groups or segment based on communication preferences.
With the above information, determine which will be your top 3 primary languages and staff a few multilingual customer support staff members. These multilingual employees should be placed as 2nd-line help support staff. The first-line help support staff will initially handle the customer calls, and will pass to the 2nd-line when they have hit an issue they cannot solve.
Placing the multilingual employees as the 2nd-line of help, allows you to handle many more language issues (versus placing the multilingual employee on the actual help line). These 2nd-line support employees will also be responsible for translating alternative support documents (more about this in the next section).
Create and translate a series of alternative customer support materials:
This method allows you to provide various customer solutions in multiple languages with limited resources. Since you have already employed multilingual 2nd-line support staff, you already have in-house translators.
Because your CRM will include your client’s language preference, you can forward the appropriate documents in the appropriate language to your clients. You will also understand which languages you need.
Because your List Management system is already segmented into client communication preferences, you can easily mail your newsletters/emails in different languages to the appropriate sub-lists, groups or segments.
Hope this helps a little.
Hello, this is Laura Lee Rose – author of the business and time management books TimePeace: Making peace with time – the The Book of Answers: 105 Career Critical Situations – and I am a business and efficiency coach that specializes in time management, project management and work-life balance strategies.
Today’s question comes from a busy professional:
I’m searching for career expert that will answer this question: “When someone has accepted another position and preparing to leave their current job, what is the best advice you’d give them?”
There are several ways or reasons to leave your current job:
In all cases, my best advice is to always remain professional. This means:
Regardless of why you leave, you want to be seen as a valuable contributor – even as you walk out the door. One way to illustrate your value is the handoff. This is where you outline all your tasks, procedures and assets used to do your role.
Unfortunately, more times than not, you will not have an actually “person” to train or prepare for your departure. Many employers fail to identify a replacement until you are long gone. This means you need to be document everything of significance. I recommend you document all the time, while you are in the current job. There may be times when you are on vacation, out sick, or considered for a larger position. Having your hand-off documentation always available allows you to either temporarily or permanently walk away with the confidence that everything will still run smoothly because of your preparedness.
Contacting your clients and introducing them to the “new person” is another hand-off item. Make sure to check with your supervisors before contacting your clients because some employees prefer to handle that piece differently. But you should always offer because it:
Giving 2 weeks’ notice is not as common as in the past. Depending upon the reason for your departure, your employer may choose to release you sooner. But I still recommend it. A 2-week’s notice gives you the time to execute a professional hand-off to co-workers, clients and other assets.
Life is full of twists and turns. You will never know when your paths are going to cross again. Therefore, you want to be professional at all times.
I know your situation is different. If you would like additional information on this topic, please contact LauraRose@RoseCoaching.info
I am a business coach and this is what I do professionally. It’s easy to sign up for a complementary one-on-one coaching call, just use this link https://www.timetrade.com/book/WFSFQ
With enough notice, it would be my honor to guest-speak at no cost to your group organization.
A busy professional has this question regarding his professional career.
As a manager, how can you save your company from going bankrupt?
I want to know how you would manage a company that is going to fail. Should I give up or should I continue?
Firstly, I would like to commend you on your desire to assist with the success of the company. Too many of us see our positions as merely marking the work day time. We strive to stay in our role and not venture into other areas that can assist in the success of the company (and therefore the success of the whole).
Unfortunately, without knowing your current position/department or relationship with the owners, I can only speak in generalities. For instance – if you are the manager and NOT the owner, your influence over the company’s success is directly proportionate to your influence over the owners.
Also, sales drive the business bus. If you are in a direct position to assist with sales, you have a better opportunity to affect revenue.
Therefore, the first step is to assess how much influence do you have with the executive branch.
If you have that much insecurity in the success or failure of the venture, do you really want to be the one turning off the lights? First and foremost, you need to decide what is best for you.
Regardless whether you stay at this company or move on, your goal should continually be to search out what it best for you.
You and your talent are valuable. So, decide what you want from your effort.
For example:
Decide what you are getting out of this company (both professionally and personally). If what you are getting out of the company is equal (or better) than what you are putting in – we should chat regarding your specific situation. With a few more details about the company and your background, I would be able to give additional recommendations specific to your situation.
If it is less, then we should chat regarding your next steps.
At the end of the day, the company will make business decisions. Many employees will stay loyal to their employers longer than the company can support that loyalty. Therefore, make the decisions that are best for you and your career.
Hope this helps a little.