Thriving in Next Job

To get a new career position, a job seeker must have a strategy, show that he or she wants the work, be persistent, make a lot of calls and mail a lot of resumes. Likewise, a person will probably have to develop and use a network, be realistic in terms of expectations, feel comfortable with company's mission and corporate culture and sell his or her abilities to potential employers. After a job applicant has done these things, he or she will need to accept the offer made or successfully negotiate a better offer.

Then, once a person begins a new job that person can behave in certain ways that will help him or her to have a short stay. Alternatively, the new employee can do things that will help him or her to thrive (or at least survive for awhile if it turns out to be a bad situation) in that new position. While there are many factors that determine success and while there are no guarantees in life, below are a dozen tips on how to succeed in one's next position.

A Dozen Tips for Thriving in Next Job

First, one should slice out an area and become an expert in it.  Regardless of whether one develops a reputation within a company of being the type of person who has a good overview or is a strong details type of person, it is important that others view the person as "essential" to the organization. The reason is that "nonessential" individuals are the first to get axed when times are tough, and if a person is viewed as having a necessary expertise he or she will more likely survive layoff periods. On the flip side, if an employee helps a company to grow and earn higher profits that individual will quite possibly receive a promotion.

Second, an individual should make sure that what he or she is doing is critical to the company. If the organization is a consulting firm the person should be consulting. Similarly, if it is a software development corporation the employee should be focusing on developing new and better software. Since the heart of a company offers the highest pay and since it is the area that upper management focuses on the most, this spot in the firm will almost always provide the most promotional opportunities.

Third, the person should put customers first. If individuals please clients the customers will often help to protect that employee's job. This is especially the case with service companies such as engineering firms and with the greater emphasis that is being placed upon customer satisfaction. In fact, those who have recently bought a new car (or even eyeglasses) or who have in the last year taken a continuing education course were likely asked to fill out an evaluation form. The data from these forms is tracked to ascertain how well a company's troops are performing. However, one must temper satisfying a customer with making money since an employee who prices contracts below costs will not please the customer who signs paychecks meaning his or her boss.

Fourth, one should be a team player. The reason is that persons who are perceived as being helpful and who others view as beneficial are more likely to keep jobs and get promotions. This is becoming even more the case with companies asking employees to confidentially evaluate their coworkers and with the emphasis on cross functional teams where for instance a new product launch requires the cooperation of technical employees, manufacturing, packaging, advertising, marketing, sales and regulatory departments. To help solidify relationships, it is often helpful to say "yes" when colleagues, suppliers or customers ask for participants in activities such as charity fundraisers or recreational events. However, because too many extracurricular pursuits might negatively impact work, one must also use some commonsense.

Fifth, an individual should concentrate on the good feelings that he or she has. Since people who are unhappy generally make others unhappy, it is important that one concentrate on the good feelings that he or she has. Every night a person should list five things that he or she enjoyed about his or her work and then in the morning before heading out the door read the list. In such fashion the person will more likely be upbeat and his or her contagious happy spirit will make for a more productive day and better working relationships.

Sixth, a person should read about successful people, write down interesting ideas and follow up on them as opportunities arise. With any job there will be times of boredom and monotony. Nevertheless, one needs to keep the creative juices flowing. Otherwise, his or her job performance will begin to suffer. Therefore, to stay invigorated he or she should read about individuals who experienced great obstacles in life and yet found ways to overcome them. Some of these ideas might even have direct applicability to one's job, and as appropriate circumstances present themselves he or she may try incorporating them to see if they improve results.

Seventh, one should show resourcefulness and initiative. In today's rapidly moving world corporations are looking for ways to achieve and maintain competitive advantages. Those who can help produce the same output but at lower cost and those that take the initiative to increase productivity without adding cost are very valuable. Enlightened management will reward those employees who beat deadlines, help others and make beneficial suggestions. As long as one is right more often than wrong, and as long as the losses on failed ideas are meager, most bosses will appreciate the extra effort.

Eighth, an individual should budget time, including that which is needed to learn new technologies and better ways to do business. Time is a valuable resource and every person has only twenty-four hours in a day. On the one hand, sitting in meetings all day does not allow an employee to get work done, and on the other hand meetings are important to make sure that projects are moving forward. The key is to budget time and set realistic deadlines that others will be able to commit to and indeed meet. Next, an individual needs to begin working on the critical tasks and not simply on the easiest ones.

Ninth, a person should show reliability especially in terms of meeting deadlines. Whether an employee is in a management role or a support role, he or she needs to recognize that delivering high quality work on time makes a positive impression, while delivering poor quality work and/or late work has a strongly negative impact. Therefore, a worker should not over commit in terms of when he or she can deliver goods and/or services. Similarly, the employee needs to track progress, and if an unexpected contingency will prevent meeting a deadline, the deadline needs to be revised as early as possible with an explanation.

Tenth, one should play office politics. One needs to do things that make his or her boss look good. Besides praising that individual behind his or her back, the employee needs to immediately respond to the requests of those who are over him or her. Likewise, one needs to keep people aware of what he or she is doing without appearing self-aggrandizing. Skilled individuals will often write a thank you note to a vendor for meeting a deadline and copy one or two layers above themselves on those letters. In essence, this is telling those individuals that the task was successfully handled without the person having to beat his or her chest.

Eleventh, the individual should create a balance between his or her work and personal life. While one needs to do an honest day's work and do it to his or her best abilities, people also need to maintain balance. This means that they need to take the time needed to recharge their batteries, and the only way to do this is to separate one's work from his or her personal life. When someone is at work he or she needs to focus on work and when the person is with family or friends the focus should be there. An employee is of little value to a company if he or she spends so much effort on work that it ruins his or her mental or physical health. Therefore, an individual must take care of himself or herself before he or she can take care of his or her employer's needs.

Twelfth, a person must NEVER compromise his or her integrity and/or personal values. As one has seen with the likes of Martha Stewart, Enron, WorldCom, Arthur Anderson and Adelphia to name but a handful of notorious corporate scandals during the onset of the twenty-first century many individuals compromised to "get ahead." However, the shortcuts that they took and the laws that they violated came back to haunt them. While those who stay out of prison can find another job, those who end up doing jail time cannot.

With most large companies and many smaller companies monitoring E-mail, faxing, Internet, mailing, photocopying, telephone and work break activities (as well as labor productivity and use of office supplies with hidden cameras) today's workers need to be extra mindful of their actions. The reason is that "big brother" may indeed be watching and building a case that justifies a termination, denial of benefits and/or legal recourse. Any of these can represent a personal nightmare, and a wise individual will not do or leave anything in his or her work area that is embarrassing, illegal, inappropriate or unethical.

Plus, a reputation of having done wrong is something that will always follow someone.  For this reason, an employee may have to remove himself or herself from a job at some point during his or her career. While the personal hardship is always less when one jumps right into another better job, sometimes this is not possible, and an individual must remind himself or herself that it is always proper to do what is right, even if it might not seem like it at the time.

How to Resign from a Job

While it may be an unpleasant task, there is really not that much to writing a letter of resignation. In its simplest form, a person who is resigning dates a letter saying when and what he or she is resigning from, signs it and hands it over. It is a five to ten minute task and that is it.

If one wants to use his or her employer as a reference one should not write much more than that and one should probably not, in most cases, put his or her reasons in writing. This is because what is said might be twisted and used against the person who is resigning when a potential employer contacts former employers. For instance, saying that one found a more challenging job might be twisted into the person does not stay focused. Moreover, if one is leaving under less than desirable circumstances a negative comment might be used to deny termination benefits.

If one does feel that he or she has a legal case, any negative remarks could be used against a person in a court setting. In fact, the company's lawyer might claim that the employee regularly slandered the company as suggested by the resignation letter and that he or she was a "problem employee."

Even if one is leaving under good circumstances and wishes to express gratitude to colleagues, he or she should recognize that management and human resources will likely not circulate his or her letter. If one wants to thank management for the opportunities that they provided it is alright to put that in the letter. Yet, if one wants to thank coworkers he or she should take them to lunch.

In short, the resignation letter should be short, simple and positive. It is a business letter and not a personal note, and its only purpose is to document a date of resignation and provide at least two weeks notice, which means that it is not smart to use it as a soapbox. This is especially since a person will likely see former bosses at professional meetings and conferences and since it is nice to leave with class.

Example of Text for a Resignation Letter

Date of Letter

Dear Name of Boss:

I thank you for all you have done for me here at (Company). It has been a pleasure working with you, and representing this company as your (Job title).

Because I have accepted an offer with another firm, I have decided to tender my resignation. My last date of employment will be (approximately two weeks notice). This decision is irrevocable and it has nothing to do with the exceptional opportunity you have provided me here. You and the company have been more than fair with me, and I truly appreciate your support.

I wish (Company) continued success and thank you for letting me be a part of your team. During my remaining days here, I will work hard to make the transition smooth and ask you to feel free to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

Signature

Advice for Those Leaving a Company

If it is possible to keep a former boss and coworkers as an active part of a network once a person has left that is always desirable. A way to do this might be to drop quick letters to a previous boss and coworkers, after settling into the new job. In those letters, one can provide a new phone number and the like. This can often prove helpful if these people are one day needed to find a new job or to help with a joint partnership deal.

Although bosses will often set employees up for termination as evidenced by years of great performance evaluations followed by a poor evaluation, an employee should if possible work to get the poor evaluation removed from his or her record. The employee can do this by writing a letter contesting any claims, which he or she feels are unfair, and include in it facts that substantiate his or her position. Moreover, the employee can ask for a meeting with his or her manager to discuss each of the contested items. However, the employee should try not to be hostile, and even if an employee is being "pushed out," he or she might be able to buy some more time while looking for another position.

Whenever a person decides to leave or is forced to leave, he or she should try to obtain a fair severance package and get it in writing, while remembering that the few hours surrounding a departure could be the most important period of a person's career. The reason is that they help to define an individual's reputation as either a respected professional or as a mischief maker. Similarly, one must realize that a prospective boss might very well call the previous boss.

Is this to say that one should sign documents that might later incriminate him or her in order to leave on "good terms" with a previous boss or put himself or herself in harms way? The answer is absolutely not. One should as noted in point twelve above NEVER compromise his or her integrity or values. Likewise, a person should NOT subject himself or herself to arrest for trespassing or to thugs who will try to do physical harm and claim that they were merely acting in self defense. In short, persons must be shrewd in terms of how they deal with some individuals, and they must look forward instead of focusing on things that cannot be changed.

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