Job Seeker Love Letter from “Reluctantly Remote”
Dear Liz,
I just accepted a job offer and will need to start working from home since everyone works remotely right now.
I suppose I will get training via Zoom or Microsoft Teams, but it's uncharted territory for me and I’m nervous about it. How does it work nowadays for new hires getting training and not being able to meet your new manager and coworkers in the office? Do you have any advice for managing this transition?
Sincerely,
Reluctantly Remote
Instead of saying, “I don’t know if I could… [land a better job / learn to code / get that promotion]...” Try this question instead.
When it comes to tough conversations in the workplace -- asking your manager about working remotely, a raise, parental leave or flexibility, a change to your job description or a deadline -- most people ruminate endlessly on the potential risks.
She could say no...
She could get mad that I’m asking...
She could FIRE me...
I could come across as entitled, or unprofessional, or lazy, and this could be the beginning of the slow death of my entire career…..!
The prospect of “making waves” ignites worry and even catastrophic thinking in the best of us.
But sometimes we become so blinded by the risks of having the conversation, we fail to see the risks of not having the conversation.
Dear Liz,
I recently started working with a new supervisor, and she’s hard to read. When I send her drafts of my writing projects (I work in online curriculum development), she returns them to me with lots of edits. I don’t mind the edits, but she hasn’t given me any qualitative feedback like “good job,” or “this should have been better.”
I’m working as hard as I can, but I’m constantly wondering whether I’m exceeding expectations, or if I’m at risk of being fired.
Should I just assume I’m doing well (and do my best to set aside my pangs of fear that I’m not) and hope for a positive 6-month review? Or what’s your advice?
Sincerely,
Reading-Between-The-Lines
Dear Liz,
I’m dreading going home for the holidays. My friends and family keep announcing their big new job titles on Facebook and LinkedIn while I’m still in the same job I’ve been in the past couple of years. I hate being asked “What’s new at work?” and “What’s next?” when I don’t have anything impressive to say.
How do I respond to these questions when I don’t have good answers? Do I just suffer through it and make next year the year I up my career game?
Sincerely,
Embarrassed To Be Asked
In the spirit of #MentalHealthAwarenessDay I’m sharing publicly for the first time my experience with panic attacks + my personal takeaways on anxiety and career success. To note, I am a career coach, not a mental health professional. If you are job searching and affected by anxiety, depression, or other mental wellness challenges (like 1/3 of the individuals in our country), I hope you will find support in a certified mental health professional in addition to a career coach -- two very different and very worthy resources!
This is the latest edition of Job Seeker Love Letters where I respond to job seekers' questions with what I like to call "tough-love and love-love."
Dear Liz,
I’ll start with the good news: I think I have a job offer coming in this week! My interviews have all gone well, and the hiring manager told me herself that she wanted to cancel the interviews with other candidates because she thinks I’m the perfect person for the job. This is my dream company and I’m jumping out of my seat I’m so excited!!!
I’ve thought about negotiating, but since this is my dream company, what’s most important to me is not blowing the offer. Should I just take what they offer, or should I try to negotiate? I’m feeling totally lost in this and would appreciate your guidance.
Sincerely,
Scared-To-Negotiate
It’s the end of the year, which means most of us are focused on getting out of the office -- and getting into our comfiest pajamas to celebrate the holidays with family and friends.
But before you turn off your office lights and drive home to the tune of Bing Crosby’s ‘Happy Holidays’ (I can hear him crooning now...), here are 3 questions I recommend asking yourself to make sure you close out the year strong and set yourself up to hit the ground running next year.
When it comes to salary negotiation, job seekers make three common mistakes:
- They fear negotiating.
- They fail to prepare early and extensively.
- They share their desired salary before receiving an official offer.
What I’ve learned from coaching clients through the job search process and through instruction from salary negotiation expert Jim Hopkinson, is that just like interviewing or any other job search activity, salary negotiation requires a confident and strategic approach.
In response to the above missteps, there are three key messages about salary negotiation I hope every job seeker keeps in mind when gearing up for their search.
So you've succeeded in navigating the long, demoralizing, painstaking process of landing a job offer. Congratulations!
Chances are the first thing you'll want to do is share the good news with family, friends and mentors -- and get their take on whether you should accept it.
But wait! Picking up the phone too soon can be a serious mistake. Why?
The only person’s values you want driving your career decisions are your own.
And until you clarify what's most important to you, it's best to avoid input from others that could muddle your decision-making process, or possibly bind you to satisfying their preferences over yours.
Keep reading to learn how to make your values the first stop in your decision-making process.
