but here is a more explicit explanation from the man himself.
I mentioned the 10-20-30 rule in one of my earlier posts
And other things I forgot....
God, here it is less than an hour before my co-worker comes by to drop me off at the airport and not only am I trying to get my blog posts up before I leave but I have forgotten a ton of things. Such as the following:
1. Cell phone charger
2. Map from the airport to my hotel
3. The necessary files that I will need to have at my temporary office in Texas
4. A fully planned out office wardrobe, yeah I just grabbed stuff out of my closet
5. A full set of packed toiletries
6. My laptop - not necessary but nice to have
7. A full list of contact numbers I'd like to have
8. A working knowledge of how to get into my computer from a remote location. IT came in and put a static IP address on my computer and nothing else
Please take heed of what I have listed here and do yourself a favor and don't do what I am doing right now which is panicking.
Back out on the road...again
So today I head out, on a Sunday to go to Texas for my company's buyout of another company. I am kind of looking forward to this and kind of not. Granted, being away from home and living out of a hotel is not desirable but it forces you to focus on certain aspects of work and leisure that I wouldn't normally have time for if I were living at home. Now all I can really do is hang out in the hotel room and go out to eat. What is nice about this is that I'll be saving a TON of money on my electric bills since I kill everything on power strips and my gas bill. Since saving money is one advantage to traveling for work I'm going to post a few of my own money saving tips for the young company travelers out there:
1. Turn EVERYTHING off when you leave. That means computers and TV's that draw power even when they are off. Kill the power strips or just unplug them directly from the walls, either way will save you money.
2. Turn the AC off. If it is in the winter turn the heater down to around 58 or so to keep your pipes from freezing. Nobody is going to be in the house after all so don't worry about keeping it cool unless you have candles or something that will melt on display.
3. Turn your hot water heater down. No sense in keeping the water in the tank around 115 degrees when you won't be around to enjoy it. Turning it to a "vacation" setting or down as low as it can go will be a great money saving measure.
4. Place a hold on your mail. Not really a money saving measure but if you are going to be out I'd recommend it if you have a tiny apartment sized mailbox.
5. Don't stock up on groceries during the week before a trip. Bad idea to come back to a half congealed gallon of milk. Throwing food out is one of the cardinal sins of my parent's house and all I can say is that I've taken that trait on.
While not a way to save money I would recommend spending some time cleaning your place up before you leave on a long trip. Coming back to a clean looking/smelling apartment is always better than coming back to a home that has had an apple core rotting in it for the past five days. But then again I'm a huge neat freak and I can't stand having a mess in my place at all.
Lesson Learned
This week I learned a huge and vital lesson that will either fuel or kill my ambitions for the future at my place of employment. While on the way to have lunch with my boss for his 40th birthday he asked me offhand what my major was in college (he has a horrible memory). I answered that it was Agricultural Economics and Political Science. Which, for some reason or another made him feel that it was ok to ask the deeply personal question of who I voted for in the past two elections and what my political preference was. Naturally, being a recent college grad who believes in transparency tinged with a heavy dose of naivety answered back with an honest and open reply that probably raised a few eyebrows in the car because my political preference matches our CEO's (a story for another day). Either way he kept prying further and further as to what I liked about each party and then descended into a long story about sitting next to a very prominent member of Congress and getting into a debate with him.
That evening one of my older and more experienced co-workers turned to me and said, "You are a bolder man than me Clint." I asked him as to why and he said, "There is no way in heck you would have gotten me to talk about politics or religion at work, much
less with my boss." It was at that point that the pit of my stomach sunk through the bottom of my seat. I finally realized that, despite being baited by my boss, I had broken one of the cardinal rules of the office place. "Fantastic." I thought. I had just sealed my fate on not getting any promotions or advancements in the future. "Not necessarily." said my co-worker. "You defended your position very well and I thought you backed up your points well. So, if anything you proved that you have the ability to think." Smiling I said, "Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing eh?"
Just a word of warning to young folks out in the workplace. Your idealism and fresh faced exposure to the world from college might sink your ship. Not everyone is capable of making a coherent and unoffensive argument for what they believe (I was in the legal field for seven years so I picked a few tactful arguing tips up). If anything please, please, please keep your opinions on religion, sex, and politics to yourself. The workplace is much less akin to wanting to hear your fresh faced ideas and theories on what you think about how the world should be run.
Tips for giving that killer presentation
I am starting to hear more and more stories at my office about how one person's career was made or broken by one chance event while they were at the company. Some of the more interesting stories have revolved around all-nighters for presentations made in front of the higher-ups that gave someone their big break. So, here are a few resources for making that big presentation.
1. Presentation Zen
2. Guy Kawasaki on the 10/20/30 rule of Powerpoint.
3. And a lesson from the master himself
Yes, it happened to me.
Ok, I know I have harped on this subject before but last night at a corporate outing with my department the Chief Treasury Officer whom I interviewed with let the cat out of the bag. I had made a comment to the effect that I wasn't really sure why I was hired given my background and degree. The CFO told me that he was endeared by the fact that I was from his hometown and that the HR department had passed my FREAKING BLOG onto him after checking out my Facebook profile. All I can say is that I am glad that I had done a thorough cleaning out of all of my online profiles of rough language and questionable content because that could have been the deciding factor on whether or not I got hired. Please, students and adults who are looking to get jobs, for the love of all that is dear, check your profiles for stupid stuff.
Generation Gap
This post is the imaginary conversation I have with myself every time I meet someone new at my office that is at least ten years older than me, which, as it turns out, is a majority of my office.
Hi, I'm Clint James and I am a new college graduate. Oh, how could you tell? I wouldn't exactly call my perky optimism a musk of cluelessness but hey, you are a VP and I probably won't even attempt a humorous and pithy response in my defense because I'm afraid of offending anyone around me and getting fired. What do I think of my job? (Insert mile-long list of positive accolades despite the fact I haven't done anything of any use yet.) Well, I guess I haven't really found anything negative about the company yet (other than corporate software training, useful, but horribly boring). Yes I am getting married in October and no she doesn't have a leash around my neck. (10 more minutes of guys who have been married for 20+ years trying to convince me not to do it.) Well excuse me guys I'm going to head back to the grindstone (which is more like a pillow until August 1.)
So how does one get over the generation gap? Thus far I have just stayed incredibly silent around my boss and the higher-ups as if they were venomous tigers who are able to pounce at a moments notice. This probably isn't the best strategy for making a splash with the big wigs but I still have my job so it appears to be working. When it comes to my co-workers the biggest thing I have tried to do is get involved in their lives. One of my closest friends who happens to be my co-worker has been working on opening a children's clothing store and I have had the privilege of getting to help him out in the evenings. Another useful way to get in close with your co-workers is to practically interview them every day. Ask them how their evening went, what their kids are doing, what they do on the weekends. Granted, most of them will have responses that will not remotely compare to the Friday night party that erupted in your living room but the interest you show in their life will pay dividends in the end.
Idealism, or "Why you probably won't be happy at your first job."
Here is something that I am having to struggle a bit with in my first job in the corporate world. Bleak reality versus my own idealism about what I was hoping would be my first job. First and foremost, don't get me wrong, I'm not unhappy about my job, its just that I have found myself coming to terms with the fact that the position of Procurement Analyst 1 has little to no need for an inner creative drive in order to get things done and that nobody is going to be necessarily open to all of the great ideas that you have about painting the walls anything other than grey and placing gardens on top of all the rooftops to allow employees a place to escape.
But like my father has told me, "Hold on and the gifts you have will come in handy." Be that as it may there are times where I have found myself trying to stay up and aware of what is going on about me in the office. The transition from small private legal office to the world's largest private company has brought about more challenges than I anticipated. So what do I do to stay sane/effective/awake in such a challenging environment?
So far the best form of therapy I've encountered has come from my Moleskine notebook that I carry around everywhere I go. Generally if I feel the need for a little mental R&R I'll either start writing notes in it or draw something humorous to keep myself amused. Another past time I've developed has been to come up with business ideas and pitch them to my co-workers. I'm sure they have already tired by this point of my constant pitch sessions but it keeps them amused and me from carving my own rendition of Picasso's The Bull into my desktop. Granted, this could all change when our company takeover hits at the end of this month and I could be up to my neck in daily challenges and tasks to do, one can only hope.
Intersting and British
Here is a pretty good round table discussion with a bunch of British folks about careers and job finding as well as personal productivity. No surprise that it isn't a big hit on YouTube considering most of the top videos are of Britney Spears dancing and fake porn posts but there is some good advice in here.
It's never over.
Congratulations. You've found that first new and exciting job. Now, guess what? It's time to start looking for the next one.
Seriously?
Ya rly.
Now I'm not saying that you should take your new employer for a ride and sell them out as soon as you get another offer, but, you shouldn't ever stop looking for something better. If anything keeping your resume' up to date and trying to make connections into other companies is an excellent way to form a backup plan in the event that something falls through. Heck, talk to all of the folks who never thought that Enron would collapse. So how do you innocently keep your eyes peeled for the next great thing?
1. Keep your resume' updated. Every three months you should brush it off and make sure you still on top of your game with it. Heck, every year you should probably send it to a professional head hunter or someone who writes resumes and just get it checked out.
2. Eat out. Generally I take my lunch every morning but eating out with friends in other companies or taking one of the interns to lunch isn't a bad idea. In two or three years you might need to call on them for a favor or a little inside information on a job.
3. Post your resume' to an online hosting site like emurse.com or keep your experience.com profile updated. You can never tell who is checking you out.
4. Check out job boards and local listings just to see what is available and who is hiring. In the event of a quick exit your skills as a lathe worker in college might come in handy at the motorcycle manufacturing plant.
5. Keep learning. If you are constantly expanding your skill set and getting new qualifications then you are at least upping your stock at work and increasing your chances of getting hired at another job down the line.
How not to do a video resume'
Hilarious... but so horrible.
If you are going to do a video resume' please, please, please, at least do it with some taste. Keep in mind that your first and foremost goal in a video resume' is to present yourself in the best possible light. That is, show what your paper resume' cannot which is your interpersonal skills, albeit one sided, and any other cool or interesting personal traits you might have.
P.S. Here is a great link on the guy's situation.
Figuring out your boss.
There are going to be many challenges in your first real job. Namely actually learning what you are doing, navigating office politics, and learning how to stay sober enough on a Thursday night to find your way back to the office on Friday. Aside from the normal challenges the biggest career maker or breaker will be figuring out how to deal with your new boss.
The man I work for is decidedly laissez faire in his management style. Which, is pretty fitting considering that the company is founded on Libertarian thought with the exception of avid drug use and legalizing every entertaining vice already experienced by Sean Penn. Currently I am witnessing the tale of two co-workers when it comes to my manager. Both of them are new to the job and in their early thirties with multiple children. However, one of them understands how to interact with their higher up and the other one doesn't. Let's examine the first one. We'll call him Pete. Pete approaches my manager when he absolutely needs to. When he walks into his office he generally gets right to the point and then they spend twice as much time talking about football and their kids. Pete and I were the first ones to get our assignments because we showed that we are capable and competent and don't need to bother our boss every moment of the day.
Then there is... Shane. Shane is a great guy. He has relevant experience and spent a significant time in the military before he came to the private sector. Shane, despite his ample abilities and qualifications cannot make a step without checking in with our boss. In fact, he called into the home office just as he was driving to the airport just to let him know he'd be back in the office the next day.
Now, I realize that I'm only 24 and in my first position at my first job and that I probably shouldn't be pointing fingers at my older and more experienced co-workers. But one of the most important things you can do for your career is observe your boss and understand how he interacts with his staff. Is he the typical fratty type of boss who slaps backs and shakes hands all day long? Is he an introvert that doesn't enjoy conversation that strays from work or the topic at hand? Or is he the demanding type of guy who wants to know about progress and not setbacks?
Determining what kind of person you are working for could possibly push you ahead of your peers when it comes to climbing the corporate ladder.
Prepping for the job search
Ah summer, the final bastion of relaxation and happiness that is the absence of schoolwork and term papers. Some of us have internships while others are busy playing at the lake or touring Europe. Whatever you are doing it isn't too early to start looking forward to your senior year and landing your first big job. One of the biggest struggles that I had to deal with when i was conducting my job search my senior year was the huge time crunch that came with trying to complete my degree and do roughly 20 interviews in one semester. So here are a few things that might be able to ease your job search up next year if you start now.
1. Summer classes. Yeah, it sucks but if you can knock out some of your class load now you'll have more time for job searching later.
2. Brainstorm and create. If you are a marketing kid or if you are trying to find a cool and creative way to catch an employer's eye then designing a web site or writing a majority of a blog might be best done while you have extra time on your hands.
3. Prioritize. Rank and decide which employers are your favorites and who you are really going to chase come the fall or spring.
4. Organize. Getting organized is a HUGE benefit when it comes to figuring out who you are going to contact and what you are going to try and do.
5. Refresh the resume'. Now is as good of a time as any to get your resume' updated before school hits so it is ready to get in front of as many HR people as possible.
The key is to do stuff... but not too much. If anything the big goal is to NOT get burnt out and tired of trying to find a job by the time it gets to be crunch time.
Last Resort
You know I was never really a big fan of headhunters for college graduates. For the most part I thought that the loss in income wouldn't be worth the actual loss in income since headhunters receive a percentage of what you make in your first year. But after meeting one of the new guys at my company today it seems to be an almost ideal way to find a job. For example, most of the time headhunters are used to find you a job or help fill a position for a certain company. But for a college graduate who isn't an expert at finding their first job this seems like the best possible situation. Keep in mind that most headhunters don't get paid unless they actually find you a job which gives you a chance to work with them while you search for a job as well. This effectively doubles your efforts for finding a job. Another advantage is that headhunters will know about better opportunities that the average job hunter might not be privy to as well. All in all if you are down to your last resort and don't have any more options a headhunter might be the right choice for someone coming right out of school.
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