Perhaps there are several reasons why we do not manage our work relationships the same as out personal relationships.  There is a lot that suggests our primary and secondary school systems were designed by industrialist to prepare students to be productive mill workers.  The assembly line mentality demands that workers do their assigned task exactly as dictated by management.  There is no room for creativity or experimentation while working on the line. The assembly line boss, like a military sergeant, has the role of keeping the workers focused on their assigned tasks and to produce as much as possible. Teachers and other authority figures were placed in an infallible status, which was reinforced by their power to grade and fail students.  Pleasing the teacher became the primary focus, as there was a double jeopardy for misbehaving or poor performance at school.  The teacher had several mechanisms to punish poor behavior, and then parents would add a punishment of their own, and above all there was peer pressure.  This model seems to be carried into and reinforced in the workplace.

The established model for our school system is changing.  There is more emphasis on teacher performance and less on the student’s behavior.  In major cities there are programs to weed out ineffective teachers and to reward those who can motivate students to achieve better academic performance.  Perhaps in time there will be a following shift in the workplace, as students who are educated in the newer system become the industrial leaders of tomorrow.  In the meantime we have to learn to deal more effectively with the current model to improve our working relationships. Most of the same tactics that worked in primary and secondary school are just as effective in the work place.  However our goals and career strategies may have changed.  In school there were the high achievers, average students, and bad actors.  The workplace does a pretty good job of not hiring or eliminating those who blatantly buck the system.  Although there are some real disciplinary problems that exist in the workplace, there are mechanisms to isolate and eliminate truly disruptive behavior.  What has changed is that for the majority, us average students, we now desire to rewarded and recognized for our achievements in the workplace.  So where we were once content just to escape the focus of the teacher, we now understand that our careers depend on our relationship with our boss.  Unfortunately we are stuck with the medieval load–serf relationship model we had with our teachers. Those who were the high achievers in school and learned to interact with teachers on a more personal level have a distinct advantage in the workplace.  The rest of us have to readjust our attitudes and strategies to improve our working relationships.   This is a truly an individual adjustment, and we tend to go overboard in trying to adjust our working relationships to mesh with our learned behavior and personalities.  There is also a tendency to copy those who have mastered the art of pandering the boss, which is alien to most of us, and results in unnecessary stress, and reinforces the boss’s superior attitude.

Like school there are ways to achieve success without compromising your values and self-worth.  In school, if you did A level work you received and A on your report card.  The same is true of the workplace.  Doing your best work and striving to continually improve your knowledge and work product earns recognition of competency and respect.  This is an important status, for just like school an earned A does not depend on your relationship with the teacher, but stands on its own merit.   This is only half the battle for as we all remember from school the teacher’s pets got most of the perks and rewards.  The same is true in the workplace.  However, there is a difference between a working relationship and pandering.  A working relationship is built on respect for your abilities and trust in delivering work products.  This requires professional interactions with your boss.  One thing that worked for me was to consider my boss like a consulting client.  It required me to be courteous, friendly, and professional and to negotiate work assignments. This helped ease the medieval load –serf relationship, and put us on a more interactive footing.  In addition, like a consultant, I was always on the look out for a better business situation.  It took me a while to learn, but when I encountered a personality conflict with my boss, I would ensure that my work product exceeded all requirements, while searching for a different job.  I do not recommend jumping ship at the first rough seas, but the most successful captains, while skilled at weathering storms, avoid placing their ships in harms way.

Take time to reflect on your relationship with your boss, and put some effort into developing an effective strategy to develop a working relationship.  It may take some creative thinking for most of us are product of our experience.

The PracticaL Mentor.

PracticaL MEntor

I am not sure exactly what causes it, but every year at the end of August or the beginning of September, I get the urge to go back to school.  Perhaps it is the realization that summer is drawing to a close as the days get noticeably shorter and there are hints of autumn appearing in the trees and shrubs.  In my area the birds start gathering in flocks preparing for their long pilgrimages to warmer weather. (Lucky birds).  However I think it something more than that.

School is different for everyone some like it, others tolerate, and some hate it, but we all went.  Whether we did good, bad, or never finished, school left its mark on us in both a social and academic way.  It is hard to remember the struggle it was learning certain subjects because once we mastered them they became so easy.  Oddly enough I can still remember the first grade reader with the adventures of Dick and Jane, and their dog Spot.  There were lots of pictures to illustrate the text, and very simple words like See Jane run and Run Jane run.  Even then it did not seem to have much of plot.  It took me a long time until my brain finally caught on and reading became easier and easier as I practiced and learn to read more difficult text.  My point is that as your eyes fly flawlessly across these words, all the hard work that it took when you were learning is out of mind. Although learning can be fun, there is usually work involved to learn a new skill.  However once you master the skill the struggle is forgotten, and you can forever reap the benefits.  Learning new skills also keeps your mind active in a different way than continuing to use an acquired skill.  For example, reading is both necessary and severs a dual purpose.  By reading we retain or improve our ability to read, and we gain the information transmitted through the text.  Many of the skills we use in our career fields are the same way.  In my opinion, the more we learn about computers the more we increase our abilities to perform our jobs better. Just learning how to search for information more effectively broadens both our computer skills and supplies us with new and necessary information.  Unlike reading which throws a few new words at us once in awhile, computer skills seem to need constant updating.  Although frustrating at times when our knowledge becomes out dated, once we learn the changes, it quickly becomes easy again.  We were sitting around talking about computers and how they have changed.  Looking at the progress in both hardware and software from the early days, the changes are really astounding.  Most of us still struggle with different aspects of the computer, but for each new generation of user it becomes more like reading, where you may have to look up a word once in awhile, rather than learning a whole new skill.

It is important to our careers to stay current in the support skills that are required to perform our jobs.  Many people feel that once they graduate from school, their days of struggling to learn new skills are over.  More and more that career model is fading fast.  Although the fundamentals may not change, the methodology keeps evolving, so if  you resist or do not keep abreast of new methodology you are painting yourself in a corner.  I worked as an electronics engineer at a federal agency for most of my career.  Although the agency was responsible for cutting edge technology the computer tools were seldom updated.  This is not a problem while working at the agency, but when engineers went to leave the agency they found their knowledge of supporting engineering computer programs to be limited.  The younger engineers learned the latest engineering programs in college, but every generation seemed to be left behind, as a new methodology was introduced.  Although the level of engineering knowledge was second to none, the supporting computer skills were outdated. This places the older more experienced worker at huge disadvantage in the market place.  The only remedy is too keep current in the tools of your trade.  Having a certificate in the supporting skills is not as important as the working knowledge, so the self taught are just as competitive as those who have certificates.  However teaching yourself almost anything is more difficult than getting a good instructor.  There are a lot of free non-credit courses on line, and now there are a host of accredited on-line courses. The bottom line is that to retain competitive edge you must continue to stay current in the ancillary skills as well as your area expertise.  So as autumn arrives, if the urge to return to school hits you, listen to it.  Staying current is the only way to stay competitive.

The PracticaL Mentor.

The work was not difficult, and it was easy to exceed the assigned goals. Since I thought there was nothing to be gained, I did not buy into the competition among the other workers, but instead considered myself a detached observer.  Perhaps I could learn a few tricks to pass on.  The competition styles were more subtle and less aggressive than most office environments, but readily identifiable.  Instead of countering the competition, I just watched events unfold as the others jockeyed for the better assignments, more work hour, and special consideration from the boss.  I feel a little foolish now, for soon work became scarce, and I found myself no getting assignments, while some of the others had stockpiled work, or were approaching the boss outside the normal channels.  None of which should have been surprising.  I did manage to recover and get my fair share of work, but not without considerable maneuvering which I could have avoided had I been more perceptible.  The lesson? Always bring your A game.  Although you may not need a sledgehammer to kill a fly, don’t let yourself be out maneuvered in any environment.

As the time for the project to end approached, everyone was asked if they would like work on a follow on project.  Once again I had miss calculated as the boss was asked to nominate members of the group in order of preference.  Although I was selected to work on the next project, I was not near the top of the list where I think I should have been.  The lesson is; always use your skill set to gain the best ranking possible, you never know when opportunities will occur.

The last mistake is the one that embarrasses me the most.  After the second project was over the boss asked if I would like to be considered for follow on work.  The first mistake was I hesitated.  Instead of just saying yes, I stopped to think about it.  She coached me, saying that I could always say no at a later time.  I appreciated her council, but instead of just saying yes, I went on to try to explain my hesitation, an even bigger mistake.  Instead of keeping my mouth shut, I went on to tell of all the vacation and travel plans I had which really chopped up the remaining few months of the year.  Although I thought I was being forthright by my explanation, the more I talked the more it sounded like I was bragging and making excuses.  She smiled and said she would put my name in anyway.  Last week everyone in the group was called back to work on the next phase of the project except me.  In addition, the one who played the competition game the hardest was the new boss.  One of my biggest rules is do not volunteer information unless you are asked, or give more information than is required.  I violated my own rule and paid the price.

Perhaps the biggest lesson learned is that there should not be any situations where you allow yourself to be out maneuvered, for lack of trying.  This does not mean you have to be aggressive or ruthless, but you should counter other’s attempts to subjugate or negate your status or performance.  This situation was not that sophisticated, and a few words at the proper time would have kept me in the game.  Instead of detaching myself, perhaps it would have been better to continue to hone my competitive skills.  Even if you feel there is no sense in competing, at least ensure that you are not lulled into being out maneuvered; it is a primary law of career survival.

The PracticaL Mentor

Psychometric tests are bootstrapping and leveraging the results of each generation of tests to design the next set.  So the are always changing and being refined. By collecting data on the performance of those who have taken a test, researchers correlate how well the questions and answers predict performance and personality traits.  Most of us our familiar with the Myers-Briggs personality test that reduces everyone to one of 16 combinations of 4 personality traits. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myers-Briggs_Type_Indicator).  Based on the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) there is some prediction of how well certain types will perform on the job. Although mostly used to help determine aptitudes, these tests are gaining popularity in hiring.  There are other tests besides MBTI that have hit the market and are gaining acceptance as hiring and promotional tools.  Bear in mind that as litigation increases regarding hiring and promotions (The New York Fire Department has been in the news all week for discriminatory hiring practices.)  Tests and testing are going to become a major factor in protecting companies from hiring and promotion lawsuits. So get ready to be tested, either when you are applying for a job, or seeking a promotion.

The best way to prepare for psychometric tests is to do some research.  There are several sites on line that offer free aptitude and personality tests.  Of course with a free test you will always get encouraging news no matter how you score so don’t take the tests so much to see how you do, but what the questions are like and what they are looking for.  For example the MBTI has been around a long time and there is wealth of information on the attributes of the different types.  By studying the different traits and aptitudes you can determine which would be most desirable for different jobs.  There is also a lot of information what types of careers best suits different types.  If you were an employer you would just turn that around.  For example if an employer were looking for a sales person they would not pick someone who was introverted, you would want an extravert that enjoys dealing with people.  So if you test as an introvert and want to pursue a career in sales you could review the test questions to determine which ones measures your introvert/extrovert qualities.  Although the questions may vary from test to test the theme will be the same.  When it asks about interacting with people it is a good bet it measuring extrovert/introvert.  By becoming aware of the types of questions and how different answers are scored you can coach your self to test whatever MBTI you want. For example, if you are going for an engineering position you may want produce a MBTI of INTJ.  With a little practice you will be able to score the MBTI that best suits your purposes.  The other tests are similar.  Do be careful of what we used to call the idiot tests in the military. That is when they ask the same question worded a little differently to check the consistency of your answers.  So if you like to be around people for question 1 it is a good idea to still like social gatherings in question 10.

Although many psychological tests have trick questions to guard against gaming the system, the tests have to be standardized to be creditable.  So with a little homework you can produce almost any results you want on a psychological test.  Although I think it is appropriate to familiarize yourself with any device that used to measure or quantify you, I do not recommend going too far outside of your comfort zone.  As in the example above if you are truly an introvert and do not like dealing with people, a career as a sales person will be stressful and most probably unsuccessful. To quote Shakespeare in Hamlet “To Thine Own Self Be True.”

In the military, police department, fire departments, etc. there are already tests for hiring and promoting employees.  Although job performance is still a factor in more and more situations, it is how well you do on the test that determines whether you are hired or promoted.  The idea of testing is gaining ground in all career fields and disciplines.  The questions are also creeping into interviews. Be alert when your boss asked what you did this weekend.  Stayed in and read a book?  Introvert.  Visited with some friends? Extravert.   My advice is to spend some free time looking over some of the psychometric sites and familiarize with the types of questions they ask and how they interpret the answers.  Get ahead of the game and start weaving the personality and aptitudes you want to project into your daily conversations.  I feel they could have handled it better.  (Feeling person.)  I think they could have handled it better.  (Thinking person)  Project the personality you want, and soon it will be yours.  The PracticaL Mentor

PracticaL Mentor

This week there was a lot more bad news for the economic recovery. Although some companies reported huge profits, the overall conclusion is the U.S. economy is sputtering, and there could be even more lay offs. For those of us already unemployed the hopes of finding work seems to be fading even more, and those of us who still have jobs are sitting on the edge of our seats with fingers crossed that we can continue to stay employed.

Unfortunately the current situation seems to be serving the politicians and financial community who created the problem in the first place. The government has millions of unemployed workers on the roles, and is using them like as pawns treating to cut off benefits to achieve political ends, and the financial community is making billions getting no cost money to loan, and betting against the recovery. It is no wonder that consumers do not want to spend, and productive industries do not want to hire.

There is a lot of rhetoric on retraining the American worker for the new economy that is supposed to rise out of the ashes of this great recession. The problem is the training is in career fields that are shifting to offshore industries. Even healthcare is being outsourced on an ever-increasing scale. Soon it will be more economical for your health insurance to fly you India or China for surgery and recovery. Just think how inexpensive it would be to run a nursing home in Bangladesh.

There is a flaw in the retraining scenario retraining workers in aling and dying career fields driving down wages and ensuring increased long term unemployment. Perhaps the goal is have a endless pipeline of professional students. Like a perpetual motion machine we could train the unemployed to retrain the unemployed. However, like Social Security and other pyramid (Ponzi) schemes where an ever-expanding workforce will easily bear the financial (tax) burden of the preceding generation are all on the verge of collapse. Is unemployment the new Social Security? This is same ever expanding market theory caused the tech bubble, from which we have never recovered, and the current housing bubble, that was the straw that broke the camel’s (economy’s) back. The administration is smiling, actually more a sneer in the recent photos I’ve seen, because it has the citizens cornered into a frightful huddle, and ever more dependent on the government. Are we reentering the age of the indentured servant and surfs where the citizens are considered chattel by the goernment? As the economists and politicians look at history to find the answer, and remind us that we are much better off than the citizens that endured the great depression, the model they use is not to end the current situation, but to extend it to perpetuate their importance, power and profit. Perhaps we should relook at what really ended the great depression – World War II. Is that where we are headed? I hope not, for the current engagement of the U.S. military is not a war to end all wars, but a more like the crusades that were fought over a period of nearly 200 years, between 1095 and 1291. (Other campaigns in Spain and Eastern Europe continued into the 15th century. ) Not something to look forward to, and certainly not a remedy for the current economic situation.

So even if one looks at the current situation analytically what career strategies seem viable in both the short and long term? The popular perception of the best way forward for the foreseeable future is to latch on to the government in one way or another. This is the era of big government spending, where contractors are making huge profits performing almost every conceivable task (real and imagined) for the government. Although competition can be fierce and there is a lot of politics involved, it is one of the few remaining roads to riches. There is a huge lucrative lobbyist industry whose sole purpose is to extend feeding at the public trough for their clients. If you consider the number of former politicians and government workers who are lobbyist, it makes you question the integrity of the system. If you want a more secure, but a little less lucrative job, consider becoming a federal employee. It is one of the few remaining long-term careers with health and retirement benefits. Once we are all working for the government the recession will end by definition. There has got to be a better way. Look at the societies that embraced socialism and tell me which one you want.

No storm lasts forever, and neither will this one. The way forward is the same as it has always been self-reliance and initiative. Choose a career you like and become very good at it. If you are unemployed use the time to improve and increase your skill set. Take the time to analyze where the US economy is heading. It does not take a genius to figure out that sales and service are going to continue to be the mainstay of the US economy for the foreseeable future. Adjust your career strategy to take advantage of the shifting of values. There was no Facebook a few years ago and now it is a worldwide phenomenon. Pittsburgh used to be the steel making capital of the world, now that is a fading memory. Be flexible, resilient, and observant and you will do fine.

The short answer in the article for having a really bad boss is to numb yourself to the situation until you can find relief. Although this will probably work in the short term, a long exposure to a stressful situation not only affects your attitude; it will eventually affect your health. In my experience, it is impossible to insulate your feeling from the constant bombardment of negativity from your boss. Not only does it test your self-confidence, it also affects your ability to do a good job, increasing the descending spiral of job dissatisfaction. How many times have you heard someone say they hate their job? What are the odds of succeeding at something you hate?

The quickest remedy to a difficult boss is to find another job. Easier said than done, especially in this economy. Even in large bureaucracies it is difficult to arrange a transfer to another department. In most cases, management is aware of difficult bosses, but seldom does anything to relieve the situations. There was a question on answers.yahoo.com this morning on how to have your boss fired. Unfortunately unless the boss is breaking the law there is little chance of getting him fired. Perhaps it is an unwritten code, but management protects their own. I have seen several situations where difficult bosses had grievance after grievance file against them. They never got the hint that they may be doing something to contribute to the problem. In most cases if you were to sit down have a heart to heart talk with a difficult boss, they would complain about the poor quality staff they have, and it is only though their herculean efforts that the department functions. So if you can’t bail out what do you do?

Insulating your emotions from the situation is good advice, for it is very difficult to analyze and think clearly when you are emotionally upset, especially if you are angry or vengeful. There is a lot of advice on techniques to stay emotionally uninvolved, but when you are caught in the crossfire of a bad boss and negative feelings it is almost impossible to think and act rationally. Often the plan that appeals to you is the one that is most detrimental to your career. Often your co-workers, who are your competitors, try to use your situation to their advantage by inflaming the situation or getting you to say negative things they can use to make you look bad. It took me, too long to learn not to engage in office gossip or express my feelings about negative people and situations. I was lucky to find some good mentors along the way who told me to keep my mouth shut. That advice paid big dividends. Luckily my mentors had infinite patients and would listen to me gripe and complain, but nothing I said left their office. If you cannot find a mentor at work to help you through a difficult boss problem, find some who is has no connection to your job or the people you work with to confide in. Most of the time you will find your own solutions once you get all the steam and negativity out of your system. If you cannot find a mentor or a friend, leave me a comment and I will send you my e-mail address. Perhaps by writing your problem down some solutions will occur to you. I will be glad to share my experiences with you.

Until you find a solution to escaping a difficult boss, focus your attention on increasing your skill set and learning new skills. Volunteer for assignments out side your department to increase your exposure to people who may be able to help you transfer. Don’t bad mouth your difficult boss; there is a good chance it will get back to him. In addition, it makes you look like a problem employee. Above all think positive. Nothing lasts forever and the more you concentrate on getting away from a difficult boss the sooner it will be just a bad memory.

The PracticaL Mentor.

The PracticaL Mentor

Perhaps the best definition of closing a deal is when a commitment is made.  The classic business definition is when money changes hands, but in our careers and life in general we make a lot of deals that do not involve money.  Deals are a social concept where one side gives some thing in exchange for something else.  The exchange does not have to be tangible.  How many times a have you heard or used the statement “I’ll do X if you do Y.”   In reality you are proposing a verbal contract.  If your experience is like mine, I usually get a counter proposal that either starts a negotiation or a withdrawal of the offer.  So in effect most of us have been closing deals since we learned how to talk.  So what makes closing deals so difficult?

Sales is the classic setting for the “closing the deal” concept.  There are hundreds of books and articles written on salesmanship and how to persuade potential customers to buy products.  Since the world economy is based on the sale of goods and services, it is no wonder sales is the primary focus in closing deals.  However, since in theory everything a person wants depends upon other people, it is imperative to be good at making and closing deals on all levels.  Some may question my last statement, and to be honest I keep thinking about different scenarios in which my goals do not depend on other people.  Take some time and think it through.  Let me know when you find a person who came into this world through no assistance of others, and survives with no interaction with other people. (I would be interested to hear your thoughts and discuss it with you.) Even if you are not convinced that everything you want depends on other people, indulge me the premise that it is important to each of us to learn to be more effective at closing deals.

The three fundamental parts to a deal is a perceived need or desire, an offering of a perceived solution, and an exchange to obtain the solution.  The need or desire, the proposed solution, and the exchange do not have to be tangible.  Advertisers are masters of promoting the first two parts developing a perceived need or desire, and suggesting a solution.  A lot can be learned from advertisers, and how they ply their trade by creating a need or desire and then suggesting a solution.  However it is up to the sales force to complete the exchange.  Although all three parts are necessary to make a deal, the exchange is where most of us stumble.

One of the fundamental complaints of the sales force is the product is hard to sell because it does not provide a solution or is not worth the price.  It is hard to close a deal that you do not believe in.  Although we have all heard of “easy as taking candy from a baby” few of us practice this technique.  I am sure we have all pulled a few fast ones, but by in large if we question the validity of something, we automatically think others will reach the same conclusion.  Although I do not advocate taking unfair advantage or intentionally telling a lie, you should not jump to conclusions about what others think.  As an illustration, an article on selling life insurance included a short story of a life insurance salesman who tried to talk his brother-in-law out of buying life insurance, because he thought it was a bad deal for someone so young to buy life insurance.  The salesman argued that the chances needing life insurance so young were slim to none. The brother-in-law finally said, “If you do not sell me life insurance, I will buy it somewhere else. “  So the salesman reluctantly complied. Within a year the brother-in-law was in a fatal accident leaving behind an expecting wife. The message is clear.  Don’t prejudge someone else’s needs or desires.

Setting a fair price is tricky.  In business there is a philosophy to charge what the market will bare.  There is also an idea to charge what a product is worth.  In essence both of these statements say the same thing.  Market theory stresses that the value of a product is what the market will pay.  That is what makes markets.  So the trick is to price what you are selling within the customers perceived value range.  Too many of us over price our products.  This causes two problems.  One is that you will not close the deal because the other party is not willing to pay your price.  The other is it entices the other party to raise the value of their end of the exchange, which flips the deal, making you the customer instead of the salesman.  For example, you propose to work an hour extra a day in exchange for getting a free day off every week.  Your thinking is that you are working overtime by giving the extra hour every day, and it should be worth time and a half.  Your idea is that each extra one hour a day is worth 1 ½ hours so by working 4 hours extra week would have a value of 6 hours so your employer would be giving you only 2 hours a week.  Perhaps your employer looks at a little differently, and offers a counter proposal of you working an hour over every day for nine days for the tenth day off.  This proposal has you working 9 hours in exchange for 8 hours off.  His thinking is that there should be some compensation for doing without you for a full day.  On the other hand if you would have propose and hour extra for an hour off you may have been able to come to an agreement of working 8 hours of extra for 8 hours off. Then each side is getting the same basic perceived value for your time.

I have studied sales and negotiations since I was 12 years old.  One of my first jobs was with a man who made his living buying and selling used and recycled “stuff. “ My conclusion is there are no magic words to induce someone to accept your proposal.  There are some basic concepts that may aid in your success of closing deals.  They are: have a realistic view of others needs and desires. – “Selling iceboxes to Eskimos” is not a sound business model; your solution should meet the customers perceived need or desire.  - Don’t be a “snake oil salesman. “ Your customers will come after you when they sober up. and;  propose a fair exchange.  Don’t try taking candy from a baby, their parents are watching.

The PracticaL  Mentor

Searching the Internet to try to determine how many employers check grades was a wash.  There were about as many hits that indicated that potential employers check academic records as there were websites that said most employers don’t check.  From personal experience, most application processes eventually required a confirmation of graduation and a transcript of courses and grades before being hired.

There is a lot of pressure to have the best GPA possible on a resume or application.  Career Builder.com states: “According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers’ “Job Outlook 2005″ survey, 70 percent of hiring managers do report screening applicants based on their GPA, but the largest group say they use a 3.0 as their cutoff.” (http://www.careerbuilder.com/article/cb-469-getting-hired-does-your-gpa-really-matter/)  It is no wonder an applicant in this job market would want to inflate their grades, but it is like playing Russian roulette.  In Russian roulette there is a 1 in 6 chance (16.6 %) of losing, and losing is fatal.  Getting caught lying on applications, resumes, and CVs usually results being dropped from consideration or terminated.

The bottom line advice from almost sources is not to blatantly lie when applying for a job.  There are a few strategies to listing your grades in a manner to put the best spin on them.  If you have good grades in your major list those courses out separately and calculate the GPA.  Another is to list courses and grades by year. Most students tend to do better their junior and senior years.  If you still can’t get to that magic 3.0 or better, what’s left.

Employers are looking for employees who can handle the job and excel in the workplace.  Often an applicant who can tactfully and artfully explain why their GPA is low may get an interview where they can relate their circumstances one-on-one.  Some examples of plausible explanations for less than a 3.0 GPA are: working fulltime, active military service, family obligations, and serious illness.  If you decide to explain a low GPA, be sure to have your facts and story straight before you begin, trying to wing may backfire.

The best strategy is to get good grades. In hindsight, employers look at the GPA, they hardly ever look at how long it took you get through school, or how many courses you carried per semester.  It is better to take fewer courses and concentrate on getting A’s and B’s than carrying a heavy load and getting C’s or worse.  In addition, it is better to drop a course you are doing badly in than to risk a bad grade.  Often when the last date to drop a class rolls around it is almost too late to salvage a B. Even a great score on the final will only get you a C.  Try to balance your workload so that you have more time to spend on your difficult classes.  In addition, take advantage of tutors and study groups.  Look around and see how the smart kids manage their schedules, study time, and work groups.  Remember once a final grade is posted, it is what it is.

The good news is, after a few years in the workforce experience and skills are more influential than grades.  Although your grades stay with you throughout your career, experience and achievements become more important to employers.  Once you gain some job experience, your resume, CV and most applications will start with your latest position and work backward.  I have seen resumes with degrees listed with no dates or GPAs.

It is possible to increase your GPA by taking more courses, but once you are near graduation adding a few A’s hardly budges your GPA.  A more productive move may be to take master level classes.  Even if you do not complete the degree you can list your grad school GPA separate from your undergraduate GPA.

The PracticaL Mentor

In conclusion, supplying false information on job applications, resumes, etc. is a risky business.  If caught you could ruin your career.

The Practical Mentor.

The PracticaL Mentor

This is the Fourth of July weekend, and the day the United States celebrates its birth as an independent nation.  This may be a good time to reflect on the state of the national and global economy, and its impact on your career.  One of my favorite lines is from the beginning of the Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us…”  .

These words penned in the 1800’s, for me, capture the essence of the human condition.  How does one decide how to move forward in such a time of uncertainty?  Perhaps it depends on how you are viewing the world right now.

While it is necessary to take the economic environment into consideration, it should not be viewed as an insurmountable barrier.  In fact, the current state of events should convince anyone who still thinks they do not need formal skills and training to re-examine their career strategy.  The days of quitting high school to get a job are vanishing, and will probably never return. As in the 1800’s the world has once again taken a quantum leap in technology placing increased intellectual demands on workers.

In the days of Charles Dickens it was the industrial revolution that was sweeping the world. Factories were replacing cottage industries and displacing livelihoods, which had been the norm for centuries.  Instead of learning a craft from your parents or neighbor, the new economy demanded new skills.  Although education was becoming increasingly important, it was not until after World War II, that the US Federal Government started taking an active role in fostering and improving the education in the United States.  Although there is now a focus on education in the United States, the high school education rate is actually declining.  What type of careers do you think awaits a high school drop out in this economy?

Although the economy is bad, it should not deter you from your career goals.  If you do not have a career strategy this may be a good time to develop one. This may be one of the most wide spread recessions in recent history, but it is by no means the only one.  The US job market has been in a state of flux since the 70’s when the economy started shifting from a manufacturing to a service ordination.  Those who made the transition flourished, while most of those who resisted suffered the consequences.  One key element in making career transitions is to stay current in required underlying skills.  For example, computer programs and tools continue to evolve.  Staying current in basic computer skills is important to easily adapting to career and industry changes.  Changing careers is always challenging, but is compounded when you have to first learn the underlying skills.  For example, a few years ago I signed up for an engineering course. The course was centered on using a particular engineering computer program that I had never used.  I had to drop out because I could not learn the required computer program fast enough to keep up with the class.  Although the computer program was not required to perform by assigned job tasks, it is a standard requirement for current engineering students.  Consequently, to retrain into a different engineering area I would have to first learn to use the required underlying computer programs before attending engineering classes.  My company offered courses on this computer program when it was being introduced into the engineering community, but I did not take advantage of the opportunity.

Education and learning new or perfecting skill sets are fundamental to advancing in most career fields.  Although we reach a level of competency we must continue to learn and advance our knowledge in underlying skills.  This is a relatively new to most professions.  For centuries most professions only required being able to read and write in addition to the art of the craft.  For example, an account was required to lean the advances in accounting procedures, but continued to use pencil and paper to implement the new procedures.  Now accounts must have a working knowledge of various computer programs, which keep changing, in order to stay current in their field.  The more versatile and current you are in underlying skills the easier it is to find or change jobs and careers.

So as we celebrate this Fourth of July, lets us look forward with optimism knowing as is always the case “It is the best of times, it is the worst of times” and it is up to each of us to decide the best way forward.

The PraticaL Mentor.

PracticaL Mentor

This week I responded to a question posted on answer.yahoo.com. The question read; “My new boss has told me and my other 2 colleagues that she is going to change our job titles as its not working for the private hospital we work in. Our titles are Team Leaders and she wants to change it to senior support workers. The job description is the same apart from some added responsibilities. My colleagues and myself are not happy with this, as we have taken a lot of hard work and years to get to Team leaders. She has said to us that, ‘the job wont be for everyone and that she hopes we see our future with the company’. What can we do?”

Job description changes are common in the workplace, and the topic requires more than a short answer, as there are several facets involved in job descriptions. Changing an employee’s job description can be a career boost or a demotion. In addition, it may be a way for management to increase an employees work assignments and responsibilities without a change in title or compensation. On the other hand adding duties to a job description is also a method of promoting people without formally opening a new job position. Sometimes changes in job descriptions are necessary to reflect changes in the nature of work or to better reflect the company’s mission statement. Often, new job descriptions are issued during reorganizations, and when new departments are added to the organization.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.

The good thing about job description changes is that management can use them as a tool for pay increases without a competitive posting. By differentiating employees doing similar tasks with added duties and responsibilities, managers can build the foundation for a non-competitive accretion of duties promotion. This saves manager and the personal department the hassle of creating a new competitive position, and ensures that office politics will not place someone else in the position. In most cases this method is justified by the additional work and responsibilities taken on by an employee. However, the manager must be prepared for the other staff members to ask for similar treatment. A good manager will not blindside the rest of the staff, but will make everyone aware of the situation in advance.

The Bad thing about job description changes is management can use them as a tool to; demote employees without notice or recourse; add additional work and responsibilities without increased compensation; and play favorites among the staff. In companies with unions, the union should be notified of any proposed changes in job descriptions, and represent all of the employees’ interest. If there is no union, each employee is usually on their own. If there are several employees whose job descriptions are being altered in a negative fashion, they should band together and approach management with a unified front. Be careful if someone wants to elect a spokesperson. Electing an affected person to represent the group often leads to the spokesperson selling out their co-workers for their own personal gain. Before taking any action, all affected employees should review their new job description with a keen eye for both positive and negative impact. Sometimes the new job description increases the employee’s position for negotiating a promotion or pay increase. On the other hand, and more common, the new job description may mean a demotion, loss of title, and decreased pay. For example, at a place where I worked there were first line supervisors who were considered managers and received management perks and participated in the management bonus plan. (The managers split a bigger pot among fewer participants; they all got bigger bonuses than the staff) The first round of job description changes demoted most of the first line supervisors to team leaders, they had the same responsibility and base pay, but lost their management status, management bonuses, and management authority. This was a real demotion for first line supervisors. The next wave of job description changes was to convert team leaders to senior staff. This removed the title and the remaining perks. Although there was no decrease in salary there was a decreased potential to become a manager, they were assigned the same work as the other staff, but were held accountable for supporting other staff members to ensure projects were done correctly and on time. Although there was a union, there was little resistance to the changes, based on management’s threats to riff workers if the changes were not approved.

The ugly thing about job description changes is that there is little an employee can do about it. There are a lot of laws, rules and policies on workplace practices, but few if any apply to job descriptions. In some instances employees are performing identical tasks at the same level but with different job descriptions and being paid different rates. There is no grievance procedure for position descriptions, and they are usually not negotiable. Management has the right to define the required performance, skill, and production levels in job descriptions and there is little employees can do about it. There are some tactics that may be helpful when management arbitrarily throws you a curve by changing your job description.

Many employees do not even know what duties and responsibilities are contained in their job descriptions. It is a good practice to review your job description prior to your yearly review, and make note of any changes in your actual job and your job description. Don’t be hasty to remove duties and responsibilities that you no longer perform for they may be justifying your salary, and you may be called on to fulfill those duties and responsibilities in the future. It is more important to make note of job creep where you are performing at higher level than reflected in your job description. If possible, write down in job description language that would mesh with your current job description all the duties and responsibilities that you are performing that are not in your job description. During your yearly review, diplomatically discuss the accretion of duties with your supervisor, and ask him to amend your job description to include them in your job description. This is also good ammunition to negotiate your cost of living adjustment for the coming year. If you do not negotiate your cost of living increase, reflecting all increases in duties and responsibilities is laying the groundwork for an accretion of duties, non-competitive, promotion.

When a job description changes results in a demotion or cut in pay you should talk to your union rep if you have one. If more than you are affected it is good to act in a group. If the effects of the changes are substantial, it may be wise to consult with a labor relation’s attorney. Usually there is no fee for the first consultation. In my experience most employees who hire a labor relations attorney have the adverse actions reversed and are reinstated with full pay and benefits at their previous, equivalent, or even higher level. Do not be fearful of retribution, as your attorney will negotiate safeguards to protect you. However, I recommend taking the attorney’s advice, if he advises that you do not have a case then you are facing a long up hill battle. It may be better to analyze the pros and cons of accepting the changes or looking for another job. Whether it is one employee or a group of employees involved you may benefit from discussing your situation with the national or state Labor Relations Board. The National Labor Relations Board Internet address is http://www.nlrb.gov/ . You can find your state contact information on the Internet.

Many employees feel that their job descriptions do not reflect the work they are actually performing. Others observe that their job descriptions are so general that they are meaningless. As a previous government employee, I have observed that much of the language in job descriptions comes from the classifiers handbook. This is legally accepted job description language that supports an employees pay grade. The language is often phrased in terms of art used by the profession. Changing this archaic language may be detrimental to maintaining your pay grade, so be careful and seek advice before suggesting any changes. Once human resources get control, in most cases, they can overrule your manager.

If you find your job description change has resulted in a demotion, loss of title, more work, or loss of authority, talk with your supervisor to try to determine the reason. It may be coming from higher up than your immediate supervisor, in which case he is probably powerless to help you. If the impact is such that you do not want to remain at your present job start looking for another job. Don’t be too hasty to quit your job before you find another to go to. If you quit you do not get unemployment benefits, and it may impact your ability to find another job. Try to stay calm and rational and have patience, and things will work out to your advantage.

The PracticaL Mentor