Sometimes it feels as though I’m stuck in Groundhog Day where everyday, or an event, is a repeat of a previous one. Earlier this week I overheard a colleague having to explain a few basic interviews techniques to a candidate who has changed jobs several times before but who plainly felt the need for guidance and reassurance.
We all know that job interviews are never easy and they’re especially stressful when opportunities are so few and far between, as they are at the moment with the European economy going through its travails.
When you have at last secured an interview, the single most important thing you can do is prepare and practice, by doing both a run-through with a savvy friend, and then doing a self-review. This practice should help settle your nerves and help you work on weaknesses. So, on the back of some surreptitious eavesdropping here are 5 things never to say to the line or recruiting manager:
1. Something they’ve heard a million times before
Some people just love interviewing others and spurring them to be creative and compelling in their answers. Others ask the same dull questions they’ve been asking for years. Whether your interviewer is inspiring or barely conscious, you’ll need to come up with new answers to what are likely old questions. Never be cliché. For instance, don’t tell the interviewer you are a people person. Prepare and practice your talking points prior, and you’ll be less likely to rely on stock answers.
2. A request for any kind of concessions
You can’t do overtime because your children’s day care finishes at 5. You’d like to work from home part-time because you have a new puppy. You need an ergonomically-sound mouse and phone set-up. You’re not so into working on weekends, holidays, or your birthday. Especially in a first interview, you want them to want you — badly. Once they do, you can then ask for what you want, which includes specific questions about salary, benefits, or holiday time.
3. Anything that shows you’re over or under ambitious
Inevitably you will be asked the question “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?” A question which can make certain candidates answer too honestly (”I have no idea!”) or show their true colours (”Hopefully, in your job…haha…”). Helping you find your true passion isn’t really their problem, and the fact that you want to advance ASAP can also raise concerns that you’ll jump ship quickly.
4. Anything negative
You probably know better than to criticise your former boss. But you should be positive throughout the interview process. Don’t be negative about anything including your previous office, your old company’s personnel policies, traffic on the way to the interview, or the weather. That said, there are certain times to be constructively critical of your former corporation as well as the company with which you’re interviewing. The key is constructive input. What can you do to improve their situation with your skills and experience, instead of merely mocking it?
5. That you have no weaknesses
Yes, the question “What is your biggest weakness?” is incredibly annoying, boring, and irritating (see “Something they’ve heard a million times before,” above). But asserting that you are a perfect human being isn’t the answer either. That way you certainly won’t come across as credible if you say that you have no weaknesses. Ideally you should talk about a real weakness that is not central to the position that you are seeking and show how you have overcome that weakness. This will help the employer see you as a three-dimensional potential employee, instead of as a two-dimensional resume.
I truly don’t believe that any of the above is ground breaking news to the majority of job seekers, but equally it never does any harm to refresh one’s knowledge before you find yourself in the one interview situation that you didn’t want to be in.
As ever, thoughts and input more than welcome.
www.chestertongray.com
Friday, 7 October 2011
Friday, 23 September 2011
How to Relieve Boredom at Work
We all have boring, tedious tasks. Some of us have to sit behind a desk doing the same thing all day long. It can drive you crazy. And some of us, for whatever reason, can’t cope with boredom at all. I think that I’m one of those people.
After I left school I had a number of temp jobs and one of my first jobs was working in a factory that made old fashioned electric fires. I took a strip of metal from by my left hip, put it in a machine that punched half a dozen holes in it and then placed it in a pile by my right hip. That was it. All day long. Nothing else.
I couldn’t stand it. Bored out of my wits I got into all kinds of trouble trying to make people laugh, singing songs very badly, amongst many sins. After a week I left before I became institutionalised.
So I gravitated toward a career in recruitment which meant a bit of travel to meetings with candidates and with clients, from engineering to sales to marketing and now back again and I jumped from company to company. Anything at the time to stop me sitting at a desk 24/7.
A few conversations with colleagues later and we’ve compiled a short list of things, apart from playing games, which should help you relieve boredom at work.
• Know yourself. If you love what you do, you’ll be successful at it. Unfortunately, the opposite is just as true. If you’re not the kind of person who can stand a straight desk job or boring tasks, don’t do that for a living. You’ll be miserable and not very good at it.
• Travel. Most people hate work travel so those jobs aren’t as hard to get as you might think. But if you travel 10/20 % of the time you can strike a balance between relieving boredom and living in a constant state of chaos.
• Take your job to the next level. I know it’s a cliché, but if you think out of the box, you might actually be able to turn your mundane job into something more exciting. Set lofty goals for yourself that nobody would think are possible. It’s doable. Just don’t make crazy commitments you can’t deliver on.
• Get into sales and marketing. Most sales and marketing jobs involve quite a bit of travel, getting out and about, team meetings, customer interaction, that sort of thing. Never a dull moment. Outside sales, product marketing, communications, PR, project management, they’re all good.
• Work in a busy retail environment. Believe it or not, some people actually like talking to strangers, helping people find things, and working on their feet all day. And if it’s a product area you’re passionate about, all the better. If you love shoes, get into the shoe business.
• Do not start your own Internet-based business. That’s the real dark side of being an Internet entrepreneur. You’re tied to your computer, 24×7. If you love that sort of thing, more power to you. But if you’re not, forget it.
• Take long breaks. Don’t laugh. If your job permits flexible work hours or if your company values you and your work, you can probably get away with taking plenty of long breaks. You can even work longer hours to make up for it. Go out to lunch, work out, run, and take walks, whatever it takes.
• Climb the corporate ladder. That’s right; very few executive management jobs are boring. How can you be bored when you’re under all that pressure to perform? Seriously, some people live for that type of existence. Many then burn out. But still … good times.
And, if you’ve got a tip for relieving boredom at work or an exciting career that most people wouldn’t think of, please please tell me so that I can pass it on.
www.chestertongray.com
After I left school I had a number of temp jobs and one of my first jobs was working in a factory that made old fashioned electric fires. I took a strip of metal from by my left hip, put it in a machine that punched half a dozen holes in it and then placed it in a pile by my right hip. That was it. All day long. Nothing else.
I couldn’t stand it. Bored out of my wits I got into all kinds of trouble trying to make people laugh, singing songs very badly, amongst many sins. After a week I left before I became institutionalised.
So I gravitated toward a career in recruitment which meant a bit of travel to meetings with candidates and with clients, from engineering to sales to marketing and now back again and I jumped from company to company. Anything at the time to stop me sitting at a desk 24/7.
A few conversations with colleagues later and we’ve compiled a short list of things, apart from playing games, which should help you relieve boredom at work.
• Know yourself. If you love what you do, you’ll be successful at it. Unfortunately, the opposite is just as true. If you’re not the kind of person who can stand a straight desk job or boring tasks, don’t do that for a living. You’ll be miserable and not very good at it.
• Travel. Most people hate work travel so those jobs aren’t as hard to get as you might think. But if you travel 10/20 % of the time you can strike a balance between relieving boredom and living in a constant state of chaos.
• Take your job to the next level. I know it’s a cliché, but if you think out of the box, you might actually be able to turn your mundane job into something more exciting. Set lofty goals for yourself that nobody would think are possible. It’s doable. Just don’t make crazy commitments you can’t deliver on.
• Get into sales and marketing. Most sales and marketing jobs involve quite a bit of travel, getting out and about, team meetings, customer interaction, that sort of thing. Never a dull moment. Outside sales, product marketing, communications, PR, project management, they’re all good.
• Work in a busy retail environment. Believe it or not, some people actually like talking to strangers, helping people find things, and working on their feet all day. And if it’s a product area you’re passionate about, all the better. If you love shoes, get into the shoe business.
• Do not start your own Internet-based business. That’s the real dark side of being an Internet entrepreneur. You’re tied to your computer, 24×7. If you love that sort of thing, more power to you. But if you’re not, forget it.
• Take long breaks. Don’t laugh. If your job permits flexible work hours or if your company values you and your work, you can probably get away with taking plenty of long breaks. You can even work longer hours to make up for it. Go out to lunch, work out, run, and take walks, whatever it takes.
• Climb the corporate ladder. That’s right; very few executive management jobs are boring. How can you be bored when you’re under all that pressure to perform? Seriously, some people live for that type of existence. Many then burn out. But still … good times.
And, if you’ve got a tip for relieving boredom at work or an exciting career that most people wouldn’t think of, please please tell me so that I can pass it on.
www.chestertongray.com
Wednesday, 31 August 2011
4 Reasons your CV will be replaced by your online profile in the future
The last few years has seen the rise and rise of social and business networking sites. Putting aside for one moment Facebook, there is a plethora of business sites that you might have been advised to look at. If I’ve lost you already and you weren’t aware of these sites (really?) then here is a very small list, in no particular order of preference, to start with: LinkedIn; Viadeo; Xing; Plaxo; BraveNewTalent. So, the real question is; how important is your online presence in your career these days? I would suggest that it is more important than you might think.
A number of “expert” surveys on both sides of the Atlantic are predicting that CV’s will fall by the wayside while your online presence takes over your career. Here are a few reasons taken from these surveys as to why they believe this will happen:
Today’s job hunting strategies are mostly online. Gone are the days of looking in the newspaper or applying in-person for job openings. Consider how reduced are the broad sheets Sunday appointment pages compared to a few years ago. Today’s job seekers are spending most of their time and effort networking online, searching company websites, and participating in web communities — and that will only increase in the next few years.
Everyone needs to be ready for a job transition at all times. Now that the days of landing a “traditional” job with stability, benefits, and tenure are gone, candidates need to be ready for a transition at any time. Maintaining an online profile on professional networking sites is more logical than creating a new CV every few months, because it allows for immediate changes and is visible to your entire network.
A recent article in Forbes commented: “By building your online presence, employers can find you and thus you have more opportunities. If you don’t have an online presence, you won’t appear to be relevant and you will be passed over for more savvy applicants that have visibility. You need to be creative in your job search by developing your own product, eBook, viral video, or personal advertisement. Finally, you need to treat your life as one giant networking event, and meet as many people in your field as you can.”
Entrepreneurship is becoming the choice profession for many job candidates. The state of a number of the European economies has seen a rise in redundancies and with little opportunity for some job seekers; many have resorted to setting up their own business or to freelancing opportunities to support themselves. In order to be successful in their new venture, they are realising the importance of a strong online presence and network in order to make their new business successful.
CV’s don’t convey passion or personality. With today’s technology, a job seeker can do a better job at selling themselves through a professional portfolio website or networking profile than a traditional CV. An employer has the opportunity to get to know that candidate in more depth through these online tools than a traditional recruitment process.
There is a natural proviso that goes along with any online presence that hasn’t changed from a traditional CV and that is how you present yourself, what you say about yourself and any images that you choose to post. Whilst I’m sure that you will all maintain the utmost professionalism on the business networking sites, my colleagues and I have seen far too many candidate profiles and pictures on sites such as Facebook that would embarrass their parents and should definitely never ever see the light of day.
If you would like to talk with any of us about creating an online presence and the networking sites then please don’t hesitate to do so at www.chestertongray.com
A number of “expert” surveys on both sides of the Atlantic are predicting that CV’s will fall by the wayside while your online presence takes over your career. Here are a few reasons taken from these surveys as to why they believe this will happen:
Today’s job hunting strategies are mostly online. Gone are the days of looking in the newspaper or applying in-person for job openings. Consider how reduced are the broad sheets Sunday appointment pages compared to a few years ago. Today’s job seekers are spending most of their time and effort networking online, searching company websites, and participating in web communities — and that will only increase in the next few years.
Everyone needs to be ready for a job transition at all times. Now that the days of landing a “traditional” job with stability, benefits, and tenure are gone, candidates need to be ready for a transition at any time. Maintaining an online profile on professional networking sites is more logical than creating a new CV every few months, because it allows for immediate changes and is visible to your entire network.
A recent article in Forbes commented: “By building your online presence, employers can find you and thus you have more opportunities. If you don’t have an online presence, you won’t appear to be relevant and you will be passed over for more savvy applicants that have visibility. You need to be creative in your job search by developing your own product, eBook, viral video, or personal advertisement. Finally, you need to treat your life as one giant networking event, and meet as many people in your field as you can.”
Entrepreneurship is becoming the choice profession for many job candidates. The state of a number of the European economies has seen a rise in redundancies and with little opportunity for some job seekers; many have resorted to setting up their own business or to freelancing opportunities to support themselves. In order to be successful in their new venture, they are realising the importance of a strong online presence and network in order to make their new business successful.
CV’s don’t convey passion or personality. With today’s technology, a job seeker can do a better job at selling themselves through a professional portfolio website or networking profile than a traditional CV. An employer has the opportunity to get to know that candidate in more depth through these online tools than a traditional recruitment process.
There is a natural proviso that goes along with any online presence that hasn’t changed from a traditional CV and that is how you present yourself, what you say about yourself and any images that you choose to post. Whilst I’m sure that you will all maintain the utmost professionalism on the business networking sites, my colleagues and I have seen far too many candidate profiles and pictures on sites such as Facebook that would embarrass their parents and should definitely never ever see the light of day.
If you would like to talk with any of us about creating an online presence and the networking sites then please don’t hesitate to do so at www.chestertongray.com
Monday, 22 August 2011
Networking Advice for People Who Hate Networking
I’ve been to a pretty diverse selection of networking events, from breakfast meetings to one held (only) in the corridors between offices and I know from a number of these that a lot of people dread networking events. Too often, they end up standing in a corner, chatting aimlessly with people they already know.
It seems to me that I receive an email invitation to yet another one almost every day. So are they a waste of your time? Yes if you don’t utilise them properly. No, if you’re strategic in your approach, you can actually gain new contacts, and even clients, from networking.
I don’t believe that there are many groundbreaking tips that that haven’t been mentioned by one expert or another, but here are five tips that I’ve collated for people who hate networking:
1. Make people come to you. There’s automatically a power imbalance when you approach someone and say, “I really wanted to meet you.” So why not turn the tables? Take a leadership role in your business or your organisation (Chamber of Commerce, trade association, women’s business network). That way, you wield the power because you dole out invitations to speakers - and everyone always wants to meet the person in charge.
2. Set a numerical goal. Rather than chat to the same old people as you did at the last networking meeting, vow that you’ll talk to at least three people you don’t know. That concrete goal will remind you of the point of attending – to meet some new contacts – and it will help push you out of your comfort zone, so you don’t spend most of the night chatting with old friends.
3. Get their card. I know that some people measure their networking success by the number of business cards they give out. But the fact is no one is going to keep your card safely tucked away until the need arises. You’re lucky if it actually makes it past the bin that evening. You simply can’t rely on other people to remember you, or even email you their contact info, regardless of whether they promise to do so. You need to collect their card - because only you can be counted on to retain their contact information.
4. Follow up. This is where many or even most people blow it. Despite a great initial conversation, they never take any steps to keep in touch, and so a year later the person no longer remembers them. Make it a point during your conversation to identify something that you both have in common that will allow you to keep a relationship alive, even as a casual one. Maybe it’s a shared music or sport passion, or perhaps a business challenge and you promise to send them an article that you read about how to solve it. However you do it, make sure to stay in touch.
5. Be realistic. There are really very few people who leave a networking event with a new contract in hand. Initially that shouldn’t be your goal, because a relationship developed that quickly is quite often shallow and easy to break. Your aim should be to meet interesting people whom you can get to know and then - eventually - turn into good, long-term clients.
And that starts with making the effort to introduce yourself - and of course stay in touch.
It seems to me that I receive an email invitation to yet another one almost every day. So are they a waste of your time? Yes if you don’t utilise them properly. No, if you’re strategic in your approach, you can actually gain new contacts, and even clients, from networking.
I don’t believe that there are many groundbreaking tips that that haven’t been mentioned by one expert or another, but here are five tips that I’ve collated for people who hate networking:
1. Make people come to you. There’s automatically a power imbalance when you approach someone and say, “I really wanted to meet you.” So why not turn the tables? Take a leadership role in your business or your organisation (Chamber of Commerce, trade association, women’s business network). That way, you wield the power because you dole out invitations to speakers - and everyone always wants to meet the person in charge.
2. Set a numerical goal. Rather than chat to the same old people as you did at the last networking meeting, vow that you’ll talk to at least three people you don’t know. That concrete goal will remind you of the point of attending – to meet some new contacts – and it will help push you out of your comfort zone, so you don’t spend most of the night chatting with old friends.
3. Get their card. I know that some people measure their networking success by the number of business cards they give out. But the fact is no one is going to keep your card safely tucked away until the need arises. You’re lucky if it actually makes it past the bin that evening. You simply can’t rely on other people to remember you, or even email you their contact info, regardless of whether they promise to do so. You need to collect their card - because only you can be counted on to retain their contact information.
4. Follow up. This is where many or even most people blow it. Despite a great initial conversation, they never take any steps to keep in touch, and so a year later the person no longer remembers them. Make it a point during your conversation to identify something that you both have in common that will allow you to keep a relationship alive, even as a casual one. Maybe it’s a shared music or sport passion, or perhaps a business challenge and you promise to send them an article that you read about how to solve it. However you do it, make sure to stay in touch.
5. Be realistic. There are really very few people who leave a networking event with a new contract in hand. Initially that shouldn’t be your goal, because a relationship developed that quickly is quite often shallow and easy to break. Your aim should be to meet interesting people whom you can get to know and then - eventually - turn into good, long-term clients.
And that starts with making the effort to introduce yourself - and of course stay in touch.
Wednesday, 3 August 2011
What the successful people do before breakfast.
Some weeks ago when I was eating a bowl of cereal and flicking between the news channels I saw a (brief) snippet of an interview about city high flyers getting into the office before the rest of the world wakes and I wondered if their time really was that much more effective than anyone else’s.
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that mornings are a mad-cap time in many households. Everyone’s so focused on getting out the door that you can easily lose track of just how much time is passing. A little bit of web research has shown that there appears to be a gap of roughly 90 minutes or more between when people wake up and when they start the commute or school run. That would be fine if the time was used intentionally, but I suspect that far too often it isn’t.
The most productive people, however, realise that 90 minutes, 120 minutes or more is a long time to lose track of on a busy weekday. Add that time up over a week and we are talking about a significant chunk of a day lost. If you feel like you don’t have time for personal priorities later in the day, why not try using your mornings? Streamline breakfast, personal care and your children’s routines. I canvassed a few friends and colleagues for thoughts and these were the four most common suggestions with what to do with 30-60 minutes of morning time:
1. Play, read, or talk with your children. Mornings can be great quality time, especially if you have little kids who go to bed before or soon after you get home at night, but wake up at the crack of dawn. Set an alarm on your watch, put away the iPhone, and spend a relaxed half an hour reading stories or doing projects with them.
2. Exercise. You shower in the morning anyway, so why not get sweaty first? Trade off mornings with your partner on who goes out and runs and who stays home with the kids. Or, if your kids are older (or you don’t have any) work out together and make it a very healthy morning date. As a runner I know that I prefer to run before the heat of the day and certainly feel more up for the day if I do so.
3. Indulge your creative side. Lots of people would like to resurrect a creative hobby like painting, photography, scrapbooking, writing, even practicing an instrument. What if you went to bed a little earlier three times a week? Skip that last TV show or those last emails and get up a little earlier the next morning to put in some time at you’re your hobby before the day runs away from you.
4. Think. There are endless professional business consultants out there who will tell you that strategic thinking time is incredibly important for seizing control of our lives. Spend 30 minutes in the morning pondering what you want to do with your time. You could also use this time to pray or read a different business magazine, to meditate or write a journal or a blog!
All of these will help you start the day in a much better place than if everyone’s running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
If you do decide to adopt any of these, then why not drop me an email and let me know your thoughts? www.chestertongray.com
Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that mornings are a mad-cap time in many households. Everyone’s so focused on getting out the door that you can easily lose track of just how much time is passing. A little bit of web research has shown that there appears to be a gap of roughly 90 minutes or more between when people wake up and when they start the commute or school run. That would be fine if the time was used intentionally, but I suspect that far too often it isn’t.
The most productive people, however, realise that 90 minutes, 120 minutes or more is a long time to lose track of on a busy weekday. Add that time up over a week and we are talking about a significant chunk of a day lost. If you feel like you don’t have time for personal priorities later in the day, why not try using your mornings? Streamline breakfast, personal care and your children’s routines. I canvassed a few friends and colleagues for thoughts and these were the four most common suggestions with what to do with 30-60 minutes of morning time:
1. Play, read, or talk with your children. Mornings can be great quality time, especially if you have little kids who go to bed before or soon after you get home at night, but wake up at the crack of dawn. Set an alarm on your watch, put away the iPhone, and spend a relaxed half an hour reading stories or doing projects with them.
2. Exercise. You shower in the morning anyway, so why not get sweaty first? Trade off mornings with your partner on who goes out and runs and who stays home with the kids. Or, if your kids are older (or you don’t have any) work out together and make it a very healthy morning date. As a runner I know that I prefer to run before the heat of the day and certainly feel more up for the day if I do so.
3. Indulge your creative side. Lots of people would like to resurrect a creative hobby like painting, photography, scrapbooking, writing, even practicing an instrument. What if you went to bed a little earlier three times a week? Skip that last TV show or those last emails and get up a little earlier the next morning to put in some time at you’re your hobby before the day runs away from you.
4. Think. There are endless professional business consultants out there who will tell you that strategic thinking time is incredibly important for seizing control of our lives. Spend 30 minutes in the morning pondering what you want to do with your time. You could also use this time to pray or read a different business magazine, to meditate or write a journal or a blog!
All of these will help you start the day in a much better place than if everyone’s running around like chickens with their heads cut off.
If you do decide to adopt any of these, then why not drop me an email and let me know your thoughts? www.chestertongray.com
Wednesday, 27 July 2011
How burnt out are you??
Here we are in the middle of the last week in July, the schools have broken up, the sun is temporarily shining and across Europe our counterparts will be shutting up shop and decamping to their holiday homes. In Britain we don’t have that culture but in my world August is a dead month as the decision makers tend to have children and to use this time to take also go away.
Everyone that I seem to speak with mentions how much they are looking forward to the break and blames fatigue as one of the reasons that they’re in the state that they are.
Whether it’s due to the lingering recession, job insecurity, increased workload or other factors entirely, fatigue or job burnout is on the rise around the world.
Neither symptom is simply about being bored or disenchanted with your work. Instead it appears to be the result of prolonged work stress and is characterised by exhaustion, cynicism, a lower sense of accomplishment and severely reduced productivity. It is a widely accepted fact that burnout can also lead to increases in stress hormones, heart disease, and mental health issues like depression. There are plenty of studies on the web about the condition which have found that there are generally three types of burnout: frenetic, under-challenged, and worn-out.
In a recent study in the journal BMC Psychiatry, researchers identified the factors which can contribute to each type of burnout and suggested possible “cures.”
Frenetic burnout
• You work increasingly harder to the point of exhaustion and border on being a workaholic.
• The more hours you work, the more at risk you are of burnout.
• You are extremely involved and ambitious, and overload yourself to fulfil the demands of your job.
• You feel guilt about the idea of not achieving your ambitious goals and are often driven by this guilt.
• The Fix: Work on understanding the cause of your excessive ambition and your guilt, while reducing your personal involvement in work to satisfy personal needs.
Under-challenged burnout
• You have little to motivate you at work, and have to cope with monotonous and unstimulating conditions.
• This type of burnout is more common in men than women and in fields like administration and service personnel.
• You feel indifferent and bored and don’t experience any personal development in your job.
• You feel cynical, because you’ve lost interest in their work.
• The fix: Understand the disenchantment caused by feeling trapped in a job that bores you. Look for ways to renew your interest in your personal development at work.
Worn-out burnout
• You have been in the same organisation for many years – the more you’re there, the greater your risk, but being in one place more than four years can trigger it.
• You give up when faced with stress or lack of gratification.
• You don’t have any control over the results of your work and no recognition, which leads you to neglect your responsibilities.
• You have a somewhat passive coping style and may become less productive, which can lead to feelings of guilt.
• This type of burnout can be buffered if you have a college degree, a stable relationship and children.
• The Fix: Work through your feelings of despair and your passive coping style, and seek out a social support network at work to help you become more motivated.
The summer holiday always acts as a catalyst for individuals to get away from those stresses and strains and to re-evaluate what they want from their career and work life balance. We inevitably see an increase in assignments in the post summer holiday, matched by candidates who are more eager to discuss opportunities than they might have been earlier in the year.
If you’re away over the next few weeks, then I’ll take this opportunity to wish you a happy and relaxing holiday and hope that you return ready to face the autumn with renewed vigour.
However, if you are one of those who has re-evaluated their career options whilst lying on a beach somewhere, then please feel free to contact one of the Directors at http://www.chestertongray.com
Everyone that I seem to speak with mentions how much they are looking forward to the break and blames fatigue as one of the reasons that they’re in the state that they are.
Whether it’s due to the lingering recession, job insecurity, increased workload or other factors entirely, fatigue or job burnout is on the rise around the world.
Neither symptom is simply about being bored or disenchanted with your work. Instead it appears to be the result of prolonged work stress and is characterised by exhaustion, cynicism, a lower sense of accomplishment and severely reduced productivity. It is a widely accepted fact that burnout can also lead to increases in stress hormones, heart disease, and mental health issues like depression. There are plenty of studies on the web about the condition which have found that there are generally three types of burnout: frenetic, under-challenged, and worn-out.
In a recent study in the journal BMC Psychiatry, researchers identified the factors which can contribute to each type of burnout and suggested possible “cures.”
Frenetic burnout
• You work increasingly harder to the point of exhaustion and border on being a workaholic.
• The more hours you work, the more at risk you are of burnout.
• You are extremely involved and ambitious, and overload yourself to fulfil the demands of your job.
• You feel guilt about the idea of not achieving your ambitious goals and are often driven by this guilt.
• The Fix: Work on understanding the cause of your excessive ambition and your guilt, while reducing your personal involvement in work to satisfy personal needs.
Under-challenged burnout
• You have little to motivate you at work, and have to cope with monotonous and unstimulating conditions.
• This type of burnout is more common in men than women and in fields like administration and service personnel.
• You feel indifferent and bored and don’t experience any personal development in your job.
• You feel cynical, because you’ve lost interest in their work.
• The fix: Understand the disenchantment caused by feeling trapped in a job that bores you. Look for ways to renew your interest in your personal development at work.
Worn-out burnout
• You have been in the same organisation for many years – the more you’re there, the greater your risk, but being in one place more than four years can trigger it.
• You give up when faced with stress or lack of gratification.
• You don’t have any control over the results of your work and no recognition, which leads you to neglect your responsibilities.
• You have a somewhat passive coping style and may become less productive, which can lead to feelings of guilt.
• This type of burnout can be buffered if you have a college degree, a stable relationship and children.
• The Fix: Work through your feelings of despair and your passive coping style, and seek out a social support network at work to help you become more motivated.
The summer holiday always acts as a catalyst for individuals to get away from those stresses and strains and to re-evaluate what they want from their career and work life balance. We inevitably see an increase in assignments in the post summer holiday, matched by candidates who are more eager to discuss opportunities than they might have been earlier in the year.
If you’re away over the next few weeks, then I’ll take this opportunity to wish you a happy and relaxing holiday and hope that you return ready to face the autumn with renewed vigour.
However, if you are one of those who has re-evaluated their career options whilst lying on a beach somewhere, then please feel free to contact one of the Directors at http://www.chestertongray.com
Wednesday, 20 July 2011
Should I resign?
Most of the time when we meet candidates it is for a specific assignment that we have approached them about, rather than for a “chat” and yet although the majority would ostensibly claim that they are happy in their roles we are surprisingly frequently asked this question. After a little probing it tends to transpire that in fact they’re not very happy in their current job because it doesn't seem like there is much opportunity for movement or promotion at the company.
Whatever you do don't start clearing your desk just yet – at least not before you've fully evaluated your current situation. You should determine if the problem is really with the job and the company or whether there's something else at play such as your energy level or dissatisfaction with other areas of your life.
Changing companies or roles may not be enough to make you happy. There are a number of important questions you'll want to ask yourself. For example: Have you explored all of your options at the company? Have you taken the time to fully evaluate your development and career path with your manager? Could there be other non-work areas affecting your level of engagement and fulfilment? What do you like and not like about your current situation? What do you want in your career moving forward?
Even if you already know the answers to these questions and still feel like you're ready for a move, there's no need to rush. Start by contacting people in your various networks to explore what opportunities exist and consider making a strategic move. If you want to explore another kind of work, it may be wise to stay put for a time while you evaluate your next steps.
It is equally important to evaluate what you can offer a new company. Take a hard look at your “brand”, professional reputation and any other qualities and skills you bring to the job. If you can, forget for a moment that you are a company employee and instead picture yourself as a "business-of-one,” Businesses who decide to 'fire' a client that gives them the majority of their income must make sure they have a strong brand or reputation they can market, know their ideal target audience and the best way to reach them, and be certain there is enough of a demand for their services.
Now you should identify at least 25 companies where you would want to work and ensure that they employ people with your types of skills. Then you should try to network with individuals who have been hired at these companies to see if they can shed some light on what is valued by the organisation and the best way to get considered for a position. Networking often leads to learning about 'unpublished' jobs. If you can't or are unwilling to do these steps, then you're not ready to move on. Over the years most of us here have seen too many people jump out of a bad job and into a worse one.
Naturally we would very seldom advise any candidate to resign without having a new role to go to, unless there were significant mitigating circumstances.
If you would like to chat over your career options then please feel free to contact one of the team at www.chestertongray.com
Whatever you do don't start clearing your desk just yet – at least not before you've fully evaluated your current situation. You should determine if the problem is really with the job and the company or whether there's something else at play such as your energy level or dissatisfaction with other areas of your life.
Changing companies or roles may not be enough to make you happy. There are a number of important questions you'll want to ask yourself. For example: Have you explored all of your options at the company? Have you taken the time to fully evaluate your development and career path with your manager? Could there be other non-work areas affecting your level of engagement and fulfilment? What do you like and not like about your current situation? What do you want in your career moving forward?
Even if you already know the answers to these questions and still feel like you're ready for a move, there's no need to rush. Start by contacting people in your various networks to explore what opportunities exist and consider making a strategic move. If you want to explore another kind of work, it may be wise to stay put for a time while you evaluate your next steps.
It is equally important to evaluate what you can offer a new company. Take a hard look at your “brand”, professional reputation and any other qualities and skills you bring to the job. If you can, forget for a moment that you are a company employee and instead picture yourself as a "business-of-one,” Businesses who decide to 'fire' a client that gives them the majority of their income must make sure they have a strong brand or reputation they can market, know their ideal target audience and the best way to reach them, and be certain there is enough of a demand for their services.
Now you should identify at least 25 companies where you would want to work and ensure that they employ people with your types of skills. Then you should try to network with individuals who have been hired at these companies to see if they can shed some light on what is valued by the organisation and the best way to get considered for a position. Networking often leads to learning about 'unpublished' jobs. If you can't or are unwilling to do these steps, then you're not ready to move on. Over the years most of us here have seen too many people jump out of a bad job and into a worse one.
Naturally we would very seldom advise any candidate to resign without having a new role to go to, unless there were significant mitigating circumstances.
If you would like to chat over your career options then please feel free to contact one of the team at www.chestertongray.com
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