Alexandra Levit's Water Cooler Wisdom

Surviving the Interview – On No Experience

In his book How to Win Friends and Influence People, author and motivational guru Dale Carnegie says that the person who can speak acceptably is usually considered to possess greater ability than he actually has.  In my experience, this is true.  If you look and act like you know what you’re talking about, people will think that you do – regardless of the reality. 

When you’re interviewing in a new field, you don’t have a vast store of knowledge and years of experience to draw from but still need to create the perception of being competent and informed.  The key to coming across this way is to prepare, but not too much. You want to do just enough research so that you know what to expect and can speak intelligently on the points related to your job function.  

Determine in advance what type of interview you’ll be having so you aren’t caught off guard. Will the meeting be one-on-one, or will you be sitting in front of a panel of executives? Will you be asked to consider a real-life business problem? Once you have this information, practice giving succinct and articulate responses in front of friends or a mirror. In the actual interview, begin with a strong handshake, speak slowly and confidently, ask thoughtful questions, and listen more than you talk.

Few new college grads have a wealth of experience to boast about, but by yourself in a skillful manner, you’ll appear seasoned beyond your experience and will succeed in getting in the door – and making that doorstop hold.

The Quest for Happiness with Gretchen Rubin - Continued

Here’s the second part of last week's interview with happiness expert Gretchen Rubin, who has a terrific blog called The Happiness Project and is currently working on a memoir about her own quest for happiness.

Alex: Is happiness overrated?  If not, why is it so important?

Gretchen:  I don’t think happiness is overrated. Not only is life much more pleasant when you’re feeling happy, but happy people are actually more helpful, more creative, make better leaders, are more effective, are better liked, healthier, give away more money, and are more altruistic. So trying to be happier isn’t a selfish goal. One of the best ways to make yourself happy is to make someone else happy; One of the best ways to make someone else happy is to be happy yourself. In fact, I argue we have a duty to be happy (or at least to try).

Alex: How can people find happiness in their work without making a drastic career change?

Gretchen:  Well, sometimes people need to make drastic change. One of the challenges of happiness is to remember that you shouldn’t let anxiety about making a big change stop you from making small changes that would make you happier, but also, to remember that you shouldn’t let your ability to make small changes deter you from making a big change, if necessary. 

But if you’re not going to make a drastic change, I’d recommend the following basic steps, for happiness at work: 1) Get enough sleep!  Lack of sufficient sleep, along with tight work deadlines, is one of the top two causes of bad moods at work. 2) Exercise.  Exercise is one of the quickest and most effective ways to give yourself a mood boost in the short term and also to maintain your happiness in the long term. 3) Make time for fun. People who have fun at work are happier. Don’t get so caught up in efficiency or anxiety that you don’t allow yourself to goof around a bit. 4) Tackle something that’s been weighing on your mind. Long-dreaded tasks drag you down and drain your energy. Commit to getting something crossed off your to-do list. You’ll be amazed by the jolt of energy you’ll get. 5) Don’t gossip. Saying mean things about other people isn’t nice, will lower your feelings of self-esteem, will make you paranoid, and all too often backfires in your face.

Thanks, Gretchen!

Hot Fields' Lower Salaries Leave Candidates Cold

We've talked periodically about the impact that the economy's downturn is having on the job market.  Last week, in the new Outside Voices blog that recruitment guru Joel Cheesman is writing for U.S. News and World Report, the topic is compensation in traditionally hot fields like technology, finance, and government contracting. 

Joel cites a May 2008 JobFox report on the most wanted U.S. job candidates. According to the report, there is still an extremely high demand for these professional and highly skilled employees, but there are budget constraints and cutbacks that make it difficult to offset the demand for jobs. This has driven businesses to lower the salaries they offer for some of the hottest jobs on the market.

Most salary decreases are around $10,000 for technology jobs, product management, network/systems administration, governmental contracting, and finance.  The good news?  It won't stay this way forever.  Says Joel: "These are high-profile jobs with high demand so salary adjustments are imminent when the economy strengthens. Employees who are able to look far enough into the future know that taking a job at a lower salary today is a smart bet for tomorrow."

So here's a question for you all: would you take a job for less money than you'd have commanded at this time last year either to keep yourself out of the unemployment line, or to break into a competitive field?

Dream Job Spotlight: Interview with Kori, Event Planner (Part II)

We’re continuing our conversation with Kori Carter, an event planner with her own business, Kori Elizabeth Events. 

Alex:  What personality traits do you think it takes to be successful in your job?

Kori:  Being bossy, neurotic (in a good way), organized, and able to communicate and to write effectively are necessities, as is being a quick thinker who can manage clients through a process smoothly and with candor, versus just saying what they want to hear. If a client has a bad event idea, I definitely speak up because ultimately I am responsible for the outcome of that choice.

Alex: What skills are critical to your success in your job?

Kori: Being proactive, not reactive, and anticipating your client’s needs. For a clam bake for 1,200 people on a Pier at the Navy Yard the weather forecast called for rain, so I had 1,200 rain ponchos delivered overnight -- guests thought they were wonderful, and no one even noticed the rain. Multi tasking, thinking outside the box, and remembering that there is “no crying in event planning” are crucial. Sales skills are also important because in essence you are selling a client a vision of what the event will look like. A job has to be sold before it may be created, finessed, brought to fruition.

Alex: Anything else cool about your job or career path you’d care to share?

Kori:  It’s a little industry joke that everyone thinks they’d like to be an event planner – the truth is, nobody fresh to the profession knows what that really means. What it doesn’t mean is attending wonderful parties, mingling among VIPs, and dining on caviar belinis while looking flawless. What it does mean is long, grueling hours (usually on weekends), working tirelessly behind the scenes to make an event happen while you watch your client receive accolades and praise for the successful event. Don’t get me wrong-- I love my job, but it is not for everybody!

 Thanks, Kori!

Interview with Gretchen Rubin, Happiness Guru

Today, I’m talking with Gretchen Rubin, a self-proclaimed happiness guru.  I’ve been a longtime fan of Gretchen’s blog, and I’m pleased to report that she’s now working on a memoir, The Happiness Project, based on the year she spent test-driving every principle, tip, theory, and scientific study she could find on happiness. – including those from Aristotle, St. Therese, Martin Seligman, and Oprah.  Here’s the first part of our interview.  Look for the second part next week.

Alex:  What made you decide to undertake the Happiness Project?

Gretchen:  One rainy afternoon, as I was staring out the window of a taxi, a realization jolted me so violently that I jumped in my seat. I suddenly saw that years were slipping by, and I was ignoring the great fundamentals of my life. “What do I want?” I asked myself. “Well…I want to be happy.” But I never thought about what made me happy, or how I might be happier, or even what it meant to be “happy.”

I had much to be happy about. I was very happily married, we had two delightful young daughters; I had no regrets about leaving my legal career to be a writer; I was living in my favorite city, New York City; I had a very close relationship with my parents, sister, and in-laws; I had great friends; I had my health. I didn’t even have to color my hair. Yet I also fussed about my career, lost my temper with my family, drifted out of touch with friends, made unkind remarks, and had other sources of guilt, irritation, anxiety, and anger. I wasn’t as happy as I could be. What would it take to be happier?  I knew the answer: I needed to start asking more of myself.

One thing stood in the way of my greater happiness, and that one thing was…me. A thousand tiny misdeeds pricked my conscience. Procrastination stopped me from taking steps that might boost my mood. “I need to think about this,” I reflected. “Or maybe, I should start a happiness project.” Eureka!

Alex:  What has the project brought to your life so far?  How have things been different?

Gretchen:  My Happiness Project has made me much happier. My First Splendid Truth is that to think about happiness, we need to think about 1) feeling good, 2) feeling bad, 3) feeling right in an atmosphere of growth.  After spending months thinking about these elements in my life, I’ve made positive changes. I have more feeling good: I have a lot more fun, I’m closer to my friends, I make time for my priorities. I have less feeling bad: I feel less anger, I’ve stopped nagging and gossiping (mostly), I’ve tackled some issues that were making me anxious. I feel more right: I’m acting more like the spouse and parent and citizen that I want to be. And I’ve cultivated an atmosphere of growth, by tackling big projects that give me a sense of progress and accomplishment.

Stay tuned for more from Gretchen next week.

New Episode: 30/20 Vision

Just wanted to let everyone know that my co-hosts Lindsey Pollak (Getting from College to Career) and Christine Hassler (20 Something Manifesto) and I will be taping the May episode of our radio show and podcast, 30/20 Vision, this Thursday, May 22 at 6PM ET.  We'll be discussing the opportunities and challenges associated with being a newly minted college grad!  Please join us live or listen to the recording.

The Replacement Politics of Leaving a Job

A WCW reader writes: “Dear Alexandra, I’ve read your advice about the right way to leave your job, and I think it’s good. Only trouble is, the people I work with aren’t exactly helping me out. I gave them six weeks notice so that I could find and train a replacement, but no one except me seems to feel this major urgency to hire someone. My six weeks are almost up, and there’s no one to take over my many and complicated responsibilities. What should I do?”

Great question, and I feel your pain as I was in a similar situation as I prepared to take a long maternity leave from my marketing communications consulting gig. First of all, I think it’s admirable that you care so deeply about what happens to your work once you’ve left. Believe it or not, most people look at a job as a paycheck, and as soon as they’re assured they don’t need it anymore, they check out. 

Giving a healthy notice and going out of your way to try and hire and train a replacement was the considerate thing to do, but there is a limit to how much you can control the behavior of others. You’ve told them of your desire to keep the machine running well in your absence, but at the end of the day it’s their organization, and they’ll do what they will with it. 

The best you can do is prepare a detailed transition memo of all of your projects, so that your old team members have the information they need to divide and conquer them in the event that a replacement isn’t hired before you depart. And then it’s time to start focusing on your new job and the contributions you’ll be able to make there.

Dream Job Spotlight: Interview with Kori, Event Planner

Today, we’re chatting with Kori Carter of Kori Elizabeth Events in Boston, MA. Kori has her dream job planning weddings and other special occasions and is featured in my new book, How’d You Score That Gig?. 

Alex: Describe some of the day-to-day activities of your job.

Kori:

Some of my time is spent marketing my own business, and working with clients to plan and execute events including weddings, corporate events, and special occasions. I am also a sales and event manager for a high-end boutique catering company in Boston. I enjoy working on different projects with multiple clients and aiming toward a specific goal. Event planning is both innovative and creative and logical and planned.

Alex: How did you get your first paid position? 

Kori:

When I was in second grade I had a lemonade stand – not just any stand but a yellow wooden one with brightly striped curtains. Under my supervision, my friends sold lemonade, cookies, and candy to tourists coming out to the country to pick apples. From that point on, I was always on the hunt for an entrepreneurial challenge.

Alex: What's one piece of advice you'd give to recent college grads that aspire to become event planners?

Kori:

The best advice I can give for those wanting to be an event planner is to work for a hotel or catering company as a banquet server or on the wait staff. Catering is the backbone of how an event flows, and the most successful event planners have a strong catering background.

Also, network with people within the planning industry to get your foot in the door, and explore creative options where event planners may be needed, such as historic properties, non-profit groups, academic organizations, design companies, destination management companies, and convention bureaus.

Two Great New Books for New Grads and Not-So-New Grads

Two new career-expert friends have terrific books out that are great companions to my latest effort, How’d You Score That Gig? Starting out, my fellow Ballantine author Pamela Skillings has written Escape from Corporate America, an extremely detailed and thorough roadmap to assessing if leaving traditional business is the right move for you, and if so, how you can do it without going broke or losing your sanity.

What I appreciate most about Escape from Corporate America is its practicality. A veteran of traditional business herself, Pam understands while the corporate world has its disadvantages, it’s not necessarily easy or realistic to just up and quit. Her book provides a concrete approach to developing an escape plan – for example, how to set goals, determine your timing, and evaluate your financial situation. 

Escape from Corporate America presents the reader with various options for discovering a meaningful new career – from fulfilling a creative dream to taking a job that “doesn’t bite” in a nonprofit or startup. It’s chock-full of useful resources and exercises for undertaking a career change, and I was engaged all the way through by the entertaining stories of Pam’s “corporate escape artists” – people who left Corporate America behind and lived to tell the tale. If you’re fed up with your corporate job but aren’t sure where to start to better your plight, this is the perfect book for you.

Next up is Kristen Fischer’s Ramen Noodles, Rent, and Resumes. When Kristen was interviewing me for the career sections of her book, what I remember most was her positive attitude about the time she refers to as “After-College.” This enthusiasm for post-graduate life shines through in her book, which addresses common twenty-something issues such as career, graduate school, living situation, finances, and emotional crises.

Ramen Noodles, Rent, and Resumes portrays a twenty-something life that college seniors can look forward to. With Kristen’s book in hand, you can be sure that you will grow and thrive during this period, and when you do run into one of the inevitable challenges, Kristen has a workable solution you can employ today.

You Don’t Have to Leave Corporate America to Live Your Passion

A few months ago, I met Lia, a woman who has done what I think is a very sensible thing with her career – fulfilling her desire to make a difference in the world in the context of working for a large company – so I thought I’d share her story here.

When Lia chose to transition from the non-profit to the corporate sector, she wanted to continue to be actively involved in the philanthropic causes she had passion for. Beginning in college, Lia had directed and produced three large charity fashion shows for the Ronald McDonald House, a children's bereavement center, and an organization devoted to raising cultural awareness and ending prejudice.

Taking a job at insurance powerhouse Aetna, Lia was concerned about when she would find time outside of work and commuting to volunteer.  But Aetna solved this problem for her, providing employees with opportunities to volunteer either during the work day or as part of company initiatives. While working in the Connecticut sales office, Lia volunteered at two Catholic charity golf events and was the team captain for the Light the Night walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.  And because Lia now has a more flexible schedule and is able to work from home several times a week, she has been able to start working for her local chapter of Hospice. She visits patients during her lunch hours, or right at the end of the work day.

A sense of social responsibility is of the utmost importance to Lia, and she’s not alone.  In attracting and retaining today’s twenty and thirty-somethings, companies like Aetna are wise to support volunteer programs and flexible scheduling to ensure better work/life balance.  As for Lia, she has the best of both worlds.  She’s able to make a good salary working at a prestigious Fortune 500 while living her dream of philanthropic service.   

The lesson?  Instead of lamenting how tragic and soulless it is to work in Corporate America, look around you for opportunities to do something meaningful.  They might be right in front of you.