Stifling jobs in a scary economy?

When you think about your career, your job, and job security, does the word victim come to mind? Is every day a bad day at the office?

Interesting. Because you're certainly not alone. A recent Experience poll suggested that more than 70 percent of young professionals (that would be you) have failed to hit the career goals they had when they graduated.


And yes, some of you blame your bosses, and some of you blame your companies, and some are just plain burnt out.

On this blog, we recently heard comments about the way some companies treat employees. One suggested that for all the appreciation he sees at work, he might as well be working as a contractor (preferably for a staffing firm that offers benefits).

This is a problem for you, the employee, and an even greater problem for them (the employers). According to one research report, turnover can cost a company nearly three times an employee's salary to replace them, including recruitment, training, severance, and lost productivity. And companies are finally starting to recognize this, and pay attention. In many cases, they're listening to the clear messages that employees are sending, and responding positively to them.

What's it like at your company? Is the economy so scary that you're trying to hold on, or are you right on the edge? Do you and your colleagues talk about this much? And is your company hearing what you're saying?

Can a pay cut ever pay off?

Don't ever talk about your salary, they say. But this is true confessions time.

I once, willingly, took a pay cut to get a new job.

Every bit of conventional wisdom (and every one of my Trusted Board of Advisers) warned against it. You don't change jobs for less money (and, in this case, a lesser title as well), they all said.

Problem was, I was in the job I wanted, but not at the right company. The only way to get there was to move down, then up. So I went the route -- moving from big fish/little pond to littler fish, medium-sized lake.

A CNN Money article suggests a number of reasons that might make a pay cut the right choice. Among them -- changing careers, revitalizing your career, moving from a dead-end job to one with potential, or fulfilling a dream or a passion. And in some industries, such as technology, it's not as uncommon as you might think.

My TBAs still said no. I said yes. I'm glad I did, and would do it again. Here's why:

I was fortunate -- I landed in the right place at the right time, and never had to look back with regret. A little over a year later, I was ahead of the game.

Yet this was breaking one of the cardinal rules of salary success. (Another rule: you should make more than your age, ideally $10K more -- that type of thing). It could have ended differently.

Was I crazy? Have you ever been crazy like this, taking salary cuts to get ahead?

And what are some of the other "unofficial rules" of salaries that you've heard?


photo by Capt. Mouffette

Blame it on your parents

Before I went to college I thought that most people found a job they loved and worked there until retirement. That's what my parents are doing. My mom has been at her job for 28 years, and my dad is approaching his 27th anniversary. I quickly discovered that I cannot base my career perceptions on my parents' example.

According to a New York Times article, most of Gen Y has yet to make that discovery.

As college seniors are embarking on their first job search, which attitudes of work will they take with them? The one dealing with passion and satisfaction or the one dealing with grueling and taxing work?

Daniel Pink, author of "The Adventures of Johnny Bunko" who specializes in navigating the workplace, explains how parents influence Gen Y's perceptions of a career.

"They've [Gen Y] been told it's all about them - what they want, what they are passionate about, what they find fulfilling. That's not a bad message, but it's also not a complete message."

What do you think? Were you influenced by the messages your parents gave you about their careers/work?

Ways to Gain Experience: Win, Lose, Volunteer

We've received a number of questions lately asking us how to "get experience" when you don't have any. If I've never worked before, you ask, what the heck am I supposed to put on a resume? So we decided to brainstorm some unique ways to beef up a beginner resume that are guaranteed to make you stand out from the crowd.

Way to Gain Experience #1: Enter a contest.

Winning something--whether it's an essay competition, a road race, or a spelling bee--is a great way to gain a bullet point on your resume, and a good story to tell in interviews. So put yourself out there--even losing can be used to your advantage as a "time when I confronted an obstacle/challenge that was greater than myself."

Here's a unique contest to get you started: National Cleaners Association Video Contest. If you're an aspiring marketer or filmmaker, this could be just the opportunity to get your ideas recognized, and win $2500!

Way to Gain Experience #2: Volunteer your time & expertise.

Volunteering is good for the people you help, yes--but it's also good for you and your resume. Volunteer your professional services by creating a website for a small business, helping out an organization with some free PR work, or lending a hand at a local elementary school (if you're interested in education) or nursing home (if you're interested in healthcare).

Another idea is to take your service abroad, combining volunteer experience with a horizon-broadening adventure. Check out some opportunities to Globe Trot with a Goal.

Way to Gain Experience #3: Apply for an Exclusive Experience.

Exclusive Experiences are unique, resume-building opportunities that provide college students and grads with an up-close look at specific careers and industries. This summer, we're looking for two creative, outgoing, and dedicated (to work...and to having a good time!) students to be our "roving reporters"...explore the different departments here at Experience, learn from other interns how their summer work is, get the facts on what it's really like in the working world—and show your peers how much fun an internship can be. Apply to join us in Boston! (deadline April 4)

Future of interviewing: Is it something in your past?

As it turns out, you never can learn enough about what to anticipate in a job interview. As interviewers have become more sophisticated, a candidate must as well.

“Behavioral interviewing” has been catching on, and with good reason. Often referred to as the STAR approach (Situation or Task, Action you took, Results you achieved), it reflects a need to find out more about the soft skills you can bring to the table (and the job).

Instead of merely reciting a bullet list of your skills or accomplishments, these are questions about how you behave, particularly in situations of stress or challenge. If you (and who hasn’t?) have too many things to do under impossible deadlines, how do you, or did you, prioritize your tasks?

Or, talk about a stressful situation you were in, how you dealt with it and what you learned from it? Was there a time when you were given an important job and failed at it? Or needed to make an instantaneous decision – nobody else around to help make it for you?

You get the picture – it’s complex, and it’s demanding. The good news is that, at least for now, it’s a type of interviewing used most commonly only by large, top-notch corporations. If you can prepare yourself to tell stories that create a bridge to the employer’s needs, you’re in great shape.

The even-better news – regardless of whether your career is still in its early stages, you’ll be able to think back and prepare great stories to wow the interviewer.

(Spoiler warning!!!) We’ll be revisiting behavioral interviewing in the future, but in the meantime you can get more information about interviewing.

Photo by PatL

Career Comedy: What Not to Do at Work

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Career Advice for Women? Take It With a Grain of Salt

Compare this excerpt from a recent column by Brazen Careerist Penelope Trunk to the excerpt from The Feminine Mystique, a 1963 book by Betty Friedan, below it:

Women who want to have children should make it a priority in their twenties to find a partner....[Y]ou have your whole life to get a career. Obviously, that's not true of having a baby. If you are past your early twenties, and you're single and want to have children, you need to find a partner now. Take that career drive and direct it toward mating - your ovaries will not last longer than your career....The good news is that psychology research shows you will gain more happiness anyway by finding a partner than by having a good job. --Penelope Trunk (2008)

Over and over women [in the 1940s and 50s] heard in voices of tradition and of Freudian sophistication that they could desire no greater destiny than to glory in their own femininity. Experts told them how to catch a man and keep him, how to breastfeed children and handle their toilet training...how to dress, look, and act more feminine and make marriage more exciting....They were taught to pity the neurotic, unfeminine, unhappy women who wanted to be poets or physicists or presidents. They learned that truly feminine women do not want careers, higher education, political rights--the independence and the opportunities that the old-fashioned feminists fought for. --Betty Friedan (1963)

In 2008, on the eve of a presidential election that very well may include a female candidate, are we experiencing some sort of backlash against the idea that a woman can find happiness and fulfillment outside the home? Or is Penelope Trunk's mandate to "start mating ASAP" a valuable piece of advice for today's female workers?

Career Comedy: Keep a Close Watch on Your Supplies

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Don't Need No Books 'Round Here

The New York Times reported recently that teenagers are ignorant on basic history and literature questions.

No surprise there--we've all seen Miss South Carolina expound on geography, we've all heard of TV's Are You Smarter Than a 5th grader?, and most of us have probably been aware of the increasing chatter surrounding "the dumbing-down of America."

But one comment in response to the Times article on ignorant teenagers did surprise me.

Ffrank of Columbus, OH wrote in to say, "The sad truth is you don't need a knowledge of history or literature to succeed in almost all jobs. Haven't noticed any discussions about the Treaty of Westphalia at my workplace lately, and I work for a university."

Okay, true, no one at my job talks about the Treaty of Westphalia either. But to say that you don't need a knowledge of history or literature to succeed in most jobs seems a little extreme. And if it's true, why do we (many of us, anyway) learn those things in school?

Could it be that the tiny particulars of both subjects (what the Treaty of Westphalia said, in which year Shakespeare wrote Hamlet) mean less than the broader perspective (ideally) afforded by book-learning?

And what about you? When's the last time something academic came up at your workplace?

Photo by _sarchi.

Career Comedy: What Not to Do at Work

Interested in printing our cartoon in your college newspaper
or alumni publication? Find a higher-resolution, print-friendly file here: 10amCartoon

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Sign up for Experience's College News Line at
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What Does Castro's Resignation Mean for Your Career?

Nothing, you say?

Think again.

Political events do affect the course of your career.

Picture a huge funnel, the top of which is the whole wide world and all the events that happen within it--be they military coups, or hunger strikes, the Olympics, Britney Spears' latest crises, hurricanes, or civil war. At the bottom of the funnel is you--your singular life, your individual career.

When things happen up there--at the top of the funnel--they eventually trickle all the way down to you (okay, maybe not so much the Britney Spears crises) and impact the way you live your life. Not true, you say? Well, what about conflict in the Middle East, which lead to higher gas prices, which made it twice as expensive to fill your tank?

Same holds true for other changes to our social, political and economic climate. So let's brainstorm for a minute the ways in which the end of the Castro era might affect your career. What if our trade embargo on Cuba comes to an end, opening up a new market for US goods? What if American citizens are eventually allowed to travel freely to Cuba? What if the cap on the number of Cubans allowed to seek exile in the US is lifted? Any one of these events might have ramifications for the jobs available the next time you're looking, or for marketplace trends that could directly affect your career path.

Can you think of a world event that has specifically influenced your own career path?

Check out the results of our political survey of college students.

Photo by ilkerender.

It’s FREEZING in here! (Not what you think)

Thanks to Remote Access, I worked from home yesterday along with many others in the area – missing (well, not really MISSING) much of an ice/snow/sleet/rain storm.

Unlike other remote sessions, the response was slow (too many people working from home, perhaps?) and way too often, the connection would freeze up. Which brings up two questions:

1. Are remote connections completely ready for prime time if more and more people start working remotely (see also STORMS, $5 per gallon GAS PRICES)?

2. Are we ready to move to the Remote Workplace on a large-scale basis?

The first answer is probably, possibly yes, or at least very soon. My faith in high-tech solutions is not easily dampened by torrential downpours.

Second answer is more complicated. I learned all about work in a group environment – whether an office, a warehouse, an ice cream shop, whatever.

It wasn’t just about learning the job skills, but also about co-existence. It’s not that much of a stretch between cooperating on the temperature of the heating/AC and cooperating on a project.

Change the scene to people – many people – working from home much of the time. Not getting into the day-to-day interactions, the smiles at seeing somebody receive flowers on Valentine’s Day or the shared sadness of somebody leaving. Will people learn all they need about “the way we’ve always done it here”?

I’m trying to get a mindpicture of what the workplace will look and feel like in 10 years. The warmth of an office atmosphere gets replaced by the coolness of long-distance. And I’m not quite figuring it out – how it will work, will it work?

Will we all be OK as essentially independent contractors? Some thrive, some don’t. Some (who happen to be in the office that day) will love having the whole place to themselves.

Or will the entire office disappear? Will it even be necessary?

What do you think – what’s your vision?

photo by Mr. Tu

Second-hand success

Success -- sports and politics thrive on it, and so can you.

If you’re concerned about government and politics, you probably have a favorite candidate. If your favorite sports team does well, you can be the ultimate fan – cheer them on.

Then, if your favorite candidate does well, you can be really proud. If your team is successful – maybe advances through the NCAA playoffs, then you can be really proud.

But wait, that’s second-hand success. You’re pouring your passion into rooting somebody on from the sidelines when you can do more. You can dive in, become an active fan, part of an active fan club. You can volunteer to campaign for a candidate – make calls, distribute information, go door-to-door.

Why would you want to do these things? First, to play a part – doing something first hand, rather than sitting back and watching. And second, to help you develop the “soft skills” that you’ll need to keep your career moving.

Employers talk about soft skills all the time, and expect job-seekers to have them, and to grow them as time goes along. Soft skills can encompass a lot of things, but the basics include:

• Communication skills (both written and verbal)
• Teamwork
• Organized, able to manage projects
• Problem solvers
• Willing to show initiative and take risks

Sports and politics can be the perfect settings to develop these – to try them out, learn from others -- you could call it not-on-the-job training.



Photo by csitscenter