29 Jun

Posted at 04:32h in Linkedin, Networking Tips
You're sitting down eating lunch at your desk. The thought races across your head that it's about time to get a new job. You aren't happy with what you have now. You need something new, refreshing and with better career potential.You then start thinking about next steps. You hate the idea of updating your resume and applying for jobs online. You need something more efficient & something more natural. Maybe you should start telling a few close people what you're thinking about and get their opinions. Sounds like a great idea. Now, the question is who do you tell?  Your friends, colleagues that work with you, your favorite barista at Starbucks?You need someone who will keep it private but also give you great advice on next steps. Someone who will connect you with the right people. You want to start interviewing as soon as possible, and see what's out there.Isn't this what Linkedin was created for!? You immediately go on Linkedin and start browsing your connections for people that can help you.Then it dawns on you. That person doesn't exist in your network. You don't have that person. Everyone in your network is useless. Well, they aren't exactly useless - but useless to you.I hate to be the bearer of bad news here, but it's all your fault.

29 Jun

Posted at 03:17h in Quitting Your Job
When I resigned from a large consulting company after 4 years of working as a consultant, I sent out my farewell email at the end of the week. The next day, the CEO sent it out to the ENTIRE US Consulting Practice. (A lot of people).Note: I wasn't a Director, Partner, Senior Manager or even a Manager. I was a Senior Consultant. I didn't save the company millions of dollars by inventing a new methodology or product. I wasn't given any top performance awards or recognized as a global leader within a company.I can only guess it was because he saw something noteworthy of sharing. In short: I loved working there & it showed in my e-mail.There are good ways and bad ways to leave a job. This is not a good way: Below, is the way I did it - with a heart-felt letter. I'll let it speak for itself.

17 Jun

Posted at 23:25h in Career Inspiration, Quitting Your Job
I was scared to quit my first real job. I didn't want to tell my boss that I was leaving. I know she was going to be mad at me. I was leaving for a competitor who was also going to pay me more. I was a traitor. How dare I leave a company for better money. She kept telling me that I was making the wrong decision by leaving and that I shouldn't be making a decision based on how much the new employer is going to pay me. She was right, I shouldn't base my decision on that. That obviously wasn't the reason I was leaving, but she was convinced that was the only reason I wanted to leave.

06 Apr

Posted at 19:43h in Quitting Your Job
[Looking for the book Fire Me I Beg You? You can buy it on Amazon here] In every situation I ask myself two questions:
  1. What do I want the outcome of this situation to be
  2. What do I secretly want the outcome of this situation to be
For example, at one of my previous jobs, my boss setup an emergency meeting in her office. The title of the calendar invite was "catch up". It was one of those vague meeting titles that meant one of two things: 1) She wanted to catch up or 2) She was going to lay me off.The meeting was sent at 2am and it was for 6 hours later at 8am. The moment I got the email, my mind started going wild. What in the world does she want to talk about? There was no description in the email, she surely is going to lay me off. She never sends email this late at night. The company isn't doing that well, this has to be it. I'm toast.

10 Feb

Posted at 01:30h in Salary Negotiation
I get emails, phone calls and Facebook messages from people all the time about their current predicament: They aren't get paid enough at their current job.Every time I get one of these messages, I immediately think of the Priceline negotiator commercial, and I play their little catchy tone in my head. If you didn't just play that tone in your head, I'll give you a $100.

I first find out why you want a raise. Are you just unhappy, or you you happy but don't feel like you are getting paid enough. For the sake of clarity on this post let's assume they are happy, but are getting way underpaid.  Since I am the PRICELINE NEGOTIATOR I advise a few things in order to maximize the salary that you want.