21 Wonderful article

Thanks for yet another great article. This article was especially useful to me as I’m starting my freelance career and I am also trying to land an in-house position. It’s valuable advice for both worlds.

posted at 05:06 am on May 26, 2008 by Jon Victorino

22 I especially liked

I liked Pepi Ronalds’ comment:

It’s easy to forget that often employers are taking a risk in giving people opportunities to learn more skills.

Well said, especially as they won’t know immediately how you’ll handle it.

I think it’s also important to take stock of where you want to go with your career. Looking to the future is important and, while adding to your expertise is always a good thing, looking toward the "mountain" while treading the path.

posted at 08:19 am on May 26, 2008 by Diane Vigil

23 Become one of them!

I can relate to this article completely. I asked this question “ Why was I hired?” on the 3rd day of my new job! (This is a brand company boasting to be one of the top in its industry.) The option to quit at that time was quite a risk since I moved to new city for the job and its a BIG brand!..the only option was to stick around, and
1> talk to the management and HR about the problems I preempted / foresaw,
2> try to educate the existing team about the new practices that were followed in the industry which will eventually help them in their business.
3> take it as a learning experience, be open minded to accept their reasoning behind their way of working
4> and lastly, improve my patience and tolerance levels

For 6 months, I did all of the above to stay on and get adjusted. But nothing really worked :(. Whenever I spoke of standards, I was ridiculed, whenever I asked for a process, I was given shocked looks, Web 2.0 became a graphic design trend but nobody knew what it actually was, quality checks is a term not heard of here. There was a little loss of millions, but thats ok in the beginning as its a investment period. In short I was in a BIG mess, stuck in a job I didn’t want to be a part of.

Things are different when you in the hierarchy lower than the middle management. And its worse when there are no meetings, no team alloted (though designation talks about it)and no senior to report to (hes always very busy! to hear you out). You cant bring in the change you want so easily, as you have to tackle people below you as well as the levels above you. There are very few people like you here and there, which you identify over the period of time.

Its then you realize, that before bringing in the change you want for the company’s betterment, you need to change yourself. Become one of them, abandon your thoughts and principles. Follow their methodology, in spite of knowing thats its wrong. Then start slow bringing in small changes. Get a course on EQ done. Sharpen your soft skills. You would see changes in a small way..but there is no guarantee that over the time there would be a drastic one.

Till then be patient and wait for the skies to clear. Thats the mantra shared by the HR head too:)

Apart from this I’m also keeping my eyes open for a good job that gives work satisfaction and the good money to run my house. The only things that keep me off from putting in my papers right away (that thought comes almost every alternate day!)is the money and the hope that someday things might change a little more.:)

posted at 12:31 pm on May 29, 2008 by Priti Saini

24 We will assimilate you...

Hi, Priti:

You describe a situation that happens to many, many people and is the underlying impetus for my piece. People make decisions based on either the perception or reality of a job that they feel fits both their financial and career goals only to find out that the world they know is about to be rocked hard by slow or uninformed practices.

To increase the severity of the situation, you add in that you’ve moved to a new city and are now in a new life; not an easy situation.

The good news is that if you’ve kept your nose clean and have “anything” to point to for work as a reference, the name of the “BIG” brand should help you.

Good luck!

posted at 01:36 pm on May 29, 2008 by Keith LaFerriere

25 Untitled

I really enjoyed reading this article. Very interesting read, thanks Keith for putting in the work and sharing this with us.

posted at 10:37 pm on July 18, 2008 by Chris Barner

26 Expectations and talking money *GASP!*

The single most important issue when starting a new job (whether internal or freelance) might be establishing expectations up front. A list of granular bullet points isn’t necessary, but a few clearly-defined milestones can avoid the minefield of unmet expectations for both parties.

As for the topic of pay, if it’s handled with humility and propriety, why the big secret. It’s a mind game prospective employers play with job candidates and then we perpetuate once employed. Handled properly by a savvy employer it could be used to great effect in establishing and directly reinforcing my other point: expectations.

All else being equal, if Person A makes more than Person B, shouldn’t it be based on a transparent set of standards for skills, experience, and performance rather something as arbitrary as negotiating skills?

posted at 06:57 pm on September 9, 2011 by squarecat