5 Things To Avoid Doing At Your New Job (part 4)

You already know three things to avoid doing at your new job, they are:

• Thinking your hardest work is behind you

• Focusing on the technical aspects of the job

• Prescribing “THE” solution too quickly

Here’s the fourth thing!

4. Feeling It’s Your Boss’ Responsibility to Build A Productive Working Relationship With You

You’ve just joined the team and the thrill of new work challenges causes dopamine to shoot to your brain. You’re feeling on top of the world!

It would be pretty easy to become self-focused as you learn all about your new role, what is expected of you, and what challenges you face on a regular basis.

Catch yourself before you become so focused on yourself that you lose sight of one of your all-important responsibilities - building an effective working relationship with your boss!

The relationship you build or don’t build with your boss is going to be one of the single biggest contributors to you doing well in your new role.

Manage this key relationship well and your career (and probably life) will be a ton easier!  

But hear me out before you start to tune out!

I am not saying you need to respond to every single request of your boss within 30 seconds of when he or she asks. I am not saying that you need to put aside your self-respect to meet their overbearing demands.

Rather, what I am saying is that the interview process is like the dating relationship with your boss, and now that you’re on the bus, this is marriage.

Proactively and positively manage your relationship with your boss or it will manage you.

Think of it as a 300 lb German Shepherd - you’ll want to feed it, walk it, and play with it now and again. And if you don’t, you’ll be like one of those young kids you see trying to pull one of those monsters on a leash. You’ll be dragged and jerked in every direction.

So what are you to do?

Here are 7 simple ways to build a relationship with your boss:

#1 Believe the best. Don’t believe, like Michael Scott, that “boss” is just slang for Jerk In Charge.

#2 Build enduring trust. David Horsager’s book, The Trust Edge, outlines eight pillars necessary to build lasting relationships with others. Check it out here.

#3 Follow skillfully. Much is written about leadership; little is written about the other side of leadership, followership. Follow these rules closely.

#4 Lead up well. Use the strategies in this book to effectively manage your manager so that you both win!

#5 Stay out of drama triangles. Not sure what I mean? Watch this video to learn how to do avoid the drama and do the work.

#6 Avoid the Fundamental Attribution Error (FAE). What do I mean? To quote Wikipedia, “In social psychology, the Fundamental Attribution Error, also known as the correspondence bias or attribution effect, is people’s tendency to place an undue emphasis on internal characteristics to explain someone’s else’s behavior in a given situation, rather than considering external factors.”

Essentially, consider external factors before assuming people are just mean, selfish, or out to get you.

#7 Communicate good news fast and bad news faster. While it’s unlikely that your boss wields the power of the dark side like Darth Vader, communicate openly and in a timely manner.

What about you? How have you built a successful relationship with your boss? Sign up here for more helpful career strategies and tips!

Resumes Worth Writing

Here's what usually happens - you begin to think about advancing your career or the thought is forced on you by a "reallocation of resources" at your company. And you start to believe, I need to update my resume right away. Part of this thinking is true. Yes, you likely need to update your resume as you head out on your dreaded job search trail, but please hear me when I say this, only write your resume when you have a clear job target in mind.

Never write a resume, or much worse pay to have someone else write one for you, if you're not sure what job you want to land or the industry where you want to work. Don't waste your time and money!

In fact, if you're not sure where your career is going and want to work with someone to get a clear career, call me, that's exactly what I help my clients do.

That said, here are the three basic resume formats professionals use and some questions to guide you in your own resume writing project.

#1 The Chronological Resume

The chronological resume is the most common of all the resume types and technically, it’s actually reverse-chronological. On this type of resume all of your work experience and career highlights are listed from the present to the past. Your most recent work experience is at the top with your previous job listings following.

More than likely, this is the format of your current resume.

The chronological resume works well for you when a hiring manager or recruiter can easily spot a steady progression between each position you’ve held in the past, and how the position that you’re trying to land now seems to be a logical next step.

For example, if you’ve been a sales rep. at a mid-sized auto dealership, pursuing a sales management position at another mid-sized auto dealership makes sense. However, if you’re looking to move into a sales management role in the banking and financial sector, you may want to consider using a different type of resume or pursue some different work experience that build towards your ultimate goal.

#2 The Functional Resume

The functional resume lists your work experience in terms of your skills and competencies versus listing specific job titles and employers. In fact, a truly functional resume may completely omit the specific job and employers you’ve worked for and even leave out the dates you were employed with them.

You may already be thinking that this format sounds a little sketchy and be tuning me out. Okay James, when would you use this type of resume format? It doesn't sound legit.

The functional resume can work well for you when you’re transitioning into a new industry or when you’ve had a limited amount of work experience: for example, a recent high school or college grad. Think about it.

If you’re making a major transition from the auto industry to the financial sector as in the example above, it may be advantageous for you to highlight your transferable skills on your resume rather than broadcast the fact that you’re a novice.

The gap in your knowledge, skills, and experience are likely to come up in your interview, but the functional resume helps you land the interview and then share the story with your prospective employer how you’re working to close your knowledge and skills gap.

#3 The Combination / Hybrid Resume

The combination or hybrid resume is exactly what it sounds like - it’s a combination of the previous two resume formats and combines both chronological and functional elements. How this plays out on paper can be very different, but there’s usually an overall feel of the chronological resume when it comes to your work experience, job titles, and skills demonstrated in those roles.

However, at the top of your resume, you may strategically have a bullet point list of skills or certifications required in your new job to help your resume not get screened out by the applicant tracking system (ATS) or to keep the HR manager interested in you as they give your resume their standard 9 second scan.

For most job seekers or resume writers, the hybrid resume format offers a lot of flexibility and creativity to figure out what you’re strongest selling points are and to highlight them in a way that grabs the attention of the reviewer.

For example, for our auto sales rep. who is moving into management in the financial sector, a hybrid resume may be a good strategy because it allows her to still list where she was employed which looks more legitimate to a recruiter, but at the same time emphasize transferable skills such as lead generation, networking, etc.

What about your resume?

1. Which type of resume resonates with you? Why?
2. Which type of resume do other professionals like you use? Who are five people you could ask in the next week? When will you call or meet with them?
3. Are you looking for a job in the same industry that you currently work in? If not, consider using a hybrid resume.
4. Can someone besides yourself see a clear progression in the positions that you’ve held in the last 10 - 15 years? Unsure? Ask someone you know, trust, and has no conflicts of interest. For example, you may not want to ask your current employer if your company is in the middle of a restructure.
5. Is your resume landing you interviews for the positions you want? Be honest with yourself here. If you’re not getting the results you really want, it may be time to change your type of resume or employ other, more advanced, job search strategies.
6. Who is looking at your resume and on what platform? The people reading your resume and where they are reading it play a big part in knowing how to effectively format it.

If you're interested in more strategies that will help you land your next job, click here to schedule your free consultation.