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#Leadership : 7 Ways to Outshine a Tyrannical #Boss …Sure, you could Look for Another #Job but How much Sweeter would it Be to #Work you Way Up until you can #Fire that Miserable Person?

January 26, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

There is little worse than working under a self-righteous boss who refuses to help make us or anyone else more successful. These types of bosses make life miserable, sometimes so miserable that we forget that we’re even passionate about what we do.

Bosses should act and perform like leaders. When our boss is inconsistent, unprofessional, placing us in no-win situations, who backstabs, sarcastically puts us and others down, and who put obstacles in our way to make our success nearly impossible, we must do all we can to outshine this person, and give them as little of our time, power and attention as possible.

Related: 4 Signs of a Terrible, Toxic Boss

1. Strategize

We become frustrated with difficult bosses because they consistently display unprofessional behavior. However, the one thing we can count on is the consistency of who they are and how they treat us.

Whatever behaviors are consistent in our boss allows us to create solid strategies to fend against them. We must put a plan of action and expectation in place by anticipating what is coming. Being proactive gives us the edge. If our boss is in a “good mood” toward us, we should mirror that mood back. When our boss is acting tyrannical toward us, we must force ourselves to act as if we’re hearing them out, when really we’ll be turning our ears off. This helps us take their ranting with a grain of salt.

The more of a quiet confidence we can demonstrate, the more the spotlight lands on our boss in a negative light. Most importantly, we must display confidence and an unshakable demeanor toward him/her regardless of what we’re feeling inside.

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2. Be prepared.

Wherever we are well-prepared, we are more likely to come out on top. Before engaging with our boss, we must take some time to formulate our responses, behaviors and reactions. It is helpful to write our actions or responses down, or to envision and practice conversations in our mind before delivering them to our boss. Rehearsing helps us to have the guts to confront our boss by saying, “when I am treated in this way, it makes it difficult for me to feel motivated, in fact it does just the opposite.”

It is also appropriate to say “This type of treatment is not effective.” The other thing that is powerful is to “okay” them but to continue behaving just as we are and doing what we know works for us. The best way to prepare is to predict our boss’s comeback and our desired response. Its also important to prepare for threats and a possible fall-out by entertaining recruiters and/or seeking other employment opportunities.

4. Remain composed.

As hard as it is to keep our composure, this is critically important. Remain professional. As hard as our boss may sarcastically provoke, ignore, humiliate or cut us down, we must train ourselves to always take the high road. If necessary, follow the proper procedures with HR and file the necessary complaints.

Whenever possible, talk to executives with higher-level superiority and maintain a calm and professional demeaner when doing so. Be straightforward, assertive and patient. When others talk about our boss, as much as we want to trash them, stay out of the gossip. We must be mindful to vent our frustrations to anyone other than other abused coworkers who may throw us and what us said under the bus as a way to avoid having the spotlight on them.

5. Remain consistent.

Because our boss is inconsistent, our dogged consistency will win in the end. It isn’t likely the situation with our difficult boss will change overnight, so if we want to stay with our organization, we must be ready for the long haul.

We must commit to being rock solid in our work effort, and in communicating with our boss about what we will and won’t tolerate in terms of how we’re treated. If we show we can do this, it is likely our coworkers will have more courage to follow suit. Moreover, we must be persistent in calling out our boss’s bad behavior, and putting a plan into action. The key is to not let our boss get away with continuing his/her bad behavior.

5. Grit

Regardless of our boss, we need to have the grit to continue doing our very best work. We must show up on time, be mindful not to overstay on lunches, do exactly what we’re asked without complaint or argument and demonstrate that our success is under our control, not that of our boss.

When our boss cannot complain about our work, our effort or our attitude we give our boss nothing to go on. Succeeding in spite of this person is key. We do this by having the grit to follow through regardless of obstacles placed in our way.

6. Be visible.

There are many other higher-level executives in each organization we can seek to aim to impress outside of our boss. We must do all we can to make ourselves visible to these other people.

How do we do this? We make our results known, we begin conversations with them, offer to help them in any way we can, be great to customers so there is no evidence that we are performing below standard, and express interest in our own growth. We must make sure that our name is on everything we do, from every email, every invoice and that we are mentioned in every meeting. We must take initiative to introduce ourselves on conference calls by stating who we are, what our position is, along with showcasing our positive outcomes and results when asked.

Related: 5 Ways to Work Remotely Without Being Overlooked

7. Move up.

There are two ways to get out from under a horrible boss; change jobs or work hard to get promoted. To create a chance at promotion, we must keep our focus on our own personal plan, goals and objectives. We must do all we can not to take the bullying coming from our boss personally. We must not, at all cost, allow our work performance to suffer under these types of people. Over time if we can stick to this program, we have the best option to move up and beyond this person, maybe even into a position where we can fire him/her.

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Entrepreneur.com | January 26, 2018 | Sherrie Campbell • Contributor

Your #Career : These Are The Five #SoftSkills #Recruiters Want Most… Things like #TimeManagement & #Organization aren’t typically Taught in School, But they are Increasingly Important in Order to Be Competitive at Work.

January 26, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

While education, degrees, and certification are important for scoring an interview, a new study by the HR software provider iCIMS finds that recruiters place a higher value on soft skills. From an ability to communicate well to being organized, these intangible qualities can be tough to measure, but they affect everything from productivity to collaboration.

“Hard skills are what you do, and soft skills are how you do it,” says Susan Vitale, chief marketing officer for iCIMS. “Unfortunately, one in three recruiting professionals believe job candidates’ soft skills have gotten worse in the past five years.”

The good news for both candidates and employers is everyone possesses some soft skills, says Jodi Chavez, president of the staffing firm Randstad Professionals. “The challenge is determining which are strongest, and which are most in-demand for certain roles,” she says. “Companies can train employees in technical skills. Soft skills, on the other hand, are far harder to teach, which is why, in a low unemployment market, companies should be looking to hire for soft skills and train for technical skills.”

If you’re looking for a new job, these are the top-five soft skills recruiters are looking for:

1. PROBLEM SOLVING

The most important soft skill was the ability to solve problems, with 62% of recruiters seeking people who can find solutions, according to iCIMS. This soft skill was also the most important for the employee who wants to work in management.

“Problem solving isn’t practiced as much today as it once was,” says Vitale. “You can go to Google for answers, and we’re not challenged the way we used to be.”

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2. ADAPTABILITY

The second most important soft skill is adaptability, with 49% of recruiters looking for this trait. This skill was ranked as very important for entry-level positions.

“Larger organizations value problem solving and adaptability the most,” says Vitale.

3. TIME MANAGEMENT

The third soft skill in demand is an ability to successfully manage time, with 48% of recruiters placing importance on this characteristic.

“Entry-level workers often come out of the gate being poor at time management, but they can learn strategies on how to run their day,” says Vitale. “It’s most important in smaller organizations, because you have to pivot and wear many hats.”

4. ORGANIZATION

Being organized is the fourth most sought-after soft skill, with 39% of recruiters ranking it as desirable. It’s often demonstrated in your behavior during the interview process. The most common mistakes, according to the study, include showing up late, forgetting to thank the interviewer, and forgetting the interviewer’s name.

5. ORAL COMMUNICATION

Finally, the ability to speak in public and communicate with others is the fifth most valued soft skill, with 38% of recruiters looking for this skill.

“Good communication skills are, of course, essential,” says Chavez. “Poor communication can lead to misunderstandings and even slow down the workflow, preventing a company from moving forward.”

ROLE AND INDUSTRY

While soft skills are important in nearly every job, they can be role specific, says Chavez. “In a management position where the role requires one to lead a team, deliver on a project, or drive results, soft skills like emotional intelligence and teamwork are most important,” she says. “However, in roles where someone might work remotely from home, the key soft skills would be adaptability, communication and multitasking.”

The iCIMS study found that certain fields look for soft skills more than others, such as people who work in customer service, human resources, and sales/marketing. For technical jobs, they aren’t as vital. Nearly 1 in 5 of recruiters for IT jobs think soft skills are more important than hard skills, and 24% of recruiters weigh soft skills over hard skills for R&D jobs.

“I want my doctor to have hard skills first and soft skills next,” says Vitale. “But if they’re lacking in soft skills, I might not return.”

HOW TO CONVEY YOUR SOFT SKILLS

While we all have soft skills, demonstrating them during the job application process can be a challenge. “They don’t come across on a resume because there’s no certification,” says Vitale.

Be sure to highlight your strengths by using searchable keywords in your job description. “Whether a candidate lists their soft skills all together or breaks them out under the individual positions in which they honed them, it’s essential to include them somewhere,” says Chavez.

Recruiters will also use the screening processes to look for soft skills, so be prepared. Prior to an interview, come up with a short list of your strongest soft skills and be ready to share a few specific examples of when you showcased them in the workplace, Chavez suggests.

“For instance, talk about a time when your communication skills clarified a misunderstanding, or discuss how your leadership style came into play when they took charge of a negative situation and turned it into a positive one,” she says. “Candidates must also emphasize their ability to work well with others and should refrain from speaking poorly of a previous or current employer or company, as it will never reflect positively on them.”

Don’t be afraid to ask a recruiter which soft skills the organizations values most, adds Vitale. “Most employers fall down when it comes to transparency, and they aren’t saying out of the gate what they want,” she says. “Not all call them soft skills; sometimes they describe core competencies or workplace culture.”

In the end, candidates need to be cheerleaders for themselves, says Chavez. “Shift the conversation to highlight your soft skills even if an interviewer does not specifically ask,” she says.

FastCompany.com | January 26, 2018 | BY STEPHANIE VOZZA 4 MINUTE READ

Your #Career : Here’s How You Can Prepare For These Common #InterviewQuestions …These are the Questions that #HiringManagers Ask Again & Again.

January 25, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

No matter how many you go on, job interviews can always be nerve wrecking. You put on your nicest clothes, print out your resume, and remind yourself to smile real big–and just when you think everything is going well, the interviewer hits you with a curveball question you aren’t prepared for.

Luckily, you’re not going to let that happen again and you’re planning ahead to ace this month’s interview. The best way to for anything is to do your research ahead of time–which is why we’re here to help.

If you’re preparing for a big interview, prepping beforehand with these 15 interview questions will help you get one step closer to that dream job.

1. TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF?

Most interviews start with this question, and how you answer it will make your first impression. If you stumble over the answer and aren’t quite sure what to say, your lack of confidence in yourself is showing. If you start listing all your greatest accomplishments and talk too much, your ego might look a little too big. You need to find a good balance between being confident but not pretentious.

The best way to prepare for this question is to prepare an elevator pitch about who you are. Skip your personal history and give about two to three sentences about your career path and how you ended up in this interview, applying for this job. You don’t need to be too detailed, there are plenty more questions coming. You just want to leave enough curiosity that the interviewer becomes excited to learn more about you throughout the interview.

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2. WHY DO YOU WANT TO WORK FOR [fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][INSERT COMPANY NAME]?

When a hiring manager asks this question, not only do they want to know why you want to work for them, but they also want to know what you know about the company. This question tests how well you know what the company does and how passionate you are about the work they do–so make sure you know the company well and can speak truthfully about your desires to work there.

3. HOW DID YOU HEAR ABOUT THIS JOB?

When asked this during an interview, don’t just say you heard about the job on a website. This is your opportunity to go into more details about why you love this company and what motivates you to want to work there. Moreover, if you have a personal connection at the company, this would be a good time to mention their name.

4. TELL ME ABOUT SOMETHING ON YOUR RESUME

Everyone has something on their resume that they’re really proud of. Whether it’s a skill or achievement you’ve listed, or a specific place you worked at, consider answering this question with the most interesting thing on your resume. Plus, don’t just say something relevant to your most recent position–you’re already going to be asked about that. Instead, think back to one of the older positions listed on your resume, and talk about how that job helped you grow into the person you are today.

5. WHY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A JOB? OR, WHY ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A DIFFERENT JOB?

This question might seem innocuous, but this is how interviewers weed out the people who are either a) just looking for any job, b) were fired from their last position, or c) might have a high turnover rate, meaning you won’t be sticking around for too long. Focus on the positives and be specific. Think about why you are looking for a job: Did you just graduate, and this will be your first real job? Are you switching career paths? Are you leaving a current job for this one?

If you are currently working somewhere, you should also be prepared to answer, “Why do you want to leave your current job for this one?”

6. WHY SHOULD WE HIRE YOU?

When asked this question, keep in mind that the recruiter is looking to hear what skills you have that you’re going to bring to the team. Don’t give a vague answer, such as, “I’m friendly and a hard worker.” Instead, be specific, summarize your work history and achievements, and use numbers when possible.

For example, say how many years of experience you have or name some of the accomplishments you made at your last company. The more specific you can be about what your skills are and how valuable an employee you are, the better the interviewer will be able to picture you working there.

7. WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS?

This can seem like a heavy question during an interview, especially when you haven’t prepared for it ahead of time. Keep in mind that you’re in an interview setting, so you don’t need to go into all the details about what your personal life goals are for the next five years. Focus on your career goals and be realistic.

If you plan to work at this company for five years, make sure you understand who would be working above you, and what potential career growth there is. The hiring manager asks this question to find out if you set realistic goals, if you are ambitious, and to confirm that the position you are interviewing for aligns with these goals and growth.

If this position isn’t exactly a job with a lot of future opportunity, you can simply answer this by noting that you are not certain what your future is going to look like, but that you believe this position is going to help you navigate yourself in the right direction.

8. TELL ME ABOUT A CONFLICT YOU FACED AT WORK AND HOW YOU DEALT WITH IT

This question is important to ace because it helps an interviewer understand how you deal with conflict. It also helps test how well you think on your feet–so if you prepare ahead of time with a specific example, you’ll avoid the awkward moment of silence while you try to think of an example.

Once you have an example in mind, simply explain what happened, how you resolved the issue in a professional manner, and try to end the story with a happy note about how you reached a resolution or compromise with your coworker.

9. WHAT IS YOUR DREAM JOB?

Similar to the “where do you see yourself in five years” question, the interviewer is looking to understand how realistic you are when setting goals, how ambitious you are, and whether or not the job and company will be a good place for you to grow.

Again, try to set aside your personal goals (don’t say your dream job is to be paid to take Instagram photos) and focus on your career goals. Think about how this job is going to set you up for the future and get you closer to your dream job. But don’t be that person who says, “To be CEO of this company.”

10. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OUT OF YOUR TEAM/COWORKERS?

This question is meant to understand how you work on a team and whether you will be the right cultural fit for the company. To prepare for this answer, make sure you research the company ahead of time. You can always tell a little bit about a what a company’s culture is like by looking through their social media profiles or reading their reviews on Glassdoor.

11. WHAT DO YOU EXPECT OUT OF YOUR MANAGER?

Again, the hiring manager is looking to understand what kind of employee you would be and whether you will be a good fit to add to their team. In some interviews, your future manager might be interviewing you. Answer this question as honestly as possible and pull examples from your current manager if you can show how they positively help you work better.

12. HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH STRESS?

Answering this question will help hiring managers identify any potential red flags you might have. You want to show that you can handle stress in a professional and positive manner that helps you continue working or won’t stop you from accomplishing your goals. Moreover, be specific and explain what you actually do to deal with stress–like taking a 15-minute break to take a walk outside, or crossing items off on a to-do list, etc.

13. WHAT WOULD THE FIRST 30 DAYS IN THIS POSITION LOOK LIKE FOR YOU?

This question helps a company understand what you will get done in your first month, to three months in the position–and how you answer it will signal whether or not you’re the right person for the job. Start by mentioning what information you would need to get started, and what would help you transition into the new role. Then focus on your best skills and how you would apply those to this position right away.

14. WHAT ARE YOUR SALARY REQUIREMENTS?

Some interviewers ask this question, others don’t. It’s always better to be prepared, especially because you want to make sure you would be paid a fair wage for the value you are going to add. That’s why we built our Know Your Worth tool–to help you determine what you should be paid.

Note: While employers can ask what your salary expectations are, in certain places it is illegal for them to ask what your previous salary was.

15. DO YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?

The last question you will always be asked during an interview is whether or not you have any questions for the interviewer. This is your chance to really stand out–so don’t blow it by saying you don’t, or that your questions have already been answered. Even if you don’t have any questions, there’s always a question you can ask at the end of an interview.

Keep a list of at least three to five questions in the back of your mind so that no matter what, there are at least two questions you have to ask at the end of the interview. Recruiters say that actually enjoy getting to answer some questions at the end of an interview–they did just listen to you talk about themselves, so ask about them for a change. Once this part is over, you can rest easy and walk out of the interview knowing you aced it!

FastCompany.com | January 25, 2018 | BY ISABEL THOTTAM—GLASSDOOR 8 MINUTE READ

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#Leadership : What You & Your Boss Should Be Discussing Each Month Of The Year…Having a Monthly Plan can Make Check-Ins with your #Boss more #Productive .

January 24, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

When you think about those monthly check-ins with your boss, it’s the standing invite on your calendar that likely brews both excitement and anxiety. Even so, being in constant communication with the person who will help you meet your professional goals should always be a priority.

One way to take the heat off of these 30-day mind melds is to come in with a plan, according to motivational speaker and workplace expert Amy Cooper Hakim, PhD.

“Some employees wait for feedback or direction from the manager, and assume that ‘no news is good news.’ But in fact, that is not always so,” she said. “To be safe, it is best to have consistent, regular dialogue to ensure that needs are being met in both directions.”

Here, then, is some month-by-month fodder that will build trust, rapport, and loyalty with your boss:

JANUARY: THE ONE ABOUT FOCUS

Especially if you’re on the East Coast, coming back to work after a long winter’s cat nap over the holidays is a drag. Not only is it usually freezing outside, but fewer hours of daytime mean you barely catch a glimpse of the sun. Hakim says many employees struggle during this season, so it’s extra important to get clear with your manager about the goals of the quarter so you can stay focused and perform at your highest level, even if you’d rather stay at home instead.

“It is easy to get overwhelmed by work, so knowing what to prioritize will help you to focus your energy where it counts. And, without asking, you may be spinning your wheels on a project that really should be placed on the back burner,” Hakim says.

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FEBRUARY: THE ONE ABOUT PRIORITIZING

Since some folks don’t consider Valentine’s Day a holiday worth celebrating, February often feels like the official end to the holiday season, where everyone is back in the office and ready to tackle deadlines and deliverables. If you find yourself in the middle of three (or more!) tasks all at once, all of a sudden, getting clear about what needs to be completed first and foremost will give your boss the best impression. Hakim also notes it’ll demonstrate your commitment. “Asking about what needs to be accomplished shows that you care about your manager’s goals and priorities. The manager’s response may help you to better prioritize many new and ongoing projects,” she says.

MARCH: THE ONE ABOUT PROMOTIONS AND RAISES

The hard, cold truth about being a professional? If you don’t stand up for your career, no one will–and it’s up to you to have the conversation about meeting your career objectives. In other words: Hakim says if you’re aiming for a raise or a promotion, you and your manager need to be on the same page about what you need to achieve, change, or mold to get there.

March makes for the ideal time to start this chat. “Expressing your professional goal and asking for resources or steps to achieve it shows your boss that you are committed to self-growth and overall goal attainment,” Hakim says. “Managers appreciate this drive and long for employees who are self-motivated and determined.”

APRIL: THE ONE ABOUT THE SECOND QUARTER

After nailing it during the first quarter, going above and beyond what was requested of you, keep the momentum going in April by getting specific about how to be even better at your job. Hakim suggests asking your boss about his or her goals for the second quarter and volunteering to take on extra work to make them possible.

“We want to be seen as a go-getter and thought of for special projects that will get the most attention by the higher-ups,” she says. “By showing an interest in these projects, your boss will likely think of you for help. This can benefit you as you progress in the organization.”

MAY: THE ONE WHERE YOU SURPRISE THEM

While, sure, you don’t want to be seen as someone who is bending over backward and brown nosing your way to a fancier title, taking note of your manager’s interests will help you build a professional friendship. Being buddy-buddy isn’t recommended, but if your boss sees you as someone who pays attention, listens, and remembers qualities and tastes, you’re more likely to earn their respect.

Hakim says to seek out an article you think they’d appreciate it and bring it up in the context of a one-to-one. “This shows the boss that you have her best interests at heart. When your boss feels that you are thinking of her and of her goals, then she in turn will keep you top-of-mind,” she says.

JUNE: THE ONE ABOUT VACATION

And no, not the PTO you want to snag before your coworker does, but your manager’s summer plans. This topical conversations illustrates the emphasis you put on work/life balance and that you understand your manager needs time with friends and family, too. It’s also a way to reassure your boss that when they are jet-setting to Europe or a trendy island, you have their back.

“While it is ideal to keep dialogue solely about work-related topics, it is also important to show your boss that you care. This personal discussion reminds your boss that you see him as a human being and not just as your manager,” Hakim says.

JULY: THE ONE WHERE YOU SHOW YOUR COMMITMENT

That summer breeze might make you feel fine, but if you let it sweep you away from your deadlines, your manager might be less than peachy-keen with you. Instead of allowing the temptation of warm weather to distract you from working at your highest level, double down and communicate your commitment to your next-up. With half a year behind you, get nitty-gritty with new goals for the third quarter. In addition to putting you in the limelight with your micro-attention to detail, Hakim also says it’ll save you unnecessary busy work in case your priorities are not aligned with those of your boss.

AUGUST: THE ONE WHERE YOU ASK FOR ADVICE

Now that you’ve maintained consistent, constant, meaningful talks throughout the year, it’s time to seek the expertise of your manager. Since they’ve likely been in the game longer than you have, seeking their perspective on books or blogs to read, courses to take, or other advancement advice illustrates respect.

“Bosses love to feel important, and it is a huge compliment for them if you want to emulate their behavior. This question isn’t sucking up either, since you can truly benefit from the insights of someone who is a leader in your organization or industry,” Hakim says.

SEPTEMBER: THE ONE WHERE YOU ASK FOR FEEDBACK

A great sign of maturity is being able to ask for critical feedback–and actually take it without getting offended. Roll up your sleeves, straighten your back, take a deep breath, and go for it in September.

“Bosses respect individuals who strive for self-improvement and growth. They especially appreciate those who can take constructive criticism and run with it,” Hakim says.

One way to open this can is to ask for areas of improvement or express places you personally seek to strengthen, giving your manager leeway to describe their experience working with you, too.

OCTOBER: THE ONE WHERE YOU SHOW YOUR LISTENING SKILLS

Remember when you inquired about areas of weakness last month? Now is the time to make your monthly meet-up about all of the ways you began working to strengthen those skills or characteristics.

“It’s one thing to ask for advice and another thing to take it and apply it. Bosses love employees who do just that,” Hakim says. If you can dictate with tangible numbers? Even better!

NOVEMBER: THE ONE WHERE YOU WRAP UP THE YEAR

Since–ahem, thankfully–Thanksgiving falls at the end of the month, the first three weeks of November can be spent getting serious about what needs to be finished by end of year, and setting up timelines to ensure success.

“The months leading up to the holiday season are notoriously slow, even when deliverables are still open and incomplete. By asking this question, your boss understands that you are still focused on work and on meeting department and company objectives,” Hakim says.

DECEMBER: THE ONE WHERE YOU EXPRESS GRATITUDE

As a month that sneaks up on nearly all professionals and then flies by far too fast with endless holiday parties, travel, and responsibility, pausing to say “thanks” to your manager will go a long way, and earn you major bonus stars.

“Gratitude is infectious! When we show that we are grateful and appreciative, then our boss will likely respond in kind. This positivity can make it easier to plow through those final days of the year as we wait for holiday and vacation time,” Hakim says.

FastCompany.com | January 24, 2018 | BY LINDSAY TIGAR—LADDERS 7 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : Here’s What I Learned About Myself When I Tracked Every Hour Of My Day… I Do a Full Day’s Work, but it Turns Out I’m Wasting more Time on #SocialMedia (and not getting enough sleep) than I Thought.

January 24, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Over the holidays I spoke with a friend who had just finished an interesting experiment: She spent a few weeks writing down the amount of time she spent daily doing both productive and unproductive things. At the end of her experiment, she was shocked to find how much time she was actually wasting on things like “quickly” checking social media. I was inspired to undertake the same experiment to see if I’m really as productive as I think, or if I’m wasting time.

So I decided to track everything I did every day for one workweek. My method was simple: I jotted down on paper how much time I had spent doing various tasks as soon as I finished them. I did not look at these times until the end of the week, as I didn’t want to influence a change in my behavior as I was doing this experiment. At the end of the week, I slotted all the events into the categories below, and then added up the times for each day, and then the entire week.

The amount of time listed below are the daily averages for the entire workweek.

DOING ACTUAL WORK: 8.5 HOURS A DAY

Might as well start off with my strengths. I was relieved to find I don’t appear to be a slacker. I work from home, and I spend 8.5 hours of my day, on average, doing actual work. In my case, this mostly involves writing. But as a journalist, a lot of my work doesn’t just involve the physical act of writing. I’m in one of the few occupations that can say browsing the web and social media for research is actually part of my duties.

My 8.5-hour workday involved five hours of writing and 3.5 hours doing work-related research online. That’s not bad, but sadly, the time I spend on social media doesn’t end with my workday.

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WALKING: 3 HOURS A DAY

I take three one-hour walks a day: one before work, one halfway through my workday, and then one later at night. While I do take these walks for health-related purposes, I also take them for work-related purposes. There’s just something about walking that helps spur my creativity to generate words and ideas for new stories–something studies support.

RUNNING ERRANDS: 1 HOUR A DAY

On average, I found I spend about an hour a day doing errands. This can include things like managing finances and invoices, doing laundry, and cleaning the house. I actually thought the amount of time I spent on errands would be higher, but technology means that I don’t have to waste time doing things like running to the bank.

COOKING/EATING: 1 HOUR A DAY

My average time spent both cooking and eating during a workday is only one hour. I eat three meals a day, and considering each meal takes me about 10 minutes to make, that means I only spend 10 minutes per meal actually eating my food. Yep, I scarf my food down fast–something that isn’t good for you. I should, in fact, be spending 20 minutes enjoying each meal (not counting the 10-minute prep time each meal takes).

INTERNET AND SOCIAL MEDIA: 2.5 HOURS

I found that I waste a whopping 2.5 hours of every workday playing around on social media and browsing the web just because it’s there. Sadly, that’s actually more than most people across the world do. The global average is closer to 2.25 hours. Further, considering I already spend 3.5 hours of my workday on the internet and social media sites doing work-related tasks, this is a horrible metric for me. Since staring at a screen and spending a lot of time on social media may actually be detrimental to our mental health, this is one area my findings say I need to reallocate time from to other more important areas of my life (like taking the time to enjoy meals).

RELAXING: 2 HOURS A DAY

This category includes things like reading a physical book, meeting a friend for a coffee, and watching television. These two hours of downtime usually always come before I go to bed for the night and, unlike wasting time browsing people’s pictures of food on Instagram, actually have a beneficial effect on our well-being.

SLEEP: 6 HOURS A DAY

Finally, we get to sleep. That critical state our bodies require every night. During a workweek I found I averaged about six hours a night. That’s not bad–but still less than the 7-9 hours most experts recommend.

Related: The Perils Of Time Tracking

SO, WHAT DOES THIS ALL TELL ME?

Overall, my unscientific experiment shows I’m generally a productive guy when it comes to my professional work (a good thing, since I write about productivity so much). However, I found I am wasting more time than I thought. Had you asked me before my experiment how much time I spent on social media and the web outside of work, I would have guessed maybe 30 to 60 minutes a day. The fact is, it is fives times that lower figure: All those “quick” checks of my social media apps add up to a lot of time over the course of the day.

My experiment also revealed that I need to spend more time enjoying my meals instead of scarfing them down, and that I should probably get at least an extra hour of sleep each night. Where could I find the extra, say, two hours, for that? You guessed it: from the time I spend wasting on social media.

So for me, it’s time to make a change. After all, the clock’s ticking.

FastCompany.com | January 24, 2018

Your #Career : I Used A “Career Map” To Get My #DreamJob –Here’s How…Sometimes All it Takes is some Good Planning & Patience to Pull yourself Out of a Serious Job Slump.

January 23, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Due to an unfortunate coffee mishap, I spent the holidays setting up a new computer and frantically trying to extract documents from my old, caffeine-soaked laptop. While in the middle of my rescue mission, I stumbled upon a career map that I’d created four years ago.

Making a career map wasn’t my brilliant idea, but it helped me get out of a serious job slump. At that time, I was working as an account executive at an ad agency and hated it. I’d only taken the job for two reasons: I was turning 26 and couldn’t stay on my dad’s health insurance, and I wanted to be a copywriter, so being in close proximity to some would magically transform me into one–right?

Not so much.

My brother recommended working in the industry I wanted firstand worry about getting a writer position once I had more experience–hence, the advertising job. But things were moving a little too slowly for my liking. I’d been at the agency for nine months and wasn’t any closer to becoming a writer. Deflated, I shared my woes with a coworker. She suggested making a “career map,” an outline of steps to take me to the next level.

She explained further: You write down where you want to be in your career three to six months from now, one year from now and five or more years from now. Then, for each timeframe, you identify the steps to achieving the next milestone. So, for example, If your career goal is to take the Iron Throne and rule the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, you might write “Acquire fleet of ships” as an action step. Here’s what mine looked like:

THREE TO SIX MONTHS

1. Ask HR to consider me for a copywriting position.

Action steps:

Create portfolio of three to five pieces
Schedule meeting with HR

2. Network and research.

Action steps:

Talk to at least three professional writers to get insight into the profession
- Name 1
- Name 2
- Name 3

List of questions to ask:
- How did they get their start?
- How would they recommend getting started today?
- Are they happy with their career, compensation, work/life balance?
- What’s a reasonable starting salary to ask for?
- Do they know any other writers who would be willing to connect?

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ONE YEAR

3. Take at least one course in copywriting/writing/building a portfolio.

Action steps:

Research what class to take, estimated tuition
Start setting money aside for tuition

4. Get copywriting job at another agency or company if I don’t get offered a position at current company.

THREE TO FIVE YEARS

5. Work at a major agency or company in New York City.

6. Gain freelance experience.

Writing all this down provided me with much-needed clarity and actionable steps to follow. Best of all, it worked! When I stumbled across my old career map, I realized that I had accomplished every goal, even those as far out as five years. So I set out to write one for the next five years–and this time around, my goals don’t feel as daunting.

If you want to create your own career map, here are a few things I learned along the way that could help make the process easier.

Get as granular as you want. Back when I was complaining to my coworker, her first piece of advice to me was: Ask for the job you want. Groundbreaking, I know. But it had never occurred to me to simply ask HR to consider me for a different role. That became my first milestone.

Prioritize what’s important to you. For example, I value a good work/life balance, so I included that on my career map as something to inquire about while doing research. I love writing, but I love a lot of other stuff, too. What gets you excited about a job can differ from person to person, so tailor your map to fit what matters most.

Don’t let fear of rejection stop you. I got turned down for the account executive role the first time I interviewed. I was devastated–I really wanted to get my foot in the door. So I emailed my contact at the agency to ask why I didn’t get the job, and for advice on how to kill it in future interviews. Turns out, the main reason they didn’t offer me the position was because they thought I wasn’t interested! But my contact was impressed that I asked for feedback–he called me back in, and I was hired shortly afterward.

That story just serves as a reminder not to assume that what you want is too lofty. Sure, you may need to account for a detour or two on your map, and you often learn more from the things you did wrong than right. But your dreams are your own to pursue–you just need to break down the steps it’ll take to achieve them.

FastCompany.com | January 23, 2018 | BY RITA BRODFUEHRER—LEARNVEST 4 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : Getting Called Out For A Slur Taught Me How To Take #Criticism …You can Ask Someone to Rethink the Language they Use without Mocking or Belittling Them–and Probably, you’ll both Feel Better About it. Here’s How.

January 21, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

It didn’t take long for me to embarrass myself in public after moving to New York City in my early 20s. I was a naive but curious kid from Idaho, and I had a few lessons to learn about myself, the world, and social grace.

An important one came at the end of a talk I gave at a startup meet-up in Manhattan. After I’d finished, a woman approached me from the back of the room. She smiled, and thanked me for my talk. “You seem like a really nice guy,” she said, “and you probably didn’t mean it, but I wanted to tell you that it’s probably not a good idea to use the word ‘retarded’ in a setting like this.”

At some point during the Q&A, I had indeed referred to some thing or practice (I forget what exactly) with that term. It hadn’t occurred to me that it might not be okay to say–it was just part of my vocabulary.

My initial reaction was to protest. But something about the way the woman delivered her message held me back from jumping in. Then she added, lowering her voice a measure, “There was a disabled gentleman sitting in the back of the room during your talk. I don’t want you to feel bad, but wanted to tell you.”

I was horrified.

Not only had I exposed a social blind spot of mine, somebody might have been hurt by my words. I thanked her, and resolved to never make this mistake again.

But instead, to my still-undiminished gratitude, everyone remained calm. And the person who confronted me totally changed my thinking.

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WHEN YOU CALL SOMEBODY OUT

In his 2002 book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, Patrick Lencioni describes “trust” in a peculiar way. Most of us think of trust as our belief that someone will do something they’ve committed to. But Lencioni advocates for something a bit more noble: “Trust is the confidence,” he writes, “that their peers’ intentions are good.” It’s not about the follow-through, it’s about the intent, irrespective of the outcome. This, I’ve decided, makes the difference not just in teamwork but in any situation where someone has said the wrong thing. And Lencioni’s point applies to all parties, not just the person who misspoke.

When someone says something that hurts us–or potentially hurts someone else–we have a choice: Give that person feedback, or stay quiet. There are plenty of valid reasons to do either, of course, but if we want to say something, then the way we deliver our message matters a great deal.

“If your ultimate goal is to get them to hear you, the best way to speak is in a way that makes them less defensive,” says Amber Madison, a diversity and inclusion expert and founder of Peoplism as well as a Fast Company contributor. “This is straight out of couples therapy 101.” To give feedback that’s constructive, Madison says to follow these four steps:

Take a deep breath.
Start the conversation by expressing trust in the other person’s intentions–again, even if you don’t know precisely what they consist of: “I’m sure you didn’t mean anything by this . . . “
Use “I” statements. Frame things around what you think and feel, rather than around who they are, what they think, or what you think they think.
Remember that it’s their choice how they want to speak and act, so don’t try to force them to change. You are simply giving them feedback.

This works well in cases when the person didn’t seem to intend great harm; it’s not a good solution for flagrant offenders who are trying to hurt people. But in most situations involving potentially offensive language–in life no less than the workplace–we’re often dealing with smaller infractions.

Crucially, the woman who approached me to correct my word choice didn’t come in guns blazing. She assumed that I meant no harm. That benefit of the doubt was a gift, to be sure, but it was also an invitation to learn something: “You seem like a really nice guy, and you probably didn’t mean it.” She gave me a way to live with myself, to hear her feedback without it wounding my ego so badly as to make me put a wall up against her.

To be sure, it’s not incumbent upon people who are offended by hurtful language, especially those who encounter it disproportionately, to protect the egos of those who use it. Nor is it their duty to patiently instruct others in the error of their ways–to do the often thankless and sometimes traumatic work of building cultural understanding. That’s all the more reason for my gratitude for the woman’s decision to correct me. The words had already left my mouth. The gentleman she was referring to was on his way out the door. But I could still change. And because of the way she talked to me, I did.

I still make linguistic mistakes, and I still have blind spots. But now I try to imagine what it must be like to hear a term for the 1,000th time before I say something that might be offensive. More importantly, I try to be a little more trusting in other people’s intentions when I hear them say things I don’t like.

WHEN YOU GET CALLED OUT YOURSELF

“It is a reality that you are going to say something offensive at some point to someone else,” Madison says. “What’s important is how you bounce back from that.” When we find ourselves on the receiving end of a correction–even if we didn’t mean it–Madison advises the following:

Take a breath and remember that it takes guts to speak up and say something–especially if it’s a workplace and especially where you have more power than the other person.
Listen to everything they have to say without jumping in.
When you respond, use “I” statements. Don’t put it back on the other person. (“You’re overreacting!” or “You’re taking this the wrong way!” etc.)
Step back, outside of your own ego for a minute, and be curious. For example, you could say, “Oh! I didn’t know that. Do you feel comfortable telling me what the history of this word is, or why what I said was inappropriate? I’d like to learn.”
No matter what the person’s motivation or delivery method, remember that they are, in a sense, going out of their way to help you be a less offensive person.

It’s easy to rush to the defense that you’re just expressing an opinion of “being yourself” when confronted with an objection to something you’ve said. That’s natural, but ultimately a poor argument.

“Yes, totally, be yourself!” says Madison. “But if being yourself is being someone who doesn’t give a shit about people’s feelings–if that’s who you are, then okay.” The reality, she adds, is that most people “want to be themselves with the caveat that they’re not hurting people and pushing them away. They want to be someone that people want to be around.”

Comedian Judah Friedlander recently told me about how early in his career someone came up after a show and said, in reference to a particularly distasteful joke, “I love you. But drop that bit.” He took the advice, and used it as a model for how he gives feedback now, too.

“With social media, it’s become all about destroying people,” Friedlander says. “But many people don’t want to be doing bad things. If they find out they did something that wasn’t cool, they want to know about it and improve and get better.”

“If we don’t trust one another,” Lencioni writes, “then we aren’t going to engage in open, constructive, ideological conflict.” Trust doesn’t eliminateconflict, which we in fact need. The constructive kind, anyway–the kind that changes minds.

FastCompany.com | January 21, 2018

Your #Career : Here’s Exactly What To Put On Your #Resume To Land An #Interview (And What to Leave Off)… Maybe Getting another #CollegeDegree or Adding an #Internship isn’t the Best Way to #LandaJob . Perhaps you just Need to Update your Resume with a Few #Stats & #KeyWords.

January 18, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

While resumes are often written to appeal to a hiring manager, few are ever actually viewed by a human. “Companies, more and more, are using automated screening systems to make it cheaper and faster for them, which grossly dehumanizes the process,” said Kushal Chakrabarti, CEO and cofounder of TalentWorks, an AI-driven resume optimization and job search platform.

“That means that the first filter for a lot of people isn’t actually a person looking at their resume, it’s a robot seeing whether or not you included a keyword, scoring your resume to decide if a human should even look at it.”

As a result, Chakrabarti has found numerous ways candidates can better stand out to hiring managers and automated tools.

Over the past few months TalentWorks has tracked 4,068 job seekers across 541 distinct locations and industries to determine the resume factors that had the greatest impact in landing an interview.

GOING BACK TO SCHOOL DOESN’T HELP YOU THAT MUCH

The study found that those who had a second college degree saw their chances of getting an interview increase by an average of 21.9%; a modest improvement compared to other, far less costly, and time-consuming resume touch-ups.

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“There is fundamentally different hireability improvements associated with different majors, but within any one industry, there’s often a lot you can do that’s more effective than going back to school,” said Chakrabarti, explaining that if you want to switch careers, getting a degree in a new field can help, but getting an advanced degree within your field likely isn’t worth it.

REMOVE BUZZWORDS LIKE “TEAM PLAYER”

Counterintuitive as it may sound, those who frequently mention buzzwords associated with collaboration–such as “team player,” “supporting member,” or “participated”–are often penalized by hiring managers. In fact, candidates with more than one or two mentions of these buzzwords on their resumes are 50.8% less likely to be called in for an interview, according to TalentWorks research.

“As a hiring manager, I’m looking for reasons to disqualify you,” explains Chakrabarti. “If I see a resume that talks a lot about collaboration, I will think this person probably didn’t have much of an impact.”

INSTEAD, USE NUMBERS AND CONCRETE FACTS

While being a “team player” can signal a minimal or insignificant contribution, concrete numbers have the exact opposite effect. In fact, demonstrating results using numbers increases a candidate’s likelihood of being interviewed by 40.2%, according to the TalentWorks research.

“Saying you’re a ‘leader’ doesn’t prove anything; explaining how you led your team to achieve 120% of their quota demonstrates your aptitude in leadership,” explained Amanda Augustine, a career advice expert at professional resume writing service TopResume. “Recruiters care about measurable success. If you were successful in a similar role in the past and able to deliver results, they assume you’ll perform successfully for their client or team, too.”

ADD A KEY SKILLS SECTION

While collaboration-focused buzzwords like “team player” can cause hiring managers to question the extent of your contribution, industry-specific buzzwords can serve to demonstrate a deeper understanding of a given field. In fact, adding 15 to 20 buzzwords, acronyms, and relevant key skills will increase the likelihood of being interviewed by 58.8%, according to TalnetWorks’ research.

Furthermore, since today’s gatekeepers take the form of keyword-seeking robots and potentially fatigued hiring managers, Augustine says adding a key skills section to the top of their resume can help applicants stand out to both.

“This skills section is one of the major factors in determining whether or not your application passes the initial gatekeeper and reaches a human being,” she says. “If specific skills are routinely being mentioned as requirements for the position, be sure to include them in your key skills section and incorporate them throughout your resume.”

START EVERY SENTENCE WITH DIFFERENT ACTION VERBS

Overall, the single most effective way of improving the likelihood of being interviewed for a position, according to TalentWorks’s study, is by starting every sentence with distinct action verbs. Doing so has been found to increase the likelihood of landing an interview by 139.6%–nearly seven times more than going back to school.

Chakrabarti adds that this finding demonstrates the overall theme of the research, which is that softer, flimsier claims are often punished, while strong, specific descriptions are rewarded.“If you give me soft language and weasel words, I don’t really know what do with that [as a hiring manager],” he explained. “If you can really make it concrete and make it real for me, that goes a really long way in giving me the information I need to hire you.”

FastCompany.com | January 18, 2018 | BY JARED LINDZON 4 MINUTE READ

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#Leadership : How To #FindAJob That Keeps You Happy In The Long Term…Looking for a #NewJob Takes Time & Energy, so Be Sure you Know What you Want Before you Even Start the Process.

January 18, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

If you’re thinking about jumping ship this year, you’re not alone. According to a new survey from Glassdoor, 35% of recruiters, HR professionals, and hiring managers anticipate that more employees will leave their companies within the next 12 months.

While finding another job is often an important catalyst for positive change, let’s be honest: The process itself is not exactly anyone’s idea of a good time. Between resume and cover letter drafting, interviewing and negotiating salary, job seeking can be time-consuming, stressful and draining–so ideally, you want to go through that process as few times as possible.

The key to accomplishing that, of course, is finding a job that you’ll be happy with for years to come. But how exactly do you find that?

The answer, hiring decision makers believe, is to inform yourself as much as possible during the job search. So the next time you find yourself seeking out a new position, make sure to take the following steps.

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FIND JOBS THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR SALARY EXPECTATIONS

Nearly half of the those surveyed (45%) said that the primary motivating factor for employees’ departure was salary, and over one third (37%) believed that employees would be significantly more likely to stay on for longer if they were more informed about salary during the interview process. After all, if you accept a role that satisfies your pay requirements, you won’t have to seek a better-paying job elsewhere.

To provide job seekers with increased transparency, Glassdoor now includes salary estimates on about 52% of U.S. job listings, with that number expected to grow in the future. By looking at these estimates, you can quickly and easily screen out positions that don’t meet your salary needs, saving you valuable time and improving the odds of securing the salary you deserve. Not quite sure what you should be aiming for? Try Glassdoor’s Know Your Worth™ tool to get a free, personalized estimate of what you should be making.

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ROOM FOR GROWTH

Besides salary, career advancement opportunities were the second biggest reason that hiring professionals believed employees were leaving. It’s easy to fixate on the present when you’re looking for a new job, but if you want to stay at a company for years to come, that short-sighted thinking is not enough. Eventually, you’ll probably want to move up in your career, whether that means a more senior title, bigger paycheck or additional responsibilities. A few signs that the company you’re looking at will help support your future growth? Clear paths to promotion, training, career development programs and formal mentorship opportunities.

EVALUATE THE BENEFITS PACKAGE

Another major reason employees leave their current positions, survey participants said, was to seek better benefits. It makes sense–after all, salary isn’t everything. Besides your take-home pay, perks and benefits are also core components of your total compensation. A company with incredible benefits like premium-free health coverage, parental leave, and generous paid vacation time may end up saving you more money in the long run than one with higher starting salaries. Alternatively, you might just be willing to accept a lower salary in exchange for a particularly enticing perk. For example, plenty of folks have no problem making a little less if it means that they get to work from home.

GET THE SCOOP ON LOCALE

The last key reason survey participants said employees chose to look elsewhere for employment? Location. If you’re excited enough for an opportunity, a 45-minute commute one way may seem like no big deal–but after the honeymoon period ends, you might not feel the same way. When you receive a job offer, carefully consider where the position is located. Would you have a quick and easy commute? Is it close to public transportation? Would you have to move, leaving your friends and family behind? Some of these factors will undoubtedly matter to you more than others, but it’s still worth taking a good, hard look at the whole picture–you don’t want to commit to a job only to regret your choice six months later.

The bottom line: Well-informed job seekers make for happier employees. Before you even accept an offer–or perhaps before you even apply–figure out what matters the most to you and see how the company you’re considering stacks up. Not only will this help you narrow down the number of applications you send out–it will help ensure long-term career satisfaction.

FastCompany.com | January 18, 2018 | BY EMILY MOORE—GLASSDOOR 3 MINUTE READ

#Leadership : A Simple but Ruthless Exercise Reveals who your #StarEmployees Are & Who Should be #Fired … A #Strategy you Might Call the “Six-Month Exercise”. You Should Do it Regularly & Here’s How it Works

January 18, 2018/in First Sun Blog/by First Sun Team

Patty McCord is the former chief talent officer at Netflix. She now runs her own consulting business.
In her new book, “Powerful,” McCord says managers should always consider whether the team they have now is the team they’ll need in six months.
If not, they should let go of the employees who don’t have the requisite skills and knowledge.

Being a manager requires practicality bordering on ruthlessness — at least according to Patty McCord.

McCord was the chief talent officer at Netflix from 1998 to 2012; she and Netflix’s CEO Reed Hastings created the company’s infamous culture deck. Now she runs her own consulting business.

McCord has just published a book titled “Powerful: Building a Culture of Freedom and Responsibility,” in which she distills the lessons she learned at Netflix and as a consultant into insights any manager can use.

One of the most jarring insights is that the team you have now may not be the team you’ll need going forward. And since a manager’s goal is to build the best team possible, you may have to make some tough decisions about which employees to keep on — and which to let go.

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What Skill Sets do You have to be ‘Sharpened’ ?

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To that end, McCord recommends a strategy you might call the “six-month exercise.” You should do it regularly, she writes. Here’s how it works:

1. “Write down what the team will be accomplishing six months from now that it’s not accomplishing now.” It could be a product they’re building, or money they’re making.

2. “Think about how things are being done differently from the way they are currently done.” Imagine yourself walking around the office — maybe there’s more collaboration, or fewer meetings.

3. Think: “In order for those things to be happening, what would people need to know how to do?” It could be technical knowledge, or negotiating skill.

Now here comes the hard part. Does your current team have the right skills, knowledge, and experience? If not, you may need to bring in people who do, potentially even replacing some of your current team members.

In an interview with Business Insider, McCord said that companies’ missions should be “hiring the best people to solve the problems that you need to solve in your particular company — and then making sure that those teams are always comprised of those kinds of people.” But — and here’s the kicker — “it’s not always the same people.”

Netflix is clear that it only keeps its most effective employees

Netflix doesn’t appear to have changed its management practices very much since McCord left. In the “culture” section on its website, Netflix makes clear that they “keep only our highly effective people.” The website reads: “Succeeding on a dream team is about being effective, not about working hard. Sustained ‘B’ performance, despite an ‘A’ for effort, gets a respectful generous severance package.”

It’s worth noting here that McCord was let go in 2013. “I am the ultimate product of the culture that I helped create,” she told Business Insider, noting that she’s had a successful career since leaving Netflix and is still in touch with many of her former colleagues.

This isn’t an easy way to manage people — in fact it might seem downright unfair. McCord’s argument in the book is that “you’re building a team, not raising a family.” That is to say, you’re not responsible for your employees’ career development.

McCord told Business Insider that employees should steel themselves against this reality. “You should be wary of expecting a company to take care of your career for you, because that’s not their job. Their job is to take care of their customers and their clients.”

Businessinsider.com | January 18, 2018 | Shana Lebowitz

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