It feels ridiculous for me to write about being an engineering manager. It’s a job I’ve done for not even 30 days yet. But that’s what I want to know from others—how did you start? How did you make it through your first month?
No two first rodeos are ever alike. But they’re all rodeos, and falling off is falling off. There’s some kind of pattern. So here I am, writing the post that I want to read. And in my first month in a new management role, I’ve found these to be the three things I’ve had to sort out above all else.
1. WHAT IS THIS JOB, ANYWAY?
I had a rough idea what I was getting into from the internal job description, but there’s a chasm between “Help build deep fulfillment and ensure the personal growth of team members” and, well, doing that.
So I went on something of a crusade to understand what exactly I should do. I asked engineers at Buffer, “What do youthink makes a great engineering manager (EM)? Where do you think I fall short?” I am so grateful for the honest answers of my peers—it allowed me to develop a clear sense of how I need to grow. I stalked people on Twitter and LinkedIn, cold emailed them, and asked them how they survived the switch. “What was your rookie error?” became my pickup line.
I’m continually astonished at how helpful the world generally is. I’ve met up with incredible people whom I’d thought wouldn’t give me the time of day. I’ve found this awesome Slack community where I can see, in real time, a smorgasbord of management scenarios unfolding and people of experience, the very kind of people I want to become, give their advice. There is such treasure, if you care to dig.
From my own experience, I certainly remember times when I knew what I wanted from a manager, but didn’t feel I could speak up and ask for it. So I’ve decided to ask a very simple question: “What is something that I can do for you over the next week to make your work life better?”
I quickly learned that this is a solved problem—the help is there. I just had to ask.
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2. WHAT HAPPENS TO MY OLD WORK?
This is tough. When an engineer switches to management, the team loses an engineer. That puts a damper on team velocity and morale, but doing two jobs at once is infeasible. Having a handover and transition plan was my first task. It’s a real challenge to figure out who can take over the work you do in a team that’s already lean. And let’s face it, there’s never an “extra engineer” twiddling her thumbs.
I got really lucky here: Half my team (non-engineers) took a vacation as I made the switch, so there was a natural lull while I Googled “how to be an engineering manager.” Then I got another break: A product team happened to be disbanding, and there was someone ready and excited to take over. I dodged a very difficult quarter.
Think about your old responsibilities—don’t just walk out. If there’s really no one to step up, then schedules will slip. Realize this, and make sure others realize it, too.
3. HOW DO I MANAGE SOMEONE WHO’S BETTER THAN I’LL EVER BE?
This was the scariest thing I had to do. Before jumping into a first meeting with an engineer whom I admire greatly, I was decidedly fretful, and definitely anxious throughout. What did he think of me? Was this a huge waste of time? I shudder at the opportunity cost.
After that first video call, it hit me that although I thought he was awesome, I’d given zero recognition. Realizing why I held back calling out good work was a key moment for me: I didn’t feel qualified to praise this engineer. I felt that my opinion didn’t matter; that he’d think I was an idiot for praising something he’d done that was no big deal. It would be like praising Dan Abramov for writing a todo app in React.
Once I understood and named that fear, it went away. If I was better at coding than the engineers I managed, then I’d be writing that code. But I’m not. That’s exactly why I’m managing!
I’m better at encouraging and unblocking. I think that’s when the idea of “servant leader” started to click.
I am there to sort out all the stuff that stops engineers from focusing. Make the processes smooth. Make sure they find their work interesting and challenging. Make sure they are having the biggest impact that they can. Understand who they are and what drives them, and line that up with what the team needs. Tell them when I think they did something great. Ask them why they did something that falls short of our quality bar—maybe there was a good reason. Maybe I can help. I don’t have to be able to do their jobs better than them. They’re the experts, and they should be.
I still don’t know what my biggest rookie error is, though. I guess that’ll be a subject for another post.
An earlier version of this article originally appeared on Buffer. It is reprinted with permission.
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With student loans reaching an all-time high, it’s no surprise that many are now questioning whether their education is worth the expense.
The average 2015 college graduate completed their education with $35,051 in student loan debt, according to a study by Edvisor, and a survey by Salary.com found that 35% of 15,000 respondents believe a degree isn’t worth the price tag, with another 43% claiming it isn’t necessary to succeed in life.
While not all degrees are created equal, and you can always find a career in a field you didn’t major in, certain degrees are a better bet for students looking for the highest return on their education investment. In fact, a 2015 report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce estimated that the difference in lifetime wages between the highest- and lowest-paying college majors is about $3.4 million.
According to a new study by Glassdoor, an online employer review and careers resource, the top 10 college majors that help graduates earn the most during the first five years of employment are:
Computer Science
Median base salary: $70,000 Popular entry-level jobs: Software engineer, Systems engineer, Web developer
Electrical Engineering
Median base salary: $68,438 Popular entry-level jobs: Electrical engineer, Systems engineer, Software developer
Mechanical Engineering
Median base salary: $68,000 Popular entry-level jobs: Mechanical engineer, Design engineer, Project engineer
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Chemical Engineering
Median base salary: $65,000 Popular entry-level jobs: Chemical engineer, Process engineer, Project engineer
Industrial Engineering
Median base salary: $64,381 Popular entry-level jobs: Industrial engineer, Quality engineer, Production planner
Information Technology
Median base salary: $64,008 Popular entry-level jobs: Programmer analyst, Technical support, Systems engineer
Civil Engineering
Median base salary: $61,500 Popular entry-level jobs: Civil engineer, Structural engineer, Field engineer
Statistics
Median base salary: $60,000 Popular entry-level jobs: Data analyst, Statistician, Data scientist
Nursing
Median base salary: $58,928 Popular entry-level jobs: Registered nurse, Licensed vocational nurse, Case manager
Management Information Systems
Median base salary: $58,000 Popular entry-level jobs: Network administrator, Help desk analyst, Business analyst
While some of the highest-paying tech employers have expressed an interestin hiring non-STEM graduates, science, technology, engineering, and math degrees still dominate the top 10 and much of the remaining top 50.
But earning a STEM degree, which accounts for 20% of all college degrees,doesn’t necessarily guarantee a high salary. According to a report by the Economic Policy Institute, petroleum engineers earn as much as $243,000 by mid-career, while environmental engineers earn just over $100,000, and those in mechanical-related technologies and architecture don’t crack six figures. “The top 25% of education majors earn more than the bottom 25% of engineering majors,” suggests the report, titled “The Economic Value of College Majors.”
Furthermore, chasing a degree for the sake of its future earning potential might have an adverse affect on one’s career, according to Vince Broady, the CEO of content marketing platform Thismoment and religion studies major at Brown University. “If you don’t personally care about what you are doing, you are not going to be competitive at it,” he toldFast Company. “You have to have some faith that your education will not be wasted on you. This is about you and your specific situation; you need to make sure that what you learn serves you.”
At the bottom of the list of 50 were these degree tracks that led to the lowest-paying jobs:
Health Care Administration
Median base salary: $42,000 Popular entry-level jobs: Medical assistant, File clerk, Office manager
Social Work
Median base salary: $41,656 Popular entry-level jobs: Social worker, Mental health counselor, Camp counselor
Biology
Median base salary: $41,250 Popular entry-level jobs: Lab assistant, Paramedic, Tutor
For those who want to improve the likelihood of getting those student loans paid off sooner, however, Glassdoor’s data would suggest that STEM is the safest bet.
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As you know, it’s not always easy to get an interview for a job, but when you do get that call-back for a live interview, it feels great and a little nerve-wracking. When I used to get that all-important call giving me the time to come in for an interview, I know it would start to do a number on my head. I wanted the job so much more once I knew I had a real shot at it. The problem is that mistakes tend to occur the moment you become fixated on how great it would be to have that job rather than focusing on preparation and the best way to approach the interview.
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Persuasive people have an uncanny ability to get you leaning toward their way of thinking. Their secret weapon is likeability. They get you to like more than their ideas; they get you to like them.
Too many people succumb to the mistaken belief that being likeable comes from natural, unteachable traits that belong only to a lucky few — the good looking, the fiercely social and the incredibly talented. It’s easy to fall prey to this misconception. In reality, being likeable is under your control, and it’s a matter of emotional intelligence (EQ).
In a study conducted at UCLA, subjects rated over 500 adjectives based on their perceived significance to likeability. The top-rated adjectives had nothing to do with being gregarious, intelligent or attractive (innate characteristics). Instead, the top adjectives were sincerity, transparency and capacity for understanding (another person).
These adjectives, and others like them, describe people who are skilled in the social side of emotional intelligence. TalentSmart research data from more than a million people shows that people who possess these skills aren’t just highly likeable, they outperform those who don’t by a large margin.
We did some digging to uncover the key behaviors that emotionally intelligent people engage in that make them so persuasive. Here are the tricks of the trade that exceptionally persuasive people use to their advantage:
1. They’re pleasers
Persuasive people never win the battle only to lose the war. They know how and when to stand their ground, and yet they are constantly making sacrifices that help their cause. They are always giving in, giving ground and doing things for other people that make them happy. Persuasive people do this because they know in the long run this wins people over. They know it’s better to be successful than it is to be “right.”
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2. They aren’t pushy
Persuasive people establish their ideas assertively and confidently, without being aggressive or pushy. Pushy people are a huge turn off. The in-your-face approach starts the recipient backpedaling, and before long, they’re running for the hills. Persuasive people don’t ask for much, and they don’t argue vehemently for their position because they know that subtlety is what wins people over in the long run.
If you tend to come across as too aggressive, focus on being confident but calm. Don’t be impatient and overly persistent. Know that if your idea is really a good one, people will catch on if you give them time. If you don’t, they won’t catch on at all.
3. They aren’t mousy, either
On the other hand, presenting your ideas as questions or as though they need approval makes them seem flawed and unconvincing. If you tend to be shy, focus on presenting your ideas as statements and interesting facts for the other party to mull over. Also, remove qualifiers from your speech. When you are trying to be persuasive, there is no room for “I think” or “It is possible that.”
4. They know their audience
Persuasive people know their audience inside and out, and they use this knowledge to speak their audience’s language. Whether it’s toning down your assertiveness when talking to someone who is shy or cranking it up for the aggressive, high-energy type, everyone is different and catching on to these subtleties goes a long way toward getting them to hear your point of view.
Research shows that people are far more likely to be persuaded by something that has visuals that bring it to life. Persuasive people capitalize on this by using powerful visual imagery. When actual images aren’t available or appropriate, these people tell vivid stories that breathe life into their ideas. Good stories create images in the mind of the recipients that are easy to relate to and hard to forget.
6. They use positive body language
Becoming cognizant of your gestures, expressions and tone of voice (and making certain they’re positive) will engage people and open them up to your arguments. Using an enthusiastic tone, uncrossing your arms, maintaining eye contact and leaning towards the person who’s speaking are all forms of positive body language that persuasive people use to draw others in.
Positive body language will engage your audience and convince them that what you’re saying is valid. When it comes to persuasion, how you say something can be more important than what you say.
7. They smile
People naturally (and unconsciously) mirror the body language of the person they’re talking to. If you want people to like you and believe in you, smile at them during a conversation, and they will unconsciously return the favor and feel good as a result. Persuasive people smile a lot because they have genuine enthusiasm for their ideas. This has a contagious effect on everyone they encounter.
8. They acknowledge your point of view
An extremely powerful tactic of persuasion is to concede the point. Admit that your argument is not perfect. This shows that you are open minded and willing to make adjustments, instead of stubbornly sticking to your cause. You want your audience to know that you have their best interests at heart. Try using statements such as, “I see where you are coming from” and “That makes a lot of sense.”
This shows that you are actively listening to what they are saying, and you won’t just force your ideas upon them. Persuasive people allow others to be entitled to their opinions and they treat these opinions as valid. They do this because it shows respect, which makes the other person more likely to consider their point of view.
9. They ask good questions
The biggest mistake people make when it comes to listening is failing to hear what’s being said because they are focusing on what they’re going to say next or how what the other person is saying is going to affect them. The words come through loud and clear, but the meaning is lost.
A simple way to avoid this is to ask a lot of questions. People like to know you’re listening, and something as simple as a clarification question shows not only that you are listening but also that you care about what they’re saying. You’ll be surprised how much respect and appreciation you gain just by asking questions.
10. They use your name
Your name is an essential part of your identity, and it feels terrific when people use it. Persuasive people make certain they use others’ names every time they see them. You shouldn’t just use someone’s name only when you greet him or her. Research shows that people feel validated when the person they’re speaking with refers to them by name over the course of a conversation.
11. They form connections
People are much more likely to accept what you have to say once they have a sense of what kind of person you are. In a negotiation study, Stanford students were asked to reach agreement in class. Without instruction of any kind, 55% of the students successfully reached agreement.
However, when students were instructed to introduce themselves and share their background before attempting to reach agreement, 90% of the students did so successfully. The key here is to avoid getting too caught up in the back and forth of the negotiation. The person you are speaking with is a person, not an opponent or a target. No matter how compelling your argument, if you fail to connect on a personal level, he or she will doubt everything you say.
Being genuine and honest is essential to being persuasive. No one likes a fake. People gravitate toward those who are genuine because they know they can trust them. It’s difficult to believe someone when you don’t know who they really are and how they really feel. Persuasive people know who they are. They are confident enough to be comfortable in their own skin. By concentrating on what drives you and makes you happy as an individual, you become a much more interesting and persuasive person than if you attempt to win people over by trying to be the person they want you to be.
13. They know when to pull back
Urgency is a direct threat to persuasion, so tread lightly. When you try to force people to agree instantly, studies show that they are actually more likely to stand by their original opinion. Your impatience causes them to counter your arguments in favor of their own. If your position is strong, you shouldn’t be afraid to back off and give it time to sink in. Good ideas are often difficult to process instantly, and a bit of time can go a long way.
Bringing It All Together
Persuasive people are adept at reading and responding to other people. They rely heavily on emotional intelligence (EQ) to bring people to their way of thinking. With 90% of top performers high in emotional intelligence, it’s no wonder that persuasive people rely on this skill to get ahead. Add these skills to your repertoire, and you’re on your way to joining this exclusive group.
Entrepreneur.com | October 15, 2016 | Travis Bradberry, Entrepreneur
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As you look at your core beliefs about yourself, you will see those beliefs reflected back to you in every area of life from finances, reputation, success and love. People with an unshakable belief in who they are focus their minds on opportunities, the bigger picture, patience, resilience, and achieving. They strive to feel deeply happy and satisfied in their lives. People with winning attitudes deeply believe everything they set their mind to is something they can achieve.
Below are their core beliefs:
1. Think positive.
Each of us has the power to choose and to direct our thoughts in any direction we want. Thinking optimistically keeps life flowing forward in the direction of our thoughts because our actions naturally follow our thoughts. For positive thinking to work we cannot passively think and expect miracles. We have to back our thinking with hard work, follow through and determination. We are all destined for success and can all get there if we believe we can. We have to put action behind our beliefs, and add a touch a patience to our perseverance. Many people become impatient when their positive thinking doesn’t immediately manifest success. That is because positive thinking, not backed by hard work, reduces positive thoughts to a wish.
2. Goal-digger.
To develop a winning attitude we must experience winning. For this reason we need to create agendas backed by achievable goals set with target dates for their achievement. My amazing business coach Dr. Dave White tells me we overestimate what we can achieve in a year, but largely underestimate what we can achieve in five years. In our sessions we goal set, explore, plan and achieve something each week. Small achievable goals motivate and inspire us towards our larger goals. Each goal achieved builds confidence and makes the journey towards success enjoyable.
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3. Be a ‘passionator’.
To be successful in all areas of life, we have to love what we do. Waking up to a career we feel no passion for will not provide well for us emotionally, even if it provides for us financially. The growth we can experience, personally and financially will be limited when we feel we are just going through the motions to make money. The greatest successes love what they do, and know that what they do spans larger than their own self-interest. It is when we see that what we do makes a positive, and significant difference in the lives of others that we most want to jump out of bed in the morning.
4. Gracious.
When we live with grace instead of entitlement we do not expect anyone to do the hard work for us. We do all we can to propel our success forward. We are not afraid of the hard work required of us to succeed. No one owes us anything. There is nothing more career crushing than an entitled person. They are poor relationship builders, self-centered, tend of bully and are some of the biggest complainers in the corporate world. We must have patience, be gracious, help others, and ask for help when we need it. We must commit to working hard, being thankful and accepting that things are often unfair. We accept if there are goals to be achieved, we must depend upon ourselves to get them done.
“The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” – Winston Churchill
5. Keep good company.
We are a direct reflection of the company we keep. Emotions and attitudes are contagious. For this reason we should make it a point to avoid, or largely decrease, the interactions we have with people who are jealous, overtly negative, defeatist or who gossip. We cannot get anywhere when we carry this type of an emotional infection. We must fill our lives with people who are confident, supportive, happy, optimistic, realistic, hardworking and motivated. This type of energy propels our movement forward.
Success is always about persistence, determination and the stubbornness to never give up. Setbacks and rejections are a part of any great endeavor, so we must stay driven and optimistic. Rejections and setbacks are what help us explore, grow, solve our problems and increase our knowledge to do better going forward. When we have a winning attitude we see that failures are opportunities, not insurmountable problems. They are springboards to further success and direct us to the places where we need growth and reinvention.
7. Believe in yourself.
We have to focus on developing and working on our unique strengths in order to develop a strong belief in ourselves. We have to step outside of what is familiar for the sole purpose of increasing our self-knowledge and personal development. There is not a perfect person out there, so we must remain humble and inspired to work on improving our shortcomings, while not punishing ourselves over them. We can learn ways to work with them, such as delegating out, rather than letting these aspects of ourselves bring us down down. We have to faith in who we are.
8. Be inspired.
Read. All the great successes read. It’s amazing the type of inspiration that can come from reading about other inspiring people. We must spend our time with people who inspire us, and model what they do in their lives in our own lives. Inspiration can be found from family members and loved ones. It is important to look for relationships which inspire us to be better; seek out coaches, therapists and teachers. We can also find a deep sense of inspiration through helping and serving others.
Being in excellent physical condition generates a tremendous amount of positive energy. We are a physical, emotional, mental and spiritual being. If our physical body is not healthy it directly decreases our emotional, mental and spiritual health. When we are physically active our bodies produce the feel good chemicals which effectively medicate stress, anger or despair. For this reason we need to take care of our basic physical needs, not just because it is the source of true wealth, but because it generates us to carry a positive vibe about us.
10. Social support.
We live up or down to the expectations and/or beliefs others hold of us. Those people who express their belief and faith in us, our purpose and our agenda in this world serve to deeply motivate us to continue on our mission with a sense of purpose and passion. The faith and belief to come from others, whether that be our manager, our family, friends, our coach, or those we manage serve to keep us on our toes and move us deeply into our personal commitment to our careers.
The stronger we gear our thoughts and actions towards success, the more quickly we develop it. It isn’t about pretending bad times don’t exist. It is about focusing our minds on the opportunities which can come from our bad days. When we have an unshakable belief in ourselves we posses a deep knowing that we have what it takes to overcome and continue to achieve. Once we achieve consistent positive beliefs in ourselves, our potential exponentially increase. We learn that obstacles are the experiences we need to further train ourselves to grow, remain flexible and move forward with a deeper sense of knowledge. Winston Churchill said, “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
Entrepreneur.com | October 13, 2016 | Sherrie Campbell
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When your team is in trouble, it may seem like any way out is a good way out. It often isn’t. Taking a team in the right direction is crucial at any time, but when the pressure is high and things aren’t going well, getting everyone back on track is especially difficult.
Here are a few ways to do that, without falling prey to the common mistakes managers often make when trying to set things aright.
1. LOOK AT PROCESS, NOT JUST PEOPLE
When something goes wrong, too many leaders seek to blame others—it’s an understandable instinct. First reactions in crisis situations are often about sorting out what went wrong and assigning fault. And to be sure, sometimes it really is a person or group of people who screwed up. But often it’s the systems or processes they work within that’s enabled their missteps.
It helps to zoom out a bit before pointing fingers. Take these steps right away:
Closely examine your current strategy. How well was your team executing it before things went awry? What changed? Consider those execution methods from the perspective of your current situation to determine whether changing circumstances have made them less effective.
Next, analyze the impact of the work of your team, partners, and customers. Where did the results start slipping or sales begin to fall off?
Finally, evaluate your present capabilities. Despite the bad turn, what’s your current capacity to execute? What assets and resources do you still have at your command to try something new?
This assessment of your processes should make it easier to take a fresh look at your team’s or company’s strategy, so you can make decisions about how to move forward that aren’t based on personalities or office politics. Usually if there’s turmoil, it means that there’s a part of your process that hasn’t worked as intended for longer than you’d realized. But you need to pin that down before making rash choices. When decisions are made in haste without understanding their full impact, even the most effective leaders fail to get their teams back on track.
In 2009, Ed Whitacre was appointed as the chairman of General Motors when it was on the verge of bankruptcy. He immediately combined GM’s sales and marketing organization under one leader—a hasty decision that turned out to be wrong. A few months later, GM had to split up sales and marketing again.
As Bloomberg reported, “Whitacre realized that all of the change had rattled the workforce, so he sent a companywide email: ‘A smart company changes and adapts to the needs of the business. So, while there will always be individual moves within GM, I want to reassure you that the major leadership changes are behind us.'” It took a lot more than his email to reassure Whitacre’s team, but ultimately, under his direction, the company went on to an enormous, $20-billion IPO under his direction.
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2. REVISIT YOUR SHARED PURPOSE—AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO CHANGE IT
When we find some common reasons to be optimistic, we’re often able to channel that positive energy into finding a solution. Morale sinks when things go wrong, so it’s essential to reinvest in a shared purpose before moving ahead. Many leaders already know they need to emphasize their team’s shared vision in times of turmoil, but few do it the right way. You need to explain in concrete, practical terms how the changes underway tie into your company’s redefined objectives—what new steps need to be taken, and how those steps should be executed.
After all, sometimes your sense of purpose does need redefining. It may be that a pivot is exactly what the doctor ordered. It might actually be a bad idea to return to underscoring your core vision if that vision has steered you wrong. In the rush to blame “bad apples,” this is something struggling companies tend to miss.
Instead, effective leaders re-instill self-worth in their teams by making them feel good about the urgency that the task at hand requires of them. Get comfortable with the reality that in the face of crisis, the future is often hazy—then ask your team to embrace that uncertainty, too, showing how confident you are that they can pull it off. Leaders don’t necessarily need to singlehandedly push their organizations in a new direction, just keep a steady ship as the crew does the steering together.
3. START EXPERIMENTING AND DELEGATING RESPONSIBILITIES
Change may or may not be woven into the fabric of your company culture, but sometimes circumstances require it. Whatever the case, it can be a good thing. People often learn more about each other when they have to change together. And a crisis is arguably the best time to instill this team-building attitude. This way, when turmoil hits next time, your organization will be better equipped to carry itself through.
To do that, leaders may need to do theopposite of what they’re used to doing during tough times; instead of buckling down, handing out directives, and showing “strong” leadership, it may be better to start experimenting and giving others more responsibility, not less.
After all, the worst thing you can do is fall back on the old ways of working—the ones that got you into this pickle in the first place. It’s often at the edge of a crisis where the most innovative solutions are found. When things are going well, innovation tends to offer incremental benefits, but when we need to make wholesale changes fast, the ability to experiment can sometimes transform even the most dire situations.
But in those situations, leadership usually doesn’t come from just one person. Leaders and managers may not be in best positions to see the disruptive parts of the puzzle themselves. If every team member is encouraged to speak up and has the authority to take on their own portion of problem-solving themselves, the solution can be all the more robust.
When a team owns the route out of the quagmire, they’ll be better experienced at climbing out of the next one they stumble into.
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She says this question is likely thesingle best opportunity you have to seal the deal in the job interview. “But because it’s so broad, it can also lead you down a slippery slope if you’re not concise.”
When interviewers ask this question, they want you to convince them that you’re the best candidate for the job. To ace the response, you must do your homework on the employer and job description so you can align your skills and experience with their specific needs.
“This is an opportunity to say, ‘You need X, and I am the best person for the job because of Y.’ You want to convey that not only are you a safe choice with minimal risk — but also a greatchoice,” says Taylor.
Before you arrive at the job interview, you should have a general sense of how to communicate this, she suggests. “One useful technique is to have three major points in mind on why you’re an excellent choice. This is a default framework you can come back to in the interview to sell yourself. It will become more refined as the interview proceeds.”
Here are five tips for answering the common “Why should we hire you?” interview question:
1. Listen for real-time cues
“As you hear the finer details of job requirements, jot down some key words from your background that will help you provide a targeted response once the hiring manager asks this question,” Taylor says. “If, for example, organizational skills are paramount, you may jot down certain related software programs you use.” As you make minor notes, still try to maintain good eye contact and stay in an active-listening mode.
“Since you now have more data on the real requirements, it’s time to turn up your pitch a notch,” she says. For instance, know your unique selling proposition. What makes you particularly qualified for the job among your peers? What does the firm present publicly and in the interview? How does your unique background align with their mission?
“If, for example, the company’s advertising tagline is about service excellence, you can address how your customer-service expertise resulted in quantifiable results, such as in expanded business, training you provided, or client recognition you received,” says Taylor.
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2. Focus on key points
Offer the big picture. This is a general overview of the overall match, says Taylor. “You’re setting a general comfort zone here.” For example, you’ll want to talk about how long you’ve been doing X at what types of companies, your applicable specialty areas, technical skills, training, and education. “Maybe you’ve been promoted frequently or have been given increased responsibility or staff — which objectively attest to your big picture value,” says Taylor. “Share that information.”
Discuss your accomplishments. This is your opportunity to talk more specifically about a couple of specific projects that showcase your related skill sets and experience. “Results are what count, however, so be sure to mention how the contributions helped your company, and how your expertise could similarly make a significant impact for them,” says Taylor. But remember to be concise!
Communicate that you have excellent people skills. If you have a few soft-skill attributes that you feel would be an asset to the position (such as team player, motivational leader, strong work ethic, reliable), tell them.
“By addressing the low turnover in your department, for example, you underscore that you have strong management potential,” says Taylor. “Oftentimes, slightly stronger people skills trump minor weaknesses in technical expertise. Unlike technical skills, it’s virtually impossible to teach attitude.”
3. Prove you’d be a great investment
“Every manager wants to be assured that you’d offer a good return on investment,” she says. “They want to mitigate risk and avert being in the hiring doghouse. This is your chance to use bottom-line examples of why the company will benefit from hiring you. What are some specific, applicable accomplishments that illustrate this? Where possible, give dollar percentages or raw numbers (sans inflation).”
For instance, did you:
• reduce expenses by a certain percent or dollar figure?
• streamline certain processes?
• develop new programs that increased revenues?
• reduce turnover?
• secure new accounts or expand on existing business?
“This is not to downplay your overall awards, recognition, kudos, soft skills, and overall success; they still support your market value in a credible way,” says Taylor. “A combination of the two is ideal.”
4. Be enthusiastic
“Once you’ve made a solid argument for your skills being a good match, there’s one more factor needed in the mix,” says Taylor. “Show your excitement and enthusiasm for the position. No matter how good you look on paper or present facts, illustrating that you’re genuinely motivated and want the job is a key contributing factor.”
After all, this is a good reason to hire you, too. Just make sure your zeal doesn’t slip into the category of desperation. You should convey that you want the job, not need it.
5. Be as specific, but brief, as possible
In selling your great attributes for the job, a few words of caution: When given a sweeping question like this, it’s easy to go into long-winded tangents — or wax on about the time that you developed the equivalent of the Internet of Things for your employer. “Be conscious of brevity and don’t exaggerate,” Taylor suggests. “One, it may be highly transparent; two, it may be deflated in a reference check; and three, if not caught (and you’re eventually hired), you could find yourself in over your head.”
By doing your homework, paying close attention to the input you’re given, and conveying confidence in performing to the employer’s expectations or beyond, you’ll likely present a winning case, she concludes.
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It’s notoriously difficult to find out how much other people make for doing the same job as you. Employers generally hold comparative salary information close to the vest, and unless you can tease exact dollar figures out of a colleague to see if your pay is in the same ballpark, you may be left wondering if you’re earning a fair wage for your title and field.
A recent Glassdoor survey found that close to 40% of employees think they aren’t paid what they’re worth, with more women than men feeling this way. But believing you’re underpaid and knowing it are two different things. Here are some convincing signs that suggest you’re not making enough.
Your numbers are below industry norms
While it can be challenging to determine whether you make less than a co-worker in your company due to lack of pay transparency, you can find out average salaries of others who share your title in the industry at large. Several career websites offer salary benchmarking, includingSalary.com, PayScale.com, Glassdoor.com and Indeed.com. These online sites offer resources (many of them free) to help employees research how much they’re worth using tools such as national and regional compensation reports and salary profile databases that are searchable by title, experience level, geographic location and company. Check out the salary bands for your position on several of these different career sites, average the salaries from all of the sources and see if yours ranks near these numbers or falls below the threshold.
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Your salary progression has stalled
If you came on board in your entry-level job at a salary you knew was low (after all, you were a newbie) but haven’t moved up the pay scale much since then, it’s likely you haven’t caught up enough. Once you accept a position that’s below market rate, it can be difficult to prove to subsequent employers what you’re really worth and make up the difference, since hiring managers often base starting salaries on the amount you made previously. Minute raises year over year (in the range of 1 to 3 percent) mean that even those who started at the same level as you may be raking in more by now if they’ve received more substantive annual raises. Think about this point in relation to how much your level of responsibility has changed as well. If you were promoted by being given more tasks or a higher title but your boss has made no mention of a raise, chances are you’re being underpaid for what you’re doing now.
You’ve never asked for more money
Salary negotiation is an important part of making what you’re worth. While many employees balk at the idea of broaching the topic of getting paid more, research has shown that asking for a salary bump often results in receiving one. A 2015 study by PayScale found that 75% of those who requested more money got it. Yet many people never work up the nerve to ask — particularly womenand millennials. This fear of salary negotiation can have very expensive consequences over the lifetime of your career, resulting in potentially hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost income.
Being underpaid can be discouraging, but it doesn’t have to be inevitable. If you find out you’re making too little money, be willing to step up to the table and start negotiating — or start seeking a new employer who will pay you as much as you deserve.
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/question-mark-post-its-1940x900_35749.jpg450970First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-12 20:26:042020-09-30 20:50:29Your #Career : How to Tell If you’re Underpaid…Employers Generally Hold Comparative Salary Information Close to the Vest, and Unless you can Tease Exact Dollar Figures out of a Colleague to See If your Pay is in the Same Ballpark, you May Be Left Wondering if you’re Earning a Fair Wage for your Title and Field.
After eliminating his rivals in a civil war, general and politician Gaius Julius Caesar began serving as dictator of Rome in 49 BCE. He established a number of political reforms before getting stabbed to death on the Ides of March in 44 BCE.
This sparked yet another civil war that doomed the Roman Republic to mutate into an empire with Caesar’s adopted heir Octavian at the helm.
Today, Caesar is still considered one of the greatest military commanders in history. His name is also synonymous with cults of personality and political strongmen.
So how exactly did the one-time high priest of Jupiter accrue so much power during his lifetime?
Business Insider looked through some of his own writings — as well as the less-reliable but still interesting works of contemporary ancient writers — to get a sense of his leadership style.
Here are the top seven lessons we came up with:
1. Presentation matters
The best leaders don’t just do amazing things — they know how to present a compelling story.
After a relatively brief war with a certain Pharnacles II of Pontus, Caesar had to sit down and write out a report to Rome detailing his conquest. According to both Greek biographer Plutarchand Roman historian Suetonius, the commander didn’t go into too much detail, writing simply: “I came, I saw, I conquered.”
The phrase proved so catchy that we still remember it, centuries later.
Caesar could have gone on and on about his military prowess (in fact, he was the author of several long military accounts). Instead, he realized that the simple note would convey the most powerful message.
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2. Take risks
In ancient Rome, crossing the Rubicon River with an army was kind of a big deal. It was tantamount to a declaration of war and could be punishable by death.
When Caesar crossed the Rubicon with his legion, he put everything on the line. In “The Life of the Deified Julius,” Suetonius writes that Caesar quoted an Athenian playwright as he crossed the river, declaring “the die is cast.”
He risked it all and it paid off (in the short-term, at least).
3. There’s nothing wrong with starting small
Oftentimes, you’ve got to start out as a large fish in a small pond in order to succeed as a leader.
Caesar understood this. He managed to climb back into a position of power, even after losing his inheritance in a coup as a young man.
According to the ancient Plutarch’s “Parallel Lives,” the general also made a rather curious remark while passing through a small village in the Alps: “I assure you I had rather be the first man here than the second man in Rome.”
4. Nothing is set in stone
As a general, Caesar new that circumstances could change in an instant. According to Bill Yonne’s “Julius Caesar: Lessons in Leadership from the Great Conqueror,” Caesar once wrote that “in war, events of importance are the result of trivial causes.”
Resting on your laurels is never a good idea — because things can always take a turn for the worst.
5. Never kid yourself
Even if you’re a successful leader, you never want to get to the point where you start to buy your own nonsense.
In his chronicle of the Gallic Wars, Caesar concludes that: “i n most cases men willingly believe what they wish” when describing a tactical mistake on the part of his Gallic enemies.
The best leaders behave rationally and don’t allow their feelings or preconceived notions to dominate their decision-making. Gut calls and instincts are important too, but the best leaders utilize both — not one or the other.
6. Don’t get comfortable
No matter how good things look, the best leaders never fail to anticipate the worst outcomes.
In his “Commentaries on the Gallic Wars,” Caesar writes: “The immortal gods are wont to allow those persons whom they wish to punish for their guilt sometimes a greater prosperity and longer impunity, in order that they may suffer the more severely from a reverse of circumstances.”
Basically, if you’re on a winning streak, watch out. Caesar would have done well to actually follow this advice himself. Instead, he allowed a conspiracy to boil under him once he became dictator, resulting in his famous assassination.
7. Never sell yourself short
In order to lead, you need confidence in your own abilities. This is something that Caesar never seemed to lack.
This is illustrated by one notable incident in the ancient Roman’s life (involving pirates, of all things). In his account of Caesar’s life, Plutarch writes that, as a young man, Julius Caesar was abducted by the pirates that swarmed the Mediterranean Sea.
Livius.org provides a translation of what happened next: “First, when the pirates demanded a ransom of twenty talents, Caesar burst out laughing. They did not know, he said, who it was that they had captured, and he volunteered to pay fifty.”
Caesar went on to promise the pirates that he’d personally kill them once he was free. After he was ransomed, he raised a fleet, hunted them down, and did just that.
Businessinsider.com | October 12, 2016 | Áine Cain
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpg00First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-12 16:30:172020-09-30 20:50:29#Leadership : 7 Unforgettable Leadership Lessons from the Ancient Roman Conqueror Julius Caesar…Today, Caesar is still Considered One of the Greatest Military Commanders in History. His Name is also Synonymous with Cults of Personality and Political Strongmen.
Employee compensation can be an emotional subject, especially if you’re the employee. It is often daintily tiptoed around in interviews and loudly complained about in bars. Personally, I’m a firm believer that compensation is a reflection of an employee’s value to a company. As value goes up, so does pay.
When I express these opinions, however, I often get disgruntled rebuttals like, “Yeah, right. Corporations have no concept of loyalty”; “Layoffs are completely arbitrary—it doesn’t matter what you’re worth”; and, “The only way to get a raise is to change jobs!”
Since these complaints are made to me—the CEO of a company that clearly isn’t so callous—it’s obvious that these stereotypes cannot be universal. Putting aside this irony, though, even if every company in the world were as ruthless and coldblooded as some believe, value and compensation would still be inextricably connected. Let’s take a look at why this is the case and how you can increase your value as an employee to get paid what you deserve.
WHAT HAPPENS BEHIND CLOSED DOORS
Let’s be a fly on the wall in that dim, coffin-shaped room where lanky, black-suited business misers drum their spindly fingers together and cackle over that most evil of subjects: layoffs.
When they discuss the customer support floor, they decide they need to lay off one person, and gradually narrow the options down to two employees:
Option 1: “Bill” is an old-and-true company standby. He’s worked at the company for 20 years and has been completely faithful to his job expectations. He clocks in and out on time and delivers his customer support perfectly on script. As a result, he’s accumulated a number of raises over the years and now makes $20 an hour.
Option 2: “Shelly” has only worked in customer support for five years but has obtained advanced technical certifications, has an excellent interpersonal manner, and routinely turns upset customers into loyal patrons. Clients who get support from her are 30% more likely to purchase additional services and to refer friends.
She talks off script a fair amount but keeps track of what she says and how customers react. As a result, she has submitted many helpful modifications to the basic IT script, resulting in a 10% increase in customer satisfaction for the whole floor. Due to her high performance, Shelly also makes $20 per hour.
Which one gets the boot? It’s Bill without question.
The company is actually losing money on Bill. If they fired him, a new employee would work for only $12/hour and could read the script just as skillfully as Bill does within two weeks.
If Shelly were fired, however, the company would lose out on a major source of sales, referrals, customer satisfaction, and an internal system for improving the whole department—they can’t afford to lose her!
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VALUE IS NOT THE SAME THING AS YEARS ON THE JOB
But what about faithful old Bill? It would be so mean to fire him! Bill’s problem is that he hasn’t really done anything to justify his increased wages. Small raises have accumulated on his paycheck like moss on an old river rock, but his real value is still around $12 an hour.
However, since Bill has been working at the company for so many years, he probably “feels” like he’s worth $20 an hour. Never mind the fact that he couldn’t get paid $20 an hour at a different company, he’s “put in his time,” so he’s worth $20 an hour, right?
Now, I’m not trying to understate the value of experience and wisdom. Good employees learn and grow over time, so they provide more value for their employer. As a reward, they get raises. The problem is, those raises are often based on meeting minimum standards for specified periods of time—not the value an employee brings to the table. As a result, when push comes to shove and a company needs to actually evaluate the worth of an employee, “years on the job” means far less to the business than added value.
BUSINESSES PAY FOR VALUE, AND EMPLOYEES ARE THEIR ASSETS
Many employees are confused about what their salaries pay for. When people first enter the workforce as teenagers, they usually start with an hourly wage. The equation is simple: The more you work, the more money you get. Unfortunately, after a couple of years, many people begin to translate time into money and begin to think, “I’ve put in a lot of time at this job, so it stands to reason that I should be making a lot of money! I need a raise!”
Allow me to burst that bubble. Value isn’t a function of time. There are 24 hours in a day whether a company pays for them or not—it’s what you do with those hours that counts. Even for hourly employees, businesses aren’t paying for time—they’re paying for value. To put it simply, an employee is a company asset, and compensation is an investment in that asset.
Let me explain what I mean: If I were to invest $5,000 in a new asset for my business—say an online marketing account—you might think that I would have to make $5,000 in sales to justify the expense. Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite work that way. I won’t get too deep into the math of contribution margin, but in short, since my business expenses aren’t just limited to what I spend on marketing, it turns out that the account would have to make me at least three times my investment ($15,000) just to break even.
If the asset started producing four or five times more money than I put into it, then it would really be profitable. In fact, I’d be willing to invest more if I knew my payoff would be that good.
The same goes for employees: If I’m going to invest in people, I need to know that having them around will make my company at least three times what I’m paying them. The more revenue an employee drives for my business, the greater their value and the more I’m happy to pay to have them as an asset. An employee who produces less value, however, loses me money and—unless they can become more productive—I can’t afford to keep them in the long run.
Now, I think we’ve looked at things like a ruthless businessman for long enough to show why companies care about the value their employees bring to the table.
In most real businesses with real, warm-hearted people (like I try to be), the same principles are still at play, but the focus is more on encouraging employees to become more valuable than on eliminating dead weight. In general, this encouragement comes in the form of salary. The more value an employee brings to the table, the more they deserve to be paid. The question then becomes, how do employees increase their value?
There are three basic steps:
Ensure that you’re meeting the basic expectations of your job.
Identify areas where you can add more value.
Create and execute a plan to exceed expectations.
Step 1: Meet expectations. Before you start trying to expand your horizons, it’s a good idea to make sure that you’re at least fulfilling the minimum requirements of your role.
Of course, it can sometimes be hard to figure out what those requirements are. A recent Gallup poll revealed that up to half of employees don’t really understand what is expected of them at work. Many companies have very little in the way of formal job descriptions. Others have long lists of tasks and expectations around hiring time, but when you start the job you find that half the stuff on the list you never do and half the stuff you do isn’t on the list.
So if you’re not sure what your job expectations really are, the easiest way to get that question answered is to talk to your manager. Havea discussion about what workplace success looks like. You might even ask how your position adds value to the company. This gives you a target for increasing your value later on.
If, in this discussion, you discover work expectations that you weren’t aware of or that you haven’t been meeting, your first priority should be to start meeting those expectations. You may also find that, as Gallup’s poll also suggests, somemanagers are just as confused about your role as you are. If this describes your supervisors, then a sit-down conversation is especially important. Defining together what your core responsibilities are will help them to know when you are exceeding expectations.
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Step 2: Find areas in which to excel. As part of your conversation, you should also determine a list of projects that could add extra value to the company that fall within the scope of your job.
It’s important to choose these projects in conjunction with your manager because you need to be sure that when you go above and beyond, it’s in areas that your company finds important. What’s more, you want your extra efforts to be recognized for what they are.
It’s helpful at this stage to come up with a way to document your performance. Remember Shelly—how she increased customer satisfaction by 10% and got 30% more referrals than average? These numbers make her value pretty undeniable, but they wouldn’t exist if she or her managers weren’t keeping track of them.
If you work in an area like sales, it’s pretty easy to document your performance with hard figures, but for many other jobs performance is less easy to quantify. Documentation is still important in these cases, but it may look a little different. For example, this is a scorecard my marketing director and I use to measure his performance each month (shared with his permission):
The first column contains a list of his basic job expectations. If he meets all of these he’s producing enough value to justify his base salary. The other two columns contain things that he can do to go above and beyond his normal duties to provide added value to the company.
This is a very simple documentation system, but it’s surprisingly effective. When it comes time for me to hand out bonuses and raises, I don’t have to wonder whether he’s earned it or not—I just look at the scorecard. If he’s consistently performing above expectations, then he’s adding extra value and he deserves to be rewarded.
Step 3: Make a plan and execute it. Finally, you need to put everything you’ve learned into action. If your goal is to increase your compensation at work, you can start by deciding how much more you would like to be making.
Take your current job expectations and salary as the baseline for what you’re worth to the company. Then realize that for every dollar that you hope to get in increased pay, you need to bring in three to five dollars to the business for your raise to make sense. Pick from your “above and beyond” list some projects that would add this kind of value to the company. Make a plan to complete these goals in addition to your regular tasks and present the plan to your manager.
Trust me, this will go over a lot better than the old, “I’m getting married so I need a raise” conversation. Your manager may not agree with every detail of your plan, but you will definitely come off as a motivated employee who really gets it. And even if your managers don’t buy in right away, it will be a great opportunity to discuss their priorities again and work together to come up with a plan that accomplishes things that really matter.
Don’t skip this important conversation. I’d hate to get a comment on this article saying, “I wasted six months doing what you said only to find out that nobody cared about my contribution.”
If you haven’t figured out by now, communication with your superiors is going to be a critical part of this whole process. Unfortunately, business plans are rarely static and you may have to chase a moving target, but if you’re willing to be flexible, you should be able to keep moving forward toward your goals.
Now, I know you’re probably thinking, “This all sounds great, Jacob, but it also sounds a little too idealistic. It would never work at my business.” Maybe not. I can’t predict every circumstance, and there’s a chance that yours is an exception. But isn’t it worth a try? The relationship between employee value and compensation holds just as true in “big ruthless corporations” as it does in more supportive ones.
For example, one of my employees recently related to me his experience at a prior company. This was one of those more stingy jobs and had a high turnover rate for entry-level employees. However, he applied the principles I’ve described. He developed a number of specialized skills and got deeply involved in some really important projects.
The miserly company was happy to be getting more out of him for the same pay—until the day he started looking at taking his skills elsewhere. His value was so great by then that the company would be set back months or years if he left, so when he suggested that he would need a 40% pay increase to stay, they felt like it was a worthwhile investment.
Despite the money-grubbing attitude of this company, he was providing so much value that he had become an asset they couldn’t afford to lose. As a result, he was able to negotiate a much better situation for himself. The moral of the story? If you feel that you deserve a raise, don’t get drunk and holler about it every Friday night. Take inventory of your worth, talk with your managers, and start working to become a more valuable asset.
https://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpg00First Sun Teamhttps://www.firstsun.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/logo-min-300x123.jpgFirst Sun Team2016-10-12 12:15:592020-09-30 20:50:30Your #Career : I’m A CEO—Here’s How I Decide Whether To Give You A Raise Or Lay You Off… This Exec Reveals the Arithmetic Companies Typically Use to Assess Employees’ Value.
