January 29th, 2008 → 8:42 am @ Jay
Your expectation of salary needs to be discussed in a job interview, that is a given. When possible, you should not bring up the rate of pay and leave this for the interviewer.
I have been on both sides of this fence many times, I have played the role of an interviewer and an interviewee throughout my professional career. The single biggest mistake I have witnessed in a job interview is when an interviewee said “Before we bother starting this interview, how much does this job pay.” Yikes!
Career aspirations, wanting to gain experience, or working for our dream company are important factors in our happiness at work. Though we must not discount the importance of pay, as ultimately we are trading our valuable time for money. In a job interview, the interviewer will likely ask you, “What is your expectation of salary?” and “Are you flexible with your expectation?”.
Art of Conversation & Occupation & Productivity & Your Money
January 29th, 2008 → 8:34 am @ Jay
For some, the topic of money is just like any other. For others, the discussion of money can become uncomfortable, especially if it can make us appear greedy.
The discomfort we feel when discussing money with employers is perfectly natural, yet we should endeavour to develop the tactics and confidence to approach conversations that revolve around money. After all, the most important role of a career is to trade our time for money.
We want to be appreciated for our work, and do not want to appear “greedy” in the process. This is a topic that I relate close to. In my early years as an office worker, in an effort to be “polite” I avoided the discussion of money with my employers. As a result, I became severely underpaid compared to colleagues who had the confidence to discuss money with upper management.
Art of Conversation & Occupation & Productivity & Your Money
January 26th, 2008 → 1:53 pm @ Jay
A concerning statistic in Western civilisation is the rapid increase in average daily work hours. The 9-to-5 schedule has now become a mere guideline by which folks voluntarily stack extra hours.
Personally, I have volunteered unpaid overtime for many reasons. To uplift my professional profile, to reduce the chances of being retrenched, to qualify for upcoming promotions, and for the respect of my managers and colleagues. I have discovered though that working overtime without asking for reimbursement achieves none of these goals. In fact, I will demonstrate why this behaviour will work against you, and your colleagues.
If you are a hard working individual, or have kids who are starting out in the corporate environment, please read through and discuss these issues with them. There is no hypothesis here, I have learned these difficult truths firsthand and I hope you can teach it to others.
I will start with a discussion on young office workers, as they are most susceptible to developing the voluntary overtime habit.
January 15th, 2008 → 10:54 pm @ Jay
The power to communicate within the human species is our single most precious gift. Still, we have only scratched the surface with our ability to connect with each other. We are taught from a young age: don’t talk to strangers.
This is sound advice when you are seven years old. Though as an adult, this attitude can massively affect your enjoyment of life. We can all agree that the people we know now shape our lives. Yet, we are often shy, scared and even lazy when it comes to meeting new people. I have split this article into five sections, to demonstrate why you need to kick the “shy” habit and come out of your shell.
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