--Make sure you’re right about this being the wrong job. There may be some facet that’s not to your liking, one that the boss can fix if you’re willing to bring it up. You can say something like, “Gee, I expected to be doing more of (less of) X. Will that be happening soon?”
--Ask your references and mentors for input. They may say, “Oh, you know, you sometimes do overreact and think things aren’t going to work out, but if you give them time they do.” Or, they may say, “Oh, I was wondering why you were going in that direction.”
--If it really is wrong, you can consider having a conversation with the boss and lay it out, saying something like, “I was expecting this position to be more\less whatever and I’m now thinking it’s not a good match for me.” You can say you are very sorry and you don’t want to get too far into it for both your sakes. Maybe the boss can still contact his or her second choice for the job. You may even have a friend you could recommend.
--The boss will likely be disappointed. But you’re not the first person to realize he or she took a mis-step. Bosses have had this happen before and deep down realize it’s much better to have you opt out at this stage than two months down the road.
--Also, reflect on what you learned from this. Just what was wrong about the job? If you sensed it beforehand, why did you take it? What did you need to do/not do, that could have prevented this? You want to identify all that so you won’t go down a similar path again.
Women held 16.4 percent of corporate officer jobs at Fortune 500 companies last year, according to a new census released today by Catalyst, a research and advisory organization. That’s up from 15.7 percent in 2002. As for women of color, they held just 1.7 percent of those high-level jobs.
Regarding pay: Women held 6.4 percent of top earner jobs and women of color held 1 percent.
In the time-frame of the census, eight Fortune 500 companies were run by women chief executives. And here’s some good news – that’s now up to 10.
You must drop all work right now and pay attention to these new bits of breakthrough workplace trivia.
Despite what we all think, chief executives really don’t drive high-priced black Mercedez-Benzes. Nope, 29 percent of these “regular folks” polled said they drive regular passenger cars – Chevys, even. This according to research from Cars.com and CareerBuilder.com. What’s more,
24 percent drive SUVs 19 percent do admit to driving luxury cars 13 percent drive pickup trucks, my own personal favorite
And if this isn’t making your day, you can also find out the most popular colors of cars for people in various professions. Can you guess the most popular car colors for those working for the government? Can you fill in the blanks? R__, W____ and B___.
Well, it was only a matter of time. We’ve seen everyone’s take on how to be successful -- everyone from Mother Goose to the U.S. Marines. Now we have words of wisdom from a wizard, and that would be Harry, of course.
You can read about Tom Morris’s new book called “If Harry Potter Ran General Electric” on Worthwhile magazine’s blog.
And we can only guess at what’s to become of the consumer electronics market once magic wands start showing up in stores near you.
Well, this will teach me not to write a blog entry before I read my own paper. In my previous post I told of an article in today's Wall Street Journal about Ben Barres, a professor and neuroscientist who started life as a she and who has a thing or two to say about gender discrimination in the field of science. And right in today's Newsday is a fine piece by my colleague Jamie Talan, which takes the conversation even further.
When it comes to discussing issues related to women scientists being discriminated against, what kind of person is going to have more credibility, a man or a woman? How about a male science professor who used to be a woman. In today’s Wall Street Journal we find a piece about neurobiologist Ben Barres, who, before a gender change 10 years ago, was Barbara. (You can read it for free, at least for today, on that paper's paid site.)
So, is there discrimination? Sure thing, he's quoted as saying: “People who do not know I am transgendered treat me with much more respect. I can even complete a whole sentence without being interrupted by a man.”
Reading this brought to mind an incident from this past weekend in Union Square Park where I was reading a friend's new book, "A World Undone -- The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918." As I was leaving, the gentleman sitting next to me said he was suprised to see a woman reading a book about war! A further indication there are still too many among us whose thinking is stuck in that early 20th Century time frame.
Urgent message to all those off-the-wall, raving, ranting bosses and their office colleagues everywhere: your rants and tantrums are now video-able and subject to being viewed and discussed online. Case in point – a video showing a university official who gets a bit of a surprise when students fill his office with $80 worth of balloons.
But, oh dear, he’s not too pleased. In fact, he launches into quite the tirade, using some salty language that would get me fired if I shared it with you here. So, if you’re offended by such language, absolutely DO NOT view the video of this guy using it, which can be found at YouTube.com.
And for those workers who must rant, do keep an eye out for a guy with a camera.
People often use a lottery approach to their careers – applying for this job and that one, simply because there are openings. Who knows? Maybe they’ll get lucky.
Face it – it’s a lot better to reflect first on which qualities you really find most important in a job. Creativity? Autonomy? Lots of contact with people? Intellectual stimulation?
When you’ve decided on your answers -- that’s the time to start looking for careers that match up.
You can see how this works over at CareerJournal.com, where editors teamed up with a polling firm and found that what people valued most in a job are:1. Intellectual stimulation, 2. Security, 3. A certain degree of freedom, and 4. Contact with people.
The editors then looked for careers that not only matched up with those attributes, but for which – thankfully – there’s also an expected demand. Figuring that way, they came up with eight pretty good bets.
None of the careers they chose may be right for you, but what’s really important is the process – and the answer you come up with. A methodical approach like this gives you a much better chance of reaping a more satisfying career than running around counting on luck or serendipity.
Stay-at-home moms looking to return to their professional lives have a slew of resources to turn to. Besides those I mentioned in this weekend’s column, here are a few more. First, websites:
The Moms at Work page of ClubMom.com includes articles and message boards that deal with a lot of relevant subjects. Examples – working from home; going back to school; transitioning back to work after the baby; childcare.
BlueSuitmom.com offers articles and message boards on such issues as work/life balance, self-employment, and bolstering your confidence.
There’s a blog at The New England Mothers Organization’s website that features occasional posts about work-from-home scams – in other words, warnings about offers you can – and should – avoid.
“The Girl’s Guide to Starting Your Own Business” is by Caitlin Friedman and Kimberly Yorio, two entrepreneurs who run YC Media, a food-oriented marketing firm in Manhattan. It’s a primer with advice on such diverse topics as (1) writing a business plan and (2) what questions to ask when you’re interviewing computer consultants.
“This Is How We Do It – The Working Mothers’ Manifesto” is by Carol Evans, chief executive and president of “Working Mother” magazine. Who better than Ms. Evans – with the help of research that involved 500 working moms – to address the issues surrounding dealing with guilt, caregivers, mentoring, schools and flextime?
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