High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How Upskilling Programs Provide Employee Opportunity

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• How Upskilling Programs Provide Employee Opportunity: "[Upskilling] is any sort of education training and development that leads to preparing someone for what’s next in their career."

• 6 Mindset Principles of Successful People: "When successful people chase after a goal, two things can happen: They achieve their desired result or they get feedback."

• 5 Types of Connections You Need in Your LinkedIn Network: "by actually adding your friends and family members to your LinkedIn network you will get insight into their unique professional network that you might not have known about otherwise."

• 6 Essential Things You Need to Do to Land Your First Job: "Your college degree is a great foundation, but it’s also not the reality of what it’s like to complete a process from start to finish."
• How to Work With Someone Who Thinks They're Always Right:"Slow things down to surface what’s really going on. No matter how outlandish their views seem, approach the conversation as if there is some legitimacy to them."

What to Do When Your Career Has Gone Off the Rails

Shortly after starting a new job many years ago, I accidentally deleted thousands of files resulting in an emergency effort to retrieve them. Fortunately, all was not lost, my mistake was fixed, and I remained in the job for many more years.

However, sometimes we make mistakes that have lasting consequences, both at the job and to our career. Sometimes we feel there is no path forward or that we don’t know where to turn next.

In those times, it can be best to step back and consider how to move forward. Here are some things to do when you feel like your career has gone over the deep end.  

Go to a conference. It can be good to get away, clear your head, and be inspired by the fresh ideas and insights to be gained by attending a good conference in a great city. You’ll also meet new people who can provide a new perspective on your career.

Consult with a mentor. Talk to someone you trust and whose opinions you respect. The wisdom of others can be a great support in times of stress and can allow us to develop a better understanding of our current situation and future career opportunities.

Take a class. Similar to attending a conference, going to a class and learning something new can open up possibilities you hadn’t previously imagined and might even lead you to pursue a new career path.

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Think outside the box. When things have gone wrong and we’re frustrated in our career decisions it can be easy for our thinking to remain in a rut, and for us to consider easy answers. Avoid this tendency and seek out creative ideas and approaches. The first step is to be open and avoid easily dismissing ideas or suggestions that are uncomfortable.

Do nothing. This might seem counter-intuitive but sometimes the best thing to do is nothing. Time can change our perspective on a situation and help us see things in a new light. Sometimes it’s better to do nothing than to jump to a quick decision that you might regret later.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: How to Negotiate a 4-Day Work Week

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Fast Company describes three ways to convince your boss to let you take on a 4-day work week. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Secrets to Preventing Procrastination

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 6 Secrets to Preventing Procrastination: "The hardest part of any project is often taking that first step. Once I’ve gotten started, it’s usually easy enough to keep going."

• The One Skill That Makes You More Employable: "Whether you’re communicating with partners, customers, or coworkers, the way you write influences how people view both you and your company. Clear communication builds confidence and creates more productive relationships."

• Top 8 Interview Questions & How to Answer Them: "The following are LinkedIn's most commonly asked interview questions, along with my take on the best way to answer them."

• How Smart Women Successfully Make a Career Pivot: "For anyone considering a career change or radically relaunching a career, here are a few things I’ve learned along the way that may help you get started."
• 6 Words You Need to Eliminate from Your Professional Vocabulary:"To ensure you’re being perceived in the way you want, begin eliminating these words from your professional vocabulary."

Looking for a New Job? Get in Touch with These People

You’ve decided to take the plunge and seek out a new job.  How do you start and where should you begin your search?

It can be somewhat scary or anxiety-provoking to look for new work and your search should start with those closest to you.

Here are the people you’ll want to get in touch with as you move forward with your job search.

Your contacts on social media. If you’re on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter feel free to post something about your job search, though be as specific as possible about what you’re looking for. Otherwise, you might just get bombarded with tips that have nothing to do with your field of interest.

Mentors. Seek out those who have been your mentors through the years, formally or informally as previous supervisors or confidantes. They likely have a good sense of your interests and strengths and might know of opportunities coming available.

Recruiters on LinkedIn. Be sure to update your profile on LinkedIn and change your settings to indicate you are open to being contacted by recruiters. You never know when you’ll be the perfect candidate for a job out there.

Your book club. That book club you’ve been meeting with monthly? They know and work with people who are looking to hire someone. That someone could be you! Not in a book club? What about the people in your church group, bowling league or softball team? If you’re involved in a social group check in with the members you’re closest to and trust and let them know what you’re looking for.

Your family and friends. Of course, this is the group of people you want to start with. Your family and friends care about you and know what your skills are and will be invested in helping you find the right opportunity for you and your future. Spend some time reaching out to your family and friends to discuss your career plans and ambitions with them.

By seeking out the right people early in your job search you can get off to a quick and helpful start.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 5 Things to Do Sunday Night to Prepare for the Week Ahead

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from The Art of Improvement identifies fives practices to implement into your Sunday night routing in order to be better prepared for the coming week, starting with reflecting on what you've already finished. Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 4 Tips to Stay Healthy at Work

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 4 Tips to Stay Healthy at Work: "Did you know certain foods improve your presence, energy and work focus?  Stock your desk with healthy snack items such as raw almonds, or dried fruit."

• 14 Effective Ways to Make Time for Your Side Gig: "the trick to freeing up time for working on other business ventures is to make it feel like one of your hobbies. This works especially well if your side hustle directly relates to one of your passions."

• How to Harness Your Hustle & Make it Work For You: "Working smarter, not harder is the key to startup success. Here are three strategies we’ve implemented at my company in the last two years to help us (and our clients) do that."

• Master These 5 Skills to Network Effectively: "Work on being a good, active listener by maintaining eye contact, paying attention, and responding with insightful, relevant questions."
• Stop Lying to Job Candidates About the Role:"Too many hiring managers avoid telling candidates the truth about a job. Their logic is that if applicants find out how hard they will work or how boring the core of the open jobs are, they will walk away. This is a mistake."

When to Say No to a Job Offer

Let’s be honest. It’s not easy to decline a job offer. Often when we are hunting for a job it is out of necessity: we’ve recently graduated, we are unemployed, or we’ve learned we’ll be part of an upcoming layoff at work. Under these conditions it can feel irresponsible or even impossible to turn down a job offer. We can feel like we need to accept any job that comes along.

But if you’re not feeling desperate, and you have an opportunity to make a fair evaluation of a prospective employer, there are times when it makes sense to turn down an offer of employment.

Those times might include:

Reputation of the employer. Sometimes an employer, company, or a boss is just bad news and has rightfully earned a reputation for being a bad place to work. It’s important to do your research (on Glassdoor and elsewhere) in order to gauge the reputation of a prospective workplace. You might not want to accept a job at a place you’ll (sooner rather than) later hate.

Bad fit. Is the position you’ve been offered a good fit for your experience-level, skills, and interests? If not, you can be left feeling frustrated and struggle in the job, particularly if the training or supervision you receive is insufficient (or nonexistent).

Pay is not right. When you consider the pay a job offers you also need to pay attention to other factors you might not have considered, including company benefits such as insurance and 401k plan, the distance you’ll have to travel to get to work, time spent commuting to the job, and opportunities for career advancement and salary increases. If the pay is low, the commute is long, and there are few chances to advance you might need to make a pass.

Unethical or shady practices. Some businesses and companies like to operate on the lines and attempt to get away with as much as possible, even occasionally practicing in ways that might appear unethical, illegal, or shady. It’s best to avoid these companies and work at a place that proudly touts its commitment to authentically ethical work.

Does not match your values. Other companies operate legally but work in a field that does not match your values. If you’re a vegan concerned with the ethical treatment of animals, you might find it difficult to work at some restaurants or fast-food providers. If you’re concerned about climate change, you might decide not to work for a company in the fossil-fuel industry.

Choosing to pursue and accept a job at a specific company or in a particular field is a personal matter and it’s important to make decisions that are best for you at the time and for your future.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: Don't Say These Things at Your Next Job Interview

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Fast Company discusses four phrases to eliminate from your vocabulary when on a job interview, including "I didn't feel challenged by my last job." Check out the video to learn more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Tips to Overcome Age Discrimination

This is our weekly roundup of some of the best career-related articles, interviews, blogs, etc., we've read during the week. We share them so you have some great resources to prepare you for the coming week. Enjoy!

• 6 Tips to Overcome Age Discrimination at Work: "If you’re embarrassed by your age, others will sense that. People are attracted to candidates with confidence."

• 10 Tips to Go For Your Side Hustle Dream: "Success is all about falling down and getting back up. Here’s a writing prompt that can build your confidence: How have you overcome a near miss in your past to produce future gains?"

• Doing Creative Work When You Can't Stop Looking at Your Phone: "They key, I discovered, is to accept and even embrace the desire to check notifications, read various media, or even watch videos — but to teach myself patience in doing so."

• 5 Apps to Help You Master the Art of Small Talk: "So why not embrace small talk and, dare I say, get good at it? Here are some tools to help you become a more engaging conversationalist."
• How to Have a Positive Mindset at Work:"gratitude is linked to happiness and helps people think and feel more positively. When you’re actively going over the aspects of your life or your day that make you feel thankful, it changes your perspective from negative to positive."

4 Ways to Reduce Conflict in a Work Team

If you work with human beings, you are going to experience conflict at some point. And if you work primarily in teams, it is likely you’ll experience conflict on a regular basis. Conflict doesn’t have to drag you or your team down, though, if you handle it correctly, and it can lead to work breakthroughs and the deepening of relationships with your colleagues.

Here are a few ways to manage conflicts among your work team.

Set clear expectations. Work teams need to be clear about what behavior is acceptable and the appropriate ways to communicate. This should be modeled by leaders and supervisors at work, and teams need to have conversations around expectations for how the team will function and work together to ensure everyone is on the same page from the start, and a process is put in place to specify expectations for new individuals who join the team later.

Define terms. Sometimes arguments and disagreements take place in a team because common terms related to the work have not been defined and understood in the same way by others on the team. 

Seek to create a shared vocabulary that will reduce tension and conflict in a group. It can helpful to write these definitions down and provide access to the team so when conflict arises this document can be referred to.

Meet face to face. When conflicts arise, it is best to meet face to face and communicate in person with a specific person or with the team. It becomes easier to understand nuance and read body language, which can help come to a resolution. When setting expectations, it can be useful to come to an agreement on the types of information or communications that will be handled in person and those that can be managed through email or text.

Seek to understand and practice empathy. A practice to model and stress for the team is habit five from Stephen R. Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.” Implementing this practice will go a long way toward preventing or resolving conflicts when they arise within your team.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 5 Things You Must Do in Order to Be Successful

Each week we present our Daily Leap Career Video of the Week. The video we share presents news or advice related to career and life development, searching for a job, the economy and employment, and other career-related topics.

The video below from Inc. shares 5 things you must to in order to be successful, according to Bill Gates, starting with learning to say "no". Check out the video to learn more.