High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Career Tips Every New Graduate Should Know But May Never Be Told

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!

• 5 Career Tips Every New Graduate Should Know But May Never Be Told: "I think advocates are more valuable than mentors. With respect to your career, advocates have skin in the game. They will go out of their way to help you advance."

• 6 Tips to Rule the Art of Conversation: "With a little practice and more confidence, you should have no problem starting a conversation with anybody, anywhere."

• Improve Your Productivity With Inbox Zero: "The goal is to condition yourself to stop worrying about emails all day long. You should be controlling your inbox, not the other way around."

• When You're Leaving Your Job Because of Your Kids: "Here are seven tactics any working parent should use when transitioning out of a job."
• Steps to Take Right Now to Avoid Answering Work Emails Tonight: "take a minute to review your team’s email policy. If it doesn’t require you to set up your work account on your phone, be bold and remove it yourself."

4 Steps to Prepare for a Difficult Conversation with Your Boss

To be successful in your life and career requires vulnerability and courage. Sometimes you'll put yourself out there and be rejected for a promotion or be looked over for that new project.

There are times in our careers when we need to have a difficult conversation with our supervisor and unless we're able to muster up the courage to confront the situation head-on we'll be unable to move forward.



Here, then, are four steps to prepare for a difficult conversation with your boss.

1. Understand exactly what you want and and what you hope to accomplish. Are you looking for a raise? Perhaps you think you were wrongly denied a promotion or an opportunity on a new project. Or maybe you feel stuck with little opportunity to move up or learn new skills. Whatever the situation is, be sure you're clear about what it is you want and what outcome you are looking for.

2. Acknowledge your feelings about the situation. It is okay to be angry, sad, disappointed, frustrated, discouraged, or any number of other feelings you might experience but in order to have an effective conversation with your manager you need to fully own and understand how you're feeling about the circumstances.

3. Write out your ideas and imagine the response of your boss. By writing down what you want to say it will help you better formulate your thoughts, and help you anticipate and prepare for your supervisor's reaction. Be sure to focus on your feelings and thoughts about the situation without blaming your boss and people him or her on the defensive, making it less likely they'll be receptive to you comments.

4. Practice the conversation with a friend or family member. Role-playing the discussion will provide you with confidence before you meet with your boss, along with an opportunity to gain valuable feedback from your role-playing partner.

Now you're ready to schedule that difficult conversation.

5 Topics of Conversation to Avoid in the Workplace

If you work in the average workplace then you likely are friendly with your co-workers and find yourselves engaged in conversations on topics that have nothing to do with work. In some cases this is helpful and results in colleagues becoming friends.

However, sometimes you can spend time discussing topics that are divisive and have the opposite effect. Spend too much time on these topics and you might end up with an enemy or two at work.

Here are five topics you should consider avoiding in conversations with your co-workers on the job:

1. Politics. Of course, this is a big one and this year might be the most divisive election ever. Even something that might seem fairly innocuous, like a campaign bumper sticker posted in a cubicle, can lead to unpleasant conversations. It's best to leave political conversations at home and when you're with friends.

2. Religion. When you're working you are there to do a job, not convert someone to your religious views. Of course, if someone asks about your weekend it's fine to mention attending a religious service but it should end there, unless your colleague asks to discuss it further. In that case, you might suggest meeting up for lunch or after work. As tolerant as we might like to think we are, religious conversations can become contentious and are best left outside of the office.

3. Money. Speaking of religion, there is the Biblical observation that love of money is the root of all evil. Do not ask your colleagues how much money they make, what their salary is, or how much of a bonus they received ... and do not reveal this information about yourself. Talk of money in the workplace leads to envy and discontent. Do not go there.

4. Sex. No one in the workplace needs to know who you're sleeping with, when was the last time you had sex, or which colleague you'd most like to get with. And the workplace is not the place to be on the hunt for potential sexual partners. You are there to do a job, so do it.

5. Boss. The only person you should ever discuss your boss with is your boss, unless you are saying something positive about him or her. Never speak negatively about your boss to another colleague. If you must speak critically about your supervisor make sure it is in the constructive setting of an evaluation process. Otherwise, follow the maxim we learned as children: if you don't have anything positive to say, don't say anything at all.