High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: The Question Successful People Ask in a New Job

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!

• Successful People Ask This Question When Starting a New Job: "Successful people are less interested in learning what they are supposed to do in a new job than they are in learning what value they can create."

• Should You Work at a Startup?: "When there’s a smaller workforce, you’ll spend more time interacting with your colleagues. This can present unique and fulfilling learning opportunities."

• How to Identify the Skills that Energize You: "Don’t let fear keep you stuck doing only what you’re already good at, especially if it doesn’t give you energy."

• 13 Habits to Boost Your Success: "Setting goals and boundaries, both personally and professionally, is necessary to sustain the life you’ve worked so hard to achieve."
• How to Boost Personal Performance and Improve Your Business:"This triple threat of mental and physical boosters is the total package that entrepreneurs need to thrive."

5 Things to Do on Your First Day at a New Job

Congratulations, you got the job! Perhaps you’re filled with nervous excitement as you plan for your first day and imagine what it’ll be like in your new position. Perhaps your new employer has a formal new employee orientation or maybe you’ll just be thrown into it.

Regardless, there are some things you can do on your first day to set the tone for your new work experience and to ensure that you get off on the right foot.

In addition to planning what to wear on that first day, consider how you might fit the following into your first day plans.  

Get organized. There is no better time to figure out the best system of organization for your work style. By day two you might already find things to be a chaotic mess and struggle to catch up. Talk with your supervisor and co-workers about the methods they use to keep things organized and under control and begin to implement your own system immediately.

Eat lunch with others. Sure, you might need some time alone to catch your breath and refocus your energies but do that over a short break. Do not eat lunch by yourself. If no one invites you to join them, take the initiative and extend the invitation to your colleagues. You’ll feel more comfortable on the job the quicker you get to know the people you work closely with every day.

Familiarize yourself with the layout of the building. Take a few minutes to get the lay of the land. Some companies will take new employees on a tour of the workspace and even if you get this tour, take some time to wander around on your own. You’ll become more easily oriented when you look around at your own pace and stop to situate yourself. Even if you work in a small office you’ll want to know where the kitchenette and rest rooms are located. 

Meet the person in charge of technology. Regardless of our work, we usually end up needing to use some form of technology to get the job done. And our tech eventually breaks down or malfunctions. On your first day take some time to seek out the person you’ll need to contact in this situation. Understand the best way to contact him or her and how you submit a request for help.

Be friendly and curious. This should be obvious but might be difficult if you’re overcome with anxiety. Make an effort to smile, be friendly with those you meet, and be curious about the work. Everyone you come in contact with does something of value to your new company and your job will be more enjoyable if you understand what it is that they do and how it relates to your new position.

Enjoy that new job and congrats!

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 8 Things Not to Do In Your First Year at Work

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 Financial Diet recommends 8 things to avoid doing in your first year on the job, including not eating lunch at your desk. Check out the video for more.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 5 Signs it's Time to Quit Your Job

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 Signs it's Time to Quit Your Job:"The following exercises will help you shift your thinking so that your exit strategy can become a powerful experience rather than a slow motion trainwreck."

• The Simple Productivity-Boosting Method You're Probably Overlooking: "The National Safety Council has estimated that fatigued employees cost employers about $136 billion a year in lost productivity."

• Should You Take That New Job or the Promotion?: "Which of the two companies can give you better long-term opportunities in which you can make a difference? A difference maker is someone who can see the impact of his or her work on the organization."

• 5 Strategies for Enjoying Your Workday: "
  Your company might provide snacks, board games and holiday parties, but it doesn’t hurt to customize your workday for a happier you
  ."
• 4 Easy Ways to Recognize How Your Work is Meaningful: "these are all ways that your work – and the money you earn - is meaningful to you and your family."

Is it Time to Stay or Go?

The grass is always greener and sometimes the job seems shinier on the other side but are you really ready for a move?

There are legitimate reasons to consider a job change but sometimes we bolt at the wrong time and end up harming our career. How can we know when it’s time to go and when we should stick it out?

Factor in these considerations when you evaluate whether you’re ready for the greener pastures of a new job.

Room to grow. Does your current position or place of employment offer you opportunities to develop and move up, or have you hit the ceiling? If your career advancement has been hindered this could be a good time to look for something else. However, if your company offers plentiful areas to learn and to move up and around, you might want to stay put and take advantage of the opportunities.

Sometimes we’re simply unaware of what is available. If you trust your supervisor have a candid conversation about your career and how you’d like it to develop (or speak with a representative from the Human Resources department). You might just discover opportunities exist that you weren’t previously aware of. 

Support systems. Have you developed a positive and supportive network of colleagues, supervisors, and mentors within your organization? If so, this might be a company to settle in with and develop roots. On the other hand, you might also be able to talk honestly with trusted colleagues about other opportunities you’re interested in pursuing and seek out their advice.

If you find yourself alone and isolated in your job, with little support, it is unlikely you’ll thrive and feel that you’re making a valuable contribution to the company and enhancing your career. This could be a good time to look for a situation that provides a better match for your skills, interests, and needs as an employee.

Anger management. If you’ve been overlooked for a promotion at work it can be easy to feel unappreciated, respond angrily, and seek out another job. Seeking out another employer could be the proper response, particularly if your opportunities are limited.

But perhaps you weren’t ready for the promotion? Take a step back, away from the intense emotions, and evaluate your current situation. Perhaps there are some things you still need to learn or skills you need to develop before you’re ready to move up.

Respond to your interest in a career move by evaluating your current situation, opportunities, and support systems, and avoiding reacting hastily in anger or frustration.

Signs from Your Company That It's Time to Look for a New Job

If you work at a company or business, large or small, you might be getting some signals that its time to look for another job.

You don’t want to ignore these signs, or you might find yourself as part of the next round of layoffs.

Notice the following indicators in your company and it will be time to ready your resume and strongly consider moving on.

The company fails to meet its financial goals, loses money, or loses market share. When your company is not competitive in the marketplace over a period of time there will be difficult decisions to make. Often those hard decisions include a reduction in work force. No one wants to be on a sinking ship. This is a signifier that you should consider looking toward one of your competitors that is succeeding in your industry.

The company lays off staff and does not replace them. A company that reduces its staff frequently and does not replace them is likely in a difficult financial situation and is trying to save money. A company that is cutting costs and reducing staff is often a stressful place to work and the company may not be able to provide you with stable employment and clear ways to develop your career.

The company no longer provides you with an opportunity to advance. Perhaps you’ve hit the wall and there is no way to move forward in your company. This can happen in a small company with a boss that intends to remain long term or maybe you’re in an industry that prefers frequent turnover rather than offering opportunity for slow and steady promotion. If you want to move up in your company, develop new skills, and advance in your career you may need to consider a new employer to acquire the skills you desire.  

The company offers no training, nor does it provide support or funding for continued learning. When your employer does not value your knowledge and skills enough to invest in them with additional training you will need to consider a new position or watch your skills stagnate. Change is constant in business today and you need to have opportunities to continually upgrade your skills and knowledge.

When your company is sending you signals that its future is unclear you might want to take the time to update your resume and LinkedIn profile, deepen your network, and keep your eyes and ears open for another opportunity.

5 Indicators Your Workplace is Unhealthy for You

All companies and workplaces are not created equal. The great work environment you find in one might be entirely missing from a similar company in the same field. Or you might just discover that you and the company you're in are not a good match.

Below are five indicators that your current work situation is unhealthy for you and it could be best to look for an alternative situation.

Your company is no longer aligned to its values. If your company starts cutting corners, rejects excellence and settles for mediocrity, or makes every decision based on the bottom line it might have turned its back on its values in order to maximize profit. 

  

Your life is focused on work to the detriment of other aspects of your life. Are you staring at your work email during dinner with your family or working on that spreadsheet during your daughter’s dance recital? If so, work just might be intruding into your personal life causing unnecessary stress to you and your family.

You are unable to share your true opinions at work. When you attend meetings with your manager, your team, or company-wide, do you feel free to share your opinion, especially if it runs counter to conventional wisdom? If you find it difficult being honest with your colleagues and managers, it might be time to look for something new.

Decisions are made by many levels of decision-makers. In other words, nothing gets done because there are too many hands in the pot, too much bureaucracy, or too many layers of decision-makers. This is a great way to kill individual initiative in employees and destroy morale.

You begin to feel anxious about work on Sunday afternoon. Sunday afternoon and evening should be a time to begin to return your attention work and is a perfect time to consider your plans for the week ahead. But if you are filled with apprehension about heading to work the next day this common experience is giving you a clear message: you don’t like your job and it is time to consider something else.

These indicators can provide with you some clues about your current work environment and suggest whether it might be time to look elsewhere.

Daily Leap Career Video of the Week: 6 Warning Signs You Should Get a New Job

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.

In the video below from Chelsea Fagan from The Financial Diet, she discusses six warning signs that suggest you should get a new job, starting with feeling unmotivated to finish assignments. Watch the video for more.

Four Things to Do While You're Looking For a New Job

You’ve made the decision to look for a new job and are excited about the new challenges and opportunities ahead. However, before you get ahead of yourself you still need to think about your current situation.

Take care of business in your current position and you will set yourself up for more success when the next opportunity comes along.

Make it a priority to focus on the following four things while you’re looking for a new job.

Do great work. It can be easy to get distracted from your current responsibilities while you’re caught up in the effort to change jobs but it is important to stay focused on finishing strong at your current place of employment. Don’t change your strong work habits and commitment to doing great work simply because you are looking for a new job.

Get some recommendations. Now is a good time to ask your supervisor and even some colleagues to write a recommendation for you on LinkedIn. If you apply for a job through LinkedIn, these recommendations can assist a prospective employer in identifying the qualities and skills you can bring to a position.

Solidify your network. Reconnect with former coworkers and managers during your job search. Some of these connections might make good references, while others might offer job leads. However, don’t just contact former colleagues in order to gain some immediate benefit for you. Think about how you can be of service to them, as well, and also use this time to develop a plan to stay in regular contact with your former colleagues and soon-to-be former coworkers.

Start some good habits. Think about some new habits that would benefit your life and career and begin to implement them now. You might find it more difficult to do this once you’re faced with the demands of a new job. Do you need to get better sleep, or drink less coffee or alcohol, exercise regularly, or start a meditation practice? Make the effort to change your habits now and you’ll reap the benefits when you start your new job.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Always Be Ready for a Great New Job

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 to Always Be Ready for a Great New Job: "Stay in touch with the folks you will rely on to vouch for you when the time comes to change jobs. It's much easier to update a warm relationship than to try and jump start a cold one."

• How to Make Your Workplace Joyful: "I actually think it's easier to have an extraordinary workplace culture in a smaller organization, simply because you touch your people more. As the leader of the organization, you're in touch with your people that much more."

• 9 Things Successful People Never Do in the Morning: "Successful people never find themselves getting distracted by the television or decide to watch just one show. Instead, they dive right into the tasks they want to tackle for the day."

• 20 Secrets to Avoiding Burnout: "Go to bed an extra hour early or go to a movie. Do things you haven't had time for. Go for a run. It's about allowing yourself to focus on yourself outside of work."
• How to Help Millennials Overcome Failure: "Help them to view failure as a toll booth instead of a roadblock. With a tollbooth, a price must be paid to move forward."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 6 Ways to Prevent Work Burnout

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 Ways to Prevent Work Burnout: "The signs of burnout and stress can include aches and pains, feeling drowsy, lack of focus and difficulty sleeping, just to name a few. Taking care of yourself can help prevent burnout before it happens."

• 5 Tips for Using Your Time Wisely: "Don’t be so eager to please everybody else. Appreciate your own limits. You don’t have to fill up every second of the day; take time to appreciate what you’ve accomplished."

• 3 Essentials for Making a Big Splash at Your New Job: "There’s nothing better than a plan of action to keep you on track as new duties, pressures and requirements are getting thrown at you left and right."

• The Happiest Cities to Work in Right Now: "To gauge happiness, the survey covered topics like compensation, work environment and employees’ relationships with their managers."
• Make Learning a Lifelong Habit: "with all the disruptions in the modern economy, particularly technology, ongoing skill acquisition is critical to persistent professional relevance."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: Why You Should Consider Freelancing in 2017

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!

• Why You Should Consider Freelancing in 2017: "One of the best ways to start freelancing is while you have a job. Begin taking on projects that are not a conflict of interest with your current employer."

• 5 Steps to Personal Greatness: "Self-affirmation is a matter of choosing what we focus on. If others talked to us the way we sometimes talk to ourselves, we would avoid them. It can become easy to degrade ourselves, sometimes subliminally."

• 8 Paradoxical Habits of Wildly Successful People: "Successful people seem to have limitless energy when it comes to doing the things they’re passionate about, but they aren’t frantic. They can keep that energy under control."

• 5 Pitfalls to Avoid When Getting a New Job: "If an employer isn’t on the same page as their new hire regarding what they’re expecting of him or her, that will certainly cause a rift in the relationship."
• 9 Ways to Kick Off the New Year With a Bang: "The New Year offers an opportunity to reboot, reorganize, start over, and do the things you’ve been putting off way too long. Be patient with yourself. You have all year to accomplish your new goals."

4 Things to Do Once You've Been Promoted

So, you got the big news: all the hard work has paid off and you've been promoted to that job you've been coveting and working toward for months. Now what? This isn't a time to kick back and relax.

Take the following steps to continue your career momentum:

1. Celebrate and be grateful. Yes, you certainly deserve to celebrate your accomplishment. Enjoy that night out with friends and family and be grateful. And then be grateful every day. You'll want to remember the importance of being thankful on those days you question if you really all the responsibility of this new job.

2. Listen and Learn. Begin to listen to others you'll be working with and for. Hear their frustrations in the job, along with the things they enjoy and the processes that are going well. Begin to understand your role and how you can best support those around you, in addition to considering how to best apply your strengths and knowledge to the new position. Learn as much as you can from others and seek to serve those you work with, particularly those who report to you.

3. Find an ally. Often when a promotion occurs it means that at least one other person you'll work closely with was passed over for the job. These can be tricky situations and so it's important to find someone to discuss issues and concerns with. Find an ally and a mentor to help you move through the transition to your new role, especially in those early months when emotions are raw and everyone is still finding there way around the new structure.

4. Give yourself some slack. You'll make mistakes. That is a given. You'll need to learn how to quickly move on from your mistakes, own them responsibly, and learn from them. Learning from mistakes does not mean that you spend hours dwelling on them in an attempt to get things right. A good leader knows that you need to let your decisions go and move on.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: How to Make Your First 90 Days at a New Company Count

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 to Make Your First 90 Days at a New Company Count: "Regardless of your experience, title or level of authority, you have a lot to learn about your new role and organization. Tap into the wisdom of those who’ve been there for a while as well as those who may be somewhat new."

• Got 15 Spare Minutes? Here's How to Make it Count: "You can use small pockets of time to catch up on social media and scan emails, but your ultimate goal should be to help you, your client, or your team move forward."

• 10 Unmistakable Habits of Utterly Authentic People: "Authentic people, on the other hand, are accountable. They understand that they -- and no one else -- are responsible for their own lives, so there’s no point in complaining."

• To Succeed as a First-Time Leader, Relax: "Evidence-based mindfulness strategies, such as meditation and controlled breathing, can empower new managers to navigate challenges including delivering a critical presentation, running a contentious meeting, or making a high-stakes strategic decision."
• Ready for a New Job?: "Although it is more strategic to start with outlining your ideal position, the reality is we all invest an inordinate amount of energy into thinking about what we don't like."

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 4 Essential Career Tips for Millennials

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 Essential Career Tips for Millennials: "Traveling, especially to third world and developing countries will expose you to new cultures, new ways of living, and teach you more about yourself. Travel expands your personality, and gives you time to find a career path you’ll truly enjoy, more so than if you immediately took a job out of college."
• LinkedIns Top 3 Secrets to Getting Hired: "We’ve learned it’s not necessarily your best friend who’s going to help you land that next job. It's more likely to be your best friend’s former coworker, or even that coworker’s neighbor."
• 9 Bad Habits You Must Break to Be More Productive: "It takes you 15 consecutive minutes of focus before you can fully engage in a task. Once you do, you fall into a euphoric state of increased productivity called flow. Research shows that people in a flow state are five times more productive than they otherwise would be."
• 7 Things You Can Do to Build an Awesome Business Brand: "Brands that embody a deeper sense of purpose have a significant advantage over those that don’t — they have something to say and stand for, not just something to sell."
• 7 Ways to Persist When You Want to Give Up: "It can be easy to focus all your energy on reaching your ultimate goal. But if the only thing you can see is your end destination, you’ll miss the beauty of the journey along the way. The new experiences and welcome surprises provide much-needed fuel to keep going."

5 Tips to Kickstart a New Job (or give a boost to an old one)

Starting a new job is an exciting time, filled with anxiety and the thrill of moving on to something better in your career.

However, unless you start the job right and instill some good habits, you can easily come to feel dissatisfied about that shiny new position.

In order to prevent that try implementing these tips to get the new job off to a great start. Or they work just as well to make an old job feel new.

1. Arrive 5 minutes early. This allows you to take a few moments to prepare for the day, get focused, and bring your best to the day.

2. Bring a positive attitude. You can control your mood and the attitude you bring to your work. When you bring a positive attitude to the job others will want to work with you, be more inclined to your ideas, and you will enjoy your day more.

3. Be willing to learn. In any job there are new things to learn. Be proactive and learn as much as you can about the position and about the work your new company does. If you've been in a job for awhile learning something new can help reinvigorate you and help increase your enjoyment of your work.

4. Make friends. Developing positive and friendly relationships with your colleagues increasing your well-being and satisfaction on the job. You'll be more likely to enjoy your work if you enjoy the people you work with.

5. Serve with excellence. Changing your perspective on your work and viewing everything you do as an opportunity for service and a chance to do something with excellence will also impact your attitude, appreciation, and enjoyment of your work.

Practicing these five tips can give you a kickstart no matter how long you've been in a job.

5 Things to Consider Before You Take a New Job

Each person has some specific criteria they consider when looking for a new job, and sometimes we feel like we can't afford to be picky so we take the first thing that comes along. Bills are mounting or we've been turned down for other opportunities.

However, when possible, consider the following five things before taking a new job:

1. Advancement: Do you have opportunities to advance in this new position or will you quickly feel stuck? You might not want to take a job that will soon have you needing to look elsewhere.

2. Training. Does the new job provide opportunities for additional training or education? The world of work is changing rapidly and you'll want to be in a position that affords you the opportunities to keep up with the latest trends, technologies, and ideas.

3. Commute. Are you taking a job that will require you to drive for an hour or two, or can you take public transit to get there? You might reconsider taking a job that will require you to spend long hours in your car, not to mention spending large sums in gas.

4. Culture and values. What is the company culture like, and what does the company truly value? Are they committed to their employees and provide them with the tools and the culture to do the job well?

5. Leadership. Does the company have effective and approachable leadership? And does that leadership value input from its employees?

These are some of the questions you might want answered to your satisfaction before taking that next job.

High 5 Weekly Career Transitions Roundup: 50 Thoughts That Can Motivate You to do Anything

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!

• 50 Thoughts That Can Motivate You to do Anything: "You deserve a better life -- whether that means a better job, a healthier body or more money. Work for it."
• How to Change Your Eating Habits for a More Productive Year: "It's not that coffee, alcohol, and extreme exercise are the enemy, but if your body cannot survive for three days without caffeine, and you feel exhausted when you're at the gym, what you need is not to push yourself harder, but to give your body time to rest and recuperate."
• 3 Ways to Plan Your Professional Development for the Year: "If you’ve been at your company for a while and already have a robust network, you can look outside for your connecting goals: who else do you want to meet in your field, or in your local business community?"
• 4 Ways to Perfect Your Resume in the New Year: "Resumes without a specific purpose – or objective – do not fare as well as those that are targeted. Remember, it is the job seeker's responsibility to establish his worth if he wants to capture the attention of a busy and distracted hiring manager."
• 4 Ways to Stand Out When You're New: "Many newcomers don’t ask important questions of colleagues because they don’t want to bother busy people or make poor impressions. Recognize the minimal social risk in asking a dumb question."