My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “Negotiation 101.” In it, I encourage you to begin to negotiate your job offers.
Negotiation is one of my favorite topics. You negotiate things every day – from which movie to watch to what to eat for dinner. At work, your ability to negotiate can hit close to your wallet.
I learned the importance of negotiation at 19. I was given the opportunity to spend the summer working as an engineer for General Motors in an automotive assembly plant. It required me to relocate over 1,500 miles, so I hoped the company would pay to move me cross country.
Unfortunately, they didn’t – because I didn’t negotiate.
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “Relationship Building Blocks.” In it, I focus on the importance of networking and relationship building to your job search.
When you’re working to turn over a new leaf in your career, you start with the basics: an updated resume, a catchy cover letter, new business cards and a fresh LinkedIn profile. These pieces are requirements of your search, but they’re not where the important work happens. The foundation of a long-term career is built on networking.
Alan Collins, author of “Unwritten HR Rules” once said, “Pulling a good network together takes effort, sincerity and time.”
To read my entire article, and learn about how to grow your network and improve your likelihood of getting hired, visit the Memphis Daily News site here.
In my recent Memphis Daily News article, “The Grey Ceiling: Beating Ageism,” I wrote about how to avoid being discriminated against during your job search. This is a very important topic for many who find themselves searching for work as they age.
A reader wrote in with one of her concerns. Below, I will share my answer to her question, and additional suggestions.
If you ever have a question that I can help you to address about your job search, or an article topic that you’d like me to cover, please contact me here. I’d love to help!
QUESTION:
Dear Angela,
What should one do about the graduation years on Linked In? I completely understand your advice about working to look as youthful and technologically savvy as possible. And since employers are forbidden to actually ask your age, your advice to control signals so that the interviewer does not guess your age sounds good at first blush. But what about LinkedIn? Birth years on Facebook can be concealed, but if you try to obscure graduation dates on Facebook or LinkedIn, then your actual classmates are confused. Also, if you don’t put graduation dates on LinkedIn, you look as if you are hiding. Suggestions? I know that you are technologically sophisticated, so maybe you have suggestions.
Thanks for your consideration,
Memphis Mary
ANSWER:
Dear Memphis Mary,
Thanks for your e-mail! It’s great to hear from you! I appreciate you taking the time to send me your question.
If you’re concerned about your age impacting your job search, my recommendation is to remove it from all social media, including LinkedIn and Facebook. This means that you should consider leaving off your birth year on your birthday, and your graduation year on your education.
I can understand your concern about confusing others, but after changing my own profiles a few years ago, I found that nobody noticed the difference. By now, I’m fairly well connected to my school contacts on LinkedIn and Facebook, so it’s unlikely I will miss a new connection due to not having the year included.
In addition, many people remove their graduation years from LinkedIn, so I don’t believe an employer would assume you were hiding something. Try looking up a few of the top executives at your current or past jobs, and you may find that at least 50% of the time, they’ve omitted their years as well.
You might try removing the years for a month and see if anyone asks you about it. My guess is that nobody will notice, and future employers will no longer have access to the information.
My thought is that as long as you focus on keeping your birth year off the major sites (like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter), you will be covered.
I hope this helps!
Sincerely,
Angela
* Note: The reader’s name has been changed to protect their privacy.
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “Unconventional Career Advice.” In it, I give tips on trying something a little different in your job search – to hopefully help you to avoid burnout.
Conventional wisdom seems to indicate that the steps to finding a new job are writing a resume, and then applying to job postings online. Soon after, every company will contact you for an interview and after one meeting, you’ll get a great offer and start just a few weeks later. Months after trying this method, jobseekers feel frustrated and confused.
To avoid this job search burnout, try something a little different. First, start out by doing more than looking for the quick fix. Establish relationships within companies you’re interested in – whether or not they have an open position today. This boils down to expanding your network, so when a position does come open down the road, the company will already know you. They may even approach you with a job opportunity before you hear about it.
My latest Memphis Daily News column is out, “The Grey Ceiling: Beating Ageism.” In it, I give tips on looking for a job if you’re feeling worried about how your age may impact your search.
The unfortunate truth of today’s job searching climate is that applying for jobs is competitive – very competitive. Employers can be picky about who they hire and how much they’re willing to pay. For many job seekers over 50, the search process is a longer, harder road than they remember from years past.
Many companies view an older employee as a big risk. They’re typically more expensive, and more likely to quit since they’re creeping up on retirement. An older applicant may be looked at as less flexible, and behind the times when it comes to technology.
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