Should I Interview While Pregnant?

Should I interview while pregnant?  The answer is Yes, absolutely.   I am learning this first hand as I am 6 months pregnant with my second child and currently in between consulting contracts.  You may say, no one will hire me while I am pregnant, so why bother.   I had the same perspective at first but am finding real benefits in looking for a job while pregnant. ...  read more

Are You Overworking? 4 Tips on How to Stop

If you are overworking, you are not alone.  Here are some statistics on how hard Americans work today (see detailed infographics at the end of this post):

  • Over 75% of Americans work more than 40 hours a week, and about 10 million Americans work more than 60 hours a week.
  • 10% of worker take work home every other day, and 24% of workers think about work at home or at social events.
  • 1 in 3 American adults don’t take their vacation days.

Being overworked comes at a price to the employee and the company they work for – increased chances of disease, less time with family, disturbed sleep, more stress, and less productivity. ...  read more

7 Steps to Effective Interpersonal Communication

improve interpersonal communication

Anyone can master interpersonal communication.  There are few people who are naturally good at it. For most people, it takes conscious effort and practice to master this skill. Here are 7 steps to achieve effective interpersonal communication at work — today!

  1. Start with self awareness – Do you know how well you communicate right now? What works and what doesn’t? If you don’t know, gather feedback so you can know your strengths and weaknesses. Use the rest of this list to help with your self-assessment.
  2. Always keep the other person in mind–  For any instance of interpersonal communication, plan out your approach ahead of time. Start with the other person in mind — Try your best to put yourself in their shoes and figure out what might be their mindset, sensitivities, and how they may receive your words. Effective interpersonal communication can only happen if you understand where the other person may stand.
  3. Determine your desired “win-win” outcome:  The outcome of any conversation must be a “win-win,” as not all outcomes you desire are good for the relationship. For example, you may want to prove that you are right, but that would mean the other person needs to be proven wrong. You may win the argument, but lose the relationship. That’s not a good outcome.
  4. Gather the facts:  While facts can’t be the only focus of your conversation, you need the facts to keep the discussion as unbiased as possible. It’s hard to resolve anything if all you have is “he said she said.”
  5. Practice a calm approach/tone:  This will require the most time, especially if you are emotional about the situation. You need to calm down first, and then communicate with an open tone. This requires time, since our instinctive reaction is to take a defensive or offensive tone. An open tone can be one that gives the benefit of the doubt, or focuses on “we” instead of “you vs. me.” Your openness and calmness will invite the other people to listen, and your tone will show that you are there to build the relationship.
  6. Listen as much as you speak:  Effective interpersonal communication is a two way street.  You should spend 50% of the conversation listening. We are sometimes prepared so much that all we focus on is talking. You can lose the listener quickly that way. Pause after a few sentences so the other party can respond. That way you can adapt your communication based on how they react. Sometimes it takes fewer words than you think to achieve the “win-win” outcome.
  7. Don’t expect anything: We cannot control or change anyone else. This is an easy concept that is easy to forget. After all this work we put into structuring an interpersonal communication, there is no guarantee about how the other person will react. Everyone is responsible for their own actions. All you can do is play your part the best you can, accept whatever you get, and adapt your actions from there.
At the end of the day, the key to effective interpersonal communication comes down to practice. We interact with people every day. Some interactions can go well, while others may not. That’s part of the process. As long as you put conscious effort into improving, you will become effective at interpersonal communication over time. For more on this topic, and how to improve your communication skills at work, sign up for my Career Success Newsletter – How to Succeed Like an Executive, where you’ll find insights not published on this blog to accelerate your success. Email Address

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How to Network – Party More

I am not joking. I will prove it to you why “partying more” will help you with networking.  I went to a Deloitte Consulting alumni event last week and had a blast. I met up with so many old friends, had fun, and discussed quite a bit of business at the same time.

I worked for Deloitte for 10 years but still was pleasantly surprised to see I knew half of the alumni at the event. Some are now Senior Managers and Partners at Deloitte and others are senior executives or successful owners of their own business.  The funny thing was as I was talking to people and recounting old times, I realized I never worked with 95% of the people I knew.  Instead we discussed the good old days of lavish consulting retreats, late night illegal golf cart rides, and dancing up a storm at the annual Christmas parties. ...  read more

What is Interpersonal Communication – Definition and 3 Myths

Effective interpersonal communication at work is essential to your career success. Yet it’s often not clearly understood nor easy to improve. After researching on Google regarding how others discuss interpersonal communication, I will offer my own perspective – a detailed definition of what is interpersonal communication and 3 most common myths about interpersonal communication. ...  read more

Recently Launched – 3 New Features + Free Coaching Idea

Thank you for your continuing interest and support.  I am excited that over 5000 unique visitors from 100+ countries have checked out this blog in the last 30 days.  Please pass this blog along to anyone that may find it helpful.  I am pleased to announce 3 new features to further help you use this site and my knowledge. ...  read more

Job Application Email – 4 Tips to Stand out

Sending a job application email can be tricky.  Recruiters and hiring managers receive hundreds of emails a day.  How can you stand out in your email?   Here are four tips you can use to attract the right attention to your job application email.

  1. Meaningful Subject Line – If the subject line reads “Position Title + Years of Experience + Industry Experience + Education”, the receiver may be more interested in opening and reading it especially if it’s impressive. For Example “Application for Product Manager + 10 year of experience + Stanford EE, Wharton MBA.”  Focus on 6 -10 words that highlights your best qualifications.  This kind of subject line will attract attention and encourage the email receiver to open your job application email as soon as possible.
  2. Warm Referral – The best opening line in an email would be “persona X recommended that I contact you regarding this position.” This mean the receiver knows person X and that person is implicitly endorsing you for this position. So before you send in a job application email, see if you can find a warm connection to that company or hiring manager. A warm introduction is still the best way to apply to a job
  3. List 4 to 5 bullets why you are a good candidate – In the email, don’t just say I am applying to position X and attached is my resume. Summarize why they should care and get a jump on looking at your attached resume. It’s a like a shorten version of a cover letter (no need to also attach a cover letter).  The best way is to use bullets as people can read it faster and keep it short (1-2 sentences each) describing why you think you are a great fit for this job.  Look at the job description and use their terminology or synonyms to cover all the areas where you have experience.
  4. Call to follow up – email is not always reliable.  You could end up in the spam folder or overlooked just because the receiver is swamped.  If you don’t hear anything in a week, call to follow up to see the status of your job application.

If you do these 4 things for your job application email, at least you know you did everything you can to stand out. The rest is up to circumstance and timing. For more job search tips, see my other 60+ articles on job search.  I have articles for how to find job, how to write a resume, interview tips, networking tips, and salary negotiations. Best wishes on your job search.  I am always in your corner. ...  read more