Blog - Page 63 of 77 - Soft Skills

Office Politics – Should I leverage it to further my career?

by Lei Han

Early in my career, I have been burnt by office politics but not in the way you think. I didn’t feel burnt because someone else sabotaged my job. On the contrary, I concluded, I burnt myself because I didn’t understand or appreciate office politics and the importance of using it fairly and skillfully to protect and build my career advantage. ... read more

Mentoring Model – Mutual Mentorship or Paying it Forward?

by Lei Han

Yesterday, one of my friend sent me this article written by Steve Blank about Mentors, Teachers, and Coaches. I wanted to shared it with you to get your perspective. Steve makes great distinctions about the difference between mentors vs. teachers vs. coaches. I completely agree with this. He says

Teachers, coaches and mentors are each something different.

If you want to learn a specific subject find a teacher.

If you want to hone specific skills or reach an exact goal hire a coach.

If you want to get smarter and better over your career find someone who cares about you enough to be a mentor.

Work for Free – Who Should do it and Why?

by Lei Han

I came across this question on Quora – Should anyone work for free for good exposure and at what stage do you stop doing free, but awesome work?

1. Should anyone work for free? Yes, everyone should at least consider to work for free as an option. I think it’s important to realize that wasting time also costs money in the long run. As you alluded to, you could be paid doing mediocre stuff and not learning. In this case, you are losing time building experience and therefore you may not get promoted fast or get a better job with higher pay easily. On the other hand, you can work for free and in exchange get great experience on your resume, new skills, or even a chance to turn it into a good paid job. I think the right free work could very well be a great investment of your time. It’s like getting free education without paying for tuition.

2. At what stage do you stop doing free but awesome work? It’s important to set up an agreement up front before you start to work for free as to when and under what condition you will stop working for free. This way you can set expectations up front. For example, I know job seekers who have offered to work for free for start-ups to gain experience and both parties know they will stop either when they find a job or when that start-up got enough funding to pay them. For more examples, see my other article Radical Ways to Find a Job

At the end of the day, whether to work for free is an individual decision. You have to consider three factors before doing it.

A) available time – if you are looking for work but it’s taking awhile, it’s a good time to consider working for free to get experience. Or if you work a 9 to 5 job and has energy to work some more on top of that

B) financial situation – if you have a job already, can you afford to work for free instead? If not, then do it on the side first.

C) type of free work opportunity – most importantly, only work for free for the right situation – one that can teach you new skills, great experience on your resume, good brand name company, provide more connections, or can lead to a job.

Who Do You Model Yourself After?

by Lei Han

I model myself after many people. This is because even the best role models will disappoint in one area or another and in fact I think it’s expecting too much when you model only after one person.

Instead, I think it’s important to have a board of advisors – chosing 5 to 8 people that can be your mentor or role model for different aspects of what your want to develop. For example ,

For work life balance, I always think of the HP client I had 8 years ago, who showed me how to work effectively without over perfecting. She manages to get out of work by 6:30 and be the SVP of marketing.

For entrepreneurship, I think of two entrepreneurs I know who have shared their trials and tribulations and teaches me something new every time I interact with them. One has similiar business experience as me but ahead of me in career. I am learning a great deal from him about how to apply corporate experience to entrepreneurship and how to overcome fear of failure. Another has totally different background than me. He is a serial entrepreneur and I really admire his vision, perseverance, and ability to think completely outside the box.

How to Answer – What is Your Salary Requirement?

by Lei Han

The “what is your salary requirement” question is always a tricky and awkward one to answer. The best way is to avoid answering it tactfully for as long as possible. I recommend the following strategies in address the salary requirement question.

Try your best to not provide any numbers – because you want to avoid either being too high or underselling yourself. Most recruiter friends always tell me “don’t be the first to draw blood”
Re-focus the discussion on how the company reward above average performers, whether this company is the best fit, etc…This signals to the company that you believe you will be a top performer and that you can more about this role than just compensation
Re-direct the question back to find out what the salary range is for this position? Therefore, making them show their cards first. This is always a great way to deflect this question as well as find out if what they had in mind fits within what you expected. If it does, you can respond vaguely and say “let’s focus on whether I am a good fit first and then hopefully we can talk about the right compensation based on my experience and skillsets”
Tell them you are excited about the company – this subtly negotiates on your behalf, and if the company likes you and they don’t know your salary requirement, they may make you a salary offer on the higher end to make sure they can secure a positive response from you.

Here are some examples of salary requirement answers that have worked for me or my clients.

“Salary is only part of the picture. My number priority is finding the best fit for my career. I am very excited about this opportunity. I think I can be a valuable addition to this company. What is the salary range that the company is looking at for this position?”

“San Francisco is an expensive city to live in so starting salary is important, but what is also important to me is how this company rewards high performers. What is the bonus structure? How will compensation progress in a year or two?”

If pressed to provide a number, then try this “I hate to overshoot and be disqualified for this position, but if you need to know then the minimum I would accept for an ideal position is … ”

Self Promotion Ideas

by Lei Han

In a previous post I wrote "Hard Work Does Not Guarantee Success." I still believe it but it begs the question - Then what else do you need to do to guarantee success? One answer that many people would agree with is - self promotion - make sure important people (like your boss and their boss) know what a top performer you are. That's easier said then done. How to finesse self-promotion without coming off too boastful or self-centered is tricky.

Career Change Advice – 5 Aspects to Consider

by Lei Han

A career change is a major step and can often involve a step-back in pay, willingness to take a lower position, investment in more schooling, and re-positioning your skills sets. A career change also requires significant effort in job search, so make sure you are changing your career for the right reasons and have the correct expectations about what it takes to make it happen and what you may have to sacrifice. Consider the following five aspects carefully before you decide to make a career change.

Why do you want a career change? Be careful of doing this because “the grass looks greener” syndrome. See my post on “Bright shiny object” for details. If you are doing this to “escape” your current job or career, then it isn’t a good reason. You may just want to find a new job in your current career. A good reason for a career change includes passion for the new career AND having most of the skill sets to pursue it. Be honest with yourself.

What do you want out of a career at this point in your life? Are you doing what you love? Do you know what you love to do as a career and why? See my post on First Step to Achieve Your Dreams for more help on this. If you don’t know your fundamental career aspirations, it’s hard to think clearly about whether to switch career or not. Once you know what you want, assess how does your current career stack up? How does the new career stack up to what you want?

Do informational interviews with folks who have the new career you may want. Get the good, bad, and the ugly, so you know what you are getting into. If you only get the good, interview more people until you get the balanced view. You don’t want to make all the efforts of switching and then be shocked by what you didn’t know about the new career.

Decide what you are willing to do to get into the new career. Do you need and can you afford more schooling? Are you okay to start at a lower position or pay in the new career? It’s tough to get into a new career, be sure you are ready for the effort it takes.

Discuss with 3 people you respect about your potential career change – find a person who knows you personally well (best friend but not your parents), find a person from the professional world that you respect (a mentor), find someone who doesn’t know you well, but could give you an objective assessment and ask you tough questions.