Why You Should Hire a Career Coach
Sometimes You Just Need to SHUT UP!
Is it Time to Quit Your Job? – Quiz
We all have those moments when we want to quit our jobs. Some may be for large reasons, and some may be for smaller reasons. I created this quiz to filter through the reasons. What were your results? What will you do about it?
Download your FREE Career Development Guide to help you decide what to do after you quit your job.
If You Can Check off 4 out of 7 of these, You Probably Suffer from Career Complacency
“You Speak So Well” – Microaggressions in the Corporate World
MICROAGGRESSIONS
Let’s talk microaggressions. Merriam-Webster defines microaggressions as
a statement, action, or incident regarded as an instance of indirect, subtle, or unintentional discrimination against members of a marginalized group such as a racial or ethnic minority.
In short, a microaggression is someone verbalizing their unconscious racial, cultural, or sexist bias. Many times the person who is exhibiting the microaggression doesn’t even realize they’re doing it. I’m going to explain to you some examples of microaggressions in the workplace and how to deal with them when you’re faced with them.
Many people think “but I’m a minority, I can’t exhibit microaggressions.” Even as a black woman, during my research to write this blog I have realized that I too am guilty of some of these things. I will now be working to actively avoid it going forward.
I’m going to be honest. Most people don’t intend to be racist, sexist, or homophobic and probably don’t think they’re even capable of being able to be discriminatory or bias. This is where microaggressions come in. It’s the behavior that you or someone else exhibits that communicates a derogatory or hostile message to another person. These microaggressions stem from assumptions made about a person based on their race, ethnicity, sex, sexual orientation, or even age.
Microaggressions can create a negative and toxic workplace. A toxic workplace creates high turnover and bad working conditions.
Recognizing Microaggressions
If you have never thought about microaggressions, you may not know when you’re exhibiting the signs. Let’s go through a few of the themes/ways to spot microaggressions along with examples.
Microaggressions can affect any minority, this means regardless of if you are a minority race, gender, or sexual identity. You don’t have to deal with them though. You can talk to someone, report it to someone, or even stand up to it yourself.
How to Deal With It
Pause. Ask them to repeat or clarify what they meant, or even just take a moment to decide if you want to react or even respond at all.
Assumption. Don’t get defensive. You don’t want to get into an argument, that’s not the intent of dealing with the situation. You want this to be a situation of growth, not one of a hinderance. Where does their mindset come from? Can this be a learning situation? The message sent is not always the message received, and the intended meaning is often lost in translation.
Cut ‘Em Some Slack. Test your assumption. If you assume that they’re a jerk, test it. Maybe they are. Think about a time that you forgot to text someone back. They were probably pissed and thought that you were being a jerk, but in actuality you truly just forgot. This may be their case, it wasn’t an intentional thing on their part, but if they didn’t know they didn’t know BUT if it happens AFTER you told them….. don’t give slack again.
Explain. Tell them how their statement made you feel, hurt, or it impacted you. Start your sentence with: “This was likely not intentional but…”, “It may surprise you to hear this but….”, “You may not realize this but….”
Perspective. Don’t just tell them they’re wrong. They’ll automatically become defensive (don’t we all). You have to tell them. “That’s not alway’s right, I’ve experienced it as…”
You Can Make A Difference
Microaggressions have micro in the name, but there is nothing micro about them. They can make a great workplace a toxic one. Your words have power. It’s up to you to decide how you will use them.
Podcasts for Millennial Cubicle Warriors
We all have those days where we’re clicking non-stop in a cubicle. I spend those days working hard, headphones in, eyes glued to the screen. I want to share some of my go-to podcasts for the black corporate professional, also known as the millennial cubical warrior! They’re all led by black career-driven professionals at various points within their careers. Now let’s get down to business.
Trill MBA Show
A podcast produced and driven by a black woman who gives you an unfiltered look inside the corporate walls. She is honest, brutal, and loving all at the same time. Felicia tells it like it is and makes me feel like I’m in the room with a mentor giving me the business. One of her more recent episodes talked about knowing when it’s okay to ask for help. As black women, we often want to do it all, and there are times when we can’t and that’s okay.
Black Love Matters
Why would I have a podcast about black love on a career focused podcast? No, it’s not just because I’m a true blue sap at the core. It’s because Niram and Niambi give the goods when it comes to career advice! Niambi is a blackademic who works at a major company in Silicon Valley. They often give out top tier career advice whether it’s for corporate America, academia, or in the tech field. I highly recommend Black Love Matters for any of my fellow cubicle warriors.
Living Corporate
Having a group of friends from various industries give you all of the inside details is exactly what the Living Corporate podcast is like. Every episode is like a new day of water cooler talk. I find myself more enthralled in the topics, and learning things even I didn’t know. This most recent episode touched a heartstring with me when discussing balancing your passion with your 9-to-5, but it’s truly possible to have both. Living Corporate is a podcast for anyone looking to know what it’s like to be black in Corporate America from both a male and a female’s point of view.
Brown Ambition
Brown Ambition podcast is produced by the Tiffany Aliche and Mandi Woodruff. It’s is a perfect mix of career and financial advice. They discuss making it through salary negotiations, interview preparation, how to stand out when you’re the only brown face in the room, saving when you’re making less than $20,000 a year and more. BA is a great podcast for any corporate professional.
These are a few of my favorite professional podcasts, and they make my workday just a little bit easier. Share yours!
This Career Does Not Spark Joy. Throw it Away? – How to Marie Kondo Your Career
Does Your Career Spark Joy?
Many of us have all watched the latest Netflix sensation “Tidying Up with Marie Kondo.” It’s time you streamlined your career, cleaned up your cubicle, and got joy out of the place you spend 8 hours or more out of your day. I sat down as I watched it, and wondered “How can I encourage people to “KonMari” their career?”
The overall philosophy is clear: Don’t let the excess overwhelm you, get rid of what doesn’t make you happy, find a place for everything and simplify whenever possible. If you’re anything like me, a million and one thoughts are running through your mind and you have no idea what any of that sentence actually means.
Let’s break it down in a few different ways. At the foundation of the KonMari method, you have visualize, consider, and decide – without question, you have to decide where these things fit into your career. Be intentional about it, and when that happens, it is meant to be life-changing.
Visualize
Start by visualizing what a day at your job looks like. Assign times to these tasks. Where is most of your time going? Are you responding to emails for hours? Are you stressed out because your first 2 hours are spent responding to emails? Is the structure of your day making the rest of your day hard to get through? The more detailed the visualization of your day is, the easier it will be for your next steps to occur.
Does it Spark Joy?
Your job is made up of a lot of small jobs, as are most jobs. What parts of your visualization make you happy? What sparks joy about them? How can you incorporate parts of those tasks into the others? For example, I get really stressed about building presentation decks, however, I love writing the copy for them.
In order for the building portion of it to spark joy for me, I write my copy first and then build the deck. This allows for me to build around my copy. If you feel alive, focused, expert, or satisfied during one part of the job, consider that as joy-sparking. If that’s at the end, focus on that as you work on the beginning. Push yourself to get to the joy enabling portion.
What Do You Need?
The very first episode of the show, Kondo asks her client When’s the last time you wore it?” in regards to her husband’s favorite old shirt. This is a prioritization reminder that you can use in your own career.
TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF FIRST! Many company cultures focus on finger pointing, blaming someone else, anyone else. You can’t change your boss, you can’t change your coworkers, but you can change you.
What do you need in your career to be successful? Marie Kondo focuses on your needs for a clutter-free life, you have to focus on your needs for a clutter-free career.
Declutter Your Workspace
I don’t mean a bare space. My desk is full of sticky notes, pens, quotes, and notebooks. Everything needs a space, everything needs a container. A physically clean desk space ensures that you are free of visual distractions, and makes things easier to find. A decluttered space is a focused space.
Be Grateful for the Lessons
Your careers HAVE to have meetings, colleagues, and jobs that don’t spark joy but you still have to endure. Marie Kondo said the goal of tidying is to learn “to cherish everything that you have.”
You have to train yourself to say thank you that you do have a job and that you have things in your job that you are grateful for. You learn about yourself through the joy-filled tasks and the ones that don’t fill joy.
Be grateful for the lessons under the mad supervisor, and the bad. You should be grateful for the times you felt anger, guilt, and think back to the lessons that they taught you.
Marie Kondo Your Career
Keep in mind, you have more control over your own career happiness than you think. You might come to appreciate certain parts of your job you previously dismissed as boring or useless. Taking a step back to wonder what makes you happy and what doesn’t is an exercise worth doing. Organizational skills should be used in your professional life. Take stock of your career and tidy it up as best as you can.
Can You Pass This Job Interview Quiz?
Can You Pass This Job Interview?
You have walked into the room for your dream. I have introduced myself to you. You give me a firm handshake. Your phone is on silent (not vibrate). You are dressed in business professional (not casual) attire, and you are well prepared. Now let’s get down to business. Will you pass this job interview quiz?
How Did You Do?
Can You Tell Me About Yourself?
Your interviewer is not asking about your personal life. They don’t want to know when you were born or about your siblings. You should never give anything away that talks about your age when you are interviewing, and your interviewer is not allowed to ask. They want to know about your professional skills, your background, a little about what you want to do in the future. They want the details about your future, not just that you’re looking for the “next big thing.”
Where Do You See Yourself in Five Years?
Have a plan! The worst thing that you could tell an interviewer is that you don’t have a plan or that you haven’t thought about it. Sit down today and decide on a 3 year a plan. A mentor told me last week that I don’t have to have a specific role in mind because roles are ever changing, but know what type of work and what type of skills I want to have developed at that time. Those are the things you want to discuss in your interview to be successful.
What is Your Greatest Professional Achievement?
Put numbers to the achievement! Did you increase sales? By how much? Did you increase efficiency on your team? By how much and how often? Leaders LOVE numbers, make them love you.
What’s Your Greatest Weakness?
Please avoid the generic “perfectionist” answer. Give a true answer, but also give the solution in regards to what you’re doing to fix it. If public speaking is your weakness, sign up for a public speaking coaching session with me. In my most recent interview, my weakness was my lack of organization, but I have started using planners to get organized and have found that it works wonders. Make sure if you give a weakness, you ALWAYS give what you’re doing to remedy it.
What’s Your Dream Job?
When it comes to your dream job, don’t mention a specific company. Speak to your skills, speak to what you want to learn later. You want them to know you want to continue to grow.
If We Were to Contact Your Former Manager, How Would They Describe You?
Be honest, because they probably will call but also be detailed. Don’t give a one word answer, but it’s also time to boast on yourself!
Why Are You the Right Person for This Job?
You don’t need second chances? Are you sure? What happens when you mess you, you will mess up. That’s an arrogant response, and you should avoid arrogance at all costs. Be confident in your response, but not arrogant.
Did You Get The Job?
How’d you do? Did I hire you? What will you do better next time? Leave a comment and let’s discuss it!
Rory Gilmore – A Real World Shock for Millennials Everywhere
Did Rory Disappoint All of Us?
Many students believe that going to the best schools, and making the best grades means that upon graduation you will have that job you dreamed of, the spouse you wanted, and the life you sought after. When we left Rory in 2007, she was top of her class at Yale (even after taking a year off) and helping on former President Obama’s campaign trail. Rory was top of her class at Chilton Academy, and even had the extracurricular activities to back up her already stellar resume.
This is where the shock begins, when we meet Rory in Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life she is 32 and going from house to house (and even country to country). To say she doesn’t have a stable job would be putting it lightly. We are taught to believe that good grades and extracurricular activities will guarantee us a job. If Rory Gilmore can’t do it, and she is on the cusp of being a millennial and she did everything right… what does this mean for the rest of us? Can you FEEL the panic attack kicking in?
The writers leave us hanging on edge at the end… will her book be a success or is she a struggling writer AND a single mother? Yes, you read that right… THE Rory Gilmore, who had 3 amazing world wind romances is still single and pregnant. Well single is slightly an understatement considering she was dating Logan, the engaged millionaire.
Am I Rory? Are you Rory?
This 4-part series really made me think. As a Master’s Graduate, it makes me wonder what does it REALLY take to be successful post-graduation? Is it the grades? Is it the extra-curriculars? It it who you know? Rory Gilmore had all 3 of the above. Where can you slack? Where do you need to put in more time?
As my classmates walk across the stage a few years ago from undergraduate, a friend of mine looked at me and said “Everybody’s journey has been so different since 2011… but you know we made it here right? Isn’t that all that matters.”
Rory Gilmore is what we all WANTED to be. We just knew having the grades, the perfect guy, the perfect mom and the perfect friends would mean that our careers and futures would be set in stone. Nothing would have us deviate from the plans we mentally set in place. When A Year in The Life aired and Millennials geared up to watch with our smart phones and smart TVs and got a real world slap to the face…. how did they expect us to take it?! Fetal position and a bottle of moscoto?
Rory’s best friend made a statement to Rory that I think many millennials can benefit from “This adult stuff is hard you know?”
Do Things YOUR Way.
There’s no right or wrong way to do it. Everybody’s journey is going to be different, and we shouldn’t let unrealistic expectations be set. I’m not disappointed in some of the way that Rory’s life turned out because it shows that things don’t always turn out the way you expect once you graduate. Sometimes you won’t get the job, you won’t get the guy or girl, you will have to move back home, and you JUST might have everything fall apart before you can pick yourself up again.
Was post-graduate life what you expected it to be?