how to lose a job offer in one day

Welcome back to the office everyone! Hope you had a wonderful weekend and that you're ready to take charge of the week ahead. I am excited to share a new guest post that I've written for CareerJunction today, thanks so much for everyone's great feedback on the previous post I wrote for them.

With Valentine's Day coming up, I thought it might be fun to approach interview advice from a different angle. It may take ten days to lose a guy (or girl for that matter), but one day is all it takes to lose a potential job offer - so let's have a look at a few pointers over here...

stunts that can harm your career

I love the idea that we can be the creators/architects of our careers. Gone are the days when you have to accept the first desk job that comes your way and stay with one company for 30+ years. There are no limits to how creative you can be with your career, and it's never been a better time to be your own boss or juggle multiple projects/roles. I love having a full-time job and combining it with free-lance projects and part-time studies.

But whether you work for yourself or for an actual boss, there are some things that can really harm your career and personal brand if you don't pay attention:

• A bad attitude: Weather you work in an office full of people or with clients you visit for consultation, people will be people, and if you leave your manners at home it will have a negative impact on whatever you do for a living. A client will often choose a provider they get along with above an arrogant one that does the job equally well.
• Missing deadlines: We all know the saying "under-promise and over-deliver". Promising your boss or client the world but not delivering on time will reflect very poorly on your sense of professionalism. An employee or consultant who does not keep to agreed timelines will most likely be perceived as unreliable.
• Not saying sorry: Just like respect and good manners, admitting your mistakes and being open to criticism will show your character and encourage people to trust you more. No one likes to work with someone who is too proud to admit that they are not perfect.
• Gossip: Even if some colleagues enjoy your gossiping at the office, it ultimately sends the message that you cannot be trusted with sensitive information. Your lunch-buddy who can't wait to get the next scoop from you will most definitely not trust you with his/her confidential information. Clients also need to feel confident that you will act in their best interest.
• Inconsistency: Any boss and any client will be frustrated if you perform inconsistently. Can they trust you with projects or not? Can you stick to timelines or not? Can you manage your personal life or will it constantly be interfering with your job? You don't want them to be asking these questions, so be sure to maintain some consistency in your performance, regardless of what kind of day you are having.

We are all human and it's impossible to behave perfectly professional every second of every day, but these are things that are within our control to a large extent. Working on these skills are just as important as knowing your job content and improving your performance if you want to be a rock-star employee.

What other stunts can you think of that can really your career?

how to know if you are the annoying co-worker

Welcome back after a very long weekend! We have a very fun and interesting topic to discuss this Monday. I had a few giggles while writing this one, because odds are that if you are in fact annoying others at work, you will most likely NOT be aware of it and not be interested in reading advice on the topic.

But for those of you who value their personal brands and the relationships you have with colleagues,  here are a few great posts I found to help you ensure you are not a source of frustration in the workplace:

• 10 Ways you are annoying your co-workers (HR People)
• Are you the annoying co-worker? (Career Builder)
• 5 Sings you are a bad co-workers (US News Money)
• Are you the annoying guy at work? (Ask A Manager)

Hoping you also had a smile on your face while reading these, even if you may have noticed a few annoying quirks of your own! Even the most pleasant person can have habits that annoy others, so here's to polishing your professional image and adding to the positive atmosphere at work!

dissing distractions at work

Raise your hand if you never get distracted at work!!?
For this week's performance pointers I collected a few links to help you stay focused and manage the distractions in your work place:

• Distracted? It's Time to Hit the Reset Button (By the New York Times)
• 9 Ways to Eliminate Distractions at Work (by Health-e Careers)
• Angry Birds and Productivity at Work: Why Distractions Can Help (by Ross Dawson)
• How to Avoid Getting Distracted From Your Goals (by PsyBlog)
• Avoid Distractions When Working From Home (by Classroom to Cubicle)
• Distraction Management: How to NOT Procrastinate or Get Distracted (by Noupe)

By the time you reach the end of this article you have probably been distracted by other links flashing on the pages I just shared ☺ but don't feel judged! As long as you can establish whether or not your distractions are affecting your productivity in a negative way, you have reached the outcome of this post: self-awareness.

Have a wonderful week at work!

over sharing at the office

To be an open book at work or not? To tell your colleague the details of your last medical procedure, your mother in-law's gambling problem or an inappropriate dream you keep having... What do you think, do these qualify as over sharing? Have a look at some more examples of things your colleagues probably don't want to hear from you:

Sharing a few details of your personal life (like the sports teams you love or your hobbies) is an essential part of building relationships with your colleagues. After all, we all find it easier to relate to someone with common interests or opinions. It's a great way to show that you are (also) human and that you are more than what your job title suggests.

Social media platforms are encouraging us to share every detail of our lives to the world. Are you doing the same at work? It might be a good idea to draw some kind of line for yourself to ensure you don't become known at the office for spilling too much (or inappropriate) information.

Let's have a look at some guidelines to keep your personal life (mostly) personal:

• Train your brain: Take some time to evaluate and train your impulse to over share. Identify if you may be doing it to be liked or to get attention at work. You CAN say no to that impulse and you WILL still be liked even if you don't share every detail about yourself. Give it a try!
• Friend vs colleague: Some colleagues are actually good friends so be sure to make this distinction before sharing. If John is my good friend and Joey is a pleasant colleague I get along with, it may be OK to tell John about an issue regarding my brother-in-law and Joey about how much I enjoyed the office year-end party.
• Getting the job done: Are the personal details you share with colleagues affecting productivity by either distracting them or influencing their impression of your abilities? I wouldn't want to disrupt the flow of work with my shocking stories, or for my boss to doubt my focus because I am constantly talking about my personal problems.
• Remember your personal brand: Ask anyone you know if they have an over-sharing colleague and see how quickly they identify him/her. Building a reputation at work for always sharing too much of your personal life may create the impression that you are unprofessional and this can actually hinder your career growth.

While showing your personality and interests is always a good idea, try thinking about ways in which you may be sharing too much at work. Have a look at these posts on the TMI (too much information) phenomenon and honesty vs. over-sharing - enjoy!

meeting-101

Many of us attend (or lead) meetings on a regular basis. Sometimes they run smoothly and other times things spin out of control into a clumsy mess. Here are some short tips to help you stay focused, professional and effective in meetings.

sure you want to talk office politics on facebook?

A reader asks:

Dear Wannabe|Employee,
Some of my colleagues at work are also my Facebook friends. I don't think this is an issue, but when they start talking office politics or complaining about their bosses in their posts I do feel that they are being inappropriate. Is it OK to talk shop on personal sites when you know colleagues can view your comments? Should I not be adding colleagues as friends at all?

Excellent question! There are various outlooks on this topic, so in stead of giving you a list of do's and dont's, here are some questions you can ask yourself:

• Do I really want to mix business with pleasure?: In order to avoid this ambiguity, I have decided to spare myself the confusion and separate the two. I add personal contacts on Facebook and professional contacts on LinkedIn. There is no rule against mixing the two, but separating my contact groups is the easiest way for me to avoid this dilemma in the first place.
• What is the message I'm sending?: Like I mentioned in a previous post, everything you do and say affects your personal brand either positively or negatively. If you are polite in the office, but everyone can see your accusing and rude comments online, do you think people view you as someone with integrity? You might be giving everyone the impression that you are just another average employee who enjoys complaining about their job, so why not use Facebook as yet another way of building your reputation and posting things that show your positive attitude and strong character?
• What if my friend becomes my manager?: The reality is that things can change at any time in your organisation, and your friend may end up being your boss. Do you think he will trust you with sensitive information if he knows you love online office gossip? Do you think he will recommend you for promotions? Any negative thing you say about your employer online becomes reason for him to doubt your loyalty to the company.
• Looking like a coward?: Let's face it, complaining about your boss or organisation online (behind their backs) instead of being part of the solution will send the message that you are someone who is quick to throw stones and not interested in taking positive action. It won't get you fired but it does show that you are not interested in making a difference or handling issues head-on.
• Should I just delete all my colleagues as Facebook friends?: I'm sure it will come across as being insensitive if you just delete them all, but letting them know that you're making an effort to move all your professional contacts from Facebook to LinkedIn may be received positively by some. If you have good friends at work you would like to keep as Facebook friends, have you considered adding them to a "colleagues" group that you can hide selected posts from? This means screening each comment or photo album before sharing, but if you're willing to spend the extra seconds each time you post, this might be your best alternative.

This is something we could talk about for hours. In the end something as casual as Facebook is a way of communicating your values. Regardless of who you share with, your comments will always influence the way people perceive you and the level to which they respect you, even in a personal capacity.

What are your thoughts on this? Check out some other related posts:

• Can you get fired because of something you post on Facebook?
• Work Etiquette: How to Handle Gossip and Negativity
• 6 People who were fired because of Facebook
• Office Etiquette: What You Should Know About Friendships at Work
• Ways to use Facebook for your job search

who are you calling average?

I was doing my daily reading when I came across a post discussing how to manage the average employee.
At first I thought "Wow, I hope I'm never referred to as average", and then I wondered if this post might actually help me to ensure that I'm never categorised in this way.

There have been days when I felt that average was good enough, but the more thought I put into my career planning, the more I realize that being excellent in my position is one of the best ways to advance my career.  High performance from my side translates into good annual reviews, good relationships with my seniors, being recommended for promotions and securing solid references for whenever I may need them in the future. On a more personal note, it provides great job satisfaction to know that my efforts are valuable to the company.

After reading this post on how to be a remarkable employee, I think that sticking to the basics are the way to go for me:

• Under-promise and over-deliver: Over-promising has gotten me in trouble a few times, so I have stopped "promoting" what I aim to do. People generally don't like when a product doesn't live up to the advertisement, so I try to apply this simple principle at work.
• Add value: Doing more than what is asked shows that you care and that your mission is to add value to the cause (as opposed to clocking up time in order to get paid). My manager always appreciates it when I deliver an outcome quicker or better than I needed to, and that recognition also motivates me to do it again the next time around.
• Be honest: In stead of covering it up or blame-shifting when you made an error, do you find it easy to just be honest and own up to it? I'm working on this because I realise that being honest about my mistake tells my employer that I can be trusted. Taking responsibility and finding alternatives to fix the problem also shows that I'm resilient and flexible.

These are pretty basic priciples but surprisingly hard to accomplish, so setting three basic goals (like these) are better than setting no goals and better than being considered "average". What kind of goals would you set to start distinguishing yourself?