To Make Waves In This Tough Job Market, You Need A Tough Resume!

According to a report published by the U.S. Department of Labor last month, the total number of private sector job openings has been steadily increasing since this number reached its lowest point in July 2009.  Now...this is definitely something to celebrate, especially given the financially tumultuous years that the U.S. has just fought its way through.

Now, here’s the rub…

The job opening-per-job seeker ratio is also the highest it’s ever been.  At the very beginning of the recession…in other words, before the stock market crashed in September 2008, there were 1.8 unemployed persons per job opening.  By the time the recession “ended” in June of 2009 there were 6.2 unemployed persons per job opening.  The most current data shows that today there are 5.1 unemployed job seekers per job opening. 

Hold on…it’s a little worse.

This number just divides the total number of unemployed job seekers by the total number of job openings reported nationally.  The number doesn’t factor in the total number of job applicants seeking any one position, for example the total number of employed in addition to the total number of those that are unemployed.  It also doesn’t factor that job seekers apply for multiple open positions.

Communicating Outside Of Your Comfort Zone

If you’re at all like me, sometimes you’re just more comfortable being in your own world; with familiar faces and familiar conversations.  And, that’s perfectly natural.  I think most of us prefer seeing familiar faces over those of people we barely know, and engaging in conversations that are about topics we can relate to.  We prefer to feel at home instead of a like a foreigner or outsider.  Why - because we’re more comfortable with those familiar faces; sharing our thoughts, ideas, and who we are with people we know and relate to.
 
Many of us probably walk by the same cubicles and offices every day...and barely know anything about the person occupying them, because they have nothing to do with the position we hold or our day-to-day work.  We communicate with teammates about projects we’re working on.  We discuss task issues with co-workers.  And, we engage those who have the same type of job we have or a similar background.  We naturally gravitate to similarity; to common ground.  We naturally gravitate to what's familiar; to what's comfortable.  And, there’s nothing wrong with staying in your comfort zone - but consider this...

How do we create opportunities if we never leave our comfort zone? How do we establish new relationships; how do we learn about different departments or business areas within our company; how do we get to know new people; how do we gain understanding or build cooperation if we never make efforts to engage those outside of our world.  The answer very simply is, you don’t.

Managing Competing Messages

I was recently asked for some helpful advice when it comes to successfully navigating the often precarious and frustrating waters of working under multiple managers.  Having more than one boss can make work, well...interesting sometimes.

People can be as different as night and day, at the office and in our personal lives.  All managers don’t manage the same way.  Different leaders have different leadership styles.  This isn’t a bad thing.  After all, different styles of leadership and management enrich the corporate culture.

Where things can get tricky, is when you receive conflicting or mixed messages from your leadership.  For example, one manager may perceive a particular project, goal, or customer to be priority over another.  This point of view however, may be a complete 180 from the direction you were given by another manager.

Receiving conflicting messages from multiple managers can have an adverse impact on you doing your job effectively.  It’s kind of like what happens to a car when its wheels are out of alignment.  Instead of traveling straight, the car may pull to the right side or the left.  

So - what can you do to ensure that you’re able to do your job effectively when competing messages are being communicated by management?

Conflict Can Be An Opportunity For Growth

One of the most overlooked opportunities for positive change is conflict.  We miss the great things about conflict because for one...it has a pretty bad wrap.  And let’s face it, there are all kinds of negative connotations for it.  Words like -  “confrontation"; “clash”; “disruption”; “struggle”; “strife”; “combat”; “fray”.  None of those words really paint the picture that you’re having a good day, right?  

Countless books have been written about how to prevent conflict; about how to manage it; about what steps to take to resolve conflict when it does occur.  And all of these things are very important, but there’s much more to conflict than what’s on the surface; than simply addressing what happened. Consider this..

Conflict has the potential to facilitate much needed change and fundamental growth because the very presence of conflict let’s us know that something isn’t as it should be; it let’s us know where changes and improvements need to be made...improvements that are probably long overdue.  And if we’re being honest, most of us don’t pay attention to underlying issues or problems until they make their way to the surface...until they have a direct impact on something.  And when issues make their way to the surface, we’re forced to do something about it.

Feedback; It's Worth More Than You Think

So, most of us have probably worked on a major project or been responsible for producing an important deliverable.  We go to a meeting, we’re told how important the project is, we’re given a deadline, everybody’s excited, and away we go to get the task done.  Then...time passes, the deadline arrives, you submit your deliverable, and wait to get feedback from stakeholders.  In fact, some of you reading this are probably waiting for feedback on a project right now.

I think it’s safe to say that when we don’t receive feedback, it can be pretty frustrating.  After all, we’re striving to exceed expectations and build upon past experiences, right?  We’re constantly working to increase our value and improve our performance.  This would pretty be difficult to accomplish without hearing directly from the stakeholders we impact.  

Feedback is one of the most vital pieces of input that we receive, because it facilitates improvement. Nevertheless - as much as we desire feedback from others because we recognize the value it contains, it’s also true that many of us don’t take the time to provide it ourselves.