What Season Is Your Career In?

No time for summer yet, a photo by Paleontour on Flickr.

Last week, we drove my daughter back to college. And this week, as we ready our son for his last year of high school, I’ve been considering the seasons of my own life. No—I’m not obsessing over my inevitable empty nest. I’ve been thinking a lot about the seasons of my career.

It’s important to navigate wisely through the seasons of your career. Knowing when to prepare and when to research, knowing when to work your ass off and when to coast takes time.

Spring is the season when you launch.  You might be preparing to graduate from college. Or you might be returning to the workforce after raising your family or caring for an aging parent. This season requires more effort than any other. It begins with heaps of researching industries, job descriptions and salary surveys. This is the time when you learn to finesse a well-written resume and you hone your interview skills. It’s a time of trial and error. If you relax in this season, you’ll lose your stride and get left behind.

Summer: the season where you gain momentum.  After a steep learning curve, you land that starter job and breathe a sigh of relief. You feel like you’re home free. The leaves are green and there’s a sweet breeze in the air, but the summer of your career is not the time to coast. It’s the time for you to learn how to navigate the politics of your company—and all the while, work really hard at finding new clients, deliver compelling presentations and whatever else it takes to prove your value to your bosses. Yes—it’s tempting to step outside your cubicle and peer out that window. You might envy others who look like they’re enjoying their summer while your nose is to the grindstone. Save the weekends and Labor Day for sleeping late or trips to the shore.  You’re making an investment in your future.

Autumn might be the best time of your career.  You’ve been at the job for a few years. You’ve received promotions, or maybe you switched companies for a better salary and responsibilities. As you hit your stride, others now regard you as a subject matter expert in your field. This is probably the best window of opportunity to coast—because you’re comfortable with the contributions that you’ve made to your company. You’re probably less interested in climbing the corporate ladder at this point, and while you still work hard at what you do, there’s less of a need to prove yourself.

But consider that in the Autumn of your career, you’ll probably earn your highest salary. Take some time out to plan for the next ten to twenty years. Start contributing the max to your 401k, and think about ways to simplify your lifestyle in a few years. Imagine yourself becoming a consultant instead of a fulltime employee in the near future, or perhaps you’ll decide to work for yourself. You can afford to coast a little bit right now, but don’t get blind-sided by a company reduction in workforce. The most highly-paid employees are often the first on the list to go. Participate in revenue-generating projects to show that you’re indispensable. Don’t take your current position for granted.

What does the Winter of your career look like?  Twenty five years ago, this season included a farewell party and a nicely padded 401k and pension plan. These days—not so much. This season will look different for each of us. The scenario you want to avoid most of all is the one where you never saw the layoff coming.

When winter comes, it’s probably the only season of your career where you’ll be able to completely relax. Remain agile in the first three seasons of your career, so that you’ll be able to.

The Pros and Cons of Telecommuting

2:30PM, a photo by mccun934 on Flickr.

I’ve telecommuted for over fifteen years. Along the way I’ve learned how to quickly navigate through the logistical challenges of working four states away from my bosses. But the greater challenge of  remaining productive and staying visible in a matrixed organization took more time. 

Whether you’re the only telecommuter on your team or you are one of many, the sooner you learn how to ramp up for success the better.

Not hired yet? Set expectations about telecommuting expenses and hours when you negotiate your offer.  While you are in the interview stage, determine if your phone bill and internet will be set up by the company, or if the onus is on you. Are you responsible for the bill or can you expense it out on a monthly basis? Will they supply you with a laptop or Blackberry? Also, can you set your own hours or is the schedule more rigid?

The trouble with blackouts, crying toddlers and barking dogs.  Yes, all these interruptions can and will happen when you work remotely. Your intention should be to appear professional. You need to avoid bringing your household into the workplace at all costs. Make contingency plans for your German Shepherd and consider a landline to avoid cell phone drop offs. Try to avoid conference calls at three thirty when your kids walk through the door after school lets out. And get your electric company on speed dial if you’re prone to power outages.

Remote work is not a place to hide.  You may seek out a telecommuting arrangement because you live in a remote location, like me. Or you might be differently-abled, and working from home could be a Godsend. But telecommuting should never be a vehicle to avoid accountability for your work. If you’re the type that shies away from politics, remote work is not the answer. And if your intention is to do your laundry and care for an infirmed parent while you squeeze in your work on the side, please stop reading this post and reconsider if you should be employed at all.

Instead, find ways to stay visible.  When you work from home, you have an opportunity to be more productive than your office-bound coworkers. Without the long commute or constant water-cooler banter, you can spend your extra time returning emails or planning your day without interruption. You absolutely should attend  important meetings, get that mentor you always wanted, and speak regularly with your manager and coworkers each day. The key is to make sure you are a collaborator vs. a lone ranger.

Volunteer to lead a project or initiative (albeit virtually). Be the squeaky wheel during team meetings. Make yourself memorable, or you will  seem like a hologram instead of a viable and promotable member of the team.

Interviewing For Cultural Fit

Army Photography Contest - 2007 - FMWRC - Arts and Crafts - Eye of the Holder, a photo by familymwr on Flickr.

I spent the weekend visiting colleges with my son. All three institutions had an excellent curriculum;  four years at any of these schools would prepare him well for a career and a life. We concluded the only way to figure out which will be the best-matched school is for him to decide where he best fits in.

Companies have gotten smarter about interviewing for more than your skill set and the ability to do the job. They try to determine if you are a cultural fit for them as well. If they aren’t, they’d better be. Companies are notorious for making costly mistakes in this area, particularly when they are replacing someone at the executive level.

No matter what your career level, are you able to discern if the company culture will be a good fit for you?

Your first step in a job search is likely to look for roles at a competitor for an obvious fit. But sometimes that’s the worst choice you can make. Look beyond the job description. Arrive at the job interview about fifteen minutes early (no earlier!) and observe how the workers dress and interact with one another.  Do you see an open environment or a row of cubicles and offices?  Do you get a hushed sense of formality or sterility, or is the floor abuzz with conversation and collaboration?

You know the end of the interview where the interviewer asks if you have any questions? This is a golden opportunity to assess for cultural fit:

Questions like “How frequent are team meetings?” or “What is the chain of command if I come upon a problem I can’t solve myself?” will yield hints if the role requires that you be a lone ranger or a collaborator. The answers will indicate if the chain of command is matrixed, where everyone from your immediate supervisor to the director is expected to sign off on a decision, if you will be able to act alone, or something in between. One environment is not better than the other; it's your personal preference that matters.

When you research the company, determine if they are well-branded in the marketplace. If you are new to your profession, a well-branded company has its advantages. It will help you develop your expertise because the path has already been forged. But if you like the challenge of carving out new initiatives from scratch in a start up organization, you may be happier in a new or smaller company.

If you telecommute, are you the only one, or is this arrangement commonplace on your team?

Or, are you a New Yorker interviewing for a job with a talented team of Cheeseheads from Wisconsin? There might be bigger issues in store for you than your coworkers not getting Seinfeld humor. Regional differences can affect the workplace--your pace might be faster than theirs. Or they might congregate together at football games on weekends, networking with each other in ways that leave you out of the loop.

If you are the anomaly, it might be hard to get promoted on a team like that. However, if you are mid-career without a care about climbing the corporate ladder, it could be a Godsend.

Don’t assume that a larger, more matrixed company is not a fit for you. Large companies might have a longer chain of command and more process to get things done. But they are also a lot more sustainable in an uncertain economy, allow for more paid time off and usually offer formal annual reviews and annual raises. If there’s a layoff, a severance plan is usually in place. I probably had you at more sustainable.

The most frequent reasons why people leave jobs are because of a bad relationship with their boss, or because they found themselves in a bad cultural fit. Don’t rely on the company to determine this for you during the interview. Interviewing to make sure you will fit in, for the long haul, is always a two-way street.

Ask For More

Darts, a photo by Willow&Monk on Flickr.

We desire abundance in all areas of our lives, and wanting more in our careers is no exception. We contemplate more responsibility, more autonomy, and certainly more money.

But it’s been proven that having more doesn’t necessarily make us happier. That’s why we need to be sure of what we want—we need to be more selective about the parts of our careers that matter the most, and put our energy in getting it with a laser-like focus. But how do we ask for it?

Don’t undersell yourself when you deserve a bigger salary.  You might be so grateful to get a job offer that you forgot your value. If you’re accustomed to asking for less, you may not know how to break the habit. Women are often hard-wired this way.

Do your due diligence long before you get an offer. Talk to recruiters and hiring managers to learn the appropriate salary range for your job level. Rely less on online salary surveys that are often bloated to promote the website’s agenda. When an offer arrives, take a chance and ask for more salary. Remember that the hiring manager has already decided you are the one they want. If you ask for more salary professionally and politely, conveying your never-ending enthusiasm for the new job, all they can say is no. But they’ll still want to hire you.

Negotiate a better work-life balance.  There’s good news about asking for perks like working from home a few days a week or working a four-day work week. In a shaky economy, companies clamor for non-monetary ways to reward employees. Consolidating office real estate saves the company money and actually increases productivity.

If you’ve decided that this kind of arrangement is a good fit for you, make sure you frame your telecommuting proposal in a way that benefits your boss. Telling her how it will end your lousy commute, or help you care for an aging parent is the wrong approach. Instead, propose how well-suited your job is to telecommuting, enabling you to be more focused and productive.

Describe your home office setup and how easily you can slide into a work-from-home arrangement. Of course, this only makes sense if you’ve already proven (in past jobs or in your current one) that you’re most successful when you work independently.

Make the leap from individual contributor to managing others. It seems the natural progression, doesn’t it?  It’s the most frequent answer I get when I ask my job candidates what they visualize for the next step in their career. Adopting a top down perspective isn’t for those who prefer individual recognition for their work.

 But if you’re ready to make the leap, put yourself in the best light by showing that you understand the team’s top priorities. Ask for projects that challenge you to surpass everyone’s expectations. Give evidence that you see the “big picture” vs. your own personal success. Introduce yourself to managers and make contributions to other leaders beyond your immediate team. During your review, let managers know you have interest in a leadership role, and ask for the company support and mentorship you need to make the transition. Plant the idea so that you can avail yourself of any training the company offers in management skills. Look for projects where you can lead. Ask for a mentor. Develop an action plan that will accelerate you to the management seat.

Don’t be afraid to ask. It’s worth it, if it’s important enough to you.