Can I Wear My Nose Ring to the Interview?: A Crash Course in Finding, Landing, and Keeping Your First Real Job (50 page)

A warning: If you’re asked to sign a written record of your review, never do so on the spot. Ask for time to look things over at home. Do
not
sign a negative review, particularly if you feel it’s inaccurate or incomplete—you may be signing documentation in preparation for your eventual dismissal, and your signature could revoke your right to unemployment or other compensation.

If you’re taken aback by a seemingly negative review, check in with a trusted colleague. Some supervisors are notoriously harsh reviewers, so it may not be as bad as you think. Follow up on any criticism or suggestions you receive. In the months after your review, periodically refer back to the notes you took. If you agreed to make certain changes or pursue certain goals, make a concerted effort to do so. Your next raise, bonus, or promotion may be contingent on the progress you make.

You’ll have reviews throughout your career, generally once a year, but your first review will probably occur within three to six months after your start date.

Many people, young and old, are under the mistaken impression that raises and title changes are automatic—show up every day, do a decent job, and you will be promoted with a salary increase, year after year. But that’s not the way it works. In most industries, it takes a lot more.

So how do people get ahead in their jobs? There’s no easy answer. It all depends on the industry, the job, the situation, the timing, the person, the financial climate, and many other factors.

The first step to getting ahead is figuring out what it’s going to take. What’s the general advancement structure in the industry, if there is one? It’s possible that you can’t be considered for a promotion until a certain amount of time goes by. Do you need to achieve a specific milestone, such as bringing in a client of your own or making a sale? Sometimes people are promoted when they outgrow their jobs—they’ve essentially started doing the work of a higher-up. (That’s why it pays to be proactive and take on new responsibilities.)

Once in a while you’ll hear a story about a boss pulling someone aside and saying, “We’re so pleased with your work that we’ve decided to promote you and give you a raise. Congratulations.” But more often you hear stories in which employees didn’t get raises or promotions unless they asked for them—there’s actually research that says people who ask for raises regularly end up making much more money in the long run. Every situation is different. Some bosses will reward employees when the time is right; others may need prodding.

So how do you go about asking? Here’s what you don’t want to do: Walk into your boss’s office unannounced and say, “I think I deserve a raise.”

As in a job negotiation, you need to be able to speak concretely and confidently about why the work you have done and the work you can do merits the promotion and pay raise you’re suggesting. Be concrete:
“The work I’m doing now and will be doing looks close to what Sarah is doing as a junior manager. I’d like to know what other duties I might take on to warrant that title and that salary.”
Or,
“I understand the general raise is a four-percent cost-of-living increase; based on my successful efforts to recruit new clients, restructure the accounting system, and cut costs, I’d like to ask for five percent.”
Before you ask, though, check yourself. Do you really deserve a raise? Beware of asking before an appropriate amount of time has passed or before you’ve proven yourself; you don’t want to be perceived as an opportunistic upstart or a blatant self-promoter.

If you
are
offered a raise, find out when it will take effect and check your paycheck or direct-deposit statement to make sure the increase has gone through. (There may not have been proper communication between your boss and HR or Accounting.)

(WHETHER IT’S YOUR CHOICE OR THEIRS)

Iknow what you’re thinking. “I’m looking for a job! I don’t even
have
a job, and you want to talk about moving on?” While it may seem as though I’m putting the cart before the horse, moving on from jobs is part of professional life. People outgrow their positions or find great opportunities in other fields or companies. People get fired or laid off—I hope it doesn’t happen to you, but if it does, better to be prepared than panicked.

In the best-case scenario, you’ll have a positive experience at your first job—and yet you
will
eventually outgrow it. You’ll master the daily routines, you’ll know the personalities and how to handle them. You’ll no longer feel like the new kid on the block. New people will be coming to
you
to learn the ropes. Ideally, you’ll be promoted just when you start to feel stuck. But if a change isn’t forthcoming, it might be time to explore something else.

What if things just don’t work out at all? After all the hard work you’re putting into
finding
a job, it’s tough to swallow the notion that
your dream job can turn into a nightmare. Though you should approach your new position expecting the best, things happen: Personalities or working styles clash. The job isn’t what you’d envisioned. The work you thought you’d love just doesn’t do it for you. You feel you’re being treated unfairly. The department is being restructured. The company is going under. After careful consideration and a reasonable amount of time, you might need to move on.

In the worst-case (but ultimately not disastrous) situation, leaving is not your choice. You are laid off or fired. This is no fun, but you will recover. Looking back, you may realize that the change—unwanted at the time—ultimately provided an important opportunity.

WHEN YOU GET THE ITCH

Stress on the job is normal, but if the situation becomes extreme, it may be time to start looking elsewhere. One new hire at a think tank found herself staying at the office until nine or ten every night while her bosses took off at five. They’d realized how competent and dedicated she was and had begun dumping all their work on her.

Soon after he started working in a public relations department, a young associate discovered that his boss was not as friendly as she’d been during the interview process. No matter what he did, he couldn’t satisfy her increasingly unrealistic demands, and she began yelling at him daily in front of the rest of the staff.

Another recent graduate was hired as a personal assistant to a well-known screenwriter. She knew she’d be at his beck and call, running unglamorous errands all day long, but she would also meet all kinds of celebrities and see what fame looked like from the inside. During the interview, he encouraged her to pursue her own writing and said he’d be glad to help and offer advice. The job sounded too good to be true—and it was. After a few weeks, he told her he was moving his office to his country house, hours from the city—and he expected her to move, too.

Tolerance levels for workplace challenges like temperamental bosses or poor management may vary. Working for someone who makes your daily life miserable can be gut-wrenching—but sometimes it’s worth your while to stick it out. Consider the economy. How hard did you have to work to get this job, and how likely are you to get another? I’m not saying you have to stay forever, but quitting with no opportunities in sight may not be the best idea. In any economy, you’re going to run into some difficult personalities in the workplace, and in general you should try to learn to deal with them. But if you’re being abused or verbally or physically harassed, it’s time to go. If there’s ever any question of your personal safety, get out right away. You may be concerned about “what it would look like” to leave after such a short time or before you’ve been promoted, but life is too short to waste your time at a job where you’re clearly never going to be satisfied.

It isn’t always so cut and dried, though. What happens if your responsibilities aren’t what you expected? Or the great guy who hired you is leaving or the company is being sold?

If there’s any kind of transition going on, give it time. Companies and their employees often go through periods of turmoil after big changes.
It can be difficult, but sometimes things work themselves out. Wait and watch—don’t bail prematurely. You never know: Your job under the new boss could actually be more exciting than the job you were hired for.

If you can’t put your finger on the problem but you’re feeling extremely unenthusiastic about showing up for work every day, try to ride it out for a while. Every job has its ups and downs, and if you’re new to the workforce, you may just need time to adjust to
having
a full-time job—any job. Try to figure out what’s making you unhappy, then see if you can find ways to address the problem. If not, start looking for a new job.

You might be in a great situation but realize after a year or two that the job has run its course. You know what you’re supposed to do, you do it efficiently and well, and your bosses are happy. Why shouldn’t they be? This is their ideal situation. Unfortunately for them, this is when an ambitious employee starts thinking about next steps. At a certain point in an entry-level position you’ll have “paid your dues” and be ready for a new challenge. If you’ve asked for and not been granted a promotion in what seems like a reasonable time frame, it may be time to move on.

If there’s any kind of transition going on, give it time. Companies and their employees often go through periods of turmoil after big changes. It can be difficult, but sometimes things work themselves out.

If you’ve decided to move on but you are planning on staying put while you look for a new job, you’re in a good position. You can take your time, you’re not as pressured, you appear less desperate, and you have access to a good pool of people and information.

Be very careful about telling people at work that you’re thinking of leaving. If you’re really close to a few colleagues and feel you must confide in them, go ahead, but don’t say I didn’t warn you. People talk. You may need to discreetly seek out a colleague or two to serve as a reference, but again, be careful: The worst possible scenario is for your boss to find out you’re leaving from someone other than you.

While you’re looking, you
must
continue to do your job and do it well. Who knows how long your search will take—you want to make sure you
don’t damage your relationship with your boss and make things hard for yourself and everyone else by dropping the ball. What if you change your mind midcourse and decide to stay? In any case, you don’t want to ruin a good track record by slacking off in the last stretch of the job. Avoid using company phones and e-mail to job-hunt; use your cell phone and personal e-mail address. Don’t interview for other jobs during work time. It’s fine to take a long lunch or come in early or late once or twice if you give advance notice, but know that astute observers may catch on. (At a small company where I worked in which casual dress was the norm, if someone came in wearing a suit, we assumed she was either looking for a new job or going to a funeral.) If you find it too stressful to take off for an interview on your lunch hour, use personal days or vacation days. Don’t call in sick or make up elaborate excuses—it’s unprofessional, and people remember that kind of behavior.

H
OW MUCH NOTICE SHOULD YOU GIVE
?
The absolute minimum is two weeks, but that’s short. Two weeks won’t necessarily allow your boss to conduct a thorough search for your replacement, and it leaves no time for you to train a new employee. (Again, not a requirement, but a nice thing if you can do it.)

If your company has an employee handbook, check to see how much notice is required—it may depend on the seniority of your position. If you signed a contract specifying a notification period, you need to honor that. If that’s not possible, make sure you come to an agreement with your boss and get the decision in writing.