The 5 Questions to Answer Before You Apply to an Office Job

Posted on February 19, 2010 Written by Pinar Tarhan

BBC The Office with Ricky Gervais — The show tells the story of a branch of a firm- this is the least successful one. The employees mostly ignore or despise each other. The number of normal (sane) people? Not many...

The economy is bringing you down. The level of competition is depressing and you are starting to lose confidence. You are starting to feel like you are not good enough or you will never find a job that is good enough for you. Stop right there. Yes, stop brooding and just read what I have to say. There is a chance it will give you the boot of confidence and positive energy you need.

I have been you. My friends are you. You graduated, maybe not with the perfect GPA but you have done OK. You have some work experience but you are failing to get the jobs you are applying to.

No, I am not claiming to be a guru here. I am just experienced, rebellious and challenged enough to defy the status quo. I am also a good observer. I have worked office-jobs took part-time gigs and suffered through internships. I am working as a freelance writer now. But I am getting calls from my CVs on the job search sites that I forgot about. And while I can get a full-time office job, I am simply not looking for one. Assuming that you value stability and a regular paycheck more than I do, let me entertain and “warn” you a little bit.

I want you to consider the office life- yes, before you are actually hired to get into one. Chances are you tried the office, and it didn’t go smoothly. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be on the lookout. So instead of applying to all smart-sounding ads, let me do a little test on you. A little consideration beforehand might save a lot of time and pain.

1) The Hours: Do you really want to work in an office? Seriously. Just forget about the paycheck for a second. Do you want a life of working from 9 to 5 (which is a lot longer in this day and age, as you might have noticed)?

2) The dress code: Do you want a dress code? Unless you got a job in a creative field, let’s face it, you will be expected to dress according to the wishes of the company. And if that is the case, you might need to have a complete wardrobe makeover. Before you notice, your first couple of paychecks might be spent on office wear. Oops. And you thought you could save a little…

3) Size does matter: Do you want to work for a small, medium or large-sized firm? Yes, it is not just about getting into any job. You need to consider your needs and wants. Which one do you think you are better suited for?

I worked in them all. A corporation means, you can avoid the big boss for a long time but you are still under the observation of your supervisor. A small firm means even the top guy/gal knows your name. If you like anonymity, big ones are recommended. But keep in mind that big firms also tend to be more structured and formal.

If you get fired right away, it does look worse than being unemployed. So does quitting in a rush. So yeah, you need to consider your personality traits and expectations before you apply.

4) The Paycheck: Any amount sounds lovely when you are broke, but never forget about the fact that you are not only selling your services and intellect, but your time too. You are trading all that for money and if it doesn’t compensate accordingly, you will be discouraged, demotivated and uninspired. These three make for an unproductive employee and the unproductive don’t climb the ladder fast. I am just saying.

5) The co-workers: If you have a chance to check the company culture before you get in- or better yet before the interview- please do. Find forums, ask around in your social circle. Is the environment friendly? Competitive? Social? Even if you think you can survive an unfriendly group of colleagues, the reality does end up being different.

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Do your research. If you know about all these, you will know whether applying is a good idea or not. If you know the answers, you will adjust your CV accordingly, and your resume will stand out amongst others. If you know the answers, you will know more about the company than its products and services (I am assuming you know them, otherwise what else could have motivated you to apply in the first place?). This will impress your interviewer. You will be a person knowing what she is getting into. You can’t get into battle without being fully prepared. Job-hunting is one of the hardest battles you are going to fight, but there is a high chance of survival if you know and are ready for what you are getting into…

On the left, you have the annoying and impossibly chatty desk buddy. In the center, you have the schmuck of a boss who thinks he is cool. Art imitating life.

Other Useful Articles on Career Management:

*Why People (Don’t) Want to Make Money out of What They Love

* Too Much Competition is not a good reason for quitting

* Lying on your CV (and job ads that ask for way too much)

*Inspiration to Get Back on Track

*It’s all about sales!

* The I-am-too-late Syndrome

*The Power Play Between The Potential Employer and The Employee

*Bizarre Business Interview Techniques

*When it comes to changing careers, your age doesn’t matter

Why People (Don’t) Want to Make Money out of What They Like

Posted on January 1, 2010 Written by ripitup

How would you like to make money out of something you like, or even better yet, love? I know everybody is tempted to say yeah. But when you dig a little deeper, it feels more comfortable for most to leave hobbies just as that. How come? I hadn’t even thought that if given the choice, a person would not want to make money out of the thing he/she loves. But this little conversation from a movie got me thinking:

Fritz: I used to take pictures all the time.

Gray: Why did you quit?

Fritz: Started getting paid for it. Took all the fun out of it.

(From the movie Catch and Release. Fritz is in advertising. His passion is photography.)

Maybe what Fritz meant was, when you start getting paid for something, usually a boss comes within the territory. That brings rules, deadlines, limits to imagination and creativity. So while I know it sucks to be restrained on an artistic level, I believe one can always find projects that he will like. He just has to look hard enough. I write. I have been writing in my head since I was very little. At 12, I started putting things on paper. I write when I want to write, which is basically all the time. So it is just perfect when someone pays me for what I already do for free. Of course one big reason for regular jobs to be so “popular” is the steady pay. Many of my friends wouldn’t even dare going freelancing. And they wouldn’t even look within themselves to see if they really have a passion.

This is very scary. The moment you value stability over happiness, you start to let go of what excites you. Don’t. You don’t have to risk everything but getting paid for doing what you love should be the norm; not the exception. Being happy is fun. Being happy and being paid while you are at it is even more so.

Lying on your CV (and job ads that ask for way too much)

Posted on December 18, 2009 Written by ripitup

Most of you are probably familiar with the TV show friends . Even if you are not, here’s a perfect example of Joey’s situation regarding lying on CVs:

[pro-player width=’530′ height=’253′ type=’video’]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D30U-nz_Hts[/pro-player]

Of course it is a ludicrous idea to lie about speaking a foreign language fluently when you don’t even know a word or about digging in Cairo when you haven’t been there but it is not uncommon practice for job applicants to lie on their resumés. Beginner levels are stated as intermediate and intermediate as advanced. Experiences are exaggerated and told in a more impressive way than they actually happened. So how much do you lie (if ever;) when applying to a job?

Normally, I don’t. I believe they can always check you out and find you out. Or worse, you can get caught after you get the job which is more embarrassing. But recently I have stumbled upon some job ads that made me actually, really want to lie.

Here’s why:

1) Most writing ads state they only want native speakers. Because all native speakers are better writers? International writers can’t have perfect command on English? Well, this is logic is stupid at best and makes me want to lie, just to prove the idiots who post these kinds of ads wrong. Because usually the ads include statements like: “No internationals please.” “Don’t even bother if you are not a native speaker.” OK. But how the hell are you going to prove I am not a native? My country of residence doesn’t prove anything and I can fool you with my skills. Oh,and the payment method is PayPal.

The lesson? Well, I am all for lying when there is discrimination. It is also a bonus when they can’t prove it. Of course it is best not to apply at all- when you decide that your potential employer is narrow-minded.

2) Unclear job ads: Oh, it is priceless when a job ad asks all sorts of information from you: cover letter, resumé, portfolio, salary expectation,years of experience…This is all too much effort but it does seem pointless if the potential employer hasn’t revealed any important information on their part. Who are they? If they even kept their website/company name confidential, why should I bother to apply? Who are these people? What are the advantages of working with/for them? What’s in it for me? Any job involves at least two parties. I am not going to provide a company who hasn’t bothered to fill in the blanks with my life story. Time is money and I am not spending on them.

Job-hunting is by nature a painful process. Double-standards, one-sided expectations, discriminations and funny anecdotes should always be shared. The gap of the power levels of the employer and the employees only get bigger if candidates desperately say yes to everything without questioning. Sure, the economy is tough. But then again, job- hunting has never been smooth sailing. So why don’t you assess yourself and make an honest assumption of what you are worth? Then decide if you should decide whether to “exaggerate” or “lie”. Maybe you shouldn’t consider that particular job at all.

For related articles, you can click on the links below: (if right clicking on your mouse doesn’t work, try copy pasting.)

* on interview techniques:

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/212726_bizarre-business-interview-techniques

* selling your career

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/213643_its-all-about-sales

* relationship between the job interviewer and the interviewee

http://www.bukisa.com/articles/212727_the-power-play-between-the-potential-employer-and-the-employee

Swine Flu and Other Distractions

Posted on November 18, 2009 Written by ripitup

The world is hard and complicated enough without a natural disaster or an epidemic taking control of our lives. We struggle to make money without sacrificing our freedom completely, try to keep our relationships going and try to stay healthy in today’s hectic world. We are supposed to be patient- I mean if we try hard enough,good things do happen.But of course working hard and staying loyal to your schedule doesn’t seem meaningful when an awful hurricane strikes or a new epidemic such as the swine flu is scattering around. The balance between living each day as if it is your last and working hard to make your dreams come true is very fragile and it often results in us losing perspective. It’s not like my everyday plans will be the same no matter what. But then we don’t know how,what and when something is gonna happen so we slack and mess around and we also get serious and hope it all works out in the end.