13 Personality Traits of a Disengaged Professional

Disengaged Professional…Are You??

13 Personality Traits of a Disengaged Professional

1.     Complain

Disengaged employees are always complaining & nothing is good enough for them.

2.     Makes Excuses

Disengaged employees never take responsibility for their actions & always find an excuse.

3.     Lacks Enthusiasm

When a new task or project comes up, this employee is always the least excited.

4.     Doesn’t Help Others

They always say “It’s not my Job”, and are never willing to go above & beyond.

5.     Gossip

Gossip destroys morale and the team dynamic, & creates cliques within the company.

6.     Liar

An employee that lies and makes up stories is really dangerous for the team.

7.     Know-It-All

Disengaged employees act like they know everything and are too good for whatever you have to say.

8.     Independent

Disengaged employees are set on working alone. You need collaboration to thrive as a team.

9.     Irresponsible

Disengaged employees often miss deadlines, are late for work, and break their promises.

10.  No Initiative

Good employees take initiative, whereas a bad one just stands around waiting to be told what to do next.

11. No Questions

Disengaged employees aren’t willing to ask questions and learn new things.

12. No Growth

They don’t invest in themselves to become better people and grow within the company.

13. Distracted

Good employees know how to stay focused, and disengaged employees get easily distracted.

5 Worst Times to Ask for a Raise

5 Worst Times to Ask for a Raise

When it comes to crucial conversations about your pay, timing is everything. After you have completed a detailed research about your market value, succinctly pinpoint your biggest recent achievements and go above and beyond, it’s time to ask for a raise, right?

Wait a minute!!!                                                                                       

Make sure you don’t ask for a raise during these five worst times:

1. Let it not be a MONDAY at least J

It is good if you are reading this article on Monday. But please don’t you ever think of asking a raise on any Monday – being the first day of the week. Let your boss settle through the week. Work hard till the mid week & then nail it at the right time.  

2. Just after you’ve been OUT

If you’ve been out of the office for a while—it’s better to wait until you’re back in the game before you ask for a raise.

Even if you are legitimately out sick or on vacation, it is not wise to return and immediately ask for a raise. Instead, get back to work, keep your head down and once you are re-engaged, then it may be time to consider such a request.

3. During Company’s Financial Rough Patch

Learn the fiscal rhythms of your company. No one is getting a raise just after the company announces less than expected quarterly earnings. This can rather backfire.

4. When Your Boss is in a Bad Mood or Hungry

It sounds like a scanty reason, but catching your boss during a bad mood could alter how this very important conversation will go. Read your boss—is she more of a morning person or a little more chipper in the afternoons?

We suggest (jokingly) to employees that the best time to ask for a raise would be right after lunch. Also, as a ‘morning person,’ early afternoon is one’s time of least resistance. First thing in the morning when Boss has rushed to the traffic & rain and just before lunch, when his stomach has priority, are the worst times.

So, why risk it?

In terms of what time of day to bring it up, after lunch and in the early to mid-part of the afternoon is a great time to talk to your boss regarding the hike. Everyone's blood sugar levels are up, making potentially tough conversations easier.

5. When you haven’t been killing it at Work – Just Need the Money

Raises are generally tied to your performance. So, if you just haven’t been killing it at work, focus on that before you start pining for more pay.

Don’t just ask for a raise when you’ve suddenly had some big financial issue. If you need more money, that’s never a good reason to ask for a raise.

5 Steps to start a Productive Day

5 Steps to start a Productive Day

Before you dive into your daily office gossip, your regular coffee break at around 9:30, and before you click on your favorite FB account there are a couple of things to do first. It’s a common misconception you need to follow routine to be successful. For most people a routine will dull their work and will push them towards a burnout much quicker. Instead, I prefer getting through the stress points first, and easing into the rest of my workload later.

There are a few things you need to keep in mind when starting off your day, and they don’t start at work. Some of them start in your home, on your commute, or as you’re walking into work. Everyone is different so you can tailor this list to best fit your needs and quirks.

1. Eat breakfast. Here goes…this is the most important meal of the day! How many times have you heard this? A healthy breakfast can lead to more focused thinking; just what you need to stay focused while you work. We can’t always ignore the distraction of the “ping!” from our social notifications, but a healthy meal or snack in the mornings can keep us from bottoming out before lunchtime.
2. Say out loud one activity you’re looking forward to at work that day. To me this is the most important. On some days I’m excited about the iced coffee I’ll be grabbing on my way in, and the phone call I have with a prospective writer in the afternoon. It gives me momentum to get my day started, and I have something to look forward to.
3. Greet the first person you see with a hearty “hello” upon entering your office. We are entirely too anti-social in the mornings; well a majority of us are. It’s not a joke to say that most people need their coffee to function and be decent. Sip your coffee before you get to work, and you can even check some of your social channels if you’re in need of a pick me up. Being exclusive about who you say hi to is alienating and that bad mood can spread like a wildfire. Pay it forward with a simple friendly greeting each day.
4. Before you open your email complete that one trivial leftover task from the night before. If you’re constantly connected through a company work phone then turn it off when you first sit down at your desk. We all have crazy mornings and being off of email for 10 minutes won’t hurt anyone, but it will help you to stay focused on eating that frog first thing in the morning.
5. Move onto that activity you’re enthusiastic about for the day. We’ve all heard about the sandwich approach in management, and I think its relevance carries into task and project management. For every tedious or frustrating activity you perform you should alternate with an enjoyable one. Some people enjoy copy writing as a form of stress relief, and others enjoy responding to clients. This might even be a good opportunity to pitch that idea you’ve been working on for a month, just make sure you’re prepared.

You don’t need a secret formula to be a success all day long. Some of us deflate after a bad meeting, and others just perpetuate a bad mood by piling the work on just to get it done. If you’re serious about making a real effort then give some thought to this list.

How are you using your time makes all the difference!!! Take these 5 simple steps to increase productivity by guarding your own time which can be followed in 5 minutes or less.

How are you using your time makes all the difference!!! Take these 5 simple steps to increase productivity by guarding your own time which can be followed in 5 minutes or less.

We all have exactly the same number of hours each day with us ---- 24. If we don’t guard those hours, we’ll waste them. That can happen in a number of ways. Often, because we are so connected, we allow others to dictate our day. We find ourselves responding to others instead of setting our own priorities. An e-mail comes in and we respond almost instantly—it’s what people expect. The phone rings, and we pick it up. Someone else is again dictating our day.

I think we all need to guard against wasting the precious time we’ve been given each day or allowing others to determine how we spend it. Because it’s what we do with the time we have each day that makes the difference. And that’s the question, isn’t it? Do we make a difference with the hours we are given?

1. Write a “thank you” note. It’s not hard, and it doesn’t take long to jot down a few sentences that convey your appreciation for another person. But the gesture is significant. Here, in a world where most communication requires an electronic device is a simple five-sentence letter that speaks volumes about the person who took the time to send it.
2. Walk down and speak with a colleague you typically don’t see during the day. In just five minutes you can learn something about the person and what’s happening in her life. It doesn’t have to be a long conversation, but a few minutes of attention focused on someone who might just need it can go a long way toward establishing a relationship. You might be amazed to learn what you have in common with people you seldom see or talk to around the office.
3. Set a goal. It doesn’t take long to come up with something meaningful that you want to achieve. In less than five minutes you can write down that goal and tack it on your bulletin board or slip it in a drawer you open every day. That written goal can serve as a daily reminder of something you want to accomplish. Maybe your goal is to write one “thank you” note a week for a year or to spend five minutes with every person in your office during the next 12 months. Whatever it is, jot it down.
4. Find the answer to one question. We all wonder about things every day. Why is something done a certain way? What’s the definition of a word we’ve seen or heard? Who was the first person to do something? It doesn’t take long to learn something new. Type a few words into Google and spend five minutes discovering the answer to something you’re curious about. Knowledge is power, and in today’s world, it doesn’t take long to discover the answers to our questions.
5. Quiet time. Take five minutes to shut everything out. As I said, we live in a world where we’re constantly connected. Our phones provide us with the ability not only to speak to others but also to text, e-mail, and browse the Internet. And that’s just scratching the surface of what these handy devices can do. But I encourage you to spend five minutes each day in peace and quiet. Put it on your calendar. Five minutes each day with the phone off, the computer off, everything turned off. Who knows what you can dream up in those few minutes when nothing or no one else is in control.

I’m sure you can come up with your own list of things you can accomplish in just five minutes. In fact, take five minutes right now and come up with your own list of things you can do in just five minutes a day. Then make it a daily habit to spend some of your precious time doing them. Five minutes represents less than one percent of your day. What are you doing with your time that will really make a difference?

Once we begin to guard our time and make sure we use it productively, it’s astonishing what we can accomplish.

3 Must Do Things before Quitting Your Job

3 Must Do Things before Quitting Your Job

It is normal to fall out of love with your job. In fact, on average every adult has two jobs that they didn’t exactly love. So if you hate your job, know that you are not alone – and having a job or two you don’t like is part of growing up and learning through experience.

But that doesn’t mean that it’s normal to stay in a job that makes you miserable. Remember: Whatever your situation, you have a choice – and when you think about every job as a choice, it opens a whole new world of opportunity and abundance.

So what do you do if you are in a bad working situation? The obvious options are to quit your job.  But did you know that there is a right way and wrong way to quit your job -- and how you do it can affect how successful you are after quitting.

3 things you must do before leaving to make sure you are prepared for the next phase of your career journey.

1. Knowing Exactly Why You Are Quitting Your Job

This may sound obvious, but at times people think they know why they are quitting their job, but they ended up being mistaken. It is a humbling experience.

Example, you might think you want to quit your first job because you don’t make enough money. So you would set out to fix that problem. After doubling your salary and still feeling miserable, it would be obvious you had fixed the wrong problem. Or the wrong why!

This is important because if you quit for the wrong reasons, you are likely to repeat the underlying problem again down the road.

Get to the bottom of why you are quitting. Is it the Money? Flexibility? Management? Or maybe everything is great but the commute is unbearable? Dig deep and ask yourself questions to find out exactly what makes you want to leave this job. That's your first assignment before you quit.

2. Come Up with 3 Exit Strategies and Put at least 1 into Motion

Trust in yourself and have faith it will all work out but at the same time, you don't just want play it by ear and "see what happens". And you don't want to just go applying to every job because any job would be better than this one. Trust me, things can get worse.

Instead, put together at least 3 ideas as part of your exit strategies beyond this job. Maybe you want to work for a particular company or start your own business or switch industries. Be specific. Be intentional about your choices.

Then choose at least one of those ideas and learn everything about it. Do as much preparation as possible for it while you are still in your job. Take action in the evenings and on weekends. Build out your exit plan with super smart strategies and put at least one of those plans into motion before you quit. That’s your second assignment.

3. Make Your Exit Smooth and Easy

Your Boss or Management may have not been nice to you and you want to show them by leaving the job. But don't. Take the high road. Because, this is a terrifyingly small world. Things come around. You will cross paths with them again. So be professional and coordinate your exit with your boss so you don't break the trust you have built overtime.

Make sure you do everything to make it smooth and easy and agreeable to them. Leave on very good terms, even if you have had a hard time there. And remember, as you do this difficult third assignment, that you are actually doing all of it for yourself and your future opportunities.

Whatever your situation may be, if you feel that your current job is not the right direction for your career, take these 3 actions sooner than later. If you wait until you are absolutely miserable, then it's hard to focus and think clearly because your emotions get in the way. You want to make the decision to quit your job and the relevant preparation well in advance so that you are always prepared and in charge of your own career.

3 Salary Negotiating mistakes

Negotiate Salary, but don’t appear GREEDY!!

Read on the 3 Salary Negotiating mistakes

Candidates have the biggest fear of being perceived as Greedy while negotiating salary with the Hiring Managers

Worst case scenario: Offending Hiring Managers may cause them to rescind your offer.

Best case scenario: You might get a bump in salary and walk away with a win-win situation.

Here are the ways to avoid the Worst case scenario:

1. Asking for More than Industry Standard

First & Foremost thing is to do a salary research before pitching. It is essential to look what folks in your position make at other companies.

If you are asking a price which is far beyond then, you may come off greedy.

Another key thing you should take into consideration and research is how much your boss makes. If you are asking for more than even the manager makes, you may seem unreasonable. Unless you want to make your boss’s eyes pop, research your boss’ salary too.

It’s a good idea to learn as much as you can about the financial health of the company, if you can.  Make sure the salary you are requesting will not financially harm the company and you can account for it in a return on investment for the value you produce. If you can make a strong case about the value you will add to the company, you won't seem greedy.

2. Negotiate Successfully, then Come Back to Ask for More

This is the major point why many prospective candidates actually lose job offers.

If you did negotiate and you did get more pay or benefits and then decided you should have asked for even more is the worst situation. You negotiated. You were successful but you were unprepared to know what to get. Wait at least six months before you go to bat again. This truly is the one time companies will ding you for negotiating.

One good rule of thumb: Try not to keep asking for more repeatedly, coming back three times irritates many managers. They may agree to the raise but could also conclude the employee is dissatisfied, will probably leave and consider their alternative structures.

3. Not Sticking With Your Initial Word

People should not negotiate unless they are prepared to walk away from the negotiation. If you ask for way more than they offered get turned down and then decide that you’ll take what you can get, you’ll come off as flighty and unsatisfied.

Consider keeping your negotiation flexible. Offer options. For instance, if you can’t offer a bump in the base pay, perhaps you can consider raising the bonus limit? Or could you allow me to work from home on Fridays to compensate for a salary below market value? Whatever floats your boat!

High Pressure Job Interview??? Nail it!!!

High Pressure Job Interview??? Nail it!!!

 

Job interviews have a tendency of taking a toll on nerves. While some interviews are more like friendly conversations, others may be more of a grilling that could very well make you loosen that carefully knotted tie and gulp that entire pitcher of water on the table. Here’s help at hand. Read on the tips to handle a high-pressure job interview:

1. Do NOT Rush

Rushing to an interview just adds unnecessary stress. You want to be calm and collected. Create a good impression, and acclimatize yourself to the environment, by arriving 10 to 15 minutes early.

2. Relax!

Regardless of how you feel inside, you must exude confidence. Sit straight without crossing your arms or legs. Don’t clench your jaw while talking and maintain eye contact with your interviewer. Take three deep calming breaths. Doing this will give your brain the right amount of oxygen and will help you think clearly.

3. Modulate Your Tone—Don’t Rush Your Words

In a hurry to make the right impression, you may rush your words. When posed with a question, think about what is really being asked. Focus on the question, gather your thoughts, organize the information and articulate it clearly.

4. Keep Your Cool

The interviewers will have a few tough questions up their sleeves. They may want to know how you respond under pressure and what qualities you have that differentiate you from others. So, some tricky questions may come your way which might throw you off guard.

If you don’t know the answer, be honest. It’s ok to say “I don’t know”. Remember, your interviewers do this for a living. They can tell when a candidate is faking their way through an answer.

5. Be Well-informed

Thorough research always does the trick. If you’re well-informed about the company, you’ll make the interview more of a two-way conversation rather than an interrogation. Before the interview, Google the company, try and read industry reviews on it, follow informal grapevines and discuss the company with your knowledgeable friends.

This way, you’ll have an arsenal of information from which you’ll be able to ask educated questions regarding the goals and future objectives of the company and how you’ll play your part in seeing them through.

6. Stick to the Questions Asked

Going into unchartered waters won’t do you good. In your haste, you might start talking about irrelevant things. Keep it short. Remember to KISS: Keep It Simple and Sequential.

7. Focus on Keywords in the Question

Always remember that there are three different types of questions: ‘what, how and why.” Think about which of these three key questions is being targeted. If they ask you why something happened and you answer them with how it happened, it just won’t work out.

8. Avoid Interrupting

If you think you have a valid point, it can be tempting to blurt it out. Resist all urges of interruption. Interrupting your interviewer is considered impolite and can create a bad impression overall.

9. Observe How the Interviewer Reacts to your Body Language

Be a chameleon. Adjust your body language and style to that of your interviewer. If he or she speaks in low measured tones, do so yourself. If he uses hand gestures to explain things, follow his example. As long as you don’t take it too far, this is a great way to show that you’re engaged.

10. Be sure to thank the Interviewer

When the interview is over, remember to formally thank all interviewers for taking the time to see you. If they prefer a hand shake, do so warmly and firmly and with a confident smile. Many times, interviewees mumble a thank you and move on. Follow up your interview with a polite thank you note as well.

Got a Telephonic Interview?? Ace it by not making these mistakes.

Got a Telephonic Interview?? Ace it by not making these mistakes.

Telephonic Interview is becoming popular amongst the Hiring Managers. Telephonic interview is an employer's initial screening, many think the phone interview isn't as important as the real, face-to-face conversation.

However, Hiring Managers wish more candidates treated phone chats the same as in-person meetings. Too many candidates make the mistake of breezing through the call. Avoid these common phone interview mistakes:

1. Zero Enthusiasm and Confidence in Voice

Hiring managers want to hear a strong, positive voice as soon as you pick up the phone.

A great start can shape up the rest of the phone interview in an unbelievable way. If you aren’t confident in the phone interview, the hiring manager is going to assume you aren’t confident in person, so you probably won’t get a second chance to make a better impression.

To convey confidence and enthusiasm— always be professional, energetic and positive in your tone of voice. Smiling can help boost your tone and project your voice positively.  Practice your pace.

2. Interview While Driving, Outside or in Public

Driving while interviewing, apart from being ridiculously dangerous can make you lose the job opportunity as it distracts and at times makes one very unclear.

You might be super busy, but always make time to take the call in a private, stationed area with strong reception. Making it tough for your interviewer to hear you is a fast way of losing their interest in you.

3. Forget to Turn Off All Other Notifications

Landline is anytime favorable in this case. It simply removes all risk of low reception and offers minimal distractions. But in case one has to use cell phone, you should make sure you’re not distracted by incoming emails, texts, Facebook notifications, Instagram hearts, etc. (the list can go on for miles).

4. Assume the Interviewer is Male

Doing background research before you have an interview is essential. Avoid making the gross factual errors by researching the company thoroughly. Check out the company website, social media profiles, recent news articles and LinkedIn members to double check names and events.

5. Cut Answers Short

Since you can’t really see the interviewer’s reaction, it can be hard to gauge whether or not you’re doing well or answering thoroughly enough.

Best solution is to explain your task given, action taken, and the result derived. Don’t forget to share the result, which is the most important part. It helps to print a list of achievements that you want to make sure you cover in the conversation.

6. Being Unprepared for the Most Common Interview Questions

Since phone interviews are usually the initial test to see if you fit the basic criteria, be prepared to handle those questions effortlessly. Have a look below:

• What type of position are you looking for and why?
• Why do you want to leave your current job (or previous job)?
• When are you ready for an in-person interview? When would you be able to start?
• Do you have two professional references?
• Do you have any questions?

BORED at Work??? Challenge Yourself.

BORED at Work??? Challenge Yourself.

 

 

In case you are spending most of your days clock-watching & have started to feel like you’re stagnating, and you’re doing just the bare minimum, don’t fall into the black hole of boredom! The best way to stay on your toes is to make a conscious effort by pumping again.

When you’re emotionally invested and actually identify with your work, you’ll find yourself naturally more engaged and happier—which leads to more success. You can see where this is going. It’ll become a self-perpetuating cycle of engagement, success and happiness at work! Check out how:

1. Change Your Mindset: Work as if You Own the Company

“Challenge yourself by working as if the company is your own,”

When you’re working for yourself, work for yourself and you will be much more effective and definitely not bored.

2. Automate the Boring Tasks

If you're busy doing something that's very repetitive, explore options for automating that task. Constantly question if something could be done easier, better, or cheaper. For instance, use of MS Excel, can make your reports and number related work simpler. Work smarter, not harder!

3. Get Involved With Other Teams

Getting into conversations & networking within the company is an easy task.

Chat about what other folks are working on and challenge yourself to add value to their team with your unique skills.

Even if the suggestion is for another department and they reject the idea due to resource constraints, offer to help them implement your suggestion. Coming up with new ideas is okay, but it’s when an individual helps to get that idea implemented that they become challenged and excited.

4. Turn your job into a game

You can do that by setting timer & creating a realistic goal for your task at hand. If you are able to hit that goal within the time frame, reward yourself with a piece of candy, a soda break, or quick peek on FacebookJ. Or anything that motivates you within few minutes.

5. Learn a New Skill

Quickly finish the task at hand & then go help someone in another department if they promise to teach you about what they do. It is never late to learn a new skill.

6. Create Tough Soft Deadlines and Goals for Yourself

Maybe you’re bored because you’re not realizing your potential. If your goals right now are easy and breezy, create your own goals!

Sometimes you will find managers don’t have the time or inclination to tailor goals to you as individual goals that challenge and motivate you. So, the best way to challenge oneself is to set own goals.

7. “Done is Better than Perfect”

Another reason boredom strikes is when you’re too afraid to fail. If you haven’t started yet because you’re waiting for the perfect time and the perfect idea, you’ll naturally become too overwhelmed to start.

So, a great way to break out of this bad habit is to work with the mantra “done is better than perfect.” Even if you make mistakes along the way, you’ll have grown a lot higher than if you succumbed to your boredom!

Staying engaged and fending off boredom can help you in so many ways that it’s silly not to at least try. Your career happiness will benefit for both the short and long term when you make the decision to proactively end the cycle of boredom.