How to keep personal issues from affecting your career

(Cartoon inspired by Diane Q.) 

If life were a bed of roses, we could all show up at work without a care in the world. Unfortunately nobody enjoys carefree living.  Whether we had a fight with our partner, difficulties with the kids, fighting an illness, facing financial challenges, struggling with a divorce or the death of a loved one, we all have personal lives with ups and downs.  The question is, how do we keep those cumbersome issues from affecting our careers?

It is never a good idea to share personal issues with colleagues.  Unless you have known the colleague for years and trust the person completely, it is better to keep personal issues to yourself.  Whether intentionally or accidentally, the colleague might let something slip in which case your personal issues could become common knowledge.  If you feel the need to talk, talk to a professional such as a doctor, a lawyer, a bank manager or a career counsellor.  Not only might these professionals actually be able to help you, but they are bound by the code of privacy.

If you feel that your personal issues weigh you down to the point that they start affecting your career, consider taking some time off.  Going to work despite personal problems is commendable, but not always advisable.  Your mind may be on something other than work which, directly or indirectly, could affect your career.  One mistake could ruin an otherwise perfect reputation, and the last thing you need is to worry about your career while dealing with personal issues.

If you are gay or lesbian, carefully consider if you want to share your sexual preferences with your boss and colleagues.   Over the years the gay community has made tremendous progress in its acceptance, but there still are old fashioned people who might have trouble with your sexual orientation.  Before coming out, consider if this information might affect your career?  In some cases it’s better to be enigmatic than exposed.

If personal issues frequently cause you to get angry or even fly off the handle, consider doing something about that.  You may have good reason be angry, but your temper could be affecting your career.  To cool off go for a walk or if a change of environment is of no help consider an anger management course.  You could also try taking up yoga, martial arts or simply buying a punch bag.  If you can’t roll with the punches, throw some punches at the punch bag, you’ll be amazed at its calming effect.

If you are on the other hand a very shy person who wouldn’t say boo to a goose, this shyness could be affecting your career too.  To get more self-confidence, consider joining a self-help group who deals with this type of personal issue.  Shyness has a reason, something caused you to lose your confidence and it’s important to get to the root of that problem.  Once you found the reason for your low confidence you can work on it and overcome your shyness.

Regardless of your personal issues, you are not the only one with a particular problem.  If the problem starts to affect your career, get help, but be careful where to look for it.

Why today's society does not encourage hard work

Every now and then an article comes along that is so on the money it makes you go a little quiet.  Every now and then a writer comes along, it makes you want to cheer.

Such a writer is Alexandra Heep, a woman who can write about anything and everything and does so with a style all her own.  To sample Alex’s work, please visit http://www.helium.com/users/222457/show_articles

As a guest blogger at 9 – 5, I found this article of Alex rather appropriate.

Why today's society does not encourage hard work

 Today's employment society, when it comes to encouraging and rewarding hard work, can be summed up in one phrase: "The right to work (for less)".

I am not that old, but there used to be some simple concepts when I started out in the workforce. If you followed these concepts, monetary rewards were automatic:

* Work Ethic
* Seniority
* Promote from Within

Work ethics are pretty self-explanatory. If you worked hard, showed up on time, and made steady measurable progress, you got evaluations and, in turn, raises. A very simple concept really.

What changed all this? Good question. We all have had to call places or deal with organizations and received poor customer service. We get frustrated, because we wonder: If I acted like that at my job, I would not have a job!

While these people who give poor customer service are not necessarily bad people, they are simply bad employees. What makes them that way? Their employers think them of as expendable, and so it shows in their attitude. They know, even if they give good customer service, it won't matter one bit in the future as there is no such thing as job security.

Let's say for some reason they give excellent service for a year. Does that automatically guarantee them anything? No, it does not. Matter of fact, they become too good at what they do and too expensive for the company to maintain. Instead of eventually getting paid what they are worth, they simply get replaced by someone younger, with less experience, who will accept lower pay.

The notion of seniority in the workplace has simply become archaic. We can all relate to this one. Have you ever had a job where someone 20 years younger trained you? Have you ever had a manager that you thought did not even look old enough to buy alcohol in most places?

The concept of how to achieve a supervisor or manager position used to be simple: You worked your way up from the mailroom (or the equivalent of). This no longer applies. Achieving a position with more responsibility and the appropriate job title and compensation nowadays has become a game with rules known only to the employer.

Oh, there is still enough responsibility to go around. Do a good job at what you are doing and you will find yourself up to your eyeballs in more work. Will that lead to obtaining the job title and increased salary you deserve? If you ask your crystal ball this question you are just as likely to receive the correct answer to that question.

Promoting from within no longer applies either. You would figure that it would make sense to promote people who know the company best by having worked there for a while. However, "fresh blood" and "new ideas" are usually brought in to fix when a company fails to make enough profits to satisfy investors. Looking for those profits in the executives' paychecks would be far too simple an answer.

To start things off with

There are a ton of articles (including some of my own) on-line how to handle a job interview.  As someone who has been on both sides of the interview table I consider myself – if not an expert – someone with advanced knowledge on the subject.  

As this blog will be about my new job, and employment in general, I think I should start off with the interview process.

My outfit was corporate: black suit, white blouse, black shoes and handbag.  Hair styled in a bun, make-up applied with a light hand, a minimum on jewelry, no perfume.

I arrived at the company with time to spare, went up to the 13^th floor and met with Francine who needed an assistant.  It was almost as if we had a relaxed conversation, rather than a job interview.  Unfortunately, we hit a snag ... Francine had an allergic reaction.  With what little breath she had left, she asked me if I perhaps had a cat as she was extremely allergic to cats.  Before I could answer she had to rush from the room.

For the first five minutes I waited patiently, but then I started to wonder if Francine was coming back.  For all I knew an ambulance had to be called to give her emergency treatment.

Eventually I decided to leave and walked around the office looking for an exit.  I couldn’t find one but I did spot Francine across the office.  She was feeling better and suggested we continue the interview.
“Are you sure?” I asked her.  “I have not one but five cats, so obviously if you are allergic to cats, I’m not the best candidate for the job.”
Francine felt different and gestured for me to sit down.  Alright then.

After the interview I called the agency that sent me and spoke to my consultant.  “I don’t stand a chance,” I told her.  “The woman is allergic to me.  Well, not to me but to my cats.  She had an attack while I was there.”
“Oh that’s too bad,” Jeanine said.  “She never said anything about that in the job spec.”  Yeah well, I guess allergies don’t really come to mind when recruiting for an assistant.

Back home I had barely taken my coat off when the phone rang and Jeanine told me that I had the job.  I think I responded with a “Whah?”  I was so stunned you could have knocked me over with a feather. 

So now Monday is D-day.  I wonder ...