4 things no one tells you about the first 5 years of your career

4 things no one tells you about the first 5 years of your career4 things no one tells you about the first 5 years of your careerWhen we enter the working world for the first time, we show up with a lot of assumptions about (but little understanding of) how the corporate world works. Sometimes these expectations are met, but a lot of the time they arent leaving us confused and wishing someone had told us what to really expect before we even started.Well, as a former sales rep turned career coach, Ive learned that there are several things no one tells you about the first 5 years of your career. After spending much of those years really confused (maybe how youre feeling now) and constantly soul-searching, below are 4 things I wish someone had given me a heads up about when I was starting my career1. Its okay to keep your personal and professional lives separateWhen I graduated college, I thought Id immediately become best friends with everyone I worked with. Shows like The Office made it seem that all office environments were like family even if there were some quirky members. Not so much.Ladders is now on SmartNewsDownload the SmartNews app and add the Ladders channel to read the latest career nachrichtensendung and advice wherever you go.When I found myself in my first corporate job, I thought I was weird for not immediately connecting with all of my colleagues. I just assumed that all of the entry-level people would become good friends and go out for drinks together all the time.While this may be some peoples experience, its most often not the norm. Just like you dont become best friends with everyone you meet in life youre not going to become best friends with every person you work with. And thats okay.Or you may fall into the camp where you like the people you work with, but prefer to keep most of the details of your personal life separate from work. Thats okay too In fact, Id argue that keeping some separation between your work life and your personal life is really healthy.Yes, show up and be your authentic self at work, but you dont have to fill your coworkers in on every single detail of your life or go out drinking with them if you dont want to. You can build a great working relationship with your colleagues without fully integrating them into your personal life or fully integrating your personal life into work.Now that Im older, I actually see it as a blessing that I kept the two a bit more separate than I initially intended.2. Everyone looks out for themselves and you should tooI learned this lesson the hard way several times. Loyalty is an extremely high value for me. It makes me a great friend and employee, but it also means that many times in my career, I was afraid to make a move or take a new job because of the loyalty I felt to my boss or company.The truth is, in the end, everyone is looking out for themselves the awesome boss you feel loyal to included.As much as you may feel supported at work, ultimately youre the onl y one who can truly, one hundred percent look out for you. So when making career decisions, you need to be the one keeping your own best interests in mind.I dont mean go be arrogant or self-absorbed about it. What I mean is follow the opportunities that are going to further your career and get you to your end goal, even if it means leaving a boss or company you feel loyal to. That said, do it respectfully and dont burn bridges. Maintain those great work relationships youve built because you never know how or when people will come back into your life.Sometimes following those opportunities is going to bump up against your sense of loyalty. When that happens, put yourself in the shoes of the person you feel loyal to. If the tables were turned, wouldnt you want them to go after the best opportunity for their career, even if it meant leaving your team? Yes, you would.So stop stressing about being disloyal when making those career decisions because the people who really matter (the ones you want to maintain a relationship with) will ultimately understand. Chances are theyd do the same thing if they were in your shoes too.3. Figuring out what you dont want is just as important as figuring out what you do wantI cant tell you how many times I complained about how all I could seem to figure out was what I didnt want to do with my life. Would I ever figure out what I did want to do? Now as a career coach, I hear the same statements from my clients all the time.Most people dont land their dream job right out of college, or even know what their dream job actually is for that matter.But thats what your 20s are for getting experiences that help you hone in on what you will ultimately find fulfilling. Like any evaluation, the process of finding a fulfilling career involves a lot of figuring out what you dont like.Rather than being frustrated by this, look at the things you know you dont like as awesome insights into what really matters to you. Each thing you cross of the lis t helps you to narrow down your options in a world where the number of career possibilities can feel so infinite that its often paralyzing.Additionally, each thing you dont like gives you insight into what you do like. For example, say your first job out of college is on a marketing team where you are doing a lot of data entry, putting out fires, working alone, and each day feels like it blends into the next and you hate it. Well great Now you know that you dont likeWorking aloneFeeling like your work is reactionaryRepetitive workAND if you flip that around, you have some insight into what might be more fulfilling for youWorking collaboratively with a teamForward-looking, strategy workNew tasks each daySo rather than beating yourself up for only having taken jobs you dont like, think about the ways those jobs are actually clueing you in to what you do want in a job.4. Look around, not just upFrom a young age, many of us are taught that success as an adult looks like climbing straig ht up the corporate ladder. When we get our first job, we look at the people above us and assume well move up into their roles at some point.This may be the case for some people. But what happens when the ladder youre on doesnt feel right? Or when a different ladder looks more appealing? Or when we dont like the feeling of being on a ladder at all?For those of us who were taught to look straight up, this sort of realization can send us into a total panic. We falsely assume that because we chose a ladder, were now deckenfries on it and the only option is to keep trudging up even if we hate it.But the reality is that your career can go in many different directions. You dont just have to look up. You can look around you tooYoure not beholden to the ladder that youre on nor are you beholden to actually climbing a ladder at all. In todays world, there are many career options that look nothing like the options available to previous generations. And you have the power to choose one that m akes you happy.When you allow yourself to believe in your own autonomy and ability to make a change, you open yourself up to new opportunities that will allow you to do just that make a change on your own terms.That change might be up. But it could also be a zigzag, sideways, down, behind, etc. Be open to moving in different directions.This article first appeared on Kununu.

This is what you should include on your resume according to professor

This is what you should include on your resume according to professorThis is what you should include on your resume according to professorWhen you are applying for jobs, you want to stand out, but you arent given much of a chance to do so. You may be able to send a cover letter and resume and suggest folks who could serveas references. For many positions, those elements are the only ones that are evaluated on the first pass by hiring managers.In that context, it is no surprise that you want to make your resume as awe-inspiring as possible. And that naturally leads to the question what should I include on my resume?How you decide what should be included depends a little on knowing about how people evaluate the information they get from you. Consider two possibilities.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moraOne is that when people read your resume, they look at each piece of information y ou put on there and decide how good it is. Then, they add up all that goodness and use that to createtheir overall impression of you.If hiring managers are creating a sum total of goodness, then it is in your best interests to find every good thing you have ever done and to make sure it is represented on your resume. You might have had three great jobs that you want to highlight. You might also have gotten honorable mention in a pitch competition. That is an honor (if not a victory), so you throw that on your resume as well. By including every positive item you can, you maximize the internal score you get.Of course, there is another possibility. Perhaps when people look at your resume, they average the goodness of all the things on it. That makes the decision of what to include on your resumemore complicated.Clearly, every truly great thing you have ever done should be highlighted on your resume. But, what about the merely good things? That honorable mention in the pitch competition . Is thatgoing to make recruiters feel better about you? If they are averaging the items on your resume, it might actually be worse to have three great things and one merely good one than it is to have just the three great things.So, which is it?As I discuss in my new book Bring Your Brain to Work Using Cognitive Science To Get a Job, do it well, and advance your career (Harvard Business Review Press), research by Kimberlee Weaver Stephen Garcia, and Norbert Schwarz introduces a concept they call the presenters paradox. They find that when you put together a resume (or any other document that will be used to evaluate something), you assume that people will use an addition strategy. So, you throw on as much information as you can. But- in fact- people are generally using an averaging strategy.As a result, you are probably putting more information on your resume than you actually should. This research suggests that less is more. Focus your resume, cover letter, and other materialson h ighlighting the absolute best you have to offer on display. If you have the choice between including something or not, ask yourself whether that element raises the average. If it doesnt consider leaving it aside.This advice applies to those elements of your record that are discretionary. If you applied for an award and got an honorable mention, you arent obligated to present it. And if you do choose to put it on your resume, you might want to add some context. An honorable mention might not sound so amazing, but if 10,000 people applied for an award, it was given to one person and only 10 other people received honorable mention, then let people know just how much of an honor that mention was.Finally, the presenters paradox is not an excuse to fudge your record. If a company requests your full education history, you have to include everything- warts and all. You can then use your cover letter to explain any aspects of your record that you think require some clarification. You dont wa nt to get a job under false pretenses. There have been plenty of high-profile cases of people who faked their records early in their careers only to take a significant fall from grace when the lie was uncovered.Art Markman is a professor of Psychology and Marketing at the University of Texas, Executive Director of the IC 2 Institute, and author of several books including Bring Your Brain to Work.You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people

Why Face-to-Face Workplace Communication Is So Vital in the Digital Era

Why Face-to-Face Workplace Communication Is So Vital in the Digital Era Why Face-to-Face Workplace Communication Is So Vital in the Digital Era From the coworker who is constantly getting dings on their phone to our cultures obsession with social media, theres good reason for the growing concern regarding the way we engage with digital tools to communicate in the workplace.In fact, much of the technology designed to make us mora productive in the professional world can actually do the exact opposite. For starters, instantaneous communication can make it challenging for employees to concentrate on one task at a time, especially if they are frequently being interruptedby an endless flow of texts, emailles, and phone calls.In addition, while digital communication tools can help us increase productivity and boost efficiency at work, our escalating and intense relationship with this technology can send us down the road to bad habits - especially if this technology starts to replace hum an interaction.In 2016, Randstad askedemployees around the globe whether technology helps or hinders their ability to relate to and build relationships with colleagues. More than half of the respondents said they feel technology makes them feel less connected to people in the real world, and89 percentsaid face-to-face meetings were the best way to interact with others at work.The Paradoxical Way Communication Technology Hinders CommunicationAs an author, communication expert, and grenzberschreitend speaker, I firmly believe our reliance on technology at work can be a hindranceto effective communication, especially if it ends up as a complete substitute for face-to-face interaction.Smartphones, tablets, and computers have all contributed to a reduction in the number of face-to-face interactions we have with our coworkers, managers, and clients. It is much easier to send a quick text or email than it is to actually take the time and effort to talk to someone in personfor even a few mi nutes.While this approach is clearly advantageous with regard to efficiency, there is value to the face-to-face dialogue that seems to be turning into a lost art. We tend to build better relationships with each other, and our customers, viadirect, in-person interactions.If we want our work environments to promote creativity, collaboration, and effective communication, we must approach digital workplace policies with a top-down strategy. After all, management sets the tone for what is - and what is not - acceptable.Todays business leaders must create cultures of transparency regarding how and when mobile devices can be used in the office. They must help employees understand that while digital communication tends to be more efficient, face-to-face interaction is still the most powerful way to achieve business goals.Being in the presence of other people allows us to hear what they are really saying. We can read and assess their body language, nonverbal cues, and emotional state, and we formulate appropriate responses. With face-to-face communication,we can also minimize misunderstandings and provide more opportunities for clarification.Furthermore, communicating with colleagues and clients in person allows us to exhibit more genuine reactions and use our own body language as a cue for others. It also helps develop more trusting and meaningful connections.Finding the Right BalanceIt is important to understand that even the best technology and digital communication tools are only as effective as the people using them.At the end of the day, communication still requires input from humans - and it always will if we want to do it successfully. Finding a healthy balance of how and when your employees utilize digital tools versus in-person communication ultimately depends on your ability as a manager to set clear boundaries and communicate expectations company-wide.The bottom line The more transparent and engaged each employee is on a personal level, the easier it wil l be to promote a healthy mix of digital habits and face-to-face communication in the long run.Ulrich Kellerer is an inspirational business leader, international speaker, and mental health activist. Connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook.