Workplace

Lately, there seems to be quite a bit written about salaries and salary negotiation (we did an interview on that subject recently for an article in the Wall Street Journal). Salaries may at first seem like a bit of a non-topic, considering the state of the economy.  However, we do know if there is any group that it is really going to push the envelope, it's Gen Y, so we wanted to give you some guidelines to think about.

If you are in the process of securing a position:

1.  Be realistic, and don't be too picky.

Anything paid is a plus in this economy. What matters is that your career is moving forward. Remember that many young people are going the unpaid route just to keep their foot in the door. If taking a lower salary means getting a roommate or even moving home for a short stint, don't panic. Everyone is adapting to the challenges of the economy, and it may be your turn.

If you are lucky enough to be entertaining an offer, keep the following questions in mind. Answering these questions may help a lower salary seem more palatable.

• Will I learn new things from this role?
• Will I be learning things from established employees with a lot of experience?
• Does this role satisfy a skill or experience requirement that I will need in
  the future?
• Are there chances for advancement at the organization later on?
• Is this an organization known to help young people move forward with their careers?
• Is the organization known to be fair in terms of salary and bonuses overall?

Remember not everything is salary. Keep a clear head even if you are greatly disappointed with the salary you are initially offered. Try to extract your ego from the process and remember that working is good...being unemployed, not so good. Always remain gracious and polite when receiving any offers. Don't write off offers that you think are too low, especially if you have student loans or other debt to consider. There may be other things that the organization has to offer in the overall scheme of your career.

2. Do your homework.

Review websites to get current info about salaries. You could try www.salary.com or www.payscale.com. Others sites like is the bureau of labor statistics - (www.bls.gov.) are a bit more detailed, but offer info about your job in specific settings, and that can make a big difference in salaries. Keep in mind that even in the same field, the setting in which you work and area of the country can change a salary dramatically. For example, will you be in a school vs. a hospital setting vs. a business setting?

Also, remember that cost of living is quite different from place to place. Visit sites that help you compare how far a salary can actually go from one place to another. Try sites like www.bankrate.com that offer detailed information concerning cost of living indicators such as housing, food, and utilities.

Finally, know the credentials that affect salaries in your chosen field. If a master's degree means more dollars in your field and you have a bachelor's degree, know that there will be a difference in salary without exception. Be familiar with the credentials and certifications that affect eventual salaries in your field.

3. Get a realistic salary preview from insiders.

Use social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook and LinkedIn to make contact with people in your field and explore what managers are actually offering younger employees. Don't rely on rumors or urban myths or outdated information, because today is much different than two years ago. Remember you may be competing with other individuals with years of experience. You can ask for information about raises and bonuses as well. If you are still in school, contact the college recruiting center - they are a great resource about salary and hiring trends.

If you already have a job and want to negotiate a salary increase:

1. Think long and hard about the timing of your request and the state of your organization.

If you have witnessed recent layoff and concessions among other employees, you definitely do not want to talk salary at this time. Be happy you are still employed and wait a while and reevaluate your options. Nothing will make you look worse than demanding a higher salary in the midst of a severe downturn. Don't move forward - sit tight even if you think your salary is on the low side.

If it appears that things are stable or improving at your workplace, read on.

2. Know how your experience and performance stack up against others in your role.

You need to look around your workplace and assess how you really stack up. Is your salary really low when you are compared with your co-workers? Do you have the credentials to move up the pay scale at your workplace? If you haven't completed your graduate degree or that certification program that has been recommended, now is the time to think about how that will affect a request for an increase. If you can swing it, find a way to beef up your resume and round out your credentials before you ask for an increase. 

3. Make yourself a more valuable employee before asking for more money.

Consider the following:

• Have I spent enough time in my current role to be a proven entity - in other words if you left, would you be missed?
• Has your performance stood out in a way that sets you apart from your peers?
• If you imagine your manager reviewing a list of employees and having to cut one loose, would it be you? Why not?

Remember that spending a year or two in a role doe not guarantee a promotion or a salary increase; those have to be earned and justified. In the meantime be sure that you are continuously increasing your value within the organization.

If after considering everything we have discussed, you still think it wise to negotiate, do so. But proceed with caution and be prepared to justify your request thoroughly. Let us know how things have worked out by posting a comment.

Marla Gottschalk is our workplace and career coach. She and Anna have conducted surveys about Gen Y in the workplace and will be publishing the results soon.

Recently I provided my top tips for resumes and cover letters. Of course the goal is to ensure that your application materials get you in the door for an interview! Below are my top tips for interviews and internships.

 

Top Five Interview Tips

 

An interview is a golden opportunity to convey why you are the right person for the position the employer is seeking to fill.  Whether asked out loud or not, the definitive interview question is "Why Should I Hire You?"

1. Know your resume. If you mention a thesis or research project, make sure you are ready to discuss it in detail!

2. Know the employer. Read the website, google the organization to find any recent press, and try to locate and speak with alums from your college who have worked for the employer.

3. Prepare thoroughly for every interview. If you are a confident public speaker and enjoy interviewing, maximize your skills; if the thought of an interview makes you break into a cold sweat, extra practice will make the interview goes as smoothly as possible. Practice out loud, with a friend, teacher, counselor, or in front of a mirror.

4. Leave your baggage outside the door. If you are unhappy with your grades, be prepared to discuss that in a confident manner and provide an example of how your on-the-job-ability is not fully reflected by your grades. Highlight other aspects of your background that can serve as an effective counter to concerns about your grades, such as your foreign language ability, commitment to public service, initiative, flexibility, or resourcefulness.

5. Be professional: wear a suit (nothing too big, too tight, or too short), arrive 10 minutes early, turn off your cell phone, throw away your gum and coffee, and have multiple copies of your resume handy.

 

Top Five Internship Tips

 

1. When any opportunity-to write a memo, work with someone new, tackle a last-minute assignment, or attend a meeting-is offered, say yes. During the short period of your internship, make work your number one priority whenever possible. Enthusiasm, a positive attitude, and the willingness to take on extra work will make a strong impression on your supervisors.

2. Arrive early each day and don't be the first to leave. Even if you have time on your hands, get to the office on time and stick around until the end of the workday. And if you don't have enough work to do. . . .

3. Take the initiative to ask for additional projects. Find out if there are any long-term assignments you can handle or meetings and conferences you can attend. Investigate whether there are opportunities to work with different groups in your organization, so you can meet more people and learn about other divisions.

4. Treat everyone with respect. In many offices, administrative assistants have the longest tenure and the bosses' ears. Make sure you are respectful of their time and express your thanks for their assistance.

5. Bring a notebook and pen everywhere you go. Take notes about your assignments and about what you see and learn. If you have questions while working on a project, ask specific questions so your final product is on-point.

 

Nicole Vikan is a graduate of NYU Law School. She spent her first law school summer at a large law firm, and her second summer in the Homicide Investigation Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. She returned to the District Attorney's Office after graduation and spent five years as a criminal prosecutor, handling cases such as robbery and assault. Nicole then joined Fordham Law School's Career Planning Center, where she advised students seeking employment in the private and public sectors. She is currently a career counselor at Georgetown Law Center's Office of Public Interest and Community Service. As part of the Anna Ivey team, Nicole works with law school applicants and people exploring legal careers.  

 

Social networking at work: Gen Y thinks it's a birthright, Boomers frown on it, and Gen Xers are stuck in the middle. NPR has a great story about this clash of generations over appropriate use of technology in the workplace.

I'm curious to hear what you think. How much of your time at work is yours to spend however you like? Is that time your employer's or yours? Do you buy the argument that social networking is appropriate "business development," or is it mostly goofing off with your friends? Please share your thoughts!

There's a nice collection of articles in today's WSJ for aspiring lawyers and JD/MBAs:

Creating a Shorter Path to a JD/MBA: This is a good discussion of the pros and cons of the 3-year joint degree. I would add that the 3-year program is too short unless you have a fair amount of work experience and very targeted goals for the joint program (and what comes after). You would need to hit the ground running as soon as you get there, and be very smart about mapping out those three years and the summers in between. Most law school applicants and many business school applicants I cross paths with don't have that much focus yet. They are going to graduate school to figure out what they want to do with themselves, and they are not really the ones who would benefit from the fast-track joint degree.

Law Firms Embrace Business School 101: Law firms are realizing that their attorneys lack management and business training and are therefore sending them to executive ed classes at business schools ("We realized our associates don't have an inside view of how our clients work").

Lawyers Often Lack the Skills Needed to Draw, Keep Clients: They don't teach you business development or client relations in law school, and I often remind law school applicants who tell me they're "not interested in business" that at a minimum, if they hope to advance as lawyers and own an equity stake in a law firm one day (whether at a large firm or as solo practitioners), they will have to learn how to think like business owners and learn how to run a business.

Hand in hand with client relations, it's also important for young attorneys to learn how to interact appropriately with more senior associates and law firm partners. Here's a recent example, in the form of an email exchange, of a junior law firm associate who needs to learn those skills (tone, content, spelling, judgment). It's a good reminder that going to a top law school is not the same thing as knowing how to succeed in the working world.

Thoughts? Comments? Please share.

Do you find yourself mentoring older colleagues at work in the art of social media, like Facebook and Twitter and wikis? If so, the Wall Street Journal would like to hear from you. Please email me asap if you'd be willing to be interviewed.

These are not the happiest times to be coming out of law school or business school. An article and a blog posting in today's Wall Street Journal jumped out at me:

"Recession Batters Law Firms, Triggering Layoffs, Closings" is a sad post-mortem of the once-venerable San Francisco law firm Heller, Ehrman, which closed its doors last year. I summered there as a 2L, during much happier times (thank you, internet bubble). It sounds as if Heller, like many other firms, had been in the process of renegotiating its business model, and that's been a problem industry-wide. But check out this paragraph: 

When Heller lawyers gathered for a retreat in March 2007 in Santa Barbara, Calif., some had grown anxious about the firm's finances. Mr. Bomse staged a mock opera about the firm's struggles. It featured professional opera singers and members of the Santa Barbara orchestra, and cost the firm more than $200,000, according to a member of the firm's executive committee. During the performance, lawyer David Goodwin says his wife turned to him, aghast at what she imagined the cost to be, and said, "This is a poorly managed firm. You need to leave."

After reading the whole article, and this anecdote in particular, I find the article's title misleading. It's not clear to me at all that the recession is responsible for killing off Heller. The article points to the firm's overreliance on big cases that ended up settling, as well as clients in general who have been wising up and learning to avoid long, costly trials. And throwing money around on stupid things also says something about a firm's managerial priorities.

So lawyer-guy's wife got me thinking. When you're out intervieiwng, for any kind of job, you can take a look around at your prospective employer and, like that wife at the retreat, do a gut check. I know firms are spending a lot less on recruiting these days, but they still have to recruit. So if employers are being frugal in recruiting you, think about whether that's actually a good sign. Same goes for colleges and grad schools that try to lure you with stupid bling.

"Nowadays, an MBA Doesn't Equal Job Security" states the obvious to some degree -- did it ever equal job security? -- but take a look at the interesting comments to that blog posting, where we see a debate unfold about the commodification of MBA degrees vs. the school of thought that still puts a lot of stock in the "seal of approval" you're getting from the top schools. I'll add to that debate this observation: I'm hearing from a number of MBAs from the very top schools who are having trouble finding jobs right now. It's grim. Hang in there. An MBA, even from a top school, and even during economically healthy times, is not some sort of magic pixie dust you can sprinkle on your resume. You still have to do the work of figuring out what you want to do with your career, and figuring out how you're going to get from A to B. See here for more thoughts on that.

I had an interesting discussion with a friend of mine who works (as I do) with lots of twenty-somethings. When we got around to the gratuitous praise to which Gen Y/the "Praise Generation" has become accustomed (phony praise that inflates their sense of achievement and rewards them for process rather than outcomes), he had this observation to share:

On all of this, I'll point out that, having worked with a literally never-ending stream of recent college graduates--half of everyone is 22 in my world--I notice that the people who consistently are the best to work with are ex-elite athletes. If you spent a substantial chunk of your life in sports, how could you:

• Think fairness is relevant? Losers talk about fairness.
• Fail to put stock in hard work, hoping to hide in the pack instead?
• Think hard work guarantees success?
• Fail to appreciate the importance of natural talent?
• Fail to focus on outcomes?
• Over-focus on process to the detriment of outcomes?
• Get confused by multiple goals and so fail to achieve any of them?

I say this as someone who frankly is more committed to the arts than to sports, but it has become clear to me that those who live a life in the arts and/or academics are prone to *ALL* of the fatal mistakes outlined above, and these are failures of outlook that wouldn't last past your first varsity season in high school, let alone college.

The difference is simple--top athletes are trained to focus on outcomes, period. Everything else is whining. Business is about outcomes, period. Non-athletes are shocked by that.

As an addendum, I was amazed when I got to [college] how many kids arrived there believing they had genuine artistic talent. They were going to be performers, or artists, for a living. They thought themselves that good.

No similar problem with sports. But in the arts, it's subjective. If you are the best in your high school, well, as far as you can tell, you're Kristin Chenoweth. There's no mechanism -- or incentive -- to level-set. In individual sports, there's no chance of this at all. In team sports, there's a little self-delusion, but not too much. [Anna asks: But what about teams where everyone gets a trophy? Helicopter parents invented that rank stupidity. Makes sense though that *elite* athletes don't suffer from this syndrome.]

Can I speculate that this problem is more an issue in law school, where kids majored in subjective disciplines like Poli Sci, Religon, and other stuff, and that math and physics grad programs don't have these problems? Even med schools probably don't have the problem as much?

Fascinating. Thoughts? Please comment.

A lot of Gen Y experts out there are telling companies to suck up to Gen Y's parents. Here's an excerpt from a blog posting, for example, by Tammy Erickson in connection with her book ("Plugged In: The Generation Y Guide to Thriving At Work") put out by Harvard Business Publishing (meaning, she's obviously no slouch):

• Distribute packs of information for parents to students at universities and job fairs
• Hold a career fair in your community designed specifically for parents
• Create special FAQ material directed at parents' likely questions and concerns (retirement, health benefits, 401(k) plans, educational opportunities and so on
• Hold parent orientation sessions or conference calls
• Invite parents of interns and new hires to visit the Y's place of work and meet the boss and colleagues
• Provide the staffing necessary to follow through with parent requests
• Run ads communicating your positive attributes as an employer aimed at parents
• Provide incentives for parents to refer their children (beginning with your current employees - if your current employees won't refer their own children, consider whether you really are a good employer)
• Include parents in employee benefits

Do you have a parent-approved brand?

I can see the short-term benefit of this kind of recruiting strategy. Very short-term. However, I wonder what kind of people you end up with when you use that kind of selection mechanism. Maybe the same subset of Gen Yers employers complain about all the time: the ones who don't show up on time, can't follow directions, can't make even simple decisions on their own, can't behave like grown-ups. I would posit that there's a connection between that kind of recruiting and that kind of employee.

So maybe you get entry-level bodies in the door that way. But what's that going to look like longer term? When you're trying to groom young employees to rise up through the management funnel? How do you make grown-ups, let alone leaders, out of people whom you selected for their dependent, child-like qualities?

I give Gen Y's parents a really hard time about infantilizing their grown children, and now companies are being encouraged to do the same thing. I have to think that's not a good outcome for those companies as a business matter, and it's downright toxic for Gen Y.

And for those whose immediate response is, "That's what Gen Y is like, there's no way around it," I say: You're not looking hard enough. You have to recruit more wisely than this, because with some of these recruiting strategies, you are inviting longer-term headaches.

Please weigh in. Am I wrong? And Gen Yers: do you want to be treated this way? Do you think that's a good thing?

(Here's my memo to employers; my memo to helicopter parents; and my memo to Gen Y. And here's a sample HR Director's lament.)

So I was catching up on my Tivo'ed Project Runway episodes the other night when I couldn't sleep. (I won't call it a guilty pleasure -- I will defend Project Runway 'til the end!)  Thought I could escape Gen Y issues for a brief spell? No sir. In this particular episode, the lovely Frau Klum challenged the designers to "design a look for recent college graduates who are starting their lives as independent professional women."

Independent? Really? Then why did all these young women BRING THEIR MOTHERS ALONG? Naturally, the moms started dominating the working relationship with the designers, and the designers started pitching to the moms rather than to the daughters/clients. In defending their designs to the judges, the designers would say things like, "Holly and her mother seemed really happy with it" -- a reminder that with Gen Y, parents are (almost) always part of the package. How old does Gen Y have to get before their parents back off? I'm intensely curious.

In any event, with the exception of the winning design by Jerell, these were some of the worst clothes you could ever see in the workplace. Or anywhere. Yikes. (Read the blow-by-blow here.)

The ever-excellent Kristina Cowan over at The Salary Reporter has a great posting about ways recent college grads can avoid flubbing their job interviews. Read it here.