You Are Always Being Interviewed, 24×7

You Are Always Being Interviewed, 24×7 As a manager and business owner, I am always looking for people to be on my team, even when I dont have a position open.  Im always watching for someone with something special customer service, ambition, etc. I think there are thousands of people in my position who are continually watching and looking.  That means that we are always being interviewed.  Let me emphasize ALWAYS.  You are interviewed (aka, watched) when you walk in a room, when you look at your phone too many times, when you say something nice or rude to anyone, when you show that you are engaged or disengaged in a conversation always. This morning I was reading how Afterburner hires.  Afterburner is a cool consulting company that hires veterans who become business consultants Jim Murphy shared this part of the hiring process (read the article here): When he does hire, the first step in the interviewing process is to take the candidate out for a fancy restaurant dinner, the kind a client CEO might host. The interviewee is escorted to the bar to swap military stories with the interviewers. While the Afterburner people are limited to two drinks, the candidate can have as many as he or she wants. At dinner the interviewers watch how the candidate behaves, which fork he or she uses. Murphy says he wants people with the business poise to sit with C-suite clients. I wonder how many people at that interview think that, while swapping military stories, they are being watched on how many drinks they order. Or on which fork he or she uses.  Im sure they are watched on every little detail of how they interact at that dinner. This interview might seem casual, but its a tool to see how you would act with a company owner, as if you were the consultant.  Would you embarrass the company? This is one example of how we are being watched. An interview isnt just about what we say, how smart we are, how we say it its about a lot more than that.  When I interview people informally, I am immediately wondering these two things (among others): would they represent my company well? would they ruin, or add to, my culture? So what do we do with this information? Act nicely. Act professionally.  Realize that what we do or say might be the thing that gets us the job or adds a few more months to our job search. You Are Always Being Interviewed, 24×7 As a manager and business owner, I am always looking for people to be on my team, even when I dont have a position open.  Im always watching for someone with something special customer service, ambition, etc. I think there are thousands of people in my position who are continually watching and looking.  That means that we are always being interviewed.  Let me emphasize ALWAYS.  You are interviewed (aka, watched) when you walk in a room, when you look at your phone too many times, when you say something nice or rude to anyone, when you show that you are engaged or disengaged in a conversation always. This morning I was reading how Afterburner hires.  Afterburner is a cool consulting company that hires veterans who become business consultants Jim Murphy shared this part of the hiring process (read the article here): When he does hire, the first step in the interviewing process is to take the candidate out for a fancy restaurant dinner, the kind a client CEO might host. The interviewee is escorted to the bar to swap military stories with the interviewers. While the Afterburner people are limited to two drinks, the candidate can have as many as he or she wants. At dinner the interviewers watch how the candidate behaves, which fork he or she uses. Murphy says he wants people with the business poise to sit with C-suite clients. I wonder how many people at that interview think that, while swapping military stories, they are being watched on how many drinks they order. Or on which fork he or she uses.  Im sure they are watched on every little detail of how they interact at that dinner. This interview might seem casual, but its a tool to see how you would act with a company owner, as if you were the consultant.  Would you embarrass the company? This is one example of how we are being watched. An interview isnt just about what we say, how smart we are, how we say it its about a lot more than that.  When I interview people informally, I am immediately wondering these two things (among others): would they represent my company well? would they ruin, or add to, my culture? So what do we do with this information? Act nicely. Act professionally.  Realize that what we do or say might be the thing that gets us the job or adds a few more months to our job search.

A Lesson in Hiring Lunatics

A Lesson in Hiring Lunatics My recent flight home from another dash around our Asia Pacific offices found me somewhat reflective. Sure, the business had been going through ups and downs â€" everyone is.  I mean, its hard to keep the value for investors coming in decade after decade and its downright tough enough just finding the right talent to fuel that constant growth. Instead, what really managed to clamber into the back of my mind and silently dig away at my sanity were the lunatics I encountered. The fringe operators, the back-stabbers, the corporate psychopaths and the downright incompetents that lurk in every office. How much can we really learn about a person in a job interview? I can’t help but feel that Talent Acquisition has let down the business world. Aren’t we meant to guard the gates from people like this? We pick apart interviews, drill down into work history, analyse psychometric results, view the background checks etc. Best practise tells us that if you follow these golden rules you should be okay because a mistake is not just costly, it’s a personal nightmare for everyone else. I interviewed candidate X personally over 12 months ago.  He was everything that you would have expected for the senior role at first interview. Well presented, polished, courteous, knowledgeable and witty. Sure, he spoke over me at times which I glossed over; after all, people are nervous in interviews and he wanted to answer and gosh was it a great answer. Textbook behavioural responses with closure and wrap-up at the end of it. And that smile! You just had to believe it. No one else had nailed it so succinctly.   My eyes met those of the hiring manager across the table from me and deep within my primal brain I knew with that glance that ‘’Yes!’’  This was our guy.  Of course, there was no way he was going to pass without being tested. We needed to step things up with the second round, so I left it a couple of days and called back to let him know that we had completed our first round of interviews. He had obviously been waiting for this news. In fact, he knew that we knew that he knew. He was really that good.   X was hired amid a flurry of hurriedly renegotiated contracts, online testing and a handshake. He was being pursued elsewhere apparently, we needed to move fast. It had taken a week. He was looking for work, we were looking for him and it was apparently a match perfectly made. Should I have been worried? No, why? Was it odd that it had happened so fast? Of course not. In fact, the time to hire looked incredible at 7 days flat. We had interviewed twice, we had completed the checks, the psychometrics were interesting but he was certainly far from an outlier. A perfect hire, right?   The (not so) perfect hire! Two days into the job, Mrs W noted the lingering look she received when talking to him. ‘’Oh its nothing!’’, she dismissively said and walked away. I was asked the same day to attend his first presentation to his team a week later. Personally, I love seeing hires in action so I immediately accepted the invite. To open the presentation X played a video from YouTube â€" It was the one about various dances throughout history performed by a gent on a stage. It took about 10 minutes. It was awkward â€" We’d all see it before. A few narrowed eyes looked back at me, some quizzical expressions. X laughed loudly and proclaimed at various stages ‘’check this one out!’’. People took out their phones. The presentation that followed was even more bizarre. He had used sounds for each slide (God I hate that) and had copied a couple of organisational charts and diagrams from his previous company that he had ‘’scored’’ when he had left. The discomfort was palpable. It gets worse, but you probably have a picture of the situation right now. We hadn’t necessarily hired a problem, but something was off. He could talk and people listened, but it felt plain wrong.   10 months later, cubicle natter confirmed that X was unofficially the village idiot. In one of his more memorable moments after losing a crucial bid, X felt that inspiration was needed.  He decided it was appropriate to email the whole of our Thailand operations a picture of a three legged dog with a brief story attached to it. Apparently this plucky creature had lost its leg at a young age but managed to survive by learning to dance for strangers who in turn fed it. The lesson for the team? Apparently, we can still be disadvantaged at times but can always learn new things to succeed. I remember putting my head on my desk for 20 minutes not knowing whether to laugh or cry. Again, the will was there, the reasons were spot on, but the execution was off.  Needless to say, staff enlarged the photo and it appeared everywhere in mockery. X wandered the office and looked on proudly at what he had done. Look! Behold my inspirational leadership.   What are you to do when youve made a bad hire? Confronted with overwhelming evidence that we had made a grave error in judgement, HR refused to budge. He was the most senior person in-country and he kind of did his job. He dressed correctly, he polished his shoes. We could not apparently just terminate people. ‘’Yes’’, they explained, ‘’Turnover has admittedly increased by 10% and admittedly the emails are odd and maybe the fact that the women in the office are finding him creepy should alarm us, but he is doing his job’’.   And this dear reader is the sad truth. X endured. Was it HR? Should they have moved faster to quell the rising concern and address the issue? Yes. Did they? No. Should senior regional leaders have done something about it? Yes. Did they? No. Should his direct reports have filed complaints about the creepy behaviour, the looks, the suggestive and sometimes ridiculous emails and statements? Yes. Did they? Again, no. And so individuals like this continue and in fact, often thrive at the cost of many hardworking relatively normal people around them who decide to tolerate and not confront it. The importance of culture fit The lesson for me is that culture fit trumps all. It begins and ends with how someone is going to fit in to the business. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not suggesting hiring the same type of person over and over again â€" You’ll end up with zero creativity and no real talent edge in your business. What I am suggesting though is that even if they don’t immediately ‘’fit’’, you make sure that your culture is made abundantly clear early on.  If they have the qualifications and they have the experience, immediately look at their fit.   I often tell my senior stakeholders that Talent Acquisition do not find products. If we could do that, I could arrange a JIT inventory system and we could regularly moan at our suppliers for not having produced high quality products. Instead, we are dealing with humans and there is no test on this planet that will tell you how they are going to be on the job.  You can interview of course. You can test and double test and have a highly priced psychologist chat to them as well. You can run background checks, criminal checks, credit checks and even talk to their previous employer.  Ultimately, you’re taking a calculated gamble and you pray that your leaders are up to the task of guiding, coaching and nurturing the person.   The part where I cannot offer an excuse is what to do when it all goes wrong. A business should act decisively. You need to understand your own culture well enough to be able to say ‘’we don’t do that around here’’ and back it up with actions to avoid your very own X lingering for years. Author: The ‘Acquirer’ â€"  No small dose of healthy HR skepticism. A career in Talent Acquisition leadership in global companies from the heat of the Asia Pacific to the crisp air of Europe.   Pragmatic, strategic, and every now and again… serious. Image: Shutterstock

Go Ask Brian Fudged Resume Risky - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Go Ask Brian Fudged Resume Risky - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career While we all tend to sometimes “exaggerate” some of our experiences and accomplishments, one place to strictly avoid this tendency is in your résumé. Exaggerating or even stretching the truth can potentially have career-ending/altering consequences. Just go ask Brian Williams, the erstwhile NBC news anchor who recently admitted publicly that he took some, shall we say, “liberties” when describing some of his career experiences. To briefly recap, Williams, an otherwise talented and respected broadcast journalist, finally fessed-up that he was not actually aboard a helicopter that was shot down while on assignment in Iraq in 2003â€"contrary to the story he had been telling (and re-telling) for going on 12 years. Poor Brian. As this is being written he is on a six-month unpaid leave, presumably to give him some time to mull over his ill-advised actions. Now that the job market finally seems to be on the mend, you may be tempted to “fudge” a little bit on your résumé, under the assumption that any risk of exposure is somewhat reduced because hiring managers today aren’t looking as closely at resumes as they have been in recent years. That assumption may prove to be false! RESUME REVIEW PROCESS EXPANDED, EXPANDING According to a mid-year 2014 nationwide survey conducted online by Harris Poll for CareerBuilder, employers seem to be taking more time than they have in recent years, particularly during the Great Recession, to review individual résumés that end up on their desks. Forty-two percent of survey respondents said they are now spending two minutes or more reviewing résumés. Plus, most employers (86% of those surveyed) are now having more than one person conduct résumé reviews. Twenty-one percent said they had four or more people review résumés before making a hiring decision. The survey sampled the opinions of 2,188 hiring managers and Human Resources professionals across a wide-range of industries and included companies of varying sizes. SURVEY SAYS . . . Among the major findings of the survey . . . Fifty-eight percent of employers said they have caught lies on résumés, and one-third of these employers said they have actually seen an increase in résumé embellishment since the Great Recession. Fifty-one percent of employers said they would automatically eliminate a candidate found to have a falsified résumé, while 40 percent said it woulddepend upon what the candidate actually lied about. Amazingly, seven percent said they might still be willing to overlook a candidate’s lie(s)â€"if they “liked” the candidate! MOST FREQUENT RESUME LIES Of those candidates who choose to lie on their résumés, here are the TOP FIVE areas they most frequently lie about: Embellished skill set(s) (57%) Embellished responsibilities (55%) Dates of employment (42%) False/inaccurate job titles (34%) Claimed academic degrees not actually earned (33%) INDUSTRIES WHERE LYING MOST PREVALENT The financial services industries topped the list of companies where candidates are most likely to lie on their résumés (73%), followed by these industry segments: Leisure and hospitality (71%) Information Technology (63%) Healthcare (50+ employees) (63%) Retail (59%) A FEW OF THE MORE UNUSUAL RESUME LIES Some of the more “unusual” lies surveyed employers said they have seen on résumés include . . . The applicant . . . Claimed to have 25 years of experience. The only problem was, the candidate was just 32 years old. Listed three jobs over the previous several years, which actually was true. But there was more to it: After the hiring company contacted the “previous employers,” it was learned that the applicant worked at one job two days, another for just one day, and the third, no days at all. Applied twice for the same position, but provided different work histories on each application. Applied for a position with the company that had just terminated him, listing the company as a previous employer and claiming that he had quit. Claimed to be an Olympic medalist. RISK SIMPLY NOT WORTH IT While no further evidence really is needed, the CareerBuilder survey strongly suggests that “fudging”â€"even a little bitâ€"on one’s résumé, or making outrageous claims or statements during the job interview, simply isn’t worth the risk. If anything, the survey suggests that the risk is actually increasing in the current job market. One thing you can absolutely be assured of is that hiring managers and companies for the really good jobs definitely will do their due diligence before offering a candidate one of these positions. They can be expected to contact references and to verify employment history, professional credentials and stated academic credentials. Still, those who attempt to deceive potential employers might be able to slip by the initial screening, interviewing and even the job offer stages. But what if their deception is discovered later on, after they’ve been on the job for a while, maybe even several years after they’ve been on the job! Well, bad things can definitely be in the offing if it is discovered that they were somewhat less than truthful in their résumé or in any other way, for that matter! It does happen. Just go ask Brian! _______________________________________ Check out Career Stalled?, Skips latest job-hunting book in the Headhunter Hiring Secrets Series of Career Development Management publications. Click HERE to watch a one-minute video preview of Career Stalled? on YouTube. Going on a job interview soon? Know someone who is? Download Skip’s FREE  â€œHow to ACE the Job Interview!” publication by clicking HERE. Learn how to interview the way Superstars do!

Qualifications Will Get You an Interview, But They Wont Get You Hired

Qualifications Will Get You an Interview, But They Wont Get You Hired Anyone who has ever gone through job search will likely be able to tell you about at least one interview they aced, only to find that the company “went in another direction” when it came time to select their new employee. This phenomenon is quite common â€" dark horse candidates get chosen all the time â€" but those who get the short straw in this situation nevertheless continue to be amazed and bewildered by the experience. Why did they hire him???   I’m far more qualified than he is!” Evidently, the manager saw him as a better fit for their organization. “But I’ve got everything they asked for in the job posting!   The other guy doesn’t!” There’s more to it than that. “He doesn’t have the industry experience that I have, either!   I don’t get it!” It isn’t that simple. It doesn’t need to be so perplexing.   If you clearly understand the various phases of the interview process and their corresponding focus, you can close the deal successfully. With each phase you mis-read, on the other hand, the likelihood increases of your ultimately being rejected. Overview of the process: Many job seekers grasp the fact that the interview is in fact a sales pitch.   For any sales meeting to end successfully, the salesman must know intimately all the features and functions of the product he is selling.   In this case, you are both the salesman and the product.   Simply stated, then, you must be able to articulate your value as an employee. Of course, it doesn’t stop there.   No matter how good it is, the customer isn’t going to buy your product if they don’t need it.   That means that you must also know the needs of the buyer (in this case, the hiring manager).   Research, then (via the company website, web searches, networking connections, etc), is invaluable.   Anything which gives insight into identifying pain points for the company can provide you with an opportunity to sell a solution. The final step is to connect the dots.   Show the interviewer how your skills match with their needs.   Don’t make them work to see the connection, but spell it out for them through an impactful and compelling narrative.   That’s when the buyer will be motivated to make the purchase (or to hire you). “But I did all of that!” Wait, that’s just the overview.   You may not have done this as effectively as you think.   There are distinctly different phases to this process. Phase 1  â€" Qualifications: In order for you to get the interview in the first place, you had to convince the pre-screener that you possess the skills for the job.   You likely spent significant time working on your resume, crafting engaging accomplishment stories to highlight the moments in your work history when you really made a difference.   No doubt your networking conversations also highlighted these skills. In most cases, the opening phase of the interview process will similarly be focused on these same qualifications.   That means that the interviewer’s questions are likely going to deal with your education, work experience and hard skills. In simple terms, they want to know that you can do the job.   The better you can demonstrate your abilities, the more impressed the hiring manager will be.   This is where all the work you did on those accomplishment stories will pay off:   the details (and especially the measurable results you achieved) are critically important, so share them confidently. “You’re preaching to the choir.   I did that, and did it very well.   Why didn’t I get the job?” Because that was only phase I. Phase 2  â€" Passion: The hiring manager wants more than your abilities; they want your passion, too.   If all you want is a paycheck, you’re not likely to inspire confidence that you’ll be truly engaged and productive on the job.   Thus, the interviewer is looking for assurances that you love what you do. The manager wants an employee who wants to work for their company, so you can expect a change in the type of questions you’ll be asked.   You’ll hear things like “Why did you get into this line of work?”, “Why do you want to work for our company?”, “What do you like most about your job?”and so on. Did you notice the change in focus reflected in those questions? “Umm …” When asked about your passion, if you answer by citing your skillset, education and work experience, you may miss the mark completely.   Although you could still be quite diligent in connecting conversational dots, you’re likely not connecting the right ones.   Another great accomplishment story here isn’t going to impress if it doesn’t address the question which was posed to you. “Oh.   So if I make sure that I sell my passion, I’ll get the job?” It’s a step in the right direction, but we’re not quite there yet.   There’s still one phase left. Phase 3  â€" Cultural fit: No matter how qualified and passionate you are, you won’t get hired if you don’t fit in with the team.   Someone who’s disruptive to departmental cohesion isn’t worth bringing into the fold, even if he’s excellent at his job.“No problem.   I’m a nice guy.   This should be easy.” Hang on.   We’re not talking about something so simple as whether or not you’re a jerk.   Team chemistry is more complex than that.   People who are otherwise good employees often “just don’t fit in” to a particular departmental or company culture.   And there could just as easily be friction between your style and your manager’s, too.   No one is necessarily the bad guy when that happens; it’s just not a good match. The manager will want to know that you’ll be a good complement to the team before making the decision to hire you, so selling the fit is critically important.   Most managers have experienced, first hand, what happens when a disruptive employee is brought on board, and they’re accordingly cautious about avoiding a repeat of the experience. Before you can sell a good fit, though, you’ll first need to identify whether or not one exists.   That means engaging in a dialogue about the manager’s style and the departmental culture.   Asking the manager questions like “How do things get done around here?”, “What soft skills are valued?”, “How would you describe your leadership style?” and “Can you describe a typical day and how you and I would interact?” will help to uncover elements of fit.   Once the chemistry is thus clearly defined, showing genuine enthusiasm for the team culture is a great way to convince the manager that you’d be a great addition. See the Big Picture:  In order to truly ace the interview, you must be sensitive to the change in focus as reflected in the type of questions you’ll be asked.   Be alert to whether you’re being asked about your qualifications, your passion or the matter of fit, and target your responses accordingly. It all boils down to this:  the hiring manager wants to know that you can do the job, but he also needs to be able to picture himself having coffee with you on Monday morning.   He’s going to be spending 40 or more hours with you each week, and he doesn’t want to do that with someone he doesn’t like.   Qualifications, then, are what will get you the interview, but it’s rapport that will get you hired. Author:  Bob Bozorgi is the COO of Executive Trackers, LLC, a sales, marketing, and executive search firm based out of the San Francisco Bay Area.

Format For Writing a Resume - How to Write a CV in 3 Easy Steps

Format For Writing a Resume - How to Write a CV in 3 Easy StepsAre you looking for a format for writing a resume/cv? If so, read on. The following format will help you when you are writing a resume for your next job.Your job is to make sure that you have a resume that shows a person who has the ability to perform a job and at the same time portrays yourself as someone who is of high caliber and trustworthy. A resume is the first thing you will receive after you send in your job application. It is not only the first thing that come into contact with a person who applies for a job, but it is also one of the first things a potential employer sees and will therefore give a lot of information about the person that is applying for the job.That is why it is imperative that the first part of your resume is easy to read and type line wise. If a potential employer has to do much work in order to read your CV or have to go through every page of your resume, they will not even bother to read it. Therefore, it is important that your resume be short and to the point.Easy to read and the type is easy to remember and makes a resume both memorable and more useful. Remember that you want your CV to stand out from other CVs, so your CV should be able to stand out from the others as well.No matter how many times you see it, your CV will not be able to hold up to a quick scan. If you keep your CV short and simple, the potential employer will be able to quickly scan through your CV without having to stop and ponder over each of the pages.Even though a CV is typically seen as a summary of all your educational, job experience, and other qualifications, there are instances when you may want to emphasize certain things that you have written on your CV or the personal statement that you put on your application. If you put your experiences, leadership roles, and other accomplishments that relate to the job that you are applying for on your CV, it will be easier for the hiring manager to f ind what they are looking for when they read your CV.On the other hand, if you leave off the important parts of your CV, the hiring manager will not have anything to look at when they are scanning through your resume. However, there are certain situations when you may want to highlight certain aspects of your CV or the personal statement. If you include a photograph, or something that is professional in nature, this will also help the hiring manager to not only read your CV or personal statement, but also look at your resume.Remember that people do not always use the same format for writing resumes, so try to tailor your resume according to the potential employer's needs. Do not follow the same style of writing each and every time that you apply for a job. You might end up confusing them and end up looking unprofessional.

A Beautiful , Healing Conversation With Spiritual Leader and Mystic Lorna Byrne - Kathy Caprino

A Beautiful , Healing Conversation With Spiritual Leader and Mystic Lorna Byrne Part of Kathy Caprinos new series Spirituality, Joy and Success This week, I had the absolute honor and thrill to converse in a live, 90-minute online call with international bestselling author, spiritual leader, Peace Ambassador and mystic Lorna Byrne. I discovered Lornas beautiful work recently through Mike Dooley, whose writings, resources and programs (through his organization TUT.com) I love and  have found to be beneficial for years. This past holiday season, I somehow felt compelled to dive into Lornas book Angels In My Hair, and for 11 hours, I listened to the stunning audio book, and found it incredibly touching and moving. I then decided to read all of her books, including Stairways to Heaven, A Message of Hope from the Angels, and Love from Heaven.  I also watched her videos and televised programs from around the world. For those who are new to her work, Lorna has been seeing angels since she was a baby, and she sees angels physically with as much clarity as the rest of us see people. And she sees them every day. This diminutive, soft-spoken, uneducated Irish woman (who did not talk about what she was seeing until seven years ago), says she has no idea why she can see angels when others can’t, humbly adding that she is just an ordinary person. What Ive found in Lorna is a true mystic whose abilities to experience angelic help and communication directly has positively affected many peoples lives around the world. Her life story is riveting and fraught with serious challenges, including dyslexia, poverty, the early death of her beloved husband, and more). And her powerful messages courageously challenge many of the negative and limiting beliefs weve been taught throughout the ages about spirituality, divine guidance, souls, past lives, heaven and hell and much more. Her work has been featured extensively throughout the world, in global events and worldwide television, radio and print media including CNN, NBC Today, BBC, The London Times, The Economist and many others, and her books have sold over a million copies. The beautiful messages Lorna shares with the world can be summarized in six main points:   Every person has a soul. Every person has a Guardian Angel. God is real. It doesn’t matter what you believe or even if you believe in nothing help is waiting for you. There is hope. And prayer is powerful. If youre open to understanding more deeply how to access spiritual guidance directly in your own life, I hope youll listen in to our call, and experience the healing messages she shares for our benefit. I hope you find the call (and the questions Lorna addresses for us) enlivening for you and your life. Please let us know what you think! Share your comments, questions and thoughts in the comments section under the YouTube video. Wed love to hear from you! And check out Lornas brand new book Love From Heaven: Practicing Compassion for Yourself and Others, and her upcoming events. Ill be attending her February 23, 2017 talk in NYC Id LOVE to meet you there! With love and light, Kathy

7 Pieces of Career Advice I Would Give to My 20-something-Self - Cubicle Chic

7 Pieces of Career Advice I Would Give to My 20-something-Self - Cubicle Chic 7 Pieces of Career Advice I Would Give to My 20-something-Self Career, Corporate Life, Health Life, Home Life, Office fashion, Outfits July 5, 2016 0 CommentsI think I was lucky. I didn’t start my career in the corporate world until I was 26 because of grad school, so I think I got into the working world a little more matured and a little more ready. Maybe I was more ready to become, shall we say, a #GirlBoss?But thrown into the midst of the workplace without much experience, I was facing a steep learning curve and some real growing pains. Like my manager told me on the day I started, “Be ready to drink from the fire hose.” She was not exaggerating. And this was how my career in biotech marketing began.It wasn’t just the workload or the new processes and jargons I had to pick up. It wasn’t even the fact that I was hired to fill a position that required at least 2â€"3 more years of experience than I had. It was the fact that this is now a new environment where things operate based on completely different rules. I came to learn that the work place is a complex ecosystem with hidden intricacies. From what you casually mention to your boss, what you use as desk decor, to what perfume you are wearing; everything adds to or detracts from your reputation. And reputation, as I’ve come to know, could mean the difference between promotion and layoff, getting visibility and never being noticed, moving on and up and staying static in your position.So here are a few things that I have learned from 5 years of working in the corporate environment. If I could go back in time and chat with my 25-year-old self, I would tell her:1. Choose your work friends carefullyYour work friends are people you eat lunch with, seen going on coffee runs with, people that you actually directly work with (which you have less control over), and people that you do happy hour with.  This is simple: birds of a feather flock together. If you associate with people that are lazy, overly casual, “loose”, and careless, you will be perceived as the sam e.2. Don’t be labeled as “The Young One”Even if you are the youngest on the team, don’t ever settle for a label as such. Labels like this often come with the association that you lack experience or even skills.  Just because you are younger in age, doesn’t mean you don’t have more to offer. Labels like this are also very hard to get out of once you have it.  What’s worse, is that “the young one” is often used as a psychological crutch that hinders people’s growth. Stay away from it, for your development’s sake.3. Know your core competency, and find ways to make it shineIn the early phase of your employment, try to find out why you were hired. Is it your analytical skills, sales experience, or technical know-how that got you your job? Find it out, and stick to what you are best at. Are you good at Excel? Add data to your presentation. Are you really good with PowerPoint? Create a presentation even when you don’t need to.  And in your spare time, develop other missing skills. Not great at presentations? Volunteer to present. Not good at Excel?  Find a co-worker who is, and ask nicely or bribe them â€" do whatever you have to do to have them teach you.4. Know the job after this oneThis doesn’t mean you start looking for the next job as soon as you find one. This means that the job you are interviewing for and preparing for should pave the way for your next one.  Never leave “figuring out what my next thing is” till after you get a job;  you should do that prior to your interview. The reason is that so you negotiate terms that allow you to develop skills you are lacking (refer to the last point) and make you more prepared to go for a more senior, but similar position, or switch to a tangential kind of function.Shoes: Kenneth Cole; similar here, here, here Blazer vest: Chelsea28 x Olivia Palermo; similar here,  here,  here Bag: Louis Vuitton Bag; similar here,  here,  here5. Find a mentorA good mentor can guide you through uncertain times and difficult decisions. They may have been in your shoes and know the consequences of taking certain directions  But finding a good mentor is not easy. Mentors are not floating around waiting to teach you the ropes or how best to climb the corporate ladder. Mentorships have to be sought out, fostered, and maintained. But mentorships could also come from places you least expect. If you’re lucky, your boss could be your mentor. Or our co-worker could be your mentor. The best mentor is the kind that is personally invested in your development.Whichever direction you go in to look for a mentor, know to always prepare questions before you meet with your mentor. Your mentorship is as good as you make it out to be. It takes work.6. Your boss is not your buddyDon’t get me wrong â€" friendship can certainly exist between you and your boss. You can even have a friendship outside of work.  Your boss is there to make sure, as a team, you deliver results. Your boss may even be there to motivate you, encourage you, and help the team be efficient. What they’re not required to be, is to be your friend.  They may look out for your benefits and crack jokes with you and that would be great, but they’re certainly not obligated to.    The point is to never default your boss to be your friend, or worse, your equal.  Because they are not.7. If you think you are being underpaid…  prove itRather than complaining about being underpaid, spend your time investigating your “worth”.  Simply put, in the working environment,  your “worth” is equal to what an employer is willing to pay you. Different employers may have different opinions. So if you think you are being underpaid, prove it by looking for other jobs and seeing if others are willing to pay you your ideal salary. If you do, you either have found a new employer or solid evidence that you deserve higher pay at your current job. If you don’t find an employer willing to pay you your ideal salary, then mayb e it’s time to explore options to enhance your value and skillset, so that eventually you can find offers with your ideal salary.Top: Zara; similar here, here, here Blazer vest: Chelsea28 x Olivia Palermo; similar here, here, here Bag: Louis Vuitton Bag; similar here, here, hereSo what do you think? I used very specific examples that related to my particular experience. Do you have anything else that you’d share with your 25-year-old self if you could go back in time?