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Brand new brand
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Day 1: A couple grand in the whole, a few friends happy with a couple of free samples, and no sales. No business license, no tax ID, no legality to sell as of yet. Ideas come and go and become more and more complex. A simple idea that can easily be transformed into a small business with 5-10 employees/volunteers, is now a multinational idea (in my head, of course). What’s difficult in the start is the extra hours. My partner and I work the corporate daily hours…and with kids, girlfriends, and the occasional softball game, starting a new venture can get put (and left) on the back burner.
Day 300(ish): This is about the time we’ve been serious on taking our university and corporate knowledge and trying to plug it into a fresh idea. I’ve been given great advice by a number of people from different walks of life on how to focus on both careers, the ups and downs, and how to deal with the sacrifices. I think the biggest question I’ve had to ask myself is if working two careers is solely for the money, the headaches, maybe being interviewed by CNN (or a local newscast), or to simply bring an idea to life and create an empire.
I think when it comes down to it, the biggest excitement would be to see a final product in the hands of a random customer walking down the street. That would mean that the product would have brought enough interest to a customer to the point that they would take their hard earned money out of the pocket, and hand it over to my company. Celebrate rarely though, right? I’ll keep you posted on the progress and the craziness of the changes that are required to make a project come to fruition.
Job Confusions
I’ve 
now been done with grad school for 2 months now and have reverted back to the social media world to keep up with trends. I have some work to do. However I’ve, I constantly think about a career path to devote all my time and energy into. That’s the problem with being a business major I feel. There’s so many avenues and so many choices, making the right one is just the same as pulling a career path out of a hat and sticking with it no matter if you like the outcome or not.
How do people even know the path they choose won’t make them living a life of regret leading to poor choices, stress, anxiety, anger issues…i could go on. I think my major issue is that i know what interests me, i just find it hard to become an expert in that field because I wonder if i’m wasting my time or not.
But does making any strive to a new career ever a waste of time? Even the smallest of input into the field helps with the awareness and may even help with the discovery of a new idea. I guess once you figure out how much you wish to contribute to the field that you will then know what path is right.
Grad School Orientation
Spent all Friday night and all Saturday (10 hours that is) attending new student orientation for the MBA program. Yes I graduate in December, but apparently I slipped out of it every year. Anyways, there were some extremely beneficial speakers that really opened my eyes to the next step after graduation.
I find it’s extremely beneficial to work full time while going to school part-time since it teaches you how to juggle work, school, and most importantly: your life!! Some speakers had some regrets that work got in the way of life, and life got in the way of work. FInding that balance is strictly up to you, but it can have a great impact on others and yourself in the long run.
Something one of the speakers stated when he was attending the executive MBA program at Stanford really stuck with me. He said if you didn’t speak up and contribute to class, then you would be excused. This is what I will try to focus on in the next semester. I realized that I haven’t benefited from the MBA (as well as my bachelors) program as much as I could have. There are groups and organizations that i’ve missed out on since I was in one mind set: graduate and move on! But there’s a lesson here:
You won’t make any money, any REAL money while your in school. You’re focus should be long-term! Network as much as possible, go to school gatherings, spend more time on campus. This should all benefit you later on in life. Instead of focusing on right now and grades, money, etc., focus on what you plan on doing in 10-20-30 years. Use classes for their purpose: NOT to get an A, but to get the benefits of the knowledge and ability to learn.
One speaker stated that whatever you learned your first year of school will be obsolete by your third year. THis is a GREAT indicator that you should focus strictly long term. School teaches you how to learn, and when you stop the habits your learn in school, you immediately fall backwards!
Job Stuff
I’ve pushed out more than 50 blogs to you ranging from how to deal with assistant managers as well as part time employees (Mostly directed to the retail industry), all the way to how to find a new job and what to expect on the first few months. The class I write for is over and I’m sure life will get in the way of blogging as often, but what I do want to do is to continue on the new job process.
My first job I was in for 5 years and still learned something new every day. Now, my new job I’ve only been in for 5 months and the learning curve is still peaking, but the information I’m absorbing is getting more complicated and is allowing me to become more of an asset in my department.
The blogging aspect of a new job has been great since I’m able to go back into the archives and see how my first month went and what I went through even before that. My best recommendation would be to follow my lead and write about your experiences. This way you can see how far you’ve gone even if you are way too hard on yourself and think you aren’t producing and wasting your time.
Whoever said it’s tough to get a job out there is ridiculous. It takes determination, sacrifice, and most important: TIME! You can’t just go on one website, find your perfect job, apply, and start the following Monday.
Also, after you do put in the time to obtain your new position, try to get as much out of it as possible!! Even if you hate it more than you can imagine, there is always something to get out of your new job. It can make you more knowledgeable on what you want for a future job. You also may hate the first few months, and then end up moving into another department and stay with the company for years. In my last job, there were over 100 employees, and after three months, only 15 original employees stayed, including me. 3 years later, I had my own store.
Stick with what you’re doing especially if you love the industry, the people around you, or the hours, or whatever… It will be worth it in the end!
Can A Vacation Make You Work Harder After?
I just recently got back from a small vacation and it really opened my eyes to my career goals. Usually you go to vacation spots that are completely different than your normal life, which makes sense. but this last vacation I went on wasn’t so different than what I’m used to, but different enough to open my eyes to what I want in life.
People’s priorities are all different. Some want security for their family, some want lavish items and big wallets, some just want peace and quiet and a good opportunity for their children, and some want a little of everything. Kinda like me. RIght now I think being stable enough to provide for family members in the future, having a place that fits me, having a toy or two, and enough savings to get your out of any trouble you may endure.
Since i really can’t travel with my job, vacations are all i get right now. It allows me to experience different things, and motivates me to work harder so I can see more in the future. This last trip I just took made me want to work harder in school, harder in my job, maybe consider new opportunities in the future, think harder about another possible degree to add to the masters, and opened my eyes to the heavy competition out there. Most people I saw blowing money on vacations are either crying inside from the debt they are about to experience, or just knowing their spending pocket money. Which one do you want to be in the future?
PS: If you want to wakeboard, and don’t have a proper wake boarding handle to be towed from, don’t tear a stick off of a tree to use in place….Lets just say it took me a while to type this blog…
Negligence Can Affect More Than Just Yourself
Does the work you put time into actually get finished? Or do you let something slide and pull the saying of “I can finish this later.” And then never finish it… Do you either get too busy? Or just overwhelmed at the increasingly amount of work given to you each week.
Back in college, if you didn’t get complete your work, you simply get a lower grade, or sometimes nothing even happens. (Thank you to those professors!). But think about the ramifications if you don’t complete your work in your career. You may get a lower rating on an evaluation or even more, get demoted. If it’s a constant occurrence, it may lead to termination.
My department shows a double effect especially since I deal with other people’s pay, benefits, promotions, etc. All department s have others that are affected by your negligence, some more than others however. Is that a bigger fear to you, knowing that if you don’t complete your work in a timely manner, or at all, that another individual can be affected?
Think of the other people that be affected by what you do. If you can’t complete your work on time, it’s not a bad thing to talk to your supervisor to lessen your work load. It will only help you in the future. With a smaller amount of work, you will be about to focus more on one or two things rather five or six teaching you better time management and accuracy.
Video Blogging Can Help With Job Interviews
Video blogging will force you to watch yourself on a computer. It’s something that is hard to a lot of people , especially me!! Hearing just audio isn’t too bad for me, but seeing my face and thinking, “man, that’s what people are seeing when they talk to me??!!”can be a little strange at times.
But if you can be comfortable talking and watching the video of yourself, your confidence in the interview process will go up dramatically!
Going On Vacation Huh?
Be aware of people who are going on vacation. There mind may shut down early leaving you room to take over and show what you are made of. You might be able to move just a little bit ahead of your co-employees by proving you can take over their work in their absence.
Vacations are sometimes very much needed but can set you back in some instances. If multiple people are gone, then it makes you look like your in charge of the office. You can start to make a name for yourself amongst other people you never deal with.
Are You Listening? Or Are You Talking?
All companies have controversial aspects to them, things you don’t believe in to the point where you may leave a great position simply because of your morals. Some companies use sweatshops, some just laid off thousands of employees to outsource to another country, and some simply just don’t pay taxes, which may irritate you straight to the bone!
My department (Department of Interior)…(By the way, since I’m in HR, when you call to inquire about a job, make you sure you know that your applying for the government, a company, or an organization…Makes you sound a little smarter from the get go…just saying) has an extremely controversial program within the state of Nevada – The Wild Horse and Burro program.
Like most people who disagree with most things, they don’t take the time to dig and do the research on the actual purpose of the program. They take a snap judgment and stick to their ways. The Wild Horse and Burro program gets a bad rap since the Bureau of Land Management rounds up wild horses and sets them up for adoption across the world. This is all that most people know. And I’m giving this example because most companies out there do something similar. My last job required me to hire based off of personality and looks alone. That wore on me after a while.
But back to the WH&B program… The adoption program helps to keep the population of the wild horses down to avoid disintegration in land resources. Horses are projected to multiply by 4 in the next ten years. They estimate that there are 25,000 horses already. Without the help of the program, there can be over 100,000 horses struggling to find the resources they need to survive. The programs simply aides in protecting all horses as well as the wild land that is owned by the BLM.
It took my own curiosity to start asking some questions since I also had people around me who were as uneducated about the program as I was. This is very common in every company. When you start out, the best resource of information you have to find out about controversial issues is probably sitting next you, down the hall, or upstairs. Just ask!
20% Of People Make 80% Of The Money
This video opens your eyes to what you motivating factors are. It also expresses that you need to stand out of the crowd if you think you even have a chance at being that top 20% person in your workplace.
Think of what your motivating factors are! What drives you to go to work today, if it’s a paycheck…then that’s your drive, if it’s the thought of saving people or helping someone, there’s your factor. You learn your day to day work tasks while your at work, but keeping motivation is something that’s 24/7 and changes constantly.
Who Are You Motivating??
Do you need to motivate others than yourself?? What’s the point since you have wayy more work on your own plate? Or is it actually beneficial to help create a new, exciting environment in your office? You may be what an old, low morale office actually needs to be more productive. It’s amazing how one new employee with a great attitude and a constant smile on their face can bring to the table.
Even if your terrible at your job (especially right away), if your motivated to learn more and will listen to others when they teach you, it can create a great working atmosphere that can have an end result in a more productive workplace.
Hidden Job Market
The job search now-a-days can prove to be a little frustrating. Jobs sites don’t always prove to be the best method since most of the jobs posted are for online survey taking or pyramid schemes. ( I have friends who will concur). But what’s interesting is how people just use a few sites, and then complain that there are no jobs!!
A small amount of advice that i can give is to search mostly on the “hidden job market.” This is taking the time to go straight to the jobs or companies/organizations that you want to directly. Always remembering that finding a job is a full time job!! If you’re right out of college, keep in touch with your advisors and career navigators. Jobs come to universities all the time for recruitment.
Here’s a story on how I found my job: I received an email from my university stating that there was a job fair directed towards a completely different degree than I received. I figured…why not! I went in figuring that i’m wasting my time, but knew I had nothing to lose, except some money since I needed my suits dry cleaned… I showed up dressed in a nicer suit than everyone else with my resume in hand. I then went to the only company i recognized, since the job fair was directed towards engineering and science majors. Started up a conversation with the recruiters, and went to an interview a few weeks later. Started a month later.
The point to all of this is that jobs can present themselves in the most random places. Take a chance on something other than job websites. You never know what will work out next time.
This Water Cooler’s Not Big Enough For The Two Of Us!
This video describes the horrors of spending all day watching training videos and reading training manuals that are impossible to absorb! You should think about what you do all day long and if there are any breaks between doing jobs and tasks that you know how to do and understand, then you should try to just sit with a co-employee and watch what their doing.
This will also strike up new conversation amongst your new co-workers that will build stronger relationships in the office and a level of trust will be dramatically raised.
Monday’s almost here already??
This is coming from the mind of the person when they are simply watching the fan blades move, or staring out into the window of the summer days that will soon be spend in doors. The weekend is over, and now you are about to count down the days until the next weekend. OR, do you flip this around and count down the days during the weekend until you get to sit at your favorite desk and complete the work that makes you complete?
Here are a few tips that i’ve provided that may help break up the work week and simply make you enjoy what your doing the other 5 days of the week.
Meeting time: 9:00am until ??? Never Probably…
My department is starting to have staff meetings every other week now. This is a great learning tool for myself since it involves every employee and everyone gets a voice. I can see every aspect of the department as well as see the frustration that others have. It may be that I’m a newbie, and frustration because of others hasn’t quite kicked in yet, but I can understand everyone else’s view.
What is valuable about staff meetings is that they give you a chance to get everything out on the table. I found that I start understanding things that are vague to me in more depth. There are a million acronyms that my organization uses, and after hearing them a few hundred times, I’m starting to become a master at the new language.
The downfall of meetings is that they can be brutally boring. Like to the point where you start day dreaming about most ridiculous things. You can sometimes actually see the clock move backwards…it’s weird. But I had an art teacher in high school that gave me great advice. “If you have to be there, you might as well make the most out of it.” It does make sense.
Do yourself a favor the next time you’re stuck in a meeting and bring a notepad or something that will force you to pay attention and try to be active as much as possible. Even if it is all arguing and pointing fingers, you can use this to avoid being in the same situation in the future. Take what faults you see from your co-employees and figure out ways to improve on them, and also ways to avoid you making the same mistakes.
Decisions, Decisions
Do you ever find yourself walking into a restaurant or a store or even to deal with the cable company only to relate with the employee your dealing with hatred of their job? It’s like it doesn’t even bother you that you’re upset with the employee since you are able to laugh it off and say, “I’ve been there…” Then you give the advice of “why don’t you just get a new job if you hate the one you’re hate??”
After you severely get into that employee’s head and they decide to change jobs after the 5 seconds of thinking about it, they might realize that it may be the worse or best idea to deal with their situation.
Worst idea:
I’ve seen this before when someone with a great career just has a few things missing in their job such as a great boss or good co-employees, and then they just quit thinking that they can find a new job somewhere else. Now they end up struggling and needing to find a bar tending job (I’m not bashing the bar tending profession by the way, it’s just not considered a “Career”). They still can’t find another job and find themselves settling since they make wayyy more money right now.
Best idea:
You realize that you need to change your career, so when you wake up, on lunch breaks, nights, and weekends, you spend all your time looking for a new job on sites, networking, going to job fairs for example. You put in the time and thought about a better situation for yourself, and actually get hired with enough time to put in your two weeks or a fair amount of time for your last time to end on good terms without completely dumping all your work on other people. You may even take a pay cut, but if the situation is right, a pay cut may be worth keeping your sanity.
Asking The Right Questions Can Really Help!…I’m Serious!
What do you look for in a job? Forget the company or the organization you want to work for and the specialty that you should be a pro at since you spent all those nights in college doing homework and studying for. But what do you really want to be doing while at work?
Do you want to sit at a desk in a 9″x9″ cubicle that seems to become 8″x8″ one week…then 7″x7″ staring at a computer screen for 8 hours a day?
Do you want to make a lot of money but have to put up with a lot of years of … no money?
Do you need to be in constant contact with a lot of people at all time?
Do you want/need weekends and nights and holidays off?
What about a job that allows you to go back to school? Hard to do working nights…
Do you want to travel? Country wide or internationally?
Do you want to commute across the city or into another state every morning and night?
I’ve learned that instead of just asking what company and field do you want to work in, there’s all of these little questions that can be painful if you ignore. You’re dream job may include working nights, but your social life doesn’t allow for it (btw it’s probably time to grow up a little bit if this is your excuse…).
These things may not be apparent right away, but after a few months especially years, these questions will affect your job decision and your career. Think about EVERYTHING when choosing a job, especially if you’re just desperate to get out of your current job and think your replacement will solve all your problems. (i’ll touch on this later!)
Measuring What You’re REALLY Doing
I just finished reading a very informative book called “The Three Signs of a Miserable Job” by Patrick Lencioni that opened my eyes to a very important tool that not only managers should be using, but that every individual can benefit from. It’s about measuring what you’re doing at your job. My philosophy has always been: if you have to be there for some reason, you might as well make the best of it. Reasons are money, resume builder, interning for example.
But I never put into words the idea of measuring what you do at work and whose lives your job benefits. You’re probably thinking that it’s obvious; if you’re a waiter, you bring food to people, if you’re a police officer, you save lives and protect others, if you’re an executive, you make decisions that benefit the board of directors. The measurement comes from how many people you serve, how many people you protect, and how many good decisions you make.
However, I’ve found that measuring feedback and reoccurrence of your customer as being much more beneficial. Reoccurrence as a police officer probably shouldn’t be measured for obvious reasons. But you want to be able to take tallies of how many smiles you created, how many times you went beyond your typical work to help another employee or how many times you did some type of change in your work place to improve some aspect.
By measuring important aspects in your job, you contain a sense of competition amongst yourself and other co-employees which can enhance success. Instead of waiting for mid-year or yearly reviews, review yourself everyday by keeping a scorecard of what you measure. If you’re a manager or not, try to get everyone on board and keep a big tally board in your office to keep track.
Motivation Proclamation
We all know motivation differs with every individual. It’s something that makes us pull the sheets off and get out of bed in the morning. We’re all working for something whether it be job security, money, satisfaction, or to overcome pure boredom.
Most people will opt to think they need a job to pay the bills so they can keep a roof over their head or pay for the necessities their family and loved-ones need to survive. But dig deeper, wouldn’t your motivation be job security instead? If you’re in your job purely for the pay checks, then you’re going through the motions and not working to better yourself in your career which could lead to even more money.
This contradiction works all the way up the chain of motivation. Here’s the chain of motivation I feel might work the best:
Overcome boredom
Money
Job security
Job satisfaction
Job accomplishment
Secure retirement for you and your family
In high school and college, boredom and money is pretty much all you need as a motivator until you finish school to tackle more challenging jobs. Security comes after graduation when you’re working hard to keep the job you spent years of college to obtain. With that comes satisfaction after your first taste of a raise or promotion. By now your goals are defining more and more every day and becoming more realistic and obtainable. You’re now accomplishing what you set out originally without even knowing the long term. I’m only assuming having a good retirement by doing all those things you wish you had time to do while working along with being able to provide for a comfortable living for your family as well is a good idea for the end of your career. I’ll get back to you in 30,40,50 years whenever that happens…
40 Hour Work Week? Are You Serious??
How many hours a week do you work? 40 or maybe something like 26, or maybe 19, and for some reason still have a job. But I’ve heard a lot of friends say they would like their new job more if they had more to do and weren’t just sitting around looking for something to do to pass the time. If you owned the business, would you want to pay your employee for 40 hours when they really are only putting in say 26. No… you would only pay them for 26 hours.
But what is actual work?? Does training count? I think so. The more knowledgable about the company you are, the more valuable you are. You can also use that for an impression factor. You might know more than your counterparts leading you to have better opportunities for more significant work in the future.
26 hours of actual work when you start might be pretty good. But spend the other 14 hours learning something, anything, about your company or organization. Learn the values and learn what other employees and co-workers do on a day-to-day basis. Learn what your boss actually does. I’m still trying to figure that out right now and I’ve been in my new job for over 3 months. Read random manuals. You may not be able to comprehend them, but at least it will make yourself familiar with material that you will be exposed to in the future.
R. Tom Saxton 
