It always amazes me when the career advice offered by so-called experts could be really funny if it weren’t so off the mark.
Take this example from Yahoo Finance’s “Brazen Careerist”. What is this woman thinking exactly? Among her suggestions is taking time off without first getting approval, keeping your headphones on at work rather than interacting with co-workers and (my favorite) call co-workers on the weekend and wait for them to tell you that it’s not okay. To quote etiquette tip number 9: “The best way to get a life is to stop being so rigid about the distinction between time for work and time for life.” Okay. I don’t mind answering my phone or checking email over the weekend every so often but for the most part, I really like my time off to be mine.
Now I must admit, there are a couple in there that aren’t so bad and in fact, I would go so far as to agree with some.
Like video resumes – well, that’s just fodder for a discrimination suit before the person is hired. And doing recon on your future boss and/or company, I would say that one should research a place in which they are going to spend the most of their waking life. Inviting your boss to Facebook or LinkedIn can be constructive in the right circumstance (like a tech company) but make sure that it’s appropriate for your situation. Blogging under a pseudonym is a personal choice, though if you don’t make sure you’re not doing anything that would get yourself fired. Exit interviews, well, it’s usually up to the employee as to whether he or she wants to participate, so that rule is somewhat irrelevant.
And not improving co-workers, that’s true. Employees should leave that up to managers and HR.
But being nice as if your job depended on it, well, she got it right when she said, “…the truth is that the most likable people get promoted, so this is an instance where following the unwritten rules really can save your career.”
I couldn’t agree more.