If you have a mentor, remember that the only payback he receives for helping you is your gratitude and the knowledge that his advice has helped you in some way. To put it in street language: Nobody owes you nothing. You should effusively thank your mentors whenever they extend themselves for you. But even though your mentor deserves credit and gratitude for any of your successes that he helped catalyze, he does not deserve blame if any leads or advice he provides fail to pan out. It is your decision whether and how to follow up on your mentor’s suggestions,…
About one year ago, President Obama ordered improvements to federal recruitment and hiring processes. So how much progress have agencies made? First, some good news: • Many agencies have eliminated those odious KSA (knowledge, skills and abilities) essay questions from job applications. • Agencies now hire 42 percent of new employees within the 80-day time limit imposed by Obama. • Many agencies are posting shorter and clearer job applications. • A program for increasing the hiring of veterans was created. Now, some bad news: Much room for improvement remains, say many current job-seekers. Obama’s May 11, 2010, memo directed hiring…
Even though federal pay scales will remain frozen at least through the end of next year, you may still climb the federal career ladder or gain the qualifications to do so. Some strategies for moving up: • Despite the pay-scale freeze, you are still eligible for step increases that are typically awarded to successful feds every one, two or three years, depending on their current step. • If you are in good standing, ask your boss for a merit-based quality step increase. If he denies your request, ask him what you would have to do to earn such a promotion.…
Whether or not your boss requests from you a list of your achievements before he prepares your annual evaluation, you should submit one. Without your list, your boss will probably be more likely to accurately and completely remember what he achieved in sixth grade than what you achieved six months ago. How to convey your achievements in impressive terms: Begin with a concise description of your achievements; how your responsibilities increased; how you went the extra mile; obstacles you conquered, and any other overarching themes for the year. Use bullets, and start each bullet with an action verb — such…
The time to build your professional network is before you need it. Once you need help, it may be too late to find allies who are ready, willing and able to provide it. Among the tools that can help you grow your network is LinkedIn. com — a free, searchable database of professionals in virtually every field. Use LinkedIn to connect with current and former contacts, the contacts of your contacts and so on — just as you may use in-person opportunities to generate such connections. Also, use LinkedIn to initiate contact with strangers with whom you share common ground;…
If you are a supervisor, should you or shouldn’t you telecommute? The first question to ask is whether you trust your staff to keep working when you are out of the office. Think about whether your staffers maintain their productivity when you are on leave. If you don’t trust your staff to keep working, consider taking training for managers on leadership skills or on teleworking, which are already offered by some agencies and may soon be offered by other agencies under the new Telework Enhancement Act, which is designed to increase teleworking by feds. Such training may provide you with…
The Telework Enhancement Act, which President Obama signed into law last month, is expected to give about a million more feds the opportunity to telework. Here are some tips for successfully working out of the office without losing your status in the office: * Make a written agreement with your supervisor, as the law requires, about the mechanics of your teleworking. For example, will you regularly telework on the same day every week, on different days every week, or only occasionally? Will you be permitted to telework several days in a row? And remember: Don’t push your telework privileges too…
Whenever you write a speech, lecture or presentation, apply the “less is more” principle. In general, the simpler your words are, the more your audience — no matter how sophisticated it is — will understand. And the shorter your talk, the more likely you will be to maintain your audience’s attention to the end. Two memorable speeches that incorporated the “less is more” principle: The Gettysburg Address. Delivered by President Lincoln on Nov. 19, 1863, to dedicate Soldiers’ National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pa., the address was short — perhaps because Lincoln had not been invited as the main speaker. Instead,…
Just as the mantra of real estate is “location, location, location,” the mantra of the federal sector should be “relationships, relationships, relationships.” Here are some ways to strengthen your business relationships and reputation: • Treat everyone well. No matter where in the hierarchy you are, and no matter how much you dislike or disrespect other individuals, treat everyone with courtesy and respect. You will look best by taking the high road, and you never know if another professional has the ear of a manager whose support you may need. For example, I am aware of numerous job hunters who either…
Like most things in life, the more you put into a relationship, the more likely you are to get what you want out of it. Here are some tips on how to make the most of a relationship with a mentor: Consider recruiting a team of mentors, something akin to your own personal board of directors. If you want to develop the broad range of skills required in most leadership positions, you will probably need assistance from a group of individuals that offers those skills, not just from one individual with limited skills. Mentors do not have to be in…