Tag: Job Satisfaction

No Travel, Please

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Dear Jean,

I’m in line for a position that is not only a better job, it also pays more.  There is one problem.  I will have to do some traveling – too much, really.  Could I try to stipulate “no travel” when my boss offers me the new job?  How would you handle this, Jean?

Reply:

In most cases, there are legitimate reasons for specific requirements on job descriptions.  When travel is required, it is because the business to be conducted requires you to be in the city where the transaction will take place.  To request “no travel” on a position which requires travel is like requesting, “no keyboarding” on a position which requires computer savvy.

How To Be The Star

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Dear Jean,

I’m a salesperson with a national firm.  I do pretty well, but the woman they call their “star” salesperson is making me crazy.  She gets all kind of privileges and she looks trashy.  Jean, I always wear a stylish suit or dress and I am careful about my makeup, hair, nails, etc.  For some reason, I sure don’t get a trip to Bermuda.  What should I do?  Shorten my skirts and lower my neckline?

Reply:

I’m assuming that she earned those trips to Bermuda by winning contests.  Something I read recently said that we all wear a pair of magic magnifying glasses.  When we look at something, whatever we focus on increases.  If we look at the problem, the problem increases.  If we look at the solution, the solution increases.

My best advice to you is to look at the solution.  What is it you could be doing to increase your personal production?  Do you need to make more calls?  Do you need a refresher on closing the sale?  Do you qualify your prospects properly?  Do you have excellent time-management skills?  If she can be the national sales star, so can you.  Don’t spend any more time thinking about her.  She is living in your head rent-free.

Move on Down the Road

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Dear Jean,

What are the signs and symptoms when it’s time to move on to another position, or even another company?

Reply:

When you are not getting most of your needs met or when your personal boundaries are being violated.

I have been involved in the “find a job” strategies of more than 20,000 people.  People leave because they are not getting their needs met.  Well over half the time, the problem lies in the relationship between the employee and supervisor.  The comments I hear most are:  “We just don’t communicate,” “I can’t seem to please my boss,” or “The morale around there is the pits.”

Other reasons include:  no way to learn anything new, passed over for promotion more than once, troublemaker in the department, no challenge, new boss with radically different philosophy, too many hours of overtime, and frozen salary.  It is rare, though, for a person to leave because of salary alone.

A word of caution:  Occasionally, career problems are brought on by the person considering the change.  A rule of thumb is if you had the same or a similar problem in your last position, it could be you.  So before you take that “geographical cure,” make an honest appraisal of yourself.  Bounce it off someone who will tell you the truth, and see if there is anything you are doing to make your situation worse.  If so, change your behavior.  If not, update your resume.