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This might not technically be a career hack but something that I have found really changed the trajectory of my career. I got to a point where I really stopped caring about the upward trajectory of my career and it suddenly started to move upward. I think the key I found was to treat your boss/your bosses boss/the client/the people who work below you all just as people the way you would if you’d met them in a pub. I found a lot of people talk to people from their perch and are either condescending to people below them or massively intimidated by people above them or both. I found people responded to me so much better when they feel like I was talking to them as a person not just their job role.
Not a good thing for sure. It either makes you look like a pushover or a yes man/woman. People actually appreciate honesty. The hardest part most of us are still trying to figure out is that sweet spot of being not too opinionated nor indifferent.
I completely disagree, (ironic based on my point), but I work in a field where being agreeable has massively benefitted me. I am the most approachable & agreeable person on my team, and it's clear that the sales teams like working with me more than some of my colleagues. I've had a fast track promotion into the senior consultant team (from entry level 4 years ago) and my salary has increased 333%. I think there is a place for people that are willing to be agreeable.
Firstly congrats on landing your job and wish you the best in it. I have experienced redundancy during covid and it is not fun at all.
My career hack would be to find a job that you honestly love. I know it is cliche and easier said than done. But, that is what I feel is the best way to succeed in your career. We spend atleast 40 hours a week doing a job. May as well do something that you will enjoy. If not it will be a struggle and progressing in the career will be harder.
**Ikigai's four primary elements:**
* what you love (your passion),
* what the world needs (your mission),
* what you are good at (your vocation),
* what you can get paid for (your profession).
There's a balance to be had here.
You could find a job you really love, but if it pays poorly, you might not be able to do other things that you love outside of work.
For most people, finding a job that they don't hate is a more attainable goal. You don't need to love your job.
Thanks very much!
I would agree with your point. Sadly, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of achieving that goal. I truly believe there is a jon out there I'd love, but not idea how to find it, haha. What is it you do?
I work in aviation. I basically plan the maintenance of the aircraft in our fleet and ensure that it is legal and safe to fly. I love the job and have 5 years of experience in it.
Hope that you will find a job that you will enjoy. :)
Not really. I have taken the exams and passed most of them. Just did not enjoy the hands on experience. So decided to do the desk job assisting the engineers and I love it :).
Look for a new job when you're not desperate to leave your current one.
I used to do it only when I was desperate and then even when something felt off, I would accept the new job, only to be desperate to leave again a few months down the line.
I've been offered several jobs this year and have turned them all down due to a number of issues. If I was desperate to leave my current job I could be stuck somewhere worse.
Yep it sucks. The last three jobs I've turned down have probably involved 5-10 hours of my time to get to the job offer and going through preliminary checks just to turn it down.
Better to do the above than end up in the wrong job though.
True
I can see where you're coming from with this strategy because you're coming from a position of strength rather than desperation and that certainly increases your negotiating power.
However with the time and effort required to do well in a job interview I would not be arsed going through the time, effort and stress unless I really liked the sound of the opportunity - obviously pending a suitable offer and all that jazz.
Honestly, I think a lot of things are easier said than done. It's easy to give the advice "it's just a job, don't let it get to you" and "make sure you keep your home and work life separate", but in reality stresses and worries leak over, and it can be hard not to let things at work get to you.
Just be kind to yourself, both in terms of your career and personal life!
Most definitely, and the old truth of it being easier to find a job when you already have a job will forever be true in the case of someone who's been made redundant also. I think interviewing when you can afford to walk away is a positive, you have a strong standing and can decide if the role suits you and the company are fully aware and needs to try and win you over. Interviewing when out of work the tables have turned and you aren't in the strong position anymore.
Career wise a supportive manager can make you think you are a great employee, valued and part of the team, a bad manager and the exact same performance could have you hating life. You could very quickly end up blaming yourself for things then that you have no bearing on, you'd go from the person handing out advice and doing great to the person seeking advice and questioning your own future and the only change was the manager
Something I learnt very early on is how impressed people are when you just do the basics, ie - get things done on time, and do what you say you’re going to do.
Early on, I found it really awkward when I was getting praised for doing what was basically just my job. But now i’ve realised that at least 80% of the people I’ve worked with need to be reminded to do things, or take actions and then don’t do them. They forget to do regularly scheduled tasks and have to be ‘chased’ to do them.
Being solid and reliable will get you noticed.
I tend to look for a new job every 2-3 years after having had an early career through the global financial crisis which meant it didn't start off great, and I suffered 3 redundancies. I quickly realised no company really cares about you, and it's just a matter of time before it's possibly gone.
Up until the end of your thirties, or if you managed to get promoted up the ranks earlier, do as much as you can and learn to be a generalist with a broad understanding of your industry. Once you hit your forties, you can begin to nail down the areas you are better at.
I've managed to successfully skip several stages of promotions by moving around and feel I'm finally in a happy place where I've managed to get a work/life balance that works perfectly, a salary I can't complain about, and the ability to do whatever it is I wish my job to be.
All of the above does rely on the good fortune of landing a job with decent colleagues and supportive senior management.
I've often worried about my later years, especially considering I still feel like I've got so many unfulfilled dreams so far. Appreciate the candour. Definity felt that nobody cares but its also kind of liberating knowing where you stand in the regard.
I will look to job hop where I can though as it does seem instrumental in progressing.
One job I resigned from my boss literally said I was replaceable. I never knew if it was a vicious dig or just good advice. All I know is a high performance team is based on trust, more so than skill. I've managed to always have solid and highly dependable working relationships, and made myself invaluable by being the one who builds the bridges. I avoid the politics and bring people together. It's been my greatest skill, and hack, if you wish. Took many years to understand how to use it.
It's so simple it sounds patronising, but most people don't do it and that's why it'll help you get noticed and build connections: be a good employee and colleague.
By "good" I mean do your best to produce quality work, be easy to deal with, be helpful and collaborative, and above all be reliable.
When people know you as someone they like working with, they remember you when opportunities come or after they move on.
It's networking without networking.
100% this.
And don't just go to people when you want something - make the small talk, say a quick hello out of the blue.
It's not just transactional, it genuinely promotes a nice working environment.
Great addition. On the flip side of this, being a "drainer" who only gives people the time of day when you want something from them will win you no friends.
I've worked in purely transactional environments and none have been healthy or enjoyable.
This should be top comment.
And to go along with this, put yourself out there. Company trying something new, put yourself forward to run it. New procedure that will help your workload being put in place, champion it, new procedure being put in place that seems like a bad idea, find a way to make it better and raise it. Someone struggling with something, offer to help or take some other task to lighten the load. If you're overworked, ask colleagues for support.
You're welcome and well done for having the right attitude. It really makes a world of difference.
I've had old colleagues headhunt me a few times all because they liked working with me and knew I'd do a good job for them.
An extra pointer for you:
Bosses want to be presented with solutions, not problems, so keep your eye out for opportunities to add value. If you see something that could be improved or you identify a problem, think of a plan for dealing with it before raising it with your boss.
Move around to get the best pay rises, it's proven that switching companies yields a greater pay rise than staying with the same company for years (unless you love it there of course). I've bagged a 20k rise in the last 2 years doing just that.
Other than that get the absolute best pension deal you can, not career advice but I wish someone had told me that 10 years ago
What industy are you in? My pension is 5% rn, which is pretty standard so I hear. Not much hope for any higher unless I go government at some point. I could be wrong tho.
I'm in private sector, automotive manufacturing. My pension is 18% with employer contributions so there are companies out there that offer great packages.
Once you find a decent salary , the promotion worth 5k is not worth it if you are getting home at 6-7pm every night , especially if you have kids.
I positioned myself on around 50k per year and home by 4pm every night to see my son
This 100%
I get entire days with my daughter and when she starts school full time I’ll be moving to a different contract so I get my evenings and weekends with her
Can’t beat the look on their faces when they realise you’re back!
Yeah before I had.kids I worked in retail management 8-6 days before travel time , 1-11pm evenings.twice a week and 3 Saturdays per month plus 1 Sunday . For a rubbish salary , new I needed to get out before it was too late
Be the person who does what they say they’re going to do. It sounds really obvious but I’ve worked with so many people who don’t. Have a method to organise tasks, rank them by priority/ importance and make sure you’re ticking them off.
Think of it this way, every time you step outside your comfort zone you grow that little bit more. I also suffer from imposter syndrome and follow this.
For me, this was excel. I worked in sales so it wasn't a big part of anyone's role but everyone's spreadsheets were awful, I fixed my managers spreadsheet once and then I was known as the excel Wiz in the team. Which then meant people listened to me on anything tech related.
Just make sure you don't let people take the piss and force the extra work on you. Do the extra work as extra credit, not as your base
Probably the opposite to most and depends on individual circumstances, however don’t be pressured or feel like you have to progress on a job if it means more stress. My household income is circa 100k split between 2 jobs. Both non managerial. I could go into management, but in my industry stress for managers is high and once you include the mandatory car, are basically the same.
YMMV as obviously different industries have less or more stress the further up you go and money situations could be different.
Also, join a trade union if you can.
Thanks. I used to be in construction and this is the reason I am no longer. What is it you do? I've always perhaps naively though that unions was more of an American thing, or only for the trades.
I’m in the gas industry, management get shat on and it only gets worse higher up they go. But us on the tools are well paid so a lot don’t go up the ladder that much.
Unions are big in a lot of industries, but less so in other I guess. Maybe not as much construction as I’m assuming there’s a lot of self employment? We have had big pay rises recently as our workforce is well organised. If we even stopped overtime the company would be shagged.
Don't perform better than your immediate supervisor and publically embarrass him (unintentionally) with your relatively much more valuable contributions.
Breeds jealousy, hatred and resentment, causing a load of false slander against you to reassert their dominance.
At least that's exactly what happened to me vs a very insecure and complete fraud of a senior. Raised a grievance and had all the evidence to fuck the guy, but the company chose to close ranks and protect him regardless.
Guy legit looked like he was about to cry when I was showing my work to the team - they were all praising me eagerly, versus the bag of death he came up with.
So yeah, as sad and wrong as it, watch out for those who are weak whilst being powerful. (E.g. senior / manager with obvious poor subject matter knowledge and/or industry experience)
Perform too well in their presence and you represent a direct existential threat. Their insecurity drives them. They will back stab you. Tread lightly.
Instead, try identify well known strong performers and seek to impress them, their feedback and praise is worth the weight in gold.
I'm going through this right now, he doing everything to try and make me look like an idiot , I have been move to a new project which looks rubbish , but I have no choice , all because I was looking for ways to improve process ,which the company encouraged us to do , since then , the guy has been trying to sabotage me every way , if it's wasn't for the current job market I would have gone, I have learnt from the situation you never really know someone insecurity level ,but you live and learn .
Invest in yourself.
Putting in time, money and energy in your personal growth (soft and hard skills) is quite underrated.
Most folks lose track of this in the daily hustle.
Things that have served me well (programming, finance):
* Keep an eye on your CV. Yes, let's use this tool, that will help on the CV. It benefits the company because usually those are valuable and more up to date too.
* Chat with your boss and colleagues about the business, the market it operates in, the company history and so on. If it's all about to go in some direction, particularly south, you want as much forewarning as possible. It also helps massively to understand why on earth things are done the way they are
* Learn everything you can all the time.
* If you have an office job, take comprehensive notes all the time. When someone comes to query why you did something or why you didn't do something, you can look it up in your notes, and point out that you asked and were told no, or you raised it and they said it would be fine. Arse-covering, yes, but also helps you not to go nuts when people claim bare-faced that you didn't tell them etc because they assume you messed up as the junior.
Network like your life depends on it, lunch times are spent with people who work in a similar industry. Couple of drinks with the guys who work at your company but not directly with you.
Industry event? Get a ticket and do all the socials.
You'll build a little black book and people do the same until you eventually get that chat over a pint.
"There's a job coming up that I think you'd be well suited for."
My current role is remote, so that does seem more difficult in-house at least. But thanks, I will have a look for related events. Although, how do you go from a casual meeting/introduction to a point where you get given opportunities?
Congrats on your new job. I’d recommend networking. There are plenty of networking events in the UK that you could go to to and build a few connections, I’m at the point where I travel to other countries to network just to build that pipeline. I often have a few side jobs lined up from my network that pop up periodically, loads of managers would prefer to hire someone quickly to get a job done than to go through the arduous formal recruitment process which costs time and money. We live in a time where companies can make you redundant in a heartbeat, it’s always good to be ahead of the curve than behind.
Thanks! Do you think this applies to certain jobs more so than others? For example, I am in the geospatial industry. What's your process for networking on a weekly basis? Do you simply search for events related to your industry?
It’s a process that builds up over time, try and search for events related to your field and build your foundations from that, shake a few hands and go on a few lunches with like minded people, try to be somewhat active so you have a small network and people will start inviting you to things, there’s not really a playbook to follow for this sort of thing, the more effort you put into it the more likely you’ll build a successful network, and things will start to snowball from there. Many people land a job and then they get comfortable so they don’t bother to network as it takes time, if you have time some spare time on your hands I defo think it’s worth the investment.
Thanks for the advice. My current role is remote, so I think events are my only option. How do you go from casual introductions at events to the point where you're going for meetings, lunches and opportunities with the people you meet?
The easiest advice ever
Be a nice person, think, question and work hard.
If you’re not treated well, move on
Good people like working with people like that.
If you tell someone you're going to do a thing, do the thing. Simple, but amazing how far you can go when people know they can trust you.
I'm not saying "agree to do all the things", just make sure you do the ones you said you would. Stunning how rare that is.
Yes - my hack is boring but builds on that - in order to be reliable, don't over-commit! Be clear what your priorities are. I had what I thought was a dream job across various markets with so many different opportunities, but it was impossible to please everyone. Saying no is a huge skill.
Also, when you have put a lot of work into a project, make sure you own it, keep attending the key meetings and guard against a more senior person taking the credit at your expense.
Final hack - especially when working remotely - when starting new projects, don't be shy of setting up quick intro calls with some of the key people outside the official update meetings so you can build a relationship with them. This means you get to understand what their priorities are. They are likely to be more candid outside the group setting and they remember you. You can do this even when you are no longer new to the organisation.
Good luck!!
Work hard, don’t be afraid to promote yourself, build a network (not just immediate co-workers), be more than people expect. Doing this I haven’t had to apply for a job in years and no need for interviews.
Not really hack as opposed to what I would call drive/initiative. But I started doing customer service for a real estate agency, dealing with landlords, tenants, contractors etc. (essentially the bottom rung if you want to work up to be a property manager). I noticed there were some properties that didn’t exactly have managers assigned to them and was getting requests from the properties landlords through the shared email account so I just took it upon myself to start dealing with these people myself seeing as nobody else seemed too bothered to. A few positive reviews later and a couple of meetings and was in a property management role all within 8 months.
I will say, make sure you can manage your time and achieve in your own role very well first before taking on more or the potential to really crash and burn is there.
It might seem like this doesn’t apply to simply any given career or job, but any extra effort is generally met extremely well with most employers :)
Something I wish I knew earlier.... don't be beholden to hierarchy on consequential career/pay discussions, be willing to talk to your bosses boss.
In a great majority of cases, middle management are stifled with the whole Peter's principle thing of not actually being good at the management aspects of their job and only being promoted because of seniority.
For important personnel decisions; like for example if you're negotiating some aspects to your role, salary, bonus etc; the discussion will need to be passed up the chain. There's a good chance that your manager doesn't quite deliver your account very well or it even slips down their priority list to discuss. Sometimes very key details will be lost (if the issue is time pressed for example) and just not being direct in that discussion will always be less effective.
I've had a great success recently unlocking a major pay increase and some new opportunities after getting to know the CTO a bit and I'm kicking myself at not having these discussions about a year ago!
Obviously every organisation will be different but I think the general rule of trying to get some channel to have a relationship with the decision makers in some way is good advice. If they are pissy about facilitating that then there are probably quite weak at their role.
My career hack has always been to be comfortable talking to senior management. If you have an idea or feedback share it in a polite way. However make sure you know your audience. Don't go to c level exec and talk about coffee machines.
find the smartest most influential guy in or around your team, figure out what problems he has, try to solve them, make urself useful to him, and in return u will get good job security and opportunities for career development. that's what i did after 4 years of un and under employment.
I'd call my approach playing multiple boards at once. For the past 8 years I've been working on getting promoted and looking for a job at the same time, even when I was feeling happy with my job.
I was made redundant during covid, and also about a month ago, and I managed to recover almost instantly because of this.
I'm also very transparent and direct about what I want. I'm from Latin America, I told the company I worked for I wanted to relocate, and got them to relocate me to London; I told my boss what I wanted my role to evolve into, and got promoted; I asked to work fully remote and got 3 different companies to agree; and I also managed to get better compensation packages by doing this. Just ask for what you want.
Also remember to always do what's best for you, companies will make people redundant and it's not personal, and sometimes you'll get a great opportunity but you may feel reluctant to leave your company because of some sense of loyalty. Just ignore that feeling and always do what's best for you.
Every 2 years or so, but I'm not actively trying to climb now because I have a good work life balance and a good salary, so I'll probably slow down now, but I always keep an eye on the market.
2016 I was made redundant, got a job 1.5 months later
2018 I was working on getting an internal role, and they offered it to me, but the comp wasn't what I expected, so I left 4 months later
Started a new job and told them I wanted to relocate during the interview process
2019 moved to London
2021 made redundant, but I finished on a Friday and the next morning I was already working (same salary)
2022 got promoted in the new job, but there were some org changes and the salary increase wasn't as much as I expected, so I left in 2023
2023 got another job, with a better salary but I was made redundant in April 2024, but I got an offer on my last day of work, and I was unemployed for 12 days.
2024 The new job has a better comp package, and I was always transparent about working my notice and being made redundant, so they could have low balled me, but they actually increased the budget to match what I asked for.
Hello! I'm not sure I managed it with a great deal resilience, but I tried. The thing that helped me was the gym every day as some sort of routine and a weekend job working in a bar, which ironically has been the most enjoyable job I've ever had. Thank you very much!
Ah, you going through it rn? Try to see it as a blessing, I suppose! I don't know your situation so could be easier said thet done ofc. Going to the gym helps. Also just getting a weekend bar job or something easy and fun like that.
It is awful atm. I got lucky more than anything. The amount of jobs I'd been turned down for before this was pretty insane. Day is darkest before the dawn.
I found that job satisfaction is as much doing work that you enjoy, while working for & with people that you like, respect and can learn from. If you can find that you'll be doing well.
At least open it and consider what you'll put into it within about 8 weeks. Rewrite it over 6 months, plop out a few applications over next few months.
You would have to contextualise that yourself. There is nothing wrong with job hopping, wanting to improve your experience and standing. But you need to find out what motivates you and articulate it adequately.
Figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are, try and maximise the amount of work you can do that plays to your strengths and work just enough on your weaknesses that they don’t hold you back.
Try to eliminate ‘busy’ work as much as possible, you won’t get credit for it in the long run / end of year, make sure you’re aligned with management or your boss on key priorities and work on delivering them - creating a structured way of communicating progress to your boss / management on these goals will also help keep you ahead.
Focus on high value work rather than just working hard.
By this I mean you will need to understand what is valued within your organisation and focus on this over other things where possible.
The career triangle - you only need to pick 2 and you'll be fine:
- Do your work on time
- Be technically brilliant
- Be nice and easy to deal with
Any two of these make you a good employee - so be aware if you're moody you better be prompt and good at what you do.
Always always always, train to do your bosses job.
Ask them about it, show willingness to pick up small tasks, you might never get the job, but you will get the skills.
and NEVER STOP LEARNING
Accountant here, when I first started my first job as an Accountant, I didn't have any other skills besides being a boring accountant.
So lots of my work involved crunching data in Excel, so the first thing I did was learn VBA on the weekend or any time I'm not at work. Now all my colleagues and even my boss go to me if they need any automation on Excel or any general queries.
Fast forward to my current job, the skill I forced myself to learn is now my bread and butter as an accountant and one of the reasons I got hired on my current role which put me into a comfortable salary. (80k annual outside of London)
Play the game. Change in the economy leading to companies looking to streamline roles and eventually trim bloated teams is usually an inevitability at some point.
Don't be the person/people who oppose change outwardly. It's OK to disagree with decisions that may lead to more workload, but moaning about them to management/colleagues usually won't change shit and usually doesn't make you favourable to the decision makers. Let other people do that. However, if you play the game and openly support the companies evolution, positive and negative, it leads to stronger relations with management, potentially leading to those management positions.
Some people may take what I'm saying as kissing ass. I'm not talking about sucking up to management, I'm talking about remaining positive when lots of other people aren't, when inevitable changes are implemented. In my experience, this has 100% led to doors opening for me.
Part of the reason for this, in my opinion, is that you are aligning yourself with the companies vision and decisions. Which makes you a valuable asset to that company.
It also shows strength of character.
Instead of being a moaner, you are showing that you can adapt to a change in conditions and corporate environments.
Appreciate the response. I can certainly see merit to your point. It goes along with always being positive and aligning yourself with the company goals. Thanks for the advice.
Be Useful. Sounds simplistic,but it really works. Boss needs something done, offer to do it etc. IT is a great place to exercise this, see an alert for something, ACK it and investigate, reply to a query etc. It makes a Huge difference. I'm not talking about doing your job, I'm talking about doing small extra things which help the greater cause. Trust me... It work!
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This might not technically be a career hack but something that I have found really changed the trajectory of my career. I got to a point where I really stopped caring about the upward trajectory of my career and it suddenly started to move upward. I think the key I found was to treat your boss/your bosses boss/the client/the people who work below you all just as people the way you would if you’d met them in a pub. I found a lot of people talk to people from their perch and are either condescending to people below them or massively intimidated by people above them or both. I found people responded to me so much better when they feel like I was talking to them as a person not just their job role.
Solid point. I do find myself being a little *too* 'agreeable' for lack of a better term. I don't know whether that's a good or bad thing though.
Not a good thing for sure. It either makes you look like a pushover or a yes man/woman. People actually appreciate honesty. The hardest part most of us are still trying to figure out is that sweet spot of being not too opinionated nor indifferent.
I completely disagree, (ironic based on my point), but I work in a field where being agreeable has massively benefitted me. I am the most approachable & agreeable person on my team, and it's clear that the sales teams like working with me more than some of my colleagues. I've had a fast track promotion into the senior consultant team (from entry level 4 years ago) and my salary has increased 333%. I think there is a place for people that are willing to be agreeable.
Firstly congrats on landing your job and wish you the best in it. I have experienced redundancy during covid and it is not fun at all. My career hack would be to find a job that you honestly love. I know it is cliche and easier said than done. But, that is what I feel is the best way to succeed in your career. We spend atleast 40 hours a week doing a job. May as well do something that you will enjoy. If not it will be a struggle and progressing in the career will be harder.
I've found lots of jobs I'd love to do, the trouble is none of them want to employ me!
**Ikigai's four primary elements:** * what you love (your passion), * what the world needs (your mission), * what you are good at (your vocation), * what you can get paid for (your profession).
Unfortunately none of those seem to overlap for me lol
There's a balance to be had here. You could find a job you really love, but if it pays poorly, you might not be able to do other things that you love outside of work. For most people, finding a job that they don't hate is a more attainable goal. You don't need to love your job.
100%
Yes on hindsight I agree with this. However, it does make life a lot easier if it covers both requirements. Thankfully I am in that bracket.
Thanks very much! I would agree with your point. Sadly, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure of achieving that goal. I truly believe there is a jon out there I'd love, but not idea how to find it, haha. What is it you do?
I work in aviation. I basically plan the maintenance of the aircraft in our fleet and ensure that it is legal and safe to fly. I love the job and have 5 years of experience in it. Hope that you will find a job that you will enjoy. :)
That sounds like a very interesting line of work. Are you an engineer by trade? Thank you 😊
Not really. I have taken the exams and passed most of them. Just did not enjoy the hands on experience. So decided to do the desk job assisting the engineers and I love it :).
If you don't have what you like, you like what you have
Look for a new job when you're not desperate to leave your current one. I used to do it only when I was desperate and then even when something felt off, I would accept the new job, only to be desperate to leave again a few months down the line. I've been offered several jobs this year and have turned them all down due to a number of issues. If I was desperate to leave my current job I could be stuck somewhere worse.
That's an interesting point. Thanks for sharing.
That’s a good strategy- but exhausting if you’re in an industry where you need to do a presentation for the final round.
And interviewing takes a lot of time and effort
Yep it sucks. The last three jobs I've turned down have probably involved 5-10 hours of my time to get to the job offer and going through preliminary checks just to turn it down. Better to do the above than end up in the wrong job though.
True I can see where you're coming from with this strategy because you're coming from a position of strength rather than desperation and that certainly increases your negotiating power. However with the time and effort required to do well in a job interview I would not be arsed going through the time, effort and stress unless I really liked the sound of the opportunity - obviously pending a suitable offer and all that jazz.
Honestly, I think a lot of things are easier said than done. It's easy to give the advice "it's just a job, don't let it get to you" and "make sure you keep your home and work life separate", but in reality stresses and worries leak over, and it can be hard not to let things at work get to you. Just be kind to yourself, both in terms of your career and personal life!
An important reminder, thanks :)
Most definitely, and the old truth of it being easier to find a job when you already have a job will forever be true in the case of someone who's been made redundant also. I think interviewing when you can afford to walk away is a positive, you have a strong standing and can decide if the role suits you and the company are fully aware and needs to try and win you over. Interviewing when out of work the tables have turned and you aren't in the strong position anymore. Career wise a supportive manager can make you think you are a great employee, valued and part of the team, a bad manager and the exact same performance could have you hating life. You could very quickly end up blaming yourself for things then that you have no bearing on, you'd go from the person handing out advice and doing great to the person seeking advice and questioning your own future and the only change was the manager
Something I learnt very early on is how impressed people are when you just do the basics, ie - get things done on time, and do what you say you’re going to do. Early on, I found it really awkward when I was getting praised for doing what was basically just my job. But now i’ve realised that at least 80% of the people I’ve worked with need to be reminded to do things, or take actions and then don’t do them. They forget to do regularly scheduled tasks and have to be ‘chased’ to do them. Being solid and reliable will get you noticed.
I like this. Easy to remember and solid advice. Thanks friend!
I tend to look for a new job every 2-3 years after having had an early career through the global financial crisis which meant it didn't start off great, and I suffered 3 redundancies. I quickly realised no company really cares about you, and it's just a matter of time before it's possibly gone. Up until the end of your thirties, or if you managed to get promoted up the ranks earlier, do as much as you can and learn to be a generalist with a broad understanding of your industry. Once you hit your forties, you can begin to nail down the areas you are better at. I've managed to successfully skip several stages of promotions by moving around and feel I'm finally in a happy place where I've managed to get a work/life balance that works perfectly, a salary I can't complain about, and the ability to do whatever it is I wish my job to be. All of the above does rely on the good fortune of landing a job with decent colleagues and supportive senior management.
I've often worried about my later years, especially considering I still feel like I've got so many unfulfilled dreams so far. Appreciate the candour. Definity felt that nobody cares but its also kind of liberating knowing where you stand in the regard. I will look to job hop where I can though as it does seem instrumental in progressing.
One job I resigned from my boss literally said I was replaceable. I never knew if it was a vicious dig or just good advice. All I know is a high performance team is based on trust, more so than skill. I've managed to always have solid and highly dependable working relationships, and made myself invaluable by being the one who builds the bridges. I avoid the politics and bring people together. It's been my greatest skill, and hack, if you wish. Took many years to understand how to use it.
It's so simple it sounds patronising, but most people don't do it and that's why it'll help you get noticed and build connections: be a good employee and colleague. By "good" I mean do your best to produce quality work, be easy to deal with, be helpful and collaborative, and above all be reliable. When people know you as someone they like working with, they remember you when opportunities come or after they move on. It's networking without networking.
100% this. And don't just go to people when you want something - make the small talk, say a quick hello out of the blue. It's not just transactional, it genuinely promotes a nice working environment.
Great addition. On the flip side of this, being a "drainer" who only gives people the time of day when you want something from them will win you no friends. I've worked in purely transactional environments and none have been healthy or enjoyable.
This, Also , It's your responsibility to manage your work relationships.
This should be top comment. And to go along with this, put yourself out there. Company trying something new, put yourself forward to run it. New procedure that will help your workload being put in place, champion it, new procedure being put in place that seems like a bad idea, find a way to make it better and raise it. Someone struggling with something, offer to help or take some other task to lighten the load. If you're overworked, ask colleagues for support.
I'd like to think I'm good already, so that's a promising start. Thanks very much!
You're welcome and well done for having the right attitude. It really makes a world of difference. I've had old colleagues headhunt me a few times all because they liked working with me and knew I'd do a good job for them. An extra pointer for you: Bosses want to be presented with solutions, not problems, so keep your eye out for opportunities to add value. If you see something that could be improved or you identify a problem, think of a plan for dealing with it before raising it with your boss.
Easy to forget. I'll try to catch myself being negative
Move around to get the best pay rises, it's proven that switching companies yields a greater pay rise than staying with the same company for years (unless you love it there of course). I've bagged a 20k rise in the last 2 years doing just that. Other than that get the absolute best pension deal you can, not career advice but I wish someone had told me that 10 years ago
What industy are you in? My pension is 5% rn, which is pretty standard so I hear. Not much hope for any higher unless I go government at some point. I could be wrong tho.
I'm in private sector, automotive manufacturing. My pension is 18% with employer contributions so there are companies out there that offer great packages.
Is that 9% you and 9% company, then? Great rate though. What is it that you do?
6% me and 12% employer. I'm a supply chain data analyst.
Sounds interesting. Howd you get into that?
Once you find a decent salary , the promotion worth 5k is not worth it if you are getting home at 6-7pm every night , especially if you have kids. I positioned myself on around 50k per year and home by 4pm every night to see my son
I'm with you there. As it happens, this role is remote but I certainly don't want to fall into the habit of working more than 40 hrs.
This 100% I get entire days with my daughter and when she starts school full time I’ll be moving to a different contract so I get my evenings and weekends with her Can’t beat the look on their faces when they realise you’re back!
Yeah before I had.kids I worked in retail management 8-6 days before travel time , 1-11pm evenings.twice a week and 3 Saturdays per month plus 1 Sunday . For a rubbish salary , new I needed to get out before it was too late
Be the person who does what they say they’re going to do. It sounds really obvious but I’ve worked with so many people who don’t. Have a method to organise tasks, rank them by priority/ importance and make sure you’re ticking them off.
Thanks :) What method do you use?
I love the 123ABC method.
I'll check it out
Do the tasks at work most people shy away from… it will get you noticed and further opportunities will follow.
Thanks. I have mild imposter syndrome atm but will try this.
Think of it this way, every time you step outside your comfort zone you grow that little bit more. I also suffer from imposter syndrome and follow this.
Great point. I'll have to remind myself of that
For me, this was excel. I worked in sales so it wasn't a big part of anyone's role but everyone's spreadsheets were awful, I fixed my managers spreadsheet once and then I was known as the excel Wiz in the team. Which then meant people listened to me on anything tech related. Just make sure you don't let people take the piss and force the extra work on you. Do the extra work as extra credit, not as your base
Thanks for the advice. At my job, everyone is a tech wizard so I'll have to find a niche, haha.
Probably the opposite to most and depends on individual circumstances, however don’t be pressured or feel like you have to progress on a job if it means more stress. My household income is circa 100k split between 2 jobs. Both non managerial. I could go into management, but in my industry stress for managers is high and once you include the mandatory car, are basically the same. YMMV as obviously different industries have less or more stress the further up you go and money situations could be different. Also, join a trade union if you can.
Thanks. I used to be in construction and this is the reason I am no longer. What is it you do? I've always perhaps naively though that unions was more of an American thing, or only for the trades.
I’m in the gas industry, management get shat on and it only gets worse higher up they go. But us on the tools are well paid so a lot don’t go up the ladder that much. Unions are big in a lot of industries, but less so in other I guess. Maybe not as much construction as I’m assuming there’s a lot of self employment? We have had big pay rises recently as our workforce is well organised. If we even stopped overtime the company would be shagged.
That's great to hear. I'm in tech and software, so I really have no idea about unions but I will certainly look into it.
Don't perform better than your immediate supervisor and publically embarrass him (unintentionally) with your relatively much more valuable contributions. Breeds jealousy, hatred and resentment, causing a load of false slander against you to reassert their dominance. At least that's exactly what happened to me vs a very insecure and complete fraud of a senior. Raised a grievance and had all the evidence to fuck the guy, but the company chose to close ranks and protect him regardless. Guy legit looked like he was about to cry when I was showing my work to the team - they were all praising me eagerly, versus the bag of death he came up with. So yeah, as sad and wrong as it, watch out for those who are weak whilst being powerful. (E.g. senior / manager with obvious poor subject matter knowledge and/or industry experience) Perform too well in their presence and you represent a direct existential threat. Their insecurity drives them. They will back stab you. Tread lightly. Instead, try identify well known strong performers and seek to impress them, their feedback and praise is worth the weight in gold.
I'm going through this right now, he doing everything to try and make me look like an idiot , I have been move to a new project which looks rubbish , but I have no choice , all because I was looking for ways to improve process ,which the company encouraged us to do , since then , the guy has been trying to sabotage me every way , if it's wasn't for the current job market I would have gone, I have learnt from the situation you never really know someone insecurity level ,but you live and learn .
Invest in yourself. Putting in time, money and energy in your personal growth (soft and hard skills) is quite underrated. Most folks lose track of this in the daily hustle.
What sort of investment would you recommend?
Things that have served me well (programming, finance): * Keep an eye on your CV. Yes, let's use this tool, that will help on the CV. It benefits the company because usually those are valuable and more up to date too. * Chat with your boss and colleagues about the business, the market it operates in, the company history and so on. If it's all about to go in some direction, particularly south, you want as much forewarning as possible. It also helps massively to understand why on earth things are done the way they are * Learn everything you can all the time. * If you have an office job, take comprehensive notes all the time. When someone comes to query why you did something or why you didn't do something, you can look it up in your notes, and point out that you asked and were told no, or you raised it and they said it would be fine. Arse-covering, yes, but also helps you not to go nuts when people claim bare-faced that you didn't tell them etc because they assume you messed up as the junior.
Thanks for those ideas! I definitely need to update the CV now. I also particularly like the note idea. Do you use a notepad?
No, Word or other word processor. You want to spam in emails, screenshots, graphs (if relevant), chats, everything.
Network like your life depends on it, lunch times are spent with people who work in a similar industry. Couple of drinks with the guys who work at your company but not directly with you. Industry event? Get a ticket and do all the socials. You'll build a little black book and people do the same until you eventually get that chat over a pint. "There's a job coming up that I think you'd be well suited for."
That's something I always hear but never know how to go about it. Do you simply google for upcoming events related to your field?
Yep Google it, I also use LinkedIn to find them too
My current role is remote, so that does seem more difficult in-house at least. But thanks, I will have a look for related events. Although, how do you go from a casual meeting/introduction to a point where you get given opportunities?
Same way you develop normal friendships. The people you meet will need relationships building and then constant nurturing.
Gotcha. I can do that. Networking is alien to me as I've alway tried my best to separate work from life.
Some of my best friends are guys I’ve met through work stuff. Funnily we don’t talk work when we meet up unless it’s relevant. You’ll nail it
Thank you very much 😊
Congrats on your new job. I’d recommend networking. There are plenty of networking events in the UK that you could go to to and build a few connections, I’m at the point where I travel to other countries to network just to build that pipeline. I often have a few side jobs lined up from my network that pop up periodically, loads of managers would prefer to hire someone quickly to get a job done than to go through the arduous formal recruitment process which costs time and money. We live in a time where companies can make you redundant in a heartbeat, it’s always good to be ahead of the curve than behind.
Thanks! Do you think this applies to certain jobs more so than others? For example, I am in the geospatial industry. What's your process for networking on a weekly basis? Do you simply search for events related to your industry?
It’s a process that builds up over time, try and search for events related to your field and build your foundations from that, shake a few hands and go on a few lunches with like minded people, try to be somewhat active so you have a small network and people will start inviting you to things, there’s not really a playbook to follow for this sort of thing, the more effort you put into it the more likely you’ll build a successful network, and things will start to snowball from there. Many people land a job and then they get comfortable so they don’t bother to network as it takes time, if you have time some spare time on your hands I defo think it’s worth the investment.
Thanks for the advice. My current role is remote, so I think events are my only option. How do you go from casual introductions at events to the point where you're going for meetings, lunches and opportunities with the people you meet?
The easiest advice ever Be a nice person, think, question and work hard. If you’re not treated well, move on Good people like working with people like that.
Sage advice. Thank you 😊
If you tell someone you're going to do a thing, do the thing. Simple, but amazing how far you can go when people know they can trust you. I'm not saying "agree to do all the things", just make sure you do the ones you said you would. Stunning how rare that is.
Yes - my hack is boring but builds on that - in order to be reliable, don't over-commit! Be clear what your priorities are. I had what I thought was a dream job across various markets with so many different opportunities, but it was impossible to please everyone. Saying no is a huge skill. Also, when you have put a lot of work into a project, make sure you own it, keep attending the key meetings and guard against a more senior person taking the credit at your expense. Final hack - especially when working remotely - when starting new projects, don't be shy of setting up quick intro calls with some of the key people outside the official update meetings so you can build a relationship with them. This means you get to understand what their priorities are. They are likely to be more candid outside the group setting and they remember you. You can do this even when you are no longer new to the organisation. Good luck!!
Yeah this seems to be the kicker according to many others as well.
Work hard, don’t be afraid to promote yourself, build a network (not just immediate co-workers), be more than people expect. Doing this I haven’t had to apply for a job in years and no need for interviews.
Thanks ☺️
Reply to your god damn emails PLEASE
Simple enough!
Not really hack as opposed to what I would call drive/initiative. But I started doing customer service for a real estate agency, dealing with landlords, tenants, contractors etc. (essentially the bottom rung if you want to work up to be a property manager). I noticed there were some properties that didn’t exactly have managers assigned to them and was getting requests from the properties landlords through the shared email account so I just took it upon myself to start dealing with these people myself seeing as nobody else seemed too bothered to. A few positive reviews later and a couple of meetings and was in a property management role all within 8 months. I will say, make sure you can manage your time and achieve in your own role very well first before taking on more or the potential to really crash and burn is there. It might seem like this doesn’t apply to simply any given career or job, but any extra effort is generally met extremely well with most employers :)
Thanks for advice and congrats on your success ☺️
Don't get too attached to a workplace, if you find a better opportunity elsewhere, take it.
Thanks :)
Something I wish I knew earlier.... don't be beholden to hierarchy on consequential career/pay discussions, be willing to talk to your bosses boss. In a great majority of cases, middle management are stifled with the whole Peter's principle thing of not actually being good at the management aspects of their job and only being promoted because of seniority. For important personnel decisions; like for example if you're negotiating some aspects to your role, salary, bonus etc; the discussion will need to be passed up the chain. There's a good chance that your manager doesn't quite deliver your account very well or it even slips down their priority list to discuss. Sometimes very key details will be lost (if the issue is time pressed for example) and just not being direct in that discussion will always be less effective. I've had a great success recently unlocking a major pay increase and some new opportunities after getting to know the CTO a bit and I'm kicking myself at not having these discussions about a year ago! Obviously every organisation will be different but I think the general rule of trying to get some channel to have a relationship with the decision makers in some way is good advice. If they are pissy about facilitating that then there are probably quite weak at their role.
I will take this on-board. Thanks
My career hack has always been to be comfortable talking to senior management. If you have an idea or feedback share it in a polite way. However make sure you know your audience. Don't go to c level exec and talk about coffee machines.
find the smartest most influential guy in or around your team, figure out what problems he has, try to solve them, make urself useful to him, and in return u will get good job security and opportunities for career development. that's what i did after 4 years of un and under employment.
I'll be on the lookout! Haven't met everyone yet but the team seems small at the least
I'd call my approach playing multiple boards at once. For the past 8 years I've been working on getting promoted and looking for a job at the same time, even when I was feeling happy with my job. I was made redundant during covid, and also about a month ago, and I managed to recover almost instantly because of this. I'm also very transparent and direct about what I want. I'm from Latin America, I told the company I worked for I wanted to relocate, and got them to relocate me to London; I told my boss what I wanted my role to evolve into, and got promoted; I asked to work fully remote and got 3 different companies to agree; and I also managed to get better compensation packages by doing this. Just ask for what you want. Also remember to always do what's best for you, companies will make people redundant and it's not personal, and sometimes you'll get a great opportunity but you may feel reluctant to leave your company because of some sense of loyalty. Just ignore that feeling and always do what's best for you.
Your comment brings me comfort. I like your approach. How often would you look to job hop?
Every 2 years or so, but I'm not actively trying to climb now because I have a good work life balance and a good salary, so I'll probably slow down now, but I always keep an eye on the market. 2016 I was made redundant, got a job 1.5 months later 2018 I was working on getting an internal role, and they offered it to me, but the comp wasn't what I expected, so I left 4 months later Started a new job and told them I wanted to relocate during the interview process 2019 moved to London 2021 made redundant, but I finished on a Friday and the next morning I was already working (same salary) 2022 got promoted in the new job, but there were some org changes and the salary increase wasn't as much as I expected, so I left in 2023 2023 got another job, with a better salary but I was made redundant in April 2024, but I got an offer on my last day of work, and I was unemployed for 12 days. 2024 The new job has a better comp package, and I was always transparent about working my notice and being made redundant, so they could have low balled me, but they actually increased the budget to match what I asked for.
Hi OP, how did you manage a year without working? Your tips and resilience could benefit many. Congrats and all the best!
Hello! I'm not sure I managed it with a great deal resilience, but I tried. The thing that helped me was the gym every day as some sort of routine and a weekend job working in a bar, which ironically has been the most enjoyable job I've ever had. Thank you very much!
How did you cope that year without working?
Tough at times because you feel worthless. But, I valued the time off as well. Bittersweet overall, really.
Yeah it’s really killing me, I’m glad to see it worked out for you in the end though
Ah, you going through it rn? Try to see it as a blessing, I suppose! I don't know your situation so could be easier said thet done ofc. Going to the gym helps. Also just getting a weekend bar job or something easy and fun like that.
I’ve just been let go from my temporary job, which is fine I never wanted it to be permanent, but I thought Id have found a job by now
It is awful atm. I got lucky more than anything. The amount of jobs I'd been turned down for before this was pretty insane. Day is darkest before the dawn.
I found that job satisfaction is as much doing work that you enjoy, while working for & with people that you like, respect and can learn from. If you can find that you'll be doing well.
I can only hope that one day I will. However, I do fear there are too many jobs out there that'll mean I might never. I jave to accept that.
When you are settled and comfortable, update your CV and test out a few applications
Really? After how long do you suggest?
At least open it and consider what you'll put into it within about 8 weeks. Rewrite it over 6 months, plop out a few applications over next few months.
Thanks! I'm surprised you suggest it over such a small time frame. How do.yoy explain the short stints to any potential employer?
You would have to contextualise that yourself. There is nothing wrong with job hopping, wanting to improve your experience and standing. But you need to find out what motivates you and articulate it adequately.
Figure out what your strengths and weaknesses are, try and maximise the amount of work you can do that plays to your strengths and work just enough on your weaknesses that they don’t hold you back. Try to eliminate ‘busy’ work as much as possible, you won’t get credit for it in the long run / end of year, make sure you’re aligned with management or your boss on key priorities and work on delivering them - creating a structured way of communicating progress to your boss / management on these goals will also help keep you ahead.
I like this. Thank you.
Focus on high value work rather than just working hard. By this I mean you will need to understand what is valued within your organisation and focus on this over other things where possible.
Excellent point. Thanks
Into 8th month after redundancy, proud of ya!
Day is darkest before the dawn
The career triangle - you only need to pick 2 and you'll be fine: - Do your work on time - Be technically brilliant - Be nice and easy to deal with Any two of these make you a good employee - so be aware if you're moody you better be prompt and good at what you do.
Havent heard of this before. Thanks very much.
Always always always, train to do your bosses job. Ask them about it, show willingness to pick up small tasks, you might never get the job, but you will get the skills. and NEVER STOP LEARNING
Always be positive. Never be negative. Compliment everyone. Criticise no one.
Accountant here, when I first started my first job as an Accountant, I didn't have any other skills besides being a boring accountant. So lots of my work involved crunching data in Excel, so the first thing I did was learn VBA on the weekend or any time I'm not at work. Now all my colleagues and even my boss go to me if they need any automation on Excel or any general queries. Fast forward to my current job, the skill I forced myself to learn is now my bread and butter as an accountant and one of the reasons I got hired on my current role which put me into a comfortable salary. (80k annual outside of London)
Thanks, I think I can think of something that might have a similar impact.
Work for you. Have a goal and make sure what you are doing helps you close in on it. If you don't know what you want then you can't aim at it.
Thanks. I think I have a few goals but definitely feel lost on how to achieve it
I lie a lot
Interesting. What do you lie about?
Play the game. Change in the economy leading to companies looking to streamline roles and eventually trim bloated teams is usually an inevitability at some point. Don't be the person/people who oppose change outwardly. It's OK to disagree with decisions that may lead to more workload, but moaning about them to management/colleagues usually won't change shit and usually doesn't make you favourable to the decision makers. Let other people do that. However, if you play the game and openly support the companies evolution, positive and negative, it leads to stronger relations with management, potentially leading to those management positions. Some people may take what I'm saying as kissing ass. I'm not talking about sucking up to management, I'm talking about remaining positive when lots of other people aren't, when inevitable changes are implemented. In my experience, this has 100% led to doors opening for me. Part of the reason for this, in my opinion, is that you are aligning yourself with the companies vision and decisions. Which makes you a valuable asset to that company. It also shows strength of character. Instead of being a moaner, you are showing that you can adapt to a change in conditions and corporate environments.
Appreciate the response. I can certainly see merit to your point. It goes along with always being positive and aligning yourself with the company goals. Thanks for the advice.
Be Useful. Sounds simplistic,but it really works. Boss needs something done, offer to do it etc. IT is a great place to exercise this, see an alert for something, ACK it and investigate, reply to a query etc. It makes a Huge difference. I'm not talking about doing your job, I'm talking about doing small extra things which help the greater cause. Trust me... It work!
Okay I'll try this. I am in an analyst/support role so these types of opportunities will hopefully become available
Chat gpt to write your CV and cover note for the job you apply for New CV every time