Career Advice: Give

This blog is a rant.

I’m probably getting old and cranky (ok, not probably) but I am tired of people who want ‘help’ — get it through the generosity of selfless people and then boom – they take and take and largely never give back. All the ‘takers’ just stopped reading! I didn’t really expect to change any ‘takers’ but I am hoping to get to the ‘matchers.’ (read on!)

In his research-based book, Give and Take: A Revolutionary Approach to Success Adam Grant (Wharton School)has identified three types of people — givers, takers, and matchers. Matchers return favors tit-for-tat (they care above all about fairness), Takers try to tilt most things in their own favor (focus on themselves), Givers are generous (focus on others).

Most people are givers in their personal relationships. Interestingly, at work, people change. Grant notes,  “An extraordinary number of people who are in a giver mindset at home are a matcher or taker at work.” Only 8% describe themselves as givers at work because most people think “givers are chumps who will fall behind in the game of work”.

Grant’s research shows that givers are among the most successful people in business and may also be the happiest. “There is powerful evidence,” “that givers experience more meaning in their work than takers or matchers.”

Back to my rant. I have probably met one on one with 500 people in the past 5 years. Many people thank me and that’s all I ask. But there’s a whole segment of people (both men and women) who act like they’ve never met me when I see them later. They are so focused on themselves… they don’t even remember meeting me! Often these are the same people who.. didn’t offer to buy the coffee (when they asked to meet me), never asked me one question about myself, never bothered to write an email saying thanks or following up in any way. In the tug of war of life — are you helping to pull for the greater good or shoving people out of your way?

Ok. I’m done.

Photo credit: Navy & Marines in tug of war   NYCMarines  (I wouldn’t bet against any of these fine human beings)

(More) New Tools for Managing Your Career – Are You Tired Yet?

Whether it's job hunting or managing your career; it's all a big pain. I need to learn new stuff, talk to people, use my brain and do things I don't want to do.

So every time I read about more new 'tools', my head spins and then I stop whining and get learning. Do you know about

-- Talentbin.com - scours the web/social/everywhere to find candidates that match a potential employer's criteria (tech)

-- Path.to - goes way beyond the resume to understand values, desired work environments, etc. (design & tech)

-- Silp - social recruiting for 'passive' candidates

-- Somewhere - let's companies talk about themselves as 'cool' employers and their environments (the old/new attraction vs. promotion idea!)

Then there's Splinter.me  - that hopes to help both the employer find candidates and also provide information to the candidate; about the credentials of the person who DID get the job, where your skills gaps are, etc.

The point is not to learn about every new job service and sign up. It is to be aware of the ways in which recruiting, job hunting and career management are changing. Do you have a job search or career improvement group you meet with? If so, different people could learn about new tools and then share their learning. Everyone wins and it perhaps minimizes the overload!

Photo credit: The Garage barto

It’s a Defined Contribution World – Are You Ready?