Tips for Women Returning to the Workforce

The pandemic shook up a lot of things for workers, especially women. Some lost their jobs, while others saw their entire career path derailed. For example: The retail sector, where many women had enjoyed long careers, was upended by the pandemic. More than 400,000 retail jobs had been lost by November 2020.

While some of those jobs will come back post-pandemic, many won’t, and many women haven’t been able to wait around for them. They’ve been forced to look for new opportunities.

Meanwhile, many working moms have been asked to choose between continuing their careers and caring for their kids, as child-care options have all but evaporated and many daycares have closed for good. That was a double whammy for women who were employed in the child-care field. The pandemic exposed just how vulnerable our child-care system has been.

If you’re a woman whose job or career was disrupted by the pandemic, you’re likely facing one (or some combination) of these three scenarios: Returning to the job/career you had before; looking for a new career; or adapting your career to a new reality. Here are ways to approach each of these scenarios:

How to Return to Your Job or Career

If you were furloughed during the pandemic, forced to work remotely, or lost your job permanently but want to stay on the same career path, here are some ideas:

• Update your resume. A resume update is a good idea even if you’re going back to the same job. (You never know when you’ll need it.) And it’s a must if you’re looking to change employers. 
  • Remove outdated information, like old internships or jobs you held more than a decade ago.
  • Add any recent training and certifications you’ve obtained.
  • Eliminate passive language.
  • Avoid big chunks of text. Make everything quick-hitting. 

• Touch base with your boss. Let your supervisors know about any changes you’ve made while you were away, such as new skills you’ve acquired or new priorities.
  • Offer to cross-train for a different department so you’ll be more valuable to the company.
  • Ask about a flexible work schedule if you need one.
  • Inquire about any changes in benefits and long-term prospects within the company.

How to Make a Fresh Start

If you find yourself in a contracting career field, such as brick-and-mortar retail, this might be the perfect time to make a fresh start and try something totally different. And remember that if you’re in this category, you’re not alone: 61% of women are planning a major career shift in the post-pandemic era, and 1 in 4 are looking to start their own business.

There are two main factors to consider if you find yourself leaning in this direction: where the opportunities are, and what you want to do.

Maybe you’ve always wanted to write a book. Do research online to find out what it takes, whether you want to be a self-published author or try to find an agent and go the traditional route. Or perhaps you want to become a teacher: Learn what your state requires for a teaching credential. If you want to become an architect, learn how to read blueprints and find out what classes you need to take. 

Second jobs or part-time work can be helpful in some situations, and independent service and consulting opportunities surged during the pandemic. That trend is likely to continue, at least to some degree. You can learn to become a grant writer or even get a side gig as a notary public — only nine states require any training. 

If you’re looking for opportunities, networking always helps. Reach out to people you know who work in the field you’re interested in. Re-establish long standing personal connections and use online networking sites like LinkedIn to forge new ones.

How to Adapt to a New Reality

Your job will likely look different than it did before, regardless of whether you’re doing the same work or trying something new. 

Some businesses have gone to remote work permanently or partially, so make sure your home office is comfortable and connected. Get ergonomic office furniture and carve out a space that’s more functional than a laptop on the bed or at the dining room table.

Many employers will be doing more online, so familiarize yourself with commonly used software like Word, Excel, Google Suite, Slack, Skype, and Dropbox that you’ll be likely to encounter. To make yourself even more marketable, learn skills like coding and SEO.

You’ll likely need to adapt to new financial realities, too, so revisit your budget. A lot has changed during the pandemic. For instance, child care costs rose 40%. Look at where you spend your money, how your income has changed, and how you need to adjust. You might even consider using a budgeting app to help you out.

Furthermore, a significant percentage of women say they have less savings and more debt than they did before the pandemic, which could lead to trouble achieving long-term financial goals. So be sure to keep an eye on your credit. (You can check it for free every year.) If you need to rebuild it, you can do so without accumulating more debt. Consider a secured credit card: You deposit a specific amount, usually a few hundred dollars, that acts as “security” on your account. Then you use it and pay it off every month to bolster your credit

A lot has changed since the pandemic hit, so you may need to change a lot, too. The key is knowing what to change and how, and what skills to reinforce as you move forward into the new economy.

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8 Common Misconceptions About Starting a Career

Networking is scary, even for the most social and outgoing students.

In my ten years of teaching, students have told me dozens of reasons why networking won’t work for them. But in each case, these students hold incorrect beliefs about what they need to achieve or feel before getting started with networking.

Here are the top 8 misconceptions about networking and starting a career and why students should disregard them.

Misconception #1: Asking for help is a sign of weakness

One of the tragedies of the individualistic culture in the United States is that people are often told that they should be able to accomplish everything all by themselves. Independence is viewed as a sign of strength and intelligence.

Many students (especially first-generation students) have told me that they were raised in families where they were trained not to ask for help. But the reality is, as the poet John Donne claimed, that “no one is an island”; we all need to rely on other people to thrive, collaborate, and find new opportunities.

Asking for help is one of the smartest things you can do for your career. You will find that many professionals who have never met you are extremely willing to be of assistance just because you are a student asking for help. People understand that the years during and immediately after college are some of the most difficult in a person’s career. Furthermore, the relationships that you build through networking can be valuable for the rest of your life.

 Misconception #2: Your internship or job needs to be related to your major

Many students believe that once they choose a major or program of study, they are locked into a narrow set of career paths. Students think that if they study accounting, they must become an accountant. If they study psychology, they must work in counseling or human resources.

However, your major or program of study does not necessarily determine your long-term career path—or even your first job out of college. Research shows that only 27% of college graduates in the US end up in a career related to their academic majors. Other studies have found that many jobs that students take when they graduate didn’t even exist when they began their college careers.

It’s quite common that students are drawn to career paths outside their chosen major. Although this may make your job search more difficult, you can tell your story (during career conversations and interviews, as well as in your resume and cover letter) to connect the dots between your interests, your studies, and your future ambitions.

Misconception #3: Applying to jobs online and through career fairs are the only ways to land internships or jobs

Many students believe that positions advertised through their college’s programs, events, or online job portal are the only jobs available to them. To be clear, if a company you are interested in working for is attending a career fair, hosting a recruiting event, or interviewing on your campus, you should take full advantage of all these opportunities.

However, these aren’t the only avenues to landing an internship or job. Remember that most internships and jobs are never advertised or posted online in the first place. By utilizing career conversations to connect with professionals at the companies where you want to work, you can put yourself in a better position to land opportunities with companies that do recruit from your school.

Misconception #4: Your first job determines your long-term career success

Too many students believe that they are a failure if they don’t get the perfect job right out of college. How would you know what a “perfect” position is in the first place, especially given you likely have a narrow range of experiences?! In fact, it’s very rare for students to get exactly the job they want right away, but this doesn’t mean that their career ambitions are doomed or unattainable.

Each job you get will make it easier to get the next one, so treat your first job more as a learning experience than a prediction about your future. I have a friend whose first job was stocking shelves at a CVS pharmacy store and now has a leadership position at Google.

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself by comparing your choices and progress with your peers. Everyone finds their vocation at their own pace.

Misconception #5: GPA is everything 

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has done research asking employers what attributes they look for in new graduates. The most important attribute was written communication, with 82% of employers saying they highly value it. Close behind were problem-solving, the ability to work in a team, and initiative. These traits are all valued more highly than GPA by employers. Don’t be discouraged if you have a low GPA.

Your GPA is just a number, but it is admittedly a quick way that companies can sort through hundreds or thousands of applications. Most employers understand that your GPA doesn’t fully represent who you are, but it’s up to you to prove that to them. If you have a low GPA, you can still land an internship or job at a great company—even a competitive one.

Misconception #6: You don’t have enough experience to land an internship or job

For many students, the most challenging job to land is their first. Each future job you get will build off your past jobs, but this presents a problem for students who don’t have much experience.

Even if you have never had an internship or job, you still have valuable experiences that you can discuss with potential recruiters and employers. Perhaps you volunteer at a local organization, play a leadership role in your family, perform in the arts, play sports, or have completed various school or even classroom projects. Each of these experiences will show employers your skills and character. Students often mistakenly believe that employers are looking for more experience from students than they actually are.

Additionally, don’t be discouraged if you don’t meet every qualification on a job posting. If you meet around half of the job requirements, that’s plenty for you to apply. Networking can increase your odds of landing a job even if you don’t meet all the written qualifications.

Misconception #7: You need to plan your future career before you start networking

You don’t need to have your future figured out before you begin networking. One of the major advantages of networking is to help you discern what experiences and career you want in the future.

Networking allows you to learn vicariously, that is, through other people’s experiences—both good and bad. This means that learning from others about what you don’t like is just as valuable as learning what you do like.

You should never wait until you’re certain to begin networking and applying because you’ll never be fully certain. It’s also likely that through networking and completing internships, you can surprise yourself about which career options you might enjoy.

Misconception #8: You’re not good enough or you’re not worthy

Maybe you’ve been told by family, friends, or teachers that you can’t do something. Maybe no one in your family or community works in the industry that you aspire to work in. Maybe you can’t identify any of your passions. Maybe you have a DUI on your record. Maybe you have to work two or three minimum-wage jobs just to make ends meet. Maybe you’ve applied to over 100 jobs online and never even obtained an interview.

All of these are challenging roadblocks, to be sure, but none of them make you unworthy of a career that you love and none of them mean you aren’t good enough.

Everyone faces different challenges in their career journey, but if you persevere with the right strategy, you can overcome the odds and get a job you’ll love. It may take time, courage, and persistence, but you can do it. If you have persevered through difficult circumstances in your life, you likely have unique skills and mindsets that companies will definitely value. You will need to learn how to tell your story so that future employers recognize your authentic self and character.

Guest Author Sean O’Keefe is an award-winning professor, respected researcher, and sought-after speaker on creating social capital, career readiness, internships, and jobs. He is the founder and chief impact officer of Career Launch, a social enterprise that partners with colleges and career programs to equitably scale students’ ability to create professional relationships and launch effective job or internship searches in the hidden job market. He earned his BA in communication at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and his MBA from Santa Clara University. He is the author of LAUNCH YOUR CAREER: How ANY Student Can Create Relationships with Professionals and Land the Jobs and Internships They Want (Berrett-Koehler Publishers), written in partnership with The Career Leadership Collective.

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How to Write the Most Important Part of Your Resume

Can a stranger tell what you want to do just from the top third of your resume?

It’s an important question, because often, that is all a recruiter or hiring manager will look at when they are scanning through a large pile of resumes to determine which professionals deserve a phone interview.

So if you took the literal top third of the first page of your resume, ripped it off, and handed it to a stranger, could that stranger understand who you are and what you want to do?

How to Create a Great Professional Summary

At Leet Resumes, where we write great professional resumes for free, the critical importance of this top third of your resume is where we spend the most time crafting your resume.  Here’s some advice for creating a great professional summary at the top of your resume:

A well-constructed Professional Summary helps readers of your resume understand who you are and what you’re looking for in your next role.

Explain what job titles you are willing to accept for your next role. It is helpful to hiring managers and HR people when they understand precisely what you’re looking for in your next role.  It might seem completely obvious to you, but given the variety of human ambitions, it is not obvious at all to others.  So be explicit and clear – clarify for your audience the titles of the types of jobs you’d like to do next. On Leet professionally written resumes, we recommend that users be a little bit ambitious here and stretch for the next most likely title they’re ready for.

Explain what skills, talents and capabilities you have that prove you deserve one of those job titles.  Looking through your background and skills, which ones are most relevant to indicating that you’re ready to take on those job titles? It’s important here to select the most relevant ones, not just a grab bag of common professional skills. So, for example, if you’re going for a managerial role, listing ‘timeliness’ or ‘able to follow directions’ are each too low-level and not appropriate for the jobs you’re pursuing. Instead ‘Effective Communicator’ or ‘Drives Productivity’ might be better matches.

Explain what accomplishments you’ve had in your career that confirm you have those skills, talents, and capabilities. You’ve made the case that you have a certain set of capabilities or talents, now it’s time to back those claims up. What have you done in your recent career that can verify that you actually have those skills? Looking at the examples in the prior paragraph – for ‘Effective Communicator’ you might write ‘Successfully Led Teams Through M&A’ and for ‘Drives Productivity’ you might write ‘Increased Throughput 35%.’ Whatever your skills are, show what you’ve done with them, so that it is easy for your readers to understand how you’ve applied yourself at work.

Each of these steps creates one line in your professional summary. By using short phrases in a natural hierarchy, you provide HR professionals and your future boss with an easy-to-read, easy-to-scan summary that makes your ambitions easy to understand.

Add a Professional Headline

Advertise Who You Are

Now that you have the heart of your professional summary, go back and lead with a powerful professional headline. Your professional headline uses just three or four words to advertise who you are for your future boss.  It’s best to compose it from one adjective and your most likely desired job title.

Pick an Adjective That Describes You

For the adjective, pick something that your peers and past bosses would agree is your most defining characteristic in your role.  It could be “Hard-working,” or “Creative,” or “Innovative,” or “Accomplished.”  It should be positive, but not bragging, and it should showcase you in the most positive light.

Add Your Target Job Title

For the job title, you’ll use one of the job titles that you are targeting, not the job title you currently have.  After all, there’s no reason to advertise for the job you already have! So if you’re a manager looking to be a director, write “Logistics Director.”  If you’re a software engineer ready to rise, write “Senior Software Engineer.”  And if you’re finally ready for that corner office, indicate it with “Vice President.”

With these easy-to-follow instructions, your resume will be much more powerful. Rather than using a long paragraph, or a choppy grab bar list, the above professional summary draws your readers’ attention in, and delivers them a short, compelling, effective message about their next hire.

Guest Author Marc Cenedella is Founder of Leet Resumes, free professional resume writing at www.leetresumes.com, and Ladders, the home for $100K+ Careers.

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How to Impress an Interviewer (Even When You Don’t Have All the Qualifications)

If a job hunt uncovers an appealing position, but you’re unable to meet all the requirements, don’t think that you’ve necessarily hit a dead end. Oftentimes, the requirements in a job description are more of a wish list than a litany of must-haves.

If the requirements are just out of reach and you can make a compelling case that you have transferable experience, go ahead and apply. Know, however, that you’ll need to be especially strategic to land an interview, and then to impress your interviewer. 

Make a Case for Landing the Interview

If you’re on the job hunt but finding that all the appealing positions list specific requirements you can’t meet, don’t think that you’ve necessarily hit a dead end. Oftentimes, the requirements in a job description are more of a wish list than a litany of must-haves. Hiring managers understand that they will rarely find candidates that meet every qualification. 

Of course, in some cases the reach may be too great. You can’t attract notice if the skill gap is too wide — for instance if you lack necessary technical training. But if the requirements are just out of reach and you can make a compelling case that you have transferable experience, go ahead and apply. 

How to Impress an Interviewer 

Know, however, that you will need to be especially strategic to land an interview, and then to impress your interviewer. Here’s how to prepare: 

1. Do the extra legwork

For starters, you will need to research what, exactly, the position calls for on a day-to-day basis. Engage your network to find someone in similar role — or even someone on the inside who could recommend you — and arrange an informational interview. If you’re unable to find someone to talk to, look online at industry blogs and ask for advice via chat features.

2. Align your online presence

Curate your LinkedIn profile to reflect your new direction, tailoring it to the role that you’re after. Include key words that are relevant to the position and industry you’re pursuing. Add insightful content to your social media sites that goes deeper than the information on your resume — such as commentary on something taking place in your newly chosen field. 

3. Retool your cover letter and resume

In your cover letter and resume, make a strong case for how your experience and skills are relevant to the position. For example, if the job description lists five years of experience, but you have just two years, indicate the wealth of knowledge you’ve gained in those two years with a few specific examples.

If your experience comes from another industry, explain how the skills you’ve developed cross over — and even lend themselves to bringing in fresh ideas — and list one or more in your cover letter.

4. Prepare to interview via an online meeting platform

If you end up landing an interview, congratulations! These days, it’s more than likely your interview will take place online. Be sure to master the meeting platform before your interview. To make a good impression, present yourself as well-groomed and well put together (at least from the waist up). Your clothes should be pressed and spot-free. Stay away from busy, distracting patterns.

Set Up Your Interview Space

• Be sure to stage your background — and this doesn’t mean a faux background enabled by the video conferencing platform.
• Make it authentic, while ensuring your workspace looks clean and uncluttered. Be sure that you don’t sit in front of a bright window that will shroud you in darkness.
• Place a light in front of your computer if possible. Then practice with a friend to perfect the platform’s features and your lighting.

5. Refine your answers

To make a winning impression, you’ll need to answer each question with poise and passion. Practicing first will really help. Anticipate all possible questions, from the generic “tell me a little about yourself,” to the softball lob “what can you bring to this position.” Prepare several examples that describe your transferable skills.

Refrain from pointing out where your qualifications fall short, but if the interviewer mentions the shortfall, be honest while veering into the professional skills you will bring. For example, if you’re interviewing for an event-planner position, highlight your organizational skills and attention to detail with a short but telling anecdote:

“My senior year in college, I organized a camping trip with five friends who were novice campers. I arranged everything from gear lists to menus to directions to the campsite. I’m known as the ‘uber planner’ in my friend group.” 

  6. Strive to have a genuine conversation

If you go into an interview with equal measures confidence, curiosity and composure, you’ll get the most out of the back-and-forth exchange. Think of the interview as a chance to get to know more about the organization and how you might fit in.

Your interviewer will steer the conversation by asking most of the questions, but be ready to take the conversational lead when the occasion calls for it. The most successful interviews are those where you feel that you conveyed everything you wanted the employer to know about you, but where you also had a surprisingly interesting (and hopefully, memorable) conversation.

Let the conversation determine how much, how little or in what direction you take your response. Smile often to show an upbeat attitude; and at the end, express appreciation for the interviewer’s time and interest. 

7. Stay on the job-hunting campaign until you land the job

Trust your gut. The flavor of the interview will give an indication of whether your interviewer was impressed or underwhelmed with your qualifications and fit for the position. Yet don’t back down until you know definitively if the offer comes to you or that you’ve been turned down.

Be sure to email a heartfelt thank you to the person who granted you the interview. Instead of a generic note, use the opportunity to make a further point or remark on something the interviewer said that you found helpful or insightful. If the days tick by without any word, casually make contact by forwarding an interesting industry news item or even a follow up on a topic you discussed in the interview.  

It’s hard, but not impossible, to gain notice if your job history casts you as underqualified. Take the opportunity through the application process to learn more and then, if the first attempt doesn’t work out, build on the experience with the next one.  

Guest Author Vicky Oliver is a leading career development expert and the multi-bestselling author of five books, including 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions (Sourcebooks 2005), named in the top 10 list of “Best Books for HR Interview Prep,” and 301 Smart Answers to Tough Business Etiquette Questions (Skyhorse Publishing, 2010). She is a sought-after speaker and seminar presenter and a popular media source, having made over 901 appearances in broadcast, print and online outlets. For more information, visit vickyoliver.com. 

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How to Set Boundaries When You Work From Home

By some measures, working remotely can improve work/life balance. As an employee, you’re closer to home, free from a commute, and able to accomplish at-home tasks that would have been impossible from a company desk. 

But now that remote work has become the norm, there are new concerns. Video chatting with a boss from your living room can feel invasive. Virtual communication channels between home and work are constantly open, creating murkier boundaries. If you have children at home, it often feels like you’re juggling several jobs at once. 

“For remote workers, creating boundaries between work and life has always been top of mind,” said Brie Weiler Reynolds, career development manager and coach at Flexjobs and Remote.co. “But during the pandemic, this has become especially important because there have been fewer activities we can do outside of our homes.”

Career Tool Belt spoke to Reynolds about how to work from home – instead of living at work. 

Beware of burnout. 

A funny thing happens when we work from home: we tend to overwork.

According to a survey by FlexJobs and Mental Health America, 37 percent of employed respondents said that they were working longer hours than usual since the pandemic started. Faced with fewer boundaries, people never stop working. 

While employees lament a commute, for example, it often creates a natural start and end time that doesn’t exist in remote work – so we work all day long. In an office, we join other people when we see them taking lunch breaks, but when we’re on our own, we forego lunch entirely. It’s harder to appear busy and present when we work from home, so we overcompensate by making ourselves constantly available. 

Being aware of this tendency is an important step to creating healthy remote work boundaries and avoiding burnout, Reynolds said. 

“Remote workers have to be very deliberate in creating boundaries around work time so that they don’t find themselves working all hours of the day, or even thinking about work at all hours of the day,” Reynolds said. 

Set clear boundaries with your boss and colleagues.

If you feel like work is creeping too much into your home life, it’s time to set boundaries. 

Let your teammates and manager know when they can expect you to be online, so they’re not left wondering, Reynolds said. If you need flexible hours, ask for them. Turning off email and work notifications is a simple, but critical move. Your boss is not going to tell you to do these things: you have to do them yourself.

“Turning off email when you’re not ‘at work’ is important. You shouldn’t be available all the time,” said Reynolds.

Chances are, your boss and colleagues didn’t invade your home life on purpose. They’re probably all working on different schedules, and they have no rulebook to consult. Instead of getting angry or flustered with them for violating your boundaries, be firmer and clearer about them. Most people will be grateful for the guidance. 

Have a literal office space that you can enter and leave every day.

There’s a reason why offices exist: they help you get into work mode. If you let work spill into the rest of your home, it may not only affect your work productivity; it may make you feel less at home at the end of the day. 

“Having a specific office space, whether in a guest bedroom, a true home office, or just the corner of a shared space, can help you get into work mode each day,” Reynolds said. “Put your laptop in a drawer or closet when you’re done with work, so you don’t see it and feel tempted to jump back in. Start and end your workday with some kind of ritual that signals to your brain that it’s time to change from work to personal or vice versa.” 

Schedule personal activities during your free time. 

Even when you’re off the clock, it’s sometimes easier to keep working than to do things for yourself. In order to maintain a healthy work/life boundary, you have to deliberately plan things that make you happy. 

“Most people struggle with the ‘life’ part of work-life balance,” Reynolds said. “Schedule personal activities and have several go-to hobbies that you enjoy so you’ll have something specific to do with your personal time. If you don’t have anything planned, like a hike after work or a puzzle project, you may find it easier to slip back to work unnecessarily.”

Maintain boundaries with your family. 

If you have family at home, maintaining a boundary between work and life can be extra challenging. Small children, in particular, love to shatter work/life boundaries by making noise, saying hi to your colleagues on video chat, or by making demands at the worst possible times. 

You can’t stop children from being children, but you can make strides by creating certain boundaries and being firm, said Reynolds. 

Create visual boundaries by shutting doors, writing signs, using green or red cards to signify how busy you are, setting timers, putting on headphones, or even taping a floor to outline a boundary around your desk, Reynolds suggested. Verbal boundaries include having an initial deeper discussion, followed by smaller, consistent chats.

“Prepare yourself to have these conversations regularly. Kids will naturally not always respect or remember the rules in this strange new world. Try to have patience and know you’ll need to regularly remind them,” Reynolds said.

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7 Tips For Relocating Without A Job Lined Up

Whether you are fresh out of college or looking to pursue a career abroad, moving without a job lined up can be quite stressful and intimidating. But that doesn’t mean you have to put your plan of moving to a new city on the back burner. Here are some strategic steps you can take to make the job-hunting process in this new chapter of your life much easier. 

Getting Your Finances Together

The last thing you want to worry about when moving to a new city is an empty bank account. When dedicating most of your time to looking for a job, making sure that you have enough savings to support this job-search process will significantly reduce your stress level. The first step to properly managing your finances is to calculate your monthly expenses with a budget app like Mint. Although this might entail living below your means for a few months until you finally land that dream job. 

If living on a tight budget seems a bit challenging, consider starting a side-hustle to bring in a steady source of income. With less financial pressure, you can fully focus on job hunting and not rush the process. 

Job Hunt Like A Pro

Before packing up and moving to that new city, take the time to master your networking skills and learn how to job hunt like a pro. Job-searching requires you to step out of your comfort zone and take proactive steps to increase your chances of getting hired.

Whether it’s through sending personalized emails to previous professional contacts, attending virtual networking events, or posting your resume on LinkedIn to get yourself noticed. Opportunities are everywhere. Put yourself out there, and you’ll receive that job offer before you know it!

Image courtesy Intuit Mint

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How to Ace a Performance Review

A performance review is a performance evaluation and development discussion performed by a manager regarding an employee. The process is sometimes referred to as a performance appraisal. And is a method of exchanging the job performance of an employee in a documented fashion.

Typically, this is a way of the manager evaluating an employee’s work performance, identifying strengths and weaknesses. And offering feedback on performance. Lastly, it’s a great way for the manager and the employee to set goals for future performance. Often, these goals can lead to internal promotions or salary increases.

What is a performance review meeting like?

Most companies choose to have annual performance reviews. And others choose to perform reviews every 6-months. This depends on the work culture and status of the business. Most commonly, a performance review will last about 60-minutes, where the manager and the employee have the opportunity to exchange ways to improve. Covering “what went well” and “what didn’t go so well.” Over the time period between the last performance review.

Generally, it’s best to be mentally prepared to accept performance feedback in these meetings. And be ready to accept new challenges. Rather than interpreting feedback as pessimism. Employees who come into these meetings with optimism and a willingness to be challenged often exceed expectations of the meeting.

3 Techniques to Ace a Performance Review

Here are three tips to make sure you ace an upcoming performance review.

Tip 1: Come prepared with a self-assessment

Great leaders are always looking for feedback. The best managers are those that enter into a meeting and ask, “How can I help?” Rather than dictating what the team should be doing. And how they should be doing it. In fact, even better leaders ask, “What can I be doing better?”

In this same fashion, it’s best for employees to perform a 360-review of themselves before entering into the performance review. Spend time thinking through what went well, what didn’t go so well, looking at prior performance goals, and considering new performance goals. Or if a specific instance comes to mind where you felt you truly “dropped the ball,” then come prepared with that example. And how you are planning to constructively prevent that situation from occurring once more.

The purpose of coming prepared isn’t to “do the manager’s job” for them. It’s to be collaborative and proactive in the discussion. A great manager will want to know where your passions lay. And how to better address those. And simultaneously meet the needs of the company.

A formal performance appraisal (performance review) might be a long one-page document. It’s not necessary to create one of these. Instead, make a few bullet points for the manager to review with you in the meeting. In otherwise difficult scenarios, like when performance is waning, an employee who recognizes their lack of performance is often provided with more flexibility.

Those entering into their first performance review might not have a prior review to utilize when preparing. Then consider initial job interview answers as a starting point. For example, why you wanted to work at the company. And how that was addressed in the first job interview.

Tip 2: Ask for more feedback

It’s not uncommon for a manager to be extremely pleased with an employee’s work performance, to the point where there might not be enough for them to divulge something to improve upon. And while this might seem like a great thing. It opens the door for future miscommunication and performance challenges. A great way to make sure that the manager has something to share is to ask them to review your performance the moment they see an opportunity.

Let’s walk through this. In the meeting, it’s best to inform the manager something like the following. Saying, “I’m very pleased that my work has been sufficient here. This job is significant to me. And I’m happy that my team is pleased with how I work. And the work we are accomplishing together. Though, I am always hungry to learn and develop. With that said, please tell me how I can improve when you see something, even if it’s not recorded on our performance review. I would like to know. And will work hard to improve.”

Here are some questions to ask if the manager isn’t providing enough:

• Are there any ways my communication can be improved?
• What can I be doing “more of” for the company?
• What can I be doing “less of” for the company?
• Is my work impressing our senior management?
• Has my work made it easy for you to do your job?

The manager might not take this offer up. And might respond with something like, “Nothing comes to mind.” But it’s important that the manager is aware you are looking for feedback. And it’s important that the request for feedback is honest. All great employees are hungry for feedback. It can be hard not to take this feedback with too much severity. And feel emotional about it.

A great mental trick to overcome this is to manage your own expectations. And be unhappy when there is no feedback to work on. Make that mental shift to be unhappy about a potentially good thing. And happy about more to work on.

Tip 3: Great communication is essential in this meeting

Great communication is always vital in the workplace. But during these meetings, it’s even more important. Follow some of these simple steps to make sure communication is clear during these meetings:

• Let the manager lead the meeting. Listen and ask questions more than speaking.
• If confused about particular performance goals, ask questions. Don’t guess.
• If the performance goals relate to company objectives, use this meeting as an opportunity to learn more about the business trajectory and quarterly objectives.
• Don’t bring up topics unrelated to performance. For example, stay away from discussing projects. Or issues with other employees. This meeting should be about you and the company. And nothing else.
• Don’t bring up increases in salary or promotions in this meeting. A performance review is the first step in asking for a promotion or a raise. Wait until the meeting is over. And it has been confirmed that your personal performance has exceeded expectations.

By following these communication tips, the meeting will be more focused. And the manager will feel like you’re practicing active-listening skills in this meeting. Keeping the 

If feeling underutilized or undervalued, address that with the manager toward the end of the discussion. Saying something like, “I’m happy that my performance has exceeded expectations. I feel like I can bring more to the company and I’ll be looking for those opportunities in the future when they arise.”

This can be a great way to initiate discussions about salary increases or promotions. But at a later date and separate meeting. A positive performance review doesn’t secure an immediate promotion or salary increase. Often, these are only available after the quarterly or annual budgeting performed by the operations team. Consider the performance reviews a “check-in.” And a precursor to a potential salary increase.

Always thank the manager for their time. A performance review can be cumbersome for managers. And great managers spend time considering how they can help you. And how you can help them. Send them a thank-you email after the meeting. And suggest an understanding for the time and effort spent considering ways to improve together.

Good communication will encourage relationship building and teambuilding between yourself and the manager. And can be a vital aspect of having good working chemistry, allowing for more honest and open discussions in the future.

Guest author Patrick Algrim is owner of Algrim.co. And is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW), NCDA Certified Career Counselor (CCC), and general career expert. Patrick has completed the NACE Coaching Certification Program (CCP). And has been published as a career expert on Forbes, Glassdoor, American Express, Reader’s Digest, LiveCareer, Zety, and many more.

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