Kathryn Minshew
With clearly defined roles and a focus on communication, it's much easier to make your company come across as well-organized and on top of things - because it actually is.Collection: Communication
People actually aren't moving on from companies much more quickly than in the past, but there's a perception that they do, so companies are investing less in talent on the assumption that young employees won't stay long.Collection: Moving
Employers are looking for individuals who can tell a story about what they bring to a particular company, and people with an understanding of that have a much better chance of getting to where they want to go.
We spend a lot of time on Skype and other video interviews, and it's funny how many people will prepare for a Skype interview by wearing a formal suit jacket with pajama pants on the bottom. Then suddenly, someone is at the door, and you have to get up, and you realize you're wearing reindeer boxers. Just put pants on.
It's often said that if doing something was easy, everyone would be doing it. I think that's particularly true when you're trying to make your mark or architect your own career. There's often not a path to follow.
There are always going to be obstacles. I think the bigger your aspirations, the larger the obstacles.
Every generation brings something new to the workplace, and millennials are no exception. As a group, they tend to be highly educated, love to learn, and grew up with the Internet and digital tools in a way that can be highly useful when leveraged properly.
As a cohort, millennials are unique in their social consciousness, and they make decisions based on that awareness. Keep them engaged at work by showcasing a culture of paying it forward and tying the day-to-day into the larger purpose of the organization.
Millennials tend to appreciate regular feedback because they want to feel that their work matters and that they are making a difference in the workplace. As the youngest generation at most organizations, they also tend to be hungry for growth and development opportunities.
I'm an entrepreneur, so I've got to be ruthless about 'me' time if I want to have any left to myself! I make myself leave the office by 8 or 9 P.M. most nights, even if I do curl up with my laptop and a glass of wine at home to get through email.
Recruiters sometimes have their wires crossed when it comes to what Millennials really want at work. While fancy perks are great, many Millennials are more excited about growing and thriving at a company that appreciates their talent and will help them continue to learn.
For me, I spent months on job boards in 2010 and was frustrated by the experience. It's antiquated and clunky, and there was nothing about a particular job posting that helped me favor one company over another. You literally get a list of 5,000 jobs that look the same.
Job seekers light up when they find The Muse - we're a breath of fresh air in a stale, musty world. Our user experience focuses first and foremost on the individual, on providing them information - from content to company profiles - to make the most pressing professional decisions in their lives.
Having a co-founder is incredible, but it has to be the right person: someone who shares your values and ethics, absolutely, but also someone who has a similar vision for the future in terms of their appetite for risk, for low salaries, for hard work.
Slouching or leaning back may send the wrong signals. When you sit down for a formal interview, lean forward to show interest and active listening.
Ultimately, I think it takes a certain grit and determination to constantly re-prove to people that you're just as dedicated, just as determined, and just as capable as the entrepreneurs around you who may better fit the physical pattern - but on the flipside, women who succeed often become razor sharp through the process.
Millennials can be very hardworking, but it's easier to tell the story of the ones who are entitled.
I tend to find you have to be fairly vulnerable to get something... to get a perspective worth having. Which can be controversial. But I find telling someone what you're thinking about, what you want, and what you're afraid of can often help them give guidance.
Work is personal in the same way that finding a friend or partner is personal.
It's easy to imagine that because a certain company has a prestigious reputation or everyone says it's a great place to work, that it will be the perfect fit for you. But, in reality, the search to find a career is a much more individual process.
Starting with the values that feel authentic to who you are can serve as a compass to find more meaningful, fulfilling work.
There's a dance happening on both sides of the table. Individuals are giving their personal and career values a lot more weight when it comes to finding a company that aligns with both. At the same time, companies are becoming a lot more transparent about their core values as an organization and the types of people they want to attract.
The Muse should be a trusted destination for answers. A hand when you need one. Someone to talk you through tough decisions or situations. A starting point.
I know, being the odd one out can feel brutal. But, rest assured, it's also wonderful - because your desire to do things differently isn't 'uncool.' In fact, it's the exact opposite.
I think the idea of a 'perfect job' is a myth - there are pros and cons of every position, good days and bad days, and even what most people would consider dream jobs come with their share of downsides.
I probably have a small number of people that are consistently advisors and mentors, but I'm much more likely to have a broader array of... almost like an unofficial board of advisors, where I know that certain people are going to be good for certain types of topics.
Understanding your employee's perspective can go a long way towards increasing productivity and happiness.
Thinking big is only one part of being a successful entrepreneur.
We knew when we started the Daily Muse, we wanted a recruiting-focused business model rather than an advertising-focused one. We felt like publishers were being forced to go to more and more extreme lengths to monetize through advertising.
As you move through the application process, keep refining the way you present yourself. Like any skill, you'll only get better with practice, and you'll only hurt yourself if you get discouraged too early. This is one race that's definitely a marathon, not a sprint.
You know, as most entrepreneurs do, that a company is only as good as its people. The hard part is actually building the team that will embody your company's culture and propel you forward.
Don't let that nagging fear - that feeling that being different automatically qualifies you as being wrong - eat away at you.
Employees don't need to be best friends, but there does need to be a level of mutual respect and understanding.
Work-life balance for founders doesn't look like work-life balance for everyone else. Starting a company isn't a nine-to-six job - or a nine-to-nine job, or a nine-to-midnight job.
Most weeks, I work 100-plus hours on TheMuse.com. There are definitions of 'work-life balance' that would say I have none.
I am a big advocate for having an open discussion about team norms and preferences. At The Muse, some of us like to start working at 7:30 A.M. Others focus best from 10 P.M. to 2 A.M. Create a culture where it's acceptable not to be working when someone else is working.
Done right, a performance review is one of the best opportunities to encourage and support high performers and constructively improve your middle- and lower-tier workers.
Even your most talented employees have room for growth in some area, and you're doing your employee a disservice if the sum of your review is: 'You're great!' No matter how talented the employee, think of ways he could grow towards the position he might want to hold two, five, or 10 years down the line.
When you start a new company, you have to do it all. Yes, all of it.
Sure, you're an intelligent and highly capable individual, and you are learning a lot on the fly as you build your company. But you also need to come to terms with the fact that there are things you have chosen not to be an expert in.
Keeping a 'CEO blog' or 'founder's blog' can be a great platform for engaging your users in a nontraditional way, reaching people outside of your product pitch and building rapport without selling them anything except a belief in your ideas.
It's fantastic to be known as a company that responds quickly to users, shares great resources and friendly banter with them over Twitter, and forges relationships on Pinterest, Facebook, and every other social media site out there.
Sure, it's fun to chat with people with interesting backgrounds who seem to have a passion for your company. But a job interview is not a friendly chat. You need to determine whether candidates, can they really do the job. So ask them to prove it.
If you're able to arrange a trial period with a new hire, do it. It will give both of you a chance to make sure the position is a good fit - and can help you avoid being in the awkward situation of wanting to fire someone three or four weeks in.
Launching a start-up, you need to get a lot done quickly. Every day is different. Everyone pitches in with everything. It's easy for the founding team to say, 'We're flexible. We all help out with everything!' But when it comes to making decisions - that flexibility can spell inefficiency and disaster.
As we've grown 'The Daily Muse' and met contacts who want to collaborate with us, knowing who does what has helped us be clear on who we want our partners to connect with - and makes us look buttoned up, too. SEO firm? Talk to our COO. An editor from the 'Huffington Post?' Meet our Editor-in-Chief.
Much-derided chick lit, chick flicks, and chick magazines have left ambitious women in a bind. Why is it that I, a young woman, can read 'GQ,' enjoy 'Fight Club,' and subscribe to 'Thrillist,' while the idea of a guy doing the same with 'Glamour,' '27 Dresses' and 'Daily Candy' is nearly unheard of?
Call it nature or nurture, there are differences in how men and women approach professional conduct, and facing these issues head-on will make us all more equipped to succeed.
For those working menial jobs or putting in 100-hour weeks for corporations, the lure of starting your own business can seem like a great way to get more flexibility, upside, and ownership.
When I started my first company, I still had a 40-hour a week job. I was working on my company on nights and weekends before I took the plunge and gave up a salary.