Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Second Guessing Myself

Several weeks ago someone at work made a suggestion of something I should do to help in my potential of moving into another position. Because of some previous experiences I did not follow that advice.

I just found out some news that makes me wonder if I made a mistake.

How do you know when to do something you know is futile for the immediate but may be positive for the future without appearing to be out of touch with the current situation? In other words, how do you know when to apply for a position if you and they both know that you know the job is going to someone else?

No, Mom, there isn't a job opening.

4 comments:

Ann said...

I don't have a clue how to answer any question about the business world, but I tagged you for a "meme" on my blog. Congratulations! :-)

rk2 said...

Thanks. I'm trying to think of five quirks, but I don't apparently have any. : )

Eric - Retta said...

I have always told my employees (even though I never have done it) that they want to move up or into a new role at some point in the future, that they should apply and interview for any position they can. This does several things: 1)Conveys the message to your organization that you are ready and willing to move into a more challanging role. 2)Helps you to learn and feel more comfortable in the interview process. 3) Gives you the chance to ask questions about things you may not know now.

If you already know you are not going to get job for what ever reason, don't be afraid to admit it in the process. "I know I am not qualified (or the preferred choice) for this position, but I wanted to find out where I needed to focus to prepare myself for future opportunities." etc....

Four years ago I interviewed a production worker for a engineering role. He clearly was not qualified. I gave him some specific things to learn and study, and some areas he needed to focus on and implement the actions. Three months ago I interviewed the same person for a engineering position and I hired him. He still needed to learn some things, but he took everything I encouraged him to look into and acted on them. I knew he was willing to do what it took to improve himself and move into a new role.

Sorry so long, but I am passionate about my employee's growing as indiviuals and being prepared to acheive their goals. The process of pursuing new position, even if they do not get the job, is big part of that personnel develop plan.

EDK

Eric - Retta said...

As you can tell, I am a huge fan of spell check. Blogger doesn't have that option. EDK