Carol Kleiman is on vacation. Here’s some advice Carol gave earlier this year.
Dear Coach, I use vacation days for job interviews and always give my present employer sufficient notice about when I will be out of the office. However, several potential employers have given me an ultimatum to interview on specific days or not at all. What is a job seeker, an employed one, to do?
Carol Kleiman: I think the inflexibility is a strong indication that you absolutely do not want to work for those companies–even if you did manage to have an interview and get hired!
Dear Coach, I was given new duties at my present job that greatly increased my responsibilities–but not a dime in extra compensation. It’s a special project and I am the only one who can handle it, so I wonder if it would be wrong to leave if I am offered something better elsewhere? I have had job offers, but I’m worried about burning bridges.
CK: It’s stellar of you to feel such loyalty to your current employer, but it doesn’t seem to me that it is returned. No one, even someone as valuable as you are, is irreplaceable. Do what’s best for you. Give plenty of notice and offer to train your replacement.
Dear Coach, I am a victim of what I call “stealth age discrimination.” I am 59, my current job holds little interest for me, and my goal is to do some work that I actually enjoy. But there is so much age discrimination going on, that I don’t think I’ll be able to get a job. Yet retirement doesn’t sound like something I want to do. What should I do?
CK: I think your expression, unfortunately, is so appropriate. If you think you won’t be able to get a new job, hang on to your present one. If you want to feel more fulfilled, and that’s what I think you’re really missing, now is the time to develop an interest in something outside of work. There might be an important cause that you can give your all to–and thereby benefit the rest of humankind.
COACH CAROL’S 15-SECOND DRILL: Getting a job is hard, and keeping it can be even harder. Make sure you know exactly what is expected of you–and do it!
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Carol Kleiman’s columns also appear in the Tuesday and Thursday Business sections. Hear her on WBBM-AM 780 at 6:21 p.m. and 10:22 p.m. Mondays and at 11:20 a.m. Saturdays. E-mail [email protected].