The Job Doctor - Tessa White – Details, episodes & analysis

Merit recently left her company after things went downhill following a restructuring. She is happy with her new position but wants to avoid the same thing happening again.

 How do you avoid feeling like a cog in the wheel, especially in an industry with a lot of change? What can you do to stay off the chopping block?

 As a Customer Success Manager, what is the best way to deal with being the “punching bag” for angry customers on a daily basis? 

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Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

In this episode, Tessa interviews fellow career coach, Sam Owens. Sam is the author of I Hate Job Interviews. He shares tips for a successful interview.

1. Practicing your responses
2. How to avoid rambling
3. Addressing being fired from a previous job
4. Being too honest
5. Using the Home Base Model
6. What interviewers really mean by, “Tell me about yourself.”
7. What to include in the first 3 minutes of the interview
8. Enthusiasm
9. How to end an interview

 You can find Sam Owens at https://www.samscareertalk.com/

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Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

Anne recently lost a promotion to an outside applicant. She has the experience that should have made the decision an easy yes for her employers and wants to know why she was overlooked.
 
How do you uncover why you weren’t promoted and what you need to change to be promoted in the future?
 Tessa shares her model for having difficult conversations. You can find The GAP Model for Conflict Resolution in Tessa’s book, The Unspoken Truths for Career Success.  These key statements can be used to gather valuable information.

• What I expected…
• What I observed…
• Then, identify the consequences.

Other Topics include:
Halfway Conversations
Practicing strong statements
Creating a path for career growth

The Feedback 4-pack : Three times a year ask the following questions to 4 people ( a manager, a cross functional team member, a superfan, and a neutral person):

1. How do you think others perceive me?
2. What is the perception of what I do? 
3. What have you found that works to build influence and become a more promotable person?

To be a guest on The JOB Doctor Click Here

Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

Dorothy Mashburn hosts Tessa on her podcast, Pay Negotiations Made Simple.

They discuss a variety of topics related to promotion and pay negotiation.

• Making the jump from mid-level positions to a director or VP role.
• Navigating conflict in a way that benefits your career.
• Encouraging your manager to see you as ready for a promotion.
• Knowing when to leave a company and when to have difficult conversations to improve your situation.
• Using a job offer as leverage.
• Navigating the current job market.

Get Tessa’s book here: BUY NOW

To be a guest on The JOB Doctor Click Here

Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

Carrie is a practicing CPA who just received a doctorate in business administration. Despite her new job in operations, she keeps being asked to fill in as a CPA and wants to know how to segue into her new role.

How do you define an undefined role and make yourself indispensable to your company?

 In this episode, Tessa explains how to create a strategic role that aligns with the needs of your company.

Creating a Strategic Role:

• Define the problems that need to be solved. Ask decision makers what projects would make the biggest difference in 3-6 months and why they hired you.
• Find a way to quantify your contributions and progress to send regular updates via email. Showing progress will help you gain momentum in the role.
• Utilize a dashboard. 
• Storytelling. Use face to face time with executives to focus on forward initiatives.  Aim for 80% strategic and 20% tactical. 

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Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

Tessa shares notes with fellow career coach Allison Peck of "Alli from Corporate."  Alli specializes in helping people transition to the corporate world and stand out from other applicants.

Tessa and Alli discuss a variety of topics:

 What is the job market like today? 

 How do you stand out in a sea of applicants?

 Can you use AI when applying for jobs?

 What is the best way to make professional connections that lead to opportunities?

 Should hobbies and interests be listed on a resume? Do recruiters look at social media?

Tools Mentioned in this episode:

CareerBuilder CoLab

Chat GPT

Perplexity AI

You can find Alli from Corporate on all socia media as "Alli from Corporate" and on her website TheAllisonPeck.com

To be a guest on The JOB Doctor Click Here

Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

Mistee works in healthcare and her department is being restructured. She needs to decide whether to take severance or stay on and accept a lesser role. Tessa covers a variety of topics related to Mistee’s situation.

• Relevance of the Older Worker’s Benefit Protection Act
• Negotiation potential within a highly structured field such as healthcare
• Good leverage vs Bad Leverage
• Potential benefits accepting a lesser role and staying at the company, especially for older workers - Some benefits may include PTO, a pension, healthcare benefits or other benefits that may have been grandfathered in.
• Negotiating a structured exit 

To be a guest on The JOB Doctor Click Here

Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

Andrew is searching for a job as a strategy consultant after being laid off from his position in corporate finance. He wants to know how to choose a position and company that will best elevate his career and how to be noticed by that company.

 How do you stand out in a sea of applicants? 

• Create an army of people, including family and friends, to find the positions you are seeking.
• Utilize LinkedIn to make connections and identify opportunities.
• Create a list of 10 companies you want to work for. Research them and make connections.
• Contact CEOs via LinkedIn, email, sending packages, or going to conferences where they may be speaking.
• Create a value proposition for each position you apply for that outlines precisely what you will do for that company.

You can find help with resumes at TheJobDoctor.com

To be a guest on The JOB Doctor Click Here

Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

In part two of this special episode, Tessa talks with That Career Coach, Kendall Berg.  Kendall shares her tips on networking and brand building.
 
Human connection is a core pillar of a happy and meaningful life.  While work plays a vital role, it shouldn't come at the expense of the relationships that support us, inspire us, and give our lives lasting value.

Work Accomplishments Fade: Projects are completed, goals are reached, and promotions are earned – yet their effect on our lives can diminish over time.

Relationships Endure: Strong relationships with family, friends, and colleagues provide lasting support, joy, and a sense of belonging that often outlasts the immediate impact of any single work achievement.

Kendall and Tessa discuss how to be a good manager and how to make the challenging leap from manager to director. 

They also discuss mental load and how it differs from workload.

Workload

• Focus: Quantifiable tasks and their associated time or effort to complete.
• Tangible: Visible and easily measured.
• Examples:
  • Answering 50 emails in an hour.
  • Filing a specific number of reports.
  • Building a piece of furniture.

Mental Load

• Focus: The thought processes involved in managing tasks, responsibilities, and decision-making.
• Intangible: Not directly visible or easily measured.
• Examples:
  • Remembering to buy milk on the way home and deciding which brand to get.
  • Planning a birthday party (guest lists, invites, food, activities).
  • Keeping track of everyone's schedules and appointments in a family.

Key Differences

• Visibility: Workload is visible; mental load is invisible.
• Measurement: Workload is easier to quantify; mental load is more subjective.
• Scope: Workload often pertains to job-related tasks; mental load encompasses all areas of life, including work, home, and relationships.

Why This Distinction Matters

Understanding the difference between mental load and workload is crucial because:

• Reduces Overwhelm: Recognizing mental load can help individuals explain their feelings of exhaustion or overwhelm when their workload may not seem excessive.
• Promotes Equitable Distribution: Understanding mental load can help partners, families, and teams more fairly distribute invisible tasks and responsibilities.
• Improved Work-Life Balance: Awareness of mental load can lead to a better understanding of overall work capacity and the potential need for strategies to manage both workload and mental load.

Find Kendall at https://thatcareercoach.net/

She is @ThatCareerCoach on all social media.

Her book Secrets of the Corporate Game comes out in November 2024

To be a guest on The JOB Doctor Click Here

Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"

In part one of this special episode, Tessa talks with fellow career coach, Kendall Berg, of That Career Coach. Kendall has years of experience in the corporate world with a background rooted in technology complementing Tessa’s background in HR. Together they offer valuable perspectives on today’s corporate landscape. In this episode, Kendall interviews Tessa. They discuss the “games” played in the corporate world and what happens behind closed doors. In a cancel culture, learning to have crucial conversations may change the course of your career.

1. Office Politics

• Focus: Navigating power dynamics, building alliances, and managing interpersonal relationships to advance one's agenda (positive or negative).
• Examples:
  • Spreading rumors or subtly undermining colleagues
  • Taking undue credit for the work of others.
  • Forming exclusive cliques to gain influence.
  • Gossiping and backstabbing.

2. The Blame Game

• Focus: Avoiding responsibility for errors and shifting fault to others.
• Examples:
  • Refusing to acknowledge mistakes and covering them up.
  • Making excuses or pointing fingers at other team members.
  • Creating a culture of fear, limiting open communication and problem-solving.

3. The Appearance Game

• Focus: Prioritizing image and perception over actual productivity or substance.
• Examples:
  • Spending excessive time on presentations and formatting instead of focusing on content.
  • Attending unnecessary meetings to appear busy and engaged.
  • Prioritizing self-promotion over meaningful contributions.

4. Strategy Games (These can be beneficial or harmful)

• Focus: Navigating power structures, competition, and negotiation tactics to achieve objectives. This can be healthy and necessary in business.
• Examples:
  • Carefully crafting persuasive arguments to win support for projects.
  • Anticipating the moves of competitors or internal rivals.
  • Building coalitions and networks for influence.

Why Recognizing Corporate Games is Important

• Avoid Toxicity: Identifying the negative games helps individuals avoid getting caught up in destructive patterns that hurt morale and productivity.
• Strategic Advantage: Understanding the rules of both negative and positive games allows people to navigate the corporate landscape more effectively.
• Promoting a Healthy Culture: Bringing awareness to these games can foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and collaboration.

Important Note: It's crucial to distinguish between harmless social dynamics and genuinely toxic behaviors. Not all interpersonal maneuvering or ambition is harmful.

Find Kendall at https://thatcareercoach.net/

She is @ThatCareerCoach on all social media.

Her book Secrets of the Corporate Game comes out in November 2024

To be a guest on The JOB Doctor Click Here

Order Tessa's Book "The Unspoken Truths for Career Success: Navigating Pay, Promotions, and Power at Work"