6 Ways to Prepare for Your Promotion Now - The Muse

6 Ways to Prepare for Your Promotion Now - The Muse6 Ways to Prepare for Your Promotion NowIt almost sounds silly to say, but there are times when getting promoted isnt really on your mind. Maybe youve just started a new job and are still getting into the swing of things. Maybe the next step up for you is a big, big step- one you wont be quite ready for until a couple of years from now.But even if this is the case, you still may want to get promoted someday. And, for that reason, there are a few things you should be doing to set yourself up for success. The good news is, they wont take much effort now- but theyll pay serious dividends when youre ready to ask down the line.1. Keep Track of Your AccomplishmentsYou know that feeling Youve been at the saatkorn job for a couple of years, its time to apply for a new one, and you pull out your resume. And- with a sinking feeling- you realize that you have to recall all of your accomplishments from the last 24 months, not to mention gather d ata to put numbers to them. (Just how much did that ad campaign you ran affect sales?)The same goes when youre up for a new gig at your current company. When youre asking for a promotion, youre going to want to have a rundown of all the amazing things youve accomplished at your job.So, make your life then easier, and start a running tally of your achievements- think sales numbers, project results, and awesome client feedback. (Better yet, dont just keep these accomplishments to yourself. After, say, the end of a big project, send a wrap-up email to your boss detailing the results.)To get started making this a regular habit, try filling out this handy worksheet- it only takes 10 minutes a week to do2. Go to Training- and Keep Track of it, TooAlong similar lines, keep a list of any trainings youve been to or certifications youve earned- everything from that industry conference you attended to the company management training you went through to courses youve taken outside of work. This is so easy- just keep a notenzeichen in your phone or on your desktop, and take a couple seconds to add to it any time you attend a new training- but itll seriously come in handy when youre ready for that next level and can easily show your manager why youre qualified.And yes, implicit in this step is that youre actually going to trainings, conferences, and courses. Even if promotion isnt immediately on the horizon, its always a good idea to keep gaining new skills- who knows when your HTML or press release writing prowess might be just what your department needs?3. Pay Attention to Who Gets PromotedIf youre in a small team or company, this can be tough, but try to keep an eye on the people around you. Which of your co-workers are getting promoted? When?More importantly, is there a common thread among the people who succeed at your amtsstube? Pay attention to any signals you can glean- maybe theyre all super tight with your boss or they consistently exceed their sales goals by at l east 10%. At a previous job, I heard my department manager joke that hed never promote anyone who left at 5 every day- but joke or not, I noticed that he consistently stuck to that guideline.Even if theres no real pattern, you can learn a lot about what it takes to (eventually) move up at your organization by watching the actions, habits, and accomplishments of others whove been successful.4. Be an Open BookIf your boss is like most, he or she cares about your career goals. (Really.) So, if moving up in your company is something youd like to do someday, dont be shy about sharing that. No, you shouldnt remind him or her at every update you have, but its OK to bring it up from time to time.At your reviews (formal or informal), mention that your goal is to grow within the company, and ask for your boss advice on what you can be doing now to eventually be ready for the next level. Or, seek out people whove been at the company for a while, and ask what their path to growth within the com pany looked like. If your boss and other higher-ups know that you want to be promoted someday, they can offer you insight and advice thatll help you along the way.5. Look for Ways to Pitch InAt most companies, therell be opportunities to join committees or take on responsibilities that arent necessarily part of your job description Your company is overhauling its social media procedures and needs a representative from every department to sit on the project team, say, or your office is putting on a major fundraiser for the first time and needs someone to coordinate with the event planning company.Assuming youve got a good handle on your current job, these can be awesome opportunities. Youll gain new skills, youll meet more people at work, and youll learn about how things are done across the organization- all things that position you for that someday promotion. At my last job, I volunteered to sit in on a company-wide web redesign committee. When my department restructured and needed a head of web communications a year later, I was a natural fit for the role.6. Dress for the Job You WantI know. Youve heard it a thousand times Dress for the job you want, not the one youve got. But I think this message goes far beyond the clothes you wear every day Its how you present yourself in meetings and at office events, how you interact with staff both above and below you, and how seriously you take your work.Look at how the people one step up from you look, act, and yes, dress, and start doing that now. Lets be honest If you wait until two months before you want to ask for a promotion to start acting the part, it wont exactly look genuine. Step it up now, and hey- that promotion might just be closer than you think.

Whats Your Excuse Becoming an Astronaut Was Certainly Possible for This Son of Migrant Farm Workers

Whats Your Excuse Becoming an Astronaut Was Certainly Possible for This Son of Migrant Farm WorkersWhats Your Excuse Becoming an Astronaut Was Certainly Possible for This Son of Migrant Farm WorkersHave you ever dreamt of becoming an astronaut? I, for one, have dreamt of going into space ever since I welches about 10 years old. Unfortunately, thats probably the only thing I have in common with Jose Moreno Hernandez - one of the few migrant astronauts the US have ever sent into space.Unlike me, Hernandez made that dream a reality - and he did it against incredible odds. His story is a testimony to the rest of us that humans can achieve great things even if their starting line in life is set a few miles back.You probably already know this but becoming an astronaut is likereally hard.On paper, almost anyone can become an astronaut. All you need is to obtain a bachelors degree in a STEM subject and have at least three years of subject-related experience. Or have at least 1,000 hours of pilot-in-command time in jet aircraft. Yet, even if in theory your high school chemistry teacher has a shot at becoming one, most astronauts have at least a masters degree or a Ph.D. in their field. Some, like Story Musgrave, have degrees even way beyond that.Still, for any given applicant, the odds of being selected are minuscule, regardless of his or her qualifications. To be fair, Hernandez was relatively lucky he didnt apply last year when NASA received the all-time record of 18,300 applications. In 2004, only 2882 people applied and he got to be one of the seven civilian specialists who made the cut.Becoming an astronaut is even harder when youre born as a son of migrant Mexican farm workers.Hernandezs childhood was so rough he even hated summer vacations. While other children looked forward to summer, he had to work seven days a week in the fields.Moreover, his education was constantly interrupted by his family having to follow the changing crops. For this reason, Hernandez d idnt become fluent in English until he was 12. Then his American teachers convinced his parents this lifestyle was hurting their education. His family finally settled down for good - in Stockton, California.But even then, they had to live in a barrio, as there was nowhere else they could afford to live. So Hernandezs life changed but not exactly for the better. Out of his four childhood friends from that area, one committed suicide, another ended up out on the streets and the other one overdosed on drugs.Wherever you are in life, you can always dream big and try to make those dreams a reality When hewas 10, Hernandezwatched the Apollo 17 moon landing on TV. It was the last mission to the moon. Thats when he began dreaming of going into space. Fortunately, he was lucky enough to have a family that supported him in achieving his dream.First, his parents. It was never a question if he was going to go to college. It was about when. In 1984, Hernandez earned a B.S. in Electrical Enginee ring from the University of the Pacific. Two years later he could also boast an M.S. in the same field from the University of California, Santa Barbara. Gradually, he began to meet the requirements for being an astronautSecond, his wife. After sixth year that NASA rejected him, he was going to stop trying. His wife persuaded him not to give up.Becoming an astronaut is easy when you never give up.People get rejected twice, on average, before they get picked. If theyreject you six times, youllprobably never make itamong the lucky few. Hernandez was rejected from NASAs astronaut program eleven times The average age of new astronauts is 34. He was 41 when he became one.In 2001, he joined the Johnson Space Centre in Houston, Texas. NASAfinally selected him for astronaut training in May 2004. In February 2006 he completed Astronaut Candidate Training that included scientific and technical briefings, intensive instruction in Shuttle and International Space Stations systems, physiological t raining, T-38 flight training, and water and wilderness survival training.In 2009, Hernandez was finally a part of a 14-day mission to schliff construction of the International Space Station. He finally became an astronaut. Mission accomplished.If youre about to give up on your dream because it seems too unrealistic or grandiose, dont do it. Indeed, sometimes your goals can seem too distant or well nigh impossible to achieve. But the life story of Jose Hernandez proves that you can surmount even the greatest of heights if you take enough small steps.What are you still waiting for? Picka direction and start walkingShare Your Feedback or Ideas in the Comments

Finances How to save on everyday fees and charges

Finances How to save on everyday fees and chargesFinances How to save on everyday fees and chargesThis year, BradTheBoo and I have been getting our personal finances in shape in a MAJOR way. After making some big boss moves belastung year (hello, real estate purchase numero dos), we wanted to get back on track with savings plans and paying off leistungspunkt card debt that wed accumulated.So in the past few months, we spent a ton of time getting organized with Mint and a new financial planning spreadsheet that our financial advisor, Cris Caruso, got us all set up with.Follow Ladders on FlipboardFollow Ladders magazines on Flipboard covering Happiness, Productivity, Job Satisfaction, Neuroscience, and moreIm not gonna lie at first, I was totally overwhelmed. But once I got all our accounts connected to Mint and our budget was set up, I have to say I feel so much more organized about our money than ever before. If youre in my inner circle you probably already know this, because Ive be en blabbing about it to all my friends and family It just feels so good to get your finances organized.Anyway, one of the unexpected byproducts of getting on track with Mint, is that all of a sudden every single expense and fee was now glaringly obvious to me.Yikes my SundayNew York Timessubscription more thandoubledincost since my 1-year introductory deal had just expired? And OMG, our cable bill had gone up like crazy for the same reason Not to mention, I stspeciesed noticing all those monthly maintenance fees on our checking accounts and late fees on leistungspunkt card payments that were piling up, too.Consider QuittingIt all started with myNewYorkTimessubscription. I absolutely love getting the paper delivered each Sunday so I can read stories aloud in the truck on the way up to skiing in the Rocky Mountains. Or just to curl up with on a lazy Sunday morning with my giant cup of coffee. Not only do I love getting the paper, I also love supporting journalism and the free press i n the process.So you can imagine how serious we are about reducing our debt and balancing our budget when I talked it out with Brad and decided the paper was just costing too much to justify. We needed to save some funds, so I was prepared to quit. I didnt like it, but I figured I could just re-subscribe later on when we had fewer bills to pay.I logged into my subscriber profile and chatted with an agent through their help desk. Within a few minutes of explaining that I was closing down my account for personal finance reasons, I was genuinely surprised to landsee a counter-offer in my chat thread I had not expected that.They reduced the cost dramatically to keep me from quitting and I was over the moon. It went to effect right away, and I felt way less guilty for continuing to receive the paper each week. In fact, it made me cherish it even more.Call Them All And OftenMy experience withThe NewYorkTimesgotmethinking what other recurring monthly expenses could I reduce? It was espec ially important for me to focus on those repetitive monthly charges because for those, my negotiation efforts would pay off over and over again.Next on the list was one of our highest monthly expenses cable and internet. Having fast internet is important for a web-based business owner like me, but did we really need cable? I logged into our Xfinity account to see what we were really paying for and how the price had gone up so much over the past year.In talking things over with Brad, we were willing to cut back to save some money, so I called up Xfinity to see what they could do, especially because I had discovered a major error upon logging into the back-end we had accidentally been paying for an added Showtime package for a few months that we didnt need, use, or want.When I called them up, I explained the Showtime situation and how wed just discovered the accidental overcharge. I remained friendly, patient, and appreciative throughout what turned into quite a long call, which goes a long when youre asking a company representative to essentially do you a favor.Ask If They Can Sweeten the DealOnce the overcharge situation was looked into and refunded, I asked the customer service representative what we could do to reduce our bill. We loved our service, I told him, but we really needed to cut back on our expenses. Is there any way you can help? I asked. And he put me on a brief hold to find out.Yall its that simple. When he rejoined the line, he mentioned that there was a deal currently available to reduce our bill by $20 a month if we would be willing to commit to a 2-year contract. I asked about the penalty for early termination and was told it was a mnznominal one-time fee. This was an easy Yes from us because we really dont foresee needing to change our cable and internet again anytime soon.By simply asking if there was any way for them to get us a better deal and by spending, frankly, quite a few minutes on the phone we were able to reduce expense by $24 0 a yearNow, Im not sure if it made a big difference that we did a lot of this negotiating in January when lots of companies are offering special sales, but I figure its worth mentioning, just in case.Be Fierce About Finance FeesOnce I had conquered my newspaper and cable and internet companies, I was totally hooked Up next were the big banks, which is our case consists primarily of Bank of America, where Brad and I have some checking accounts and credit cards, too.The first thing I did was call up regarding both of our credit cards and simply ask if, based on our good credit history and our long-time loyalty as customers for more than a decade, they could reduce our interest rates. A few years ago I was successful in that endeavor, but this time, I got a no on both attempts. Wah-wah.But then a few weeks went by and thanks to being all set up and organized on Mint, I was alerted via email to the fact that Brads credit card had charged him an interest paymentanda $25 late fee, even t hough he had completely paid off the card albeit a few days later than the monthly due date. I thought that was ridiculous, but kept my vocal tone pleasant, when I called up to once again express how, as longtime loyal customers, we would appreciate it if those fees could be reversed.Interestingly, the representative was kind enough to ask me an important follow-up question. He said, Was there any specific reason or extenuating circumstance that caused you to be late on this payment? Now lets be real. They were essentially telling me what I needed to say next that there was some reason behind the late payment. So I said we were out of town and dealing with some family things which, to be clear, doesnt actually impact ones ability to make a credit card payment, but whatever. Andthatwas all it took Boom fee removed. Interest charge removed.Time = MoneyThis whole experience has taught me something really valuable spending time on your finances can save you some serious coin. Within that reality, though, lies a great injustice. Because for those of us most burnt out, stressed out, and overworked its pretty unlikely that youre going to have 45 minutes to spare to negotiate your rates with the cable company. Or to ask for forgiveness from a utility company. And that irony is not lost on me.But if youre the kind of person whodoeshavetheprivilegeoftime. Your spare time on a Sunday morning might be better spent making a few of these phone calls as opposed to never ever, ever missing brunch.My new rule of thumb is to do a full financial check-up on all our monthly recurring expenses every 6 months or so and to call and ask outright if these companies can do anything to sweeten the deal for me.Because its worth the time to advocate for ourselves in bigandlittleways like this.Give it a goSo now Im challenging you take a look at your recurring expenses this month and commit to calling at least one of those companies on your list and ask about getting a better deal. Re port back to me by commenting below on how it goes. And with any luck, a single win like the one I experienced first, will get you rolling on a series of negotiations that not only help balance your budget but also help your practice the fine art of being pleasantly persistent and negotiating on your own behalf.This article first appeared on Bossed Up. Listen to Emilie Aries podcast HERE. You might also enjoyNew neuroscience reveals 4 rituals that will make you happyStrangers know your social class in the first seven words you say, study finds10 lessons from Benjamin Franklins daily schedule that will double your productivityThe worst mistakes you can make in an interview, according to 12 CEOs10 habits of mentally strong people