The main purpose of following up after a job interview (other than the obvious thanking of the person for their time and attention -- which is, simply, the polite and courteous thing to do) is to reinforce that you are the right person for the job – in terms of both attitude and aptitude.

I provided three suggestions, one of which made it into the article: 

Tip: Provide a follow-up response to one of the key interview questions. Ever draw a blank or give a less than stellar response during a job interview? Use your post-interview thank you note to modify, correct or amplify one of your responses.

Todd Cherches

, CEO 
of BigBlueGumball, a New York City-based management consulting and coaching firm, offers this example:

When you asked me about my single greatest accomplishment in my last job, I apologize that I drew a blank. However, immediately after leaving, it hit me that I should have mentioned...I was voted the top salesperson in my department for 2013, and proudly received a special recognition award at my company’s year-end national convention. This gives you a chance to re-connect with the interviewer, re-confirm your interest in the position, and demonstrate your self-awareness (while, at the same time, showing resilience after bouncing back from that brain-freeze!).

Two of my other suggestions -- that didn't make it into the column -- were:

*Along with the “thank you” email, include a relevant article, link, or book recommendation that relates to a topic you were discussing. For example, “In our interview, you mentioned that one of the biggest challenges of this position will be supervising a staff of recent college graduates, so I thought you might find the attached article on ‘Managing Millennials’ interesting.”

*Provide a (non-confidential, of course) work sample that illustrates your ability to do the job. “As one of the primary responsibilities of this position would be to put together PowerPoint decks for the sales staff, attached is a sample of one of my recent presentations just to give you a sense of my design abilities.”

Click here to read the full article with tips from a variety of industry experts.

How much of your time at work are YOU spending in each quadrant?

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“People do best, what they like best to do.”

That’s an old adage by Frederick W. Taylor, the original efficiency expert and management guru. Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? And yet, so many people hate their jobs. So why is that? What's going on?

The Passion/Skill Matrix may help to explain...

Think about your hobbies. You know, the things you do for fun. Whatever it is, whether it’s playing a sport, a musical instrument, practicing a craft, or whatever, you probably do it for at least one of the following two reasons: you’re good at it and/or you enjoy it. Otherwise, why do it?

If you love doing something, let’s say, playing the guitar or the piano or drums – even if you’re not very good at it – you’re going to pick it up and fiddle around with it, spending your spare time practicing, and watching and listening to others play, all in the hope of getting better. Even if you’re not that great and know you’re probably never going to play in a band, you still do it because it’s fun.

Similarly, if you’re good at something, even if it’s balancing your checkbook, you may not love doing it, but because you’re skilled in math and it comes quick-and-easy to you, you don’t really mind doing it. Or maybe you do?

So, what about something that you love doing AND you’re good at it? Now you’ve hit the magic bulls eye: your passions and your skills are in alignment! Let’s say you love playing tennis and you discovered years ago that you’re pretty good at it. Most likely, with this combination of passion and skill, you enjoyed watching tennis on TV to see how the pros do it, didn’t mind hitting a tennis ball against the wall thousands of times, and got a rush from playing every chance you got.

Over time, your skills grew. And as your skills grew, so did your confidence, which led to your taking on tougher challenges, practicing more, winning against better and better opponents, having fun competing and winning, and enjoying your increased success. No, you’re probably not going to play tennis in the U.S. Open, but you’re at a level that you are proud of and enjoy as you keep working on taking your game to the next level.

Now, what about when you are stuck doing something that you are not good at, and do not like doing? How successful do you think you are going to be?

Probably not very.

And, yet, this describes a lot of people’s jobs. So how does this happen?

Here’s how it happened to me: A number of years ago, I was out of work for a while when I was offered an amazing job as the VP of Business Development and head of the New York office for a leading west coast interactive agency. I was so honored to be hired by, and excited to be working for, this innovative company, and was looking forward to taking on the challenge of helping them to grow their east coast business.

But once the initial excitement wore off, the job itself ended up being much tougher for me than I ever expected. I started just around the time of the dot-com crash when finding new business instantly became tougher and tougher. And, unfortunately, I quickly discovered the hard way that I did not possess the abilities or the personality type required to succeed in this kind of role – especially in this type of market environment.

And, so, as time went on and as I continued to fail, my stress level rose, and I began to like this job less and less, until I could not even bear to get up for work in the morning.

If you’ve ever had a job that you didn’t like AND that you were not good at, you know what I’m talking about. I was set up to fail every day, through nobody’s fault but my own, and I just wanted out. Getting laid off, despite my feeling of loss as I loved the company and the people, actually ended up being a huge relief.

In almost every job, there are going to be aspects of your position that you enjoy doing, and things that you don't. And, there are going to be things that you are good (or even great) at, and things that you are not.

So, the key to success is finding the right balance.

For example, in my current role as head of a management and leadership consulting, training, and coaching firm, I love and feel that I’m pretty good at the consulting, training, and coaching part. What I don’t love, and am not that great at, is the actual running of the business itself (especially, the financial and administrative side).

So, what to do about it?

Taking a look at the Passion/Skill Matrix model, and thinking about YOUR job:

1. Make a list of all the different things you do on a regular basis; and then break them up into four categories: Things you are GOOD/GREAT at; things that you are NOT Good at; things that you LIKE/LOVE doing; and things that you DON'T Enjoy doing. If you like to quantify things, you can even score each one of these items on a scale of 1-10. 

2. Next, draw a 4-box matrix like the one above, and place each of these items in one of the four boxes. For example, let's say you are good at and enjoy writing blog posts, put that in the upper right quadrant. If you like drawing, but are not that great at it, put that in the upper left. If you're good at math, but don't enjoy it, put that in the lower right. And if you hate cooking and are not good at it, put that in the lower left.

Now, lastly, let's look at the four-quadrant matrix to ask the "So what?/So that!" question: How can I use this model to be more successful?

Your SWEET SPOT - The things that you Like/Love and are Good At: If you have a lot in that box, you’re incredibly lucky! Try to spend as much time as possible on these things. This is where the intersection of your skills and passions lie, and where you have the greatest potential to leverage your strengths and go from good to great. When you're working on things that fall into this category, time flies, ideas flow, your energy is high, and you're in your element...so spread your wings and fly!

Your GROWTH ZONE - The things that you Like or Love to do, but are NOT great at...yet: This is a wonderful developmental opportunity! If you like something, or feel you have potential in this area, you are more likely to work at it by learning more about it, studying, practicing, and seeking out training and coaching. Einstein once said that, “Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.” If you’re passionate about it, keep working at it. You never know how far you might get unless you try. And notice the powerful difference between saying, "I'm not good at that" vs. "I'm not good at that...yet." By simply adding that simple word "yet," you open up the world of possibilities.

Your DEFAULT ZONE - The things that you Don’t Like to do, but are Good At: Perhaps it’s something you used to like doing, or you just became the “go to” person by default because it comes naturally to you and everyone knows it. Well, this is a great developmental opportunity – for someone else! Here’s where you might be able to outsource, delegate, or take on the role of a mentor or coach to help someone else develop skills in this area. This is a win-win opportunity that will help someone else to grow while freeing you up to do other things...so you can spend more time "above the line" (i.e., in your Growth Zone and/or Sweet Spot).

Your FAILURE ZONE - And, lastly, the things that you Don’t Like (or Hate!) to do, AND are Not Good At: This is your “Failure Zone”…and you need to do whatever it takes to get out of this box as soon as you can. Again, we all have aspects of our jobs that we may not love, but if you are spending more than 25% of your time in this box, you are setting yourself up for a whole lot of pain and suffering. And, to be honest, if you’re in a job that you really, truly don’t like and that you are really, truly not good at, you’re not doing your employer any favors by staying in this role. Sometimes we stay just for the paycheck, but it’s really hard to sustain that over the long haul. And it’s ultimately going to take its toll on your physical and mental health. So, whatever it takes, you need to try to get yourself out of this box.

Although...one other important thing to think about regarding your Failure Zone: Have you ever considered that this Zone might, potentially, be your greatest area of opportunity? You identify things as belonging in your Failure Zone because you are not good at it and don't like it. But think about it this way: What if you TRIED...and got better at it? And once you got better at it, you didn't hate it quite as much. And now that you don't hate it as much, you are willing to try it again, finding that, with experience, you find youself inching your way up, in this area, out of the Failure Zone until it now -- magically -- resides in your Growth Zone! From there, once you've broken through the box you had put yourself in, could this potentially become part of your Sweet Spot? Only time will tell...but it is entirely within your power to make it happen...if you are willing to open your heart and your mind to the world of possibility. Think about it: How many of your Sweet Spot skills were once part of your Growth Zone, or even your Failure Zone? My guess: Probably MOST of them! 

Lastly, as Dan Pink writes in his book Drive and as he speaks about in this amazing RSAnimate video, people are happiest and most productive when they have three key, intangible things: Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose. If you are lucky enough to find a job where you spend most of your time with the freedom and flexibility to make your job your own (autonomy); in an environment that allows you to grow and develop into the best you can be (mastery); while doing work that matters (purpose), that’s when you’ve got it made.

As they say, “If you love what you do, you’ll never work a day in your life.”

END

"In an ever-changing world, if you're standing still...you're falling behind."

                                                                                ~Todd Cherches

The Hired Guns editor, Ryan Galloway, asked my thoughts regarding this challenging (and infuriating!) dilemma, and here's what I had to say.

The Question: 

I’m a marketing associate at [a media company]. I’ve only been out of school for two years, and I really want to move up in my career. I’m not sure how to do that, because my boss is taking credit for my work! She literally–and repeatedly–takes the work I do and tells the executives that she did it. Not that she asked me to do it, but that she did it! Once she even told them that she had to do it because I wasn’t capable of doing it—and I was sitting right there! I’ve asked her about it, but she just said “that’s how the real world works.” I’ve considered talking to HR or her boss (or both), but I’ve heard a lot of conflicting advice about that. I work very hard and I really want to advance, but I don’t feel like I can if this keeps happening.  Help!!!

Signed, Miserable in Marketing

Our response:

Quit.

No, I don’t mean right now. I mean start looking for another gig ASAP, and tough it out with your crappy boss until you find one. And I don’t mean to be flippant. I’ve been in a similar situation, and it was wretched beyond belief. The reason my response is so short is because quitting is really your only option. I posed your question to our very own Todd Cherches, a man who knows a thing or two about horrible bosses. He summed it masterfully:

“One of a boss’s primary responsibilities should be to set his/her people up for success. Part of doing that is managing them, training them, coaching them, and leading them,” Cherches said. “This includes recognizing and rewarding them for their contributions by acknowledging their work and giving credit both publicly and privately where credit is due. Strong, confident, and effective managers/leaders take pride in the success of their people and are happy to sing their praises. It creates a win-win situation and is at the foundation of employee engagement.”

“But that doesn’t seem to be the case with this horrible boss. Her quote, ‘that’s how the real world works’ pretty much sums it up. But you know what? That is NOT how the ‘real world’ works—that is how it works in the world of this miserable tyrant. Since people like this rarely change their stripes, it’s probably time to move on to a new and better world. Based on my personal experience, going above their head or to HR with situations like this rarely works. It generally just leads to your boss finding out and then treating you even worse.”

And there you have it. Since you’re not going to be able to correct your boss’s bad behavior—and since your boss likely has direct control over whether or not you get promoted—you’re essentially in a no-win scenario. Find a new job and don’t look back. Consider this a valuable life lesson: now you can spot a terrible boss from a mile away.

I was recently asked by Monster.com to provide some job search tips, and here's what I had to say:

“If you’re not working, your job search is your job,” says Todd Cherches, CEO of BigBlueGumball. “Approach it as a job or a project. Set milestones and deadlines. Set quantifiable goals.” Doing so helps you dedicate the time and effort your job search requires to be a success.

Focus, but don’t limit yourself

Cherches says it’s important to aim for what you want, but also to keep an open mind in case something unexpected comes up. Don’t settle for something that’s one of your deal-breakers, but don’t dismiss unexpected opportunities out of hand simply because they don’t match up with what you’re hoping for.

“Target your search, but don’t limit it,” he advises. “Years ago I got a job offer to be the head of leadership development for a financial services company. A Wall Street firm was absolutely the last place I ever thought I wanted to work. It turned out to be the best job I ever had at a terrific company. If I hadn’t been open to considering this option, I would have missed out on an incredible three-year career experience.”

To read the rest of this article, please click here.