At Work - Column by Lindsey Novak

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Overly Nervous Employee Scares the Employee Under Him

Lindsey Novak

Q: I work for a brokerage house that seems to be doing well. I am not yet a broker. I work under someone who is a broker but not in management. He is afraid of everything we do when the compliance officer comes into the room. We are supposed to scan the newspapers for business news as part of our jobs. If I hold the newspaper too high in front of me, he warns me not to hold it so high because "if the compliance officer comes in the room, she will think (I am) lounging." When I ask him why he is so afraid of the compliance officer, he answers, "She is in charge of compliance." Compliance officers are to make sure the laws are being obeyed. They are not managing the employees. He is worried about looking lazy. I am worried that there is something going on here that is not right.

A: It sounds as if you work under an overly nervous employee who has a guilt complex, no matter whether he is doing the right or the wrong thing. Don't take on his insecurity. If he has engaged in some behavior that he feels he needs to hide from the compliance officer, that's another issue, and he certainly won't be telling you about it. If you want to behave professionally as a broker, ask the compliance officer about all of the issues you should be aware of so you can act ethically and show professional responsibility. Explain that you are working your way up to broker. You also might ask, without naming the employee, whether it is also your duty to report someone who behaves oddly or unusually guilty for no apparent reason. The purpose is to cover yourself so that you are always in compliance. Never take on someone else's worries, justified or unjustified; that would be like taking gossip as fact. Go to the source for the information, and know that everything else is hearsay.

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Freelance Employee Wants Full-Time Job Plus Independent Work

Q: I work in the volatile field of publishing and journalism. The two most recent full-time positions I took, however, ended abruptly, and not because of my performance. One ended because the CEO had unrealistic expectations of the new venture's success -- a new magazine that he hired me to start. The second position ended after eight weeks, when that CEO said he wanted to move the resources to other departments and commented that I had done a great job but that there was no other job for me in the other departments.

I want to work full time, but giving up my freelance clients seems too risky for another unsure position. How do I find out whether the company's goals are reasonable or too high before I accept another job?

A: Don't give up your freelance clients. Many full-time employees also have freelance business clients in publishing. Just make sure the independent work doesn't conflict with the new company's clients. New ventures are always risks, and there is no way to confirm the financials or the business plan in a private startup company.

To protect yourself, you will have to develop your interviewing skills to weed out "high fliers" and dream weavers. Pay attention to the facts, not the hyped-up sales pitch the person is delivering to you during the job interview. Positive excitement is wonderful to listen to, but it does not mean there is a solid foundation. Ask yourself whether you think there's a need for the product and a likely chance for success. If you research the industry before the interview, you should be able to sift through the public relations-speak and ask serious financial and forecasting questions.

You could avoid all of this, though, if you focused on networking with employees at established companies and applied to the ones trying one last alternative to pump up business. A large company can be checked, and the interviewers likely will tell you what the company is hoping to achieve.

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Please send your questions to: Lindsey Novak, c/o Creators Syndicate, 5777 W. Century Blvd., Suite 700, Los Angeles, CA 90045. E-mail her at LindseyNovak@yahoo.com, or visit her Web site at www.LindseyNovak.com. She answers all e-mails. To find out more about Lindsey Novak and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

Copyright 2009 Creators Syndicate Inc.

This news arrived on: 11/05/2009

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