Jennifer Swanson - What They See: How to stand out and shine in your new job

WHAT THEY SEE

Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

Swanson, Jennifer, 1967-, author

What they see : how to stand out and shine in your new job / Jennifer Swanson.

Includes bibliographical references.

Issued in print and electronic formats.

ISBN 978-1-77141-099-1 (pbk.).--ISBN 978-1-77141-100-4 (html)

1. Success in business. 2. Career development. 3. Interpersonal communication. I. Title.

HF5386.S95 2015 650.1 C2015-901228-7

C2015-901229-5

HOW TO STAND OUT AND SHINE IN YOUR NEW JOB

JENNIFER SWANSON

First Published in Canada 2015 by Influence Publishing

Copyright Jennifer Swanson

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

Book Cover Design: Trista Baldwin

Cover Photographer: Amanda Waschuk

Cover Model: Mike Rioden

Editor: Susan Kehoe

Assistant Editor: Nina Shoroplova

Production Editor: Jennifer Kaleta

Typeset: Greg Salisbury

Portrait Photographer: Ryan McNeill Bolton

DISCLAIMER: This book is intended as a guide for a successful start to ones working career. Readers of this publication agree that neither the author nor her publisher will be held responsible or liable for damages that may be alleged or resulting directly or indirectly from the reading of this publication

This book is dedicated with love to
Katie and Ben: for bringing untold joy to my life
Scott: for your love, encouragement, and unfailing support
Emma and Sarah: for your delightful enthusiasm
Bruce: for the hilarity
Mom: for always cheering me on

And to Little Bandit:
for keeping my feet warm while I wrote this book.

There are many people who inspired, influenced, and motivated me to write this book. I would like to firstly thank my many students over the years who have asked really good questions, shared stories, and always asked for more. I delight in seeing your success.

I have many regular readers and podcast listeners at CommunicationDiva.com to thank for being interested in better relationships through effective communication. For the thousands of you who tune in or come to the website each month, I sincerely thank you.

To the gurus whose books I read, whose podcasts I listen to, and whom I follow online: you have taught me so much: Fr. Richard Rohr, Daniel B. Goleman, Seth Godin, and Pat Flynn.

To Cliff Ravenscraft and the Podcast Mastermind Alumni: my friends your support, encouragement, technical help, and guidance has been invaluable.

To the people of Northwood United, Crossroads United, and Ioco United Churches: you are always in my heart.

To the Java Lovers Women in Business Group: thank you for the friendship and the opportunities to learn and connect with motivated and energetic entrepreneurs.

To Sandy Chernoff for your mentorship. You are the reason I actually began this book-writing adventure, and I hope Im like you when I finally grow up!

To Lynn Oucharek, Shelley-Anne Vidal, Sydney Silva, Georgina Handley, and Valerie Thompson for your collaboration, support, and contributions.

To my teaching colleagues, and my ministry colleagues, who listened, shared ideas, and showed enthusiasm for this project: thank you.

To Julie Salisbury and the staff of Influence Publishing for making my dream a reality.

To Sue Kehoe and Nina Shoroplova for your honesty, guidance, and hard work with editing and proofreading the manuscript.

And finally, to my beautiful family and my dear friends who are too numerous to name:

I am so very blessed to have each one of you in my life.

Jenn Swanson

Congratulations! If you are reading this, I am guessing that you:

a. just graduated and are ready to enter the workforce,

b. have just been hired for a new job and want some fast and concrete advice,

c. are being asked to read it by a teacher, parent, or career counsellor,

d. found it at a garage sale and thought it looked interesting.

(Never mind that last one.)

Whatever the case, I am congratulating you because you obviously care about how you present yourself to your new employer and I want to help you do that well; so well, in fact, that you stand out from the crowd and shine.

I want you to blind and bedazzle them with your brilliant professionalism!

I want you to succeed and to know that it is entirely possible.

I wear a number of hats and one of the things I do is teach in the healthcare field in a community college. Most of my students are training to go into a workplace setting they have never been in before. Part of what I teach them is how to succeed when they are out in their clinical placements and ultimately when they are out in the workforce once graduated. I use a number of stories and examples in this book from my work in supervising students on the job to explain some of the topics. I also have spent a fair bit of time with youth while wearing another hat of mine: that of a church minister and, from 2010 to 2013, I worked specifically as a youth minister. I learn a lot from the people I work with.

Another hat, and one of the best ones ever to learn from, is being a mom and a stepmom to four teenage and young adult children. Weve talked a lot about the topic of workplace communication and something my son said has always stuck with me: My generation thinks were so good at communicating because we do it all the time with texting and stuff, but really, we are some of the worst communicators I know. He said that when he was about eighteen, and he was talking about his own circle of friends and acquaintances, but it made me wonder if there were some way that I, wearing all my hats and with the education and work experience I have, could help.

Another hat I wear, and one that is a lot of fun because it is so creative, is being a podcaster, blogger, and workshop leader. I believe that effective communication leads to deeper and more harmonious relationships, both in home life and in the workplace, and I am passionate about inspiring and encouraging people to grow and to succeed.

Since the launch of my website in 2011 and my podcast in 2012 (both found at www.communicationdiva.com), I have noticed that the majority of the daily search-engine searches have involved questions about how to be at work, how to be professional, what to wear, how to impress the boss, how to get ahead, etc.

An article I wrote in October 2011 about what to wear to work is still getting daily views, and that tells me that people are looking for this kind of help. The article gives a clear description of what would be considered professional to wear in most office or workplace settings, and what would be inappropriate. Because the article has had such a long lifespan in the world of blog posts, I got curious about what other workplace-related topics people were searching for. I wrote more articles and did more podcasts, and eventually I wondered how I could compile these into something that people would find helpful.

I wanted there to be a non-textbook version of how to succeed at work (how to be professional, how to show up as an above-average employee, how to be sure you