If your summer calendar is looming before you with no vacation marked off, you might be the victim of a stingy employer — or you might be a work martyr. It’s not necessarily your fault: our culture teaches us that working all the time is a sign of dedication. If you buy into that, it’s pretty hard to justify taking time off, even if you’re lucky enough to have paid vacation time.
But skipping your summer getaway isn’t necessarily in your best interests, career-wise, as one expert explains. That, plus how to negotiate salary by letter and how to use psychology tricks to get hired, in this week’s roundup.
Sarah Landrum at Punched Clocks: How Using Your Vacation Days Could Get You a Raise
“In the United States, we seem to push the idea that if you’re not always working, you’re lazy,” Landrum writes. “We value busy entrepreneurs and business professionals who are always on the go, work long hours and do whatever they can to get ahead — even if it means skipping out on time with friends and family. This causes employees to believe if they want to be taken seriously in their professional positions, they need to be seen as a work martyr.”
However, as Landrum reports, a recent survey shows that working all the time might actually make you less likely to get promoted. Find out why skipping vacation doesn’t pay off, in this post.
Hannah Morgan at Live Career: Job Offer Too Low? Use These Key Salary Negotiation Techniques to Write a Counter Proposal Letter
“You’ve received a job offer for the job of your dreams but it’s lower than you expected—what do you do now?” Morgan writes. “…Before you enthusiastically accept the offer on the spot, consider this. Almost three-quarters of U.S. employers would be willing to negotiate salary on an initial job offer. Yet, less than half the U.S. workers ask for a higher salary when offered a new position, according to a recent CareerBuilder study. Sadly, this means money is being left on the table. By not attempting to negotiate, you’ll miss the best opportunity to bring home more money.”
If the thought of doing that in person makes your hair stand on end, this piece offers the advice you’re looking for: how to write a counter proposal letter that will take your fear out of the equation.
Alison Doyle at The Balance: How to Use Psychology to Help You Get Hired
“While interviewing is more of an art than a science, you can employ tips from social, organizational and personality psychology to improve your chances of interview success,” Doyle writes.
Among her tips: smile (but not too much), practice reflective listening, and consider the Construal Level Theory. (To find out what that is, and how to use it, see this article.)
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