This post was originally published at Qvisory.
As a twenty-something in the workforce, you will be questioned time after time. Here are three ways to build credibility:
1. Develop skills that travel.
Most likely, you’ll change jobs 6-8 times before your thirty. You need to develop a set of talents that will travel with you from job to job. Career coaches call these transferable skill sets (e.g. communication, interpersonal, and management skills). Essentially, the skills you’ve been developing since grade school. Consistently developing these abilities will not only open the door to any job you want, but will make you successful wherever you go.
2. Hug thy naysayer.
Generation Y wants to be liked. We grew up being coddled by our parents, and frankly think we’re the best thing on earth and like to be told so. Not everyone agrees with us however, and a lot more don’t even like us.
While it’s important not to get wrapped up in what others think, you need to build relationships, even with the people bringing you down. Learning to deal with criticism effectively is about knowing yourself, who you are, and what your motivations are for working.
The next step is to develop mutual respect. When comments get heated on my blog, I often email the person and talk to them individually. I say thank you a lot, even when their thoughts make me want to scream. I appreciate that they’ve taken the time to respond to what I had to say. It’s best to engage in conversation when all the players are at the table. That’s how you learn.
3. Don’t work harder, work smarter.
When a twenty-something doesn’t show up to the office at 9 AM, the rest of the world worries. But our generation works differently. Make sure it’s in your contract that your performance isn’t based on when you show up to work, but if you get the job done. And if you want to wear jeans to work every day, say so. Be upfront about how you can add the most value. You’ll work better if you’re able to choose how you are productive, and your results will speak for themselves.
26 replies on “Three ways to build credibility as a 20-something”
Another great post, Rebecca. I’m going to graduate from college this year and there’s a possibility I will be working with a company where I’m the only millennial employee and the only one under 35. I’m looking forward to the challenge and the unique opportunity to be the 20-something voice. This advice is very helpful and I will take it to heart!
Great points, Rebecca.
I love the “hug thy naysayer” point. Quite a few people I work with have worked in my office longer than I’ve been alive. You can imagine how they don’t appreciate a young “kid” coming in with new-fangled ideas and technology solutions and demanding to wear jeans.
I believe that you do have to prove yourself to gain respect with the older generations (or from anyone, really). And, that’s ok. We can learn a lot from them, too.
Anyway, thanks for the post!
@ Lauren – Great! I hope it helps. If it doesn’t, you can come back to me and I’ll help you find a cool job. I’m sure you’ll do great though. :)
@ Angela – Absolutely. Thanks for sharing your experience. When you’re open, everyone benefits. I find the quickest way to get on the better side of a Boomer is to ask them for their advice. They love to dole out the wisdom, and frankly, I love hearing it!
Interesting post. Your first two suggestions are solid interpersonal communication techniques.
Regarding the third suggestion… While I can see that your main point is to negotiate your contract before going in, and is something that is always advisable. It is important to remember when you are starting your first job out of college that, as the employer, they get to set the rules.
If you want to build credibility play by their rules – and overdeliver.
“Transferable skills.” Even when you take a niche and are the best at what you do, the market changes, which will force you to rethink or reposition your business or take another job. With transferable skills (the basics), you will be able to adjust quicker to something new.
@ James – It’s no surprise to me that my first two suggestions concentrate on communication. I think that’s the basic building block of everything success in work and life.
As far as the third suggestion, I think you make a great point, and I struggle on what’s the best way to go, because I believe that the easiest possible way you can over deliver in order to build credibility is to work how you work best. But you’re right that in order to really be a rock star you should prove you can do it their way. I suggest only doing this for a very short period of time though. For the risk-averse, only play by the rules your first job.
For the more anxious, schedule a meeting at your first job from the get-go where you will reevaluate the environment in which you work and what’s expected of you. Then in the first couple months, acclimate and as you say, over deliver. Then when you have the meeting, you will have more negotiating power to know how to do your job best, which is probably a mixture of how they believe it should be done and how you believe it should be done. Thanks for the great comment!
@ Dan – I couldn’t agree more with this. Especially for Gen Y who isn’t quite sure what we want to do, or rather wants to do everything, this is especially important!
Couldn’t have been more on point Rebecca – I have been learning the importance of these skills in a short amount of time. The fact of the matter is, we’re still growing up in certain ways and these nudges on what we need to focus on are of utmost importance. Despite our wide ranging ideals and interests, there are certain things that remain constant. Gracias!
@ rebecca
Well put. And I agree with you.
Once you have a skill set and evidence of experience to work with, you have negotiating power.
You also make a great point about immediately calling for a meeting to set expectations on both sides with a plan to re-evaluate after a determined amount of time. I did this at my first corporate job and had a major raise within six months that allowed me to purchase my first home. I let them set the rules with an agreed upon outcome when I over deliver. But that would never have happened if I would not have pulled the execs into a meeting and negotiated the raise based on the overdeliverance of their expectations.
I have been doing that ever since…
Rebecca – Another great post. Points one and two are dead on, but I tend to agree with James on point three.
Working smarter is great, but it must be done within the bounds of your corporate culture. If a twenty-something (or anyone for that matter) is wearing jeans and showing up late in an office where timeliness and a professional appearance are of high value, credibility will be shot no matter how stellar the work record of the employee. This is important whether you are on job number one or job number four. Certainly push the boundaries, but choose your battles wisely while keeping in mind your company culture.
Once, when I walked in at 759 (my day begins at 8am), my boss said “When you’re early, you’re on time. When you’re on time, you’re late.” I didn’t think it was a big deal, but I got the message. And my boss is a thirty-something, so not that far off generationally.
Once last thing…
If you want to impress someone and build credibility, overdeliver off of their expectations not off yours.
@ Andre – thanks for the comment. I do think no matter what you do there are certain things you can do to be successful. Here’s hoping we can all use those skills to the best of our advantage!
@ James – Thanks for sharing your story! It’s great to hear that these strategies work. I think it’s often difficult for young people to broke these types of deals, but as you mention, the payoffs are great.
@ Sally – I agree with you, and one of my good friends experienced just that. Which is why it’s important that we “push the boundaries” more and more so that the underlying structure eventually changes. The workplace is changing and the traditional corporate culture is no longer acceptable if these organizations want to survive.
Oh, and re the late comment. Great story and good lesson learned. I have to admit, however, that I think Gen Y has more in common with the boomers than Gen X. It’s about attitude, not how close we are in age… having said that, when my organization hired an intern, I looked at their Facebook profiles and didn’t interview the ones that had “partying and drinking” as their interests…
Great points and advice. On #3 I think the world is becoming more accepting of flex hours, working at home, etc., and finding that productivity rises when the the work style of the person is accommodated.
There are and always will be jobs where punctuality outweighs productivity and creativity, and having a warm body in the chair “looks better” and is what’s accepted. In the past if you weren’t at your desk for 8 hours, you couldn’t be working. The older generations are learning that Gen Yers get the job done, do it right and exceed expectations vs. the old way of sitting at a desk bored and uninspired with low expectations.
I’d add another item:
The best way to be a great team member is to deliver great work on time for the team.
If team members can rely on you to deliver your work, you’ll become a valued and trusted member of the team. If they can’t rely on you to deliver your work, then all the skills in the world and relationships won’t matter much.
Good post!
Nice post Rebecca. I work at a very large company and to this day struggle with co-workers not agreeing with what time I arrive at the office or when I leave. I started at this company when I was 22 and have spent the years since then proving myself. Not until the past year or so have I gained the support of upper management and creditability that I can get the job done. I believe that you can ultimately gain this at any company but the culture of the company can weigh heavily on the amount of time and effort this will take.
@ Linda – I think the “warm body” at the desk is a great point. It’s definitely a struggle, as one of my friends had strong disagreements with his employer because the employer wantedt he warm body. But those are the companies that won’t survive the knowledge economy.
@ Scot – Definitely. Team dynamics is a whole other topic that I still haven’t figured out completely or I would be writing about it :) Thanks for the great advice.
@ Stuart – Thanks for sharing your story! It’s always great to hear of someone working in a corporate culture and gaining the crediblity they deserve.
Interesting post Rebecca. Just a thought or two against the your points:
1. Setting out to develop a set of transferrable skills is no good by itself. Much better to develop your skills (and strengths) in a direction that means something to you, and then to look for ways to add transferrability to them.
2. Relationships building, having a healthy respect for everyone and knowing yourself are all vital – I couldn’t agree more. Does that mean that you need to build relationships with the people who bring you down? Nope. Sometimes it’s much healthier to decide to not put energy or focus in their direction and keep going using what you know you’ve got.
3. A big bug-bear of mine is the organisation who measures face-time in the office instead of results. It’s missing the point entirely and I’ve known so many talented people leave organisations because of the lack of flexibility. This is changing, but changing too slowly.
In the meantime, it takes time to build up enough of a track record to be able to create flexibility in your role. Often this flexibility needs to be earned rather than assumed.
Can you (or another commenter) offer some other examples of ‘skills that travel’, and/or methods of developing the examples you gave?
Don’t just build transferable skills–learn how to sell them! When I decided I wanted to move from the academic side of university administration to fundraising, I had a hard time pitching the skills I’d learned to potential employers. It took me a year to land a job in fundraising, and it really only worked when I asked myself, “Why are these skills transferable?” and “How can I explain that to an interviewer?”
@ Steve – Thanks for the great comment. Here’s what I think. 1) That’s true, but there are some skills that are needed in any profession, and if you develop them you will be successful anywhere you go. Like communication. Superior communication skills are sadly lacking in most candidates.
2) Another great point. Yet, sometimes, you don’t have a choice but to build relationships with people you don’t like. Take leadership roles, for instance. You have to be able to navigate disagreements in order to be successful.
3) Too slowly is right! Glad to hear it’s changing though..
@ Tom – Great question. Take management. That’s a very transferable skill to any industry. When I was in college, I was a tele-funder (BIG difference from tele-marketer), then I worked my way up to being the manager of all the tele-funder. It was a college job, but the management skills I learned helped me get my current job.
Other transferable skill sets include project/operations management, business development, staff management, training and development, marketing, PR and communciations, etc. Big words, but if you think about it, you’ll be able to find experience in your own life that fits, I’m sure. Hope that helps!
@ Kate – Excellent addition to the conversation. Selling yourself is perhaps the hardest, but most desirable skill to have!
I think the third point is such a good one. It takes awhile to learn how you do your best work but once you figure it out it’s so much easier to work well. The only trick is finding a boss who’s flexible enough to accomodate you!
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i love the first point. that’s what also my mom tells me! >.<