On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Are You Seen as Too Young for a Challenge

On the Job by Anita Bruzzese Are You Seen as Too Young for a Challenge One of the biggest mistakes I made in the early part of my career was when my boss mentioned the year he graduated from high school. Thats the year I was born! I responded. The expression on his face should have been a clue to me that I had just made the man feel older than dirt. Never a good feeling to engender in your boss. When you start your career, you cannot help it that youre young. But some will use your age against you to hold you back, claiming youre too inexperienced to work on an important project orget a promotion. Thats when you need to remember that you may be sending the wrong message to others about your capabilities. Since people often judge you within seconds of seeing you, here are some ways to mature your image and help you be taken more seriously on the job. If you dont want to be seen as a kid at work, then consider these steps: 1. Ensure all clothes are unwrinkled. Looking like you just emerged from the bottom of the laundry basket screams My mom hasnt bought me an iron yet or I picked this up off the floor to wear because I was told I couldnt wear my pajamas to work. 2. Forget wild nail color. Its fun to paint each of your nails a different color or go for the screaming neon orange, but not for work. Male or female, keep your nails short enough you wont risk impaling a co-worker and stick to the sedate colors your Aunt Minnie would be comfortable sporting. 3. Take a break from the smartphone. While its cool that younger workers are so proficient technologically and can take on new apps with a snap, its not so cool when someone asks you hows the weather outside? and you immediately consult weather.com on your iPhone. Being unable to makesmall talkis critical to success in the workplace, such as conversing about(read more here)