There's a new workplace etiquette for the new millennium, and, no surprise, it's all about transparency and authenticity.


The new etiquette is driven by the fact that young people who grew up online don't know how to operate any other way except transparently. The good news is this means they have great social skills; the bad news is they have no idea that they're breaking all the old rules.

Here are 10 tips to help people who aren't used to living an authentic, transparent work life flourish under the new rules:


1. Forget the exit interview.


An exit interview won't help you, and it'll probably create bad will. If you have people to thank when you leave a job, do it at lunch. If you have ideas for how to improve the company, offer to consult. Of course the company will decline, because they don't care. Otherwise you wouldn't be quitting, right?

Stop focusing on the exit interview and focus on how to quit like a pro. When you get a new job, your old boss is part of your new network. It's up to you to make sure that parting ways goes as smoothly as possible so that you can shepherd this person into your network of supporters.


2. Don't ask for time off, just take it.


When you need to leave work for a few hours or a few days, you don't need to ask for permission -- you're an adult, after all. Make sure your work is in good order and send an email to the relevant people letting them know you'll be gone.


This will seem discourteous to older people, who expect you to ask rather than tell. So be sure to give a reason why you're cutting out. People like to know they matter and where they stand.


3. Keep your headphones on at work.


If you use social media tools, you're probably good at connecting with people and navigating office politics -- good enough that spending all day at work with headphones on won't hinder you.

If you don't know what what social media tools are, then you're probably not innately good at making connections and need to take those headphones off before you're crushed by office politics.

4. Say no to video résumés.


This is one of the dumbest recruiting trends ever.


Any human resources person in their right mind would hate video résumés. If there's a stack of 100 paper résumés, the hiring manager will spend 10 seconds on each to decide which ones belong in the garbage. So how annoying is it that it takes 10 seconds just to launch a video résumé?

And it's not just that they're totally inefficient. Video résumés open up HR departments to a whole new level of discrimination accusations. There's a reason why newscasters are all good-looking -- it's because we favor the good-looking on-screen. So if you don't get hit on every time you step into a bar, forget about the video résumé. You probably look better on paper.

5. Invite your CEO to be a friend on Facebook.


That's right, Facebook is for everyone now. And although the youngest members of the workforce are a little worried that having the adults there will ruin things, adults are psyched to be there. No one wants to miss out on all the fun.

So there's a good chance that your CEO is registered, and it's likely that she'll really want to hear from you about what to do on Facebook, since she surely has no clue.


6. Do reconnaissance on your probable boss.


This tip comes from 20-something Hannah Seligson, whose book, "New Girl on the Job: Advice from the Trenches," gives great tips on getting through the first years of work -- most of which comes down to etiquette.

Seligson recommends you find out all the dirt you can about your future employer, because the best gauge of how a company will treat you is how it treated other employees. So asking people directly is fine.


Remember that it's often the boss who makes the biggest difference in the workplace, so try using LinkedIn to search for someone who had the job you're interviewing for. Former employees will always give you the most candid comments.


7. Don't try to improve a coworker.


If you work with a jerk, just avoid him. We already know from dozens of studies that thinking you can change someone doesn't really work.

Companies know that getting rid of difficult employees isn't worth the cost and headache, too. So if the jerk isn't moving and the company isn't moving, you need to get moving with your job hunt.

8. Don't blog under a pseudonym.


It's enticing to hide your name when you blog, because you don't want to get fired, or harassed, or held accountable at work for the opinions you have at home. But the truth is that the majority of adults who blog are doing it for business reasons.


Writing a blog that people can actually find among 77 million blogs is very time-consuming. It's a big commitment to write about what you know on a single topic, but blogging will help your career a lot. So why bother doing it if you're not going to take credit for it where it matters most -- with potential employers who haven't met you?

9. Call people on the weekend for work.


With the Blackberry going where work has never gone before, it's no surprise that the lines between work and not-work are blurring. The people who grew up being super-connected don't differentiate between the workweek and the weekend, so they don't mind working over the weekend on bits and pieces leftover from the week.


Of course, this also means that people are going home early all week long at random intervals. The result is that the weekend is fair game for phone calls.


If your coworkers don't like being called on the weekend, they can tell you. But remind them that a flexible work schedule lets you put relationships first all the time, and a work schedule that cordons off five days a week for work and two days a week for a personal life means that the personal life takes a backseat every week of the year.

The best way to get a life is to stop being so rigid about the distinction between time for work and time for life.

10. Be nice like your job depends on it.


In fact, your job does depend on you being nice. The old days of office politics as a means of backstabbing are dead -- young people are bringing their team-player, I'm-competing-against-my-best-self mentality from their self-esteem-centric homes into the workplace, and there's nothing you can do except be nice back.

Anyway, the truth is that the most likable people get promoted, so this is an instance where following the unwritten rules really can save your career.

except for the avoiding jerks and ignoring the exit interview, those tips are crappy.

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Yeah, I don't know where the heck these people are working that erasing the distinction between work and personal time leads to an increase in personal time. All I see is people answering their work phones on the weekend when they should be having a life.

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I find the "your life is second to your work" status quo to be absolutely horrifying, but what can be done about it?? I guess choosing a job you like.

The idea of adding a CEO to my facebook friends is frankly ridiculous. Cause then they would know exactly how much time I spent twatting about at work.

lol, good point.

Plus you would need to permanently modify your activities and interests and take out things like "I like to party on week nights" "I love booze" and "browsing the internet at work" and replace it with "I spent my evenings perfecting copy reports" and "I love improving my touch typing".

lol

I want a blackberry.

My take on this etiquette stuff:

1. Forget the exit interview.

Can't really comment on this one. So far I've only done part time stuff while at school/uni, and full-time temp work during the holidays, none of which have required me to have an official interview when I quit.

2. Don't ask for time off, just take it.

This could be dangerous. If you're someone who has a tendency to come across as a bit abrupt anyway, just telling your manager/boss/colleagues that you're taking time off for whatever reason could just sound downright rude. When you're asking your manager for time off for a doctors appointment or whatever, you're not actually "asking" as such, because you already fully intend to take the time off and you probably have every right to. But adding an "if that's ok" or something at the end of the spiel is just polite and maintains nicer relations, does it not?

3. Keep your headphones on at work.

Antisocial much?

4. Say no to video résumés.

Agreed. Yes, they allow employers to get a sense of your general demeanor and attitude but, hello, that's what the face to face interview is for once all the unsuitable candidates have been weeded out having looked at all the typed CVs - which, incidentally, will probably be a lot less time-consuming than watching scores of videos.

Also, you just know there'll be some arseholes who'll use the videos to get rid of the, shall we say, less aesthetically pleasing candidates without even looking at their qualifications.

5. Invite your CEO to be a friend on Facebook.

No. No, no, no, no. Like Insomnia said, the moment I add my bosses on Facebook, the moment they see how much of their time and money I waste using it. No.

6. Do reconnaissance on your probable boss.

Asking other employees questions in a non-sneaky way, fine. Using every internet networking site ever invented to spy on him or her...well, that's just a bit creepy.

7. Don't try to improve a coworker.

Obviously you'd be stupid to waste your working day trying to change a dickhead. But I'm not going to look for a new job just because someone's being a dickhead. I'd ignore it, or, if it got really bad, speak to a manager about it.

8. Don't blog under a pseudonym.

Um. Um? What?

9. Call people on the weekend for work.

If anyone from work calls me at the weekend, I will not be happy. Then again, I'm a student temp so it's not like my job is my life.

10. Be nice like your job depends on it.

Well, yeah, but in a natural way, not, like, arselicking just for the sake of it.

Most of that is fairly tosh. My take...

1. Forget the exit interview.

I more or less agree with this. An exit interview isn't going to make much of a difference to your departure. If you want to be of assistance in future and actually believe you can be, then say. If not, why bother? It's not going to change your relationship with your employers at all, that's already well-established, and everyone knows these things are said out of politeness more than genuine intention. As it happens, in my exit interview last month I made absolutely no offer to be of help in future and in less than two weeks they had contacted me b/c they needed me for some training that only I could do. If there's a chance they're going to need you, you probably will know this well before you leave. If they don't need you, what's the point in offering it?

2. Don't ask for time off, just take it.

No way. This would not fly unless you were in a managerial (or higher) position, in my experience. Ask for the time, explain your reasons, commit to clearing your workload, and if time is tight and workload is heavy then maybe offer to make up time another day. You wont have problems getting the time.

3. Keep your headphones on at work.

This is just stupid and anti-social. And probably counter-productive.

4. Say no to video résumés.

Fair enough. It's a stupid idea anyway.

5. Invite your CEO to be a friend on Facebook.

If you have a good outside-of-work relationship with them and they know you well and how you live, OK. Otherwise, this is pointless and stupid.

6. Do reconnaissance on your probable boss.

Agreed. Pick up all the info that you can, but bear in mind that former employees will tend to tell you all the bad shit with little of the good.

7. Don't try to improve a coworker.

Yes. If you're working for the right place, the employer will be having words with a bad coworker. Leave it to them. Just get on with the job and let the shitty colleague dig their own grave. If they're dragging you down along with them, explain it to your superiors.

8. Don't blog under a pseudonym.

How many blogs are there out there? I'm pretty sure recruiters aren't using this to headhunt. How stupid. Who cares?

9. Call people on the weekend for work.

Aye right. If you're in the office, you're in. If you're out the office, you're out. Why would anyone want to be called at stupid o'clock on a Sunday morning for work issues? If you want more flexible hours, say so. Not everyone does.

10. Be nice like your job depends on it.

Fair enough, but nobody is really going about being a total cunt. This goes without saying, you shouldn't have to force it.

__________________
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Il se met à pleuvoir. L'homme n'ouvre pas son parapluie et l'autre lui demande pourquoi.
- Parce que ça ne servirait à rien, lui répond son ami. Il est plein de trous.
- Alors, pourquoi l'as-tu pris?
- Parce que je ne pensais pas qu'il pleuvrait.