30. July Q&A: Tips for Your First Job and Saying No to Clients
Episode 30
In this monthly Q&A episode of the Learn and Work Smarter podcast, I answer two questions submitted by listeners.
The first question is from a recent college graduate asking about his first job. He’s currently in a job he doesn’t enjoy, and he’s wondering if he should stick it out or quit and move on.
The second question is from a working professional asking for tips about how to say no to clients he doesn’t think are a good fit. I share some practical advice to make saying no easier, as well as how to do it gracefully.
🎙️Other Episodes + Resources Mentioned:
→ Episode 22: Tips for Student Internships and Working with ADHD
→ Enroll in SchoolHabits University or SchoolHabits University for Education!! The ultimate study skills and school habits curriculum for high school and college students.
✏️ FREE DOWNLOADS:
→ Daily Timeblock Planner (pdf)
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The following transcript was autogenerated and may contain some interesting and silly errors. But in the name of efficiency and productivity, I am choosing not to spend my time fixing them. :)
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30 July 2024 Q&A
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[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to episode 30 of the learn and work smarter podcast. This is one of our monthly Q and A episodes where I answer questions submitted by listeners. And that is you.
If you have not yet listened to one of these episodes, and you're curious about what's in store, I encourage you to stick around because you just might get an answer to a question that you didn't even know you had. And if you are wondering how to submit a question of your own head to learnandworksmarter.com and there is a simple submission form right there on the home page.
So I plan to answer two listener questions today.
The first is from a recent college graduate and the second is from a working professional. As a quick reminder, you can find a transcript of this entire episode at learnandworksmarter.com/podcast/30.
So, if you want to follow along or come back to anything that you heard here today, you can find it all in the transcript. [00:01:00] Okay. Let's begin.
Okay, we are going to start with question one, which I am going to read. So the student submits:
I graduated college a few months ago with a major in psychology and a minor in education. I'm currently doing some marketing work for a small business in my town, but I took that job kind of because I needed a job and not because it's what I want to do with my career. The problem is that I don't know what I want to do. Do you think I should stay where I am? Our look for something else? Thank you.
Okay. First of all, [00:02:00] congratulations on getting your degree. That is incredible. And it's also incredible that you already have a job.
I know it's not a job that you intend to stay with, which is what you said in your question, but I just wanted to say that not everybody lands a job right outside of college.
So essentially they're essentially, you're asking me, should you stay in a job that you don't think is going to be your long-term career? And I feel like so many of my answers to these listener questions depend on details that sometimes you guys don't provide.
So I will do my best here with the information that you have provided.
So sometimes our first job right out of college is just that it's just our first job right out of college. I can't name a single one of my friends or anyone in my like social or professional circles who is currently in the exact same job that they landed right outside of college.
So, I don't want you to view [00:03:00] your current position as a failure, just because it's not your dream job.
Now, the next part of my answer is not so much concrete, concrete advice, but it's more, some food for thought that you can make your own decision. Sometimes the purpose of a job, especially earlier in our career is to help us form connections and develop skills that we need to perform at a higher level in our dream job later on.
So a question you might want to ask yourself is, do you think there's a possibility that you can develop some relevant skills in your current job that are gonna help you in some future version of your ideal job?
Is there some way that you can take on a project or maybe carve your own path or just learn from everybody around you in your current job in a way that your future self will thank you for. If so then it might be worth sticking it out for a little while, as you [00:04:00] simultaneously look around casually for other jobs.
But if the answer is no, and you're sensing that your current job is kind of like a dead end and you're not given many opportunities to develop your skills, then I would say get back into the job search and find something that feels right.
There was no reason to stay in a job that you're going to get absolutely nothing out of.
There's no reason to stay in a job that you hate. If you have other options, which you do, because you're a college graduate.
So to summarize, cause I kind of feel like all over the place with this answer so far. Here's what I suggest. Do a little thinking and try to figure out if you can use your current job to develop some kind of skill set and your connections.
See if you can use your current job to learn to navigate what the professional space feels like. And as you do that, maybe sort of low key, start your research for other jobs, just to keep your [00:05:00] finger on the pulse of what's out there.
Take advantage of every single opportunity that you can in your current position and make opportunities where there are none.
Start to notice what you like and what you don't like about your current position, the industry, the field. And take note of this somewhere.
You might actually even start, you know, writing some of this down, what do you like, what do you not like? What are you sort of leaning into? What do you naturally leaning away from?
Right. But then on the other hand, if you do this for a little while and you find yourself thinking just like. Flat, no, this is going nowhere, this is a dead end, then I want you to up your energy for your job search and move on.
And one thing do not worry at all about what a short-lived job experience will look like on your resume because employers. Absolutely understand that when you take a job right out of college, it's not going to be your final [00:06:00] position.
They're not going to hold that against you.
You know what you might find helpful is episode 22, that was the May Q and A. I remember in that episode, I answered a listener question who had questions about student internships. And I know you're asking about your actual, you know, employment, but I share some tips and strategies that I think will apply to your situation.
I'll leave that link in the show notes of whatever podcast app you're listening to.
And also, um, in the description box, if you're watching this on the learn and work smarter YouTube channel.
So that was episode 22. I hope that answer was helpful. All right. And now we are going to move on to our second question, which was submitted by a working professional. And I am also going to read that question. All right, let me get. I bet on my phone.
Okay. I have a question about saying no to clients and customers who I don't think will be a good fit. I work in the -I lost my [00:07:00] spot -. I work in the insurance industry and I'm often faced with clients, looking for policies who honestly would not be ideal to take on. What's your advice in this scenario, basically?
How do we say no to clients without being rude? Okay. I love this question because I have been in this exact scenario, um, where I have not in the insurance industry, but where I haven't felt that a client was a good fit and I didn't want to take them on, but I also didn't want to deliver that in a way that could be perceived as unhelpful or negative in any way.
So here's the very beginning of my advice.
And if someone listening to this is not in the insurance industry, then still stick around because I'm not in the insurance industry. And this advice would have been helpful to me as I first started out. You need absolute clarity on who your ideal client is and who your ideal client is not. All right.
I want this to be as black and white, as you possibly can [00:08:00] make it.
So the idea is that you would have a super clear idea of if the perfect client, you know, what are walked through your door, looking for an insurance policy, who would they be? What will they bring to the table?
What makes them an ideal client?
Now on the other hand, I want you to have absolute clarity about the characteristics that make someone not a good client. All right. You said you're in the insurance industry, so I'm not exactly sure. What makes someone not ideal, but I'm imagining someone with poor, um, like a poor claim record or someone with a history of late payments or nonpayment.
Get crystal clear in your head about what type of client would be a headache. And would give you that sort of like feeling in your stomach when they sit down across from you or when they call.
The reason I'm having you get total clarity on who your ideal client is and isn't is because that will provide the structure that you need to assess [00:09:00] future clients by.
So when a prospective client calls or sits across your desk, looking for a policy, you don't need to go through all the mental humming and hiring and sort of like, should I, or shouldn't I instead you just ask yourself, does this client meet my criteria or not. And yeah, there's always going to be room for nuance and you can make exceptions using your good judgment, but in general, you'd be able to remove the emotional work of deciding to take a client or not, because technically you're doing all of that work upfront when you create your ideal client framework. Does that make sense?
Now to the rest of your question, which is about how to say no uh, to people or to turn clients away without being a ding-dong about it. Well, there are ways and there are ways. And you would have to use some professional and personal judgment from situation to situation.
But honestly it is always best to be [00:10:00] truthful and simply let someone know that they are not a good fit.
You do not have to get into the nitty-gritty details. But be honest about it just not being the best match for either one of you. So for example, You could tell a prospective client that you appreciate their call, but that you looked over their paperwork and you don't think it would be a good fit.
You could say something like, thank you for your inquiry, but I don't think we'll be the best match for you and for what you need.
Now another piece of advice that does pair well with this.
And I do this personally is to have one or two other places of business that you can refer these types of clients to. So you can still be helpful.
So you could say something like, well, thank you for your inquiry, but I don't think we'll be the best match for you and what you need. However, you can try. You know, X, Y, Z company down the street.
And let me give you their phone number to make it easier for you.
When we say no to prospective clients, we want to do it [00:11:00] graciously. We want to be honest, but still in the name of service. So that's why I liked to refer people that I'm saying no, no to, to someone else who might actually be able to help them.
And then to go one step further and provide the phone number or the email address to the person that you're referring to with a company that you're referring to.
And as I said before, I am personally in this situation a lot in my private executive function coaching business, I have had a waitlist for a long time, and it is a long waitlist. And before I add people's names to the waitlist, I want to assess if they're a good fit or not.
Otherwise I would be wasting their time having them just like rot on the, on the waitlist. Right?
I have been doing what I've been doing for almost 20 years. And so at this point I have a crystal clear sense of my ideal client and my not so ideal client. And it has nothing to do with their ability or skill level or anything like that. But there are, other factors that I use to determine whether it makes sense for someone to be added to my waitlist or not. [00:12:00]
And if not, I'll let them know that I have a long wait list and they're probably better off using someone else. Now the important thing to note here is that my answer is 100% truthful.
I do indeed have an incredibly long waitlist. But of course I thank them graciously for reaching out and then I do what I can to somewhat leave the door open because honestly, in this world, you never know, you never know. You know, what's going to come back.
Now one final tip and this doesn't work for every scenario, but I've used it myself and it can work.
And that is simply to state. That it is not your policy to. X Y Z. Doing this removes any emotion or sort of personal element to saying no to somebody. So it's not, I don't think it would be a good fit, but it's, it's not our policy to take on clients who, you know, don't fit a certain criteria or who, whatever.
And you, you want to fill in the blank with something legitimate. But essentially you're creating some distance [00:13:00] between you and the customer. We're using language that it's not our policy to ABC, or it is our policy to X, Y, Z.
Honestly saying no to someone who needs help is really hard. And to be frank turning people away from my own coaching business is one of the hardest things. About what I do.
And I imagine that, although you're saying no to prospective clients who you imagine will become future headaches, it still feels like, crummy right to say no to people who are looking for help. So just be mindful of your tone.
Be compassionate, be simple and direct with your explanations and be gentle.
All right. Thank you for submitting this question. And like I said, I know it's tough because I am often in the same situation. Okay. My friends that brings us to the end of this Q and A episode. I think this one- I'm looking at my clock- yeah, this one is actually shorter than most of them.
I hope these questions were helpful, even if these questions were not your own, because the whole [00:14:00] point of the Q and A episodes is of course, to answer your questions that you submitted. But also to build some community between you all, because sometimes listening to what other people are dealing with and going through can be helpful, you know, in terms of whatever we ourselves are going through.
Remember, you can submit your own questions at learnandworksmarter.com.
There's a form on the homepage that's really simple to use. And although the form asks for your name, I never read names here on the podcast, so they're completely confidential. I do this because I want to increase people's comfort in asking very real and authentic questions.
All right. That brings us to the end of the episode.
My friends, thank you for listening. And remember: never stop learning.
