Grow up: 10 bad habits that make you look immature at work

There's a difference between sounding crabby in a 4:30pm meeting occasionally and being a habitual crabapple

When you're a kid, you don't yet have the tools that help process actions and your emotions – tools like maturity, patience or looking at the context of a situation. And apparently for a lot of adults, maturity and patience still prove difficult to master: three in four employees (77 percent) have witnessed some type of childish behavior among colleagues in the workplace, according to a new CareerBuilder study.

Letting emotions get the best of you
Everybody has a bad day, but these are the kind of actions that create toxic workplaces and add drama to your career—none of which will position you as Employee of the Month. So what bad behaviors are standing out to your boss? When asked which child-like behaviors they've witnessed colleagues displaying in the workplace, workers gave the following answers:
1.Whine: 55 percent
2.Pout over something that didn't go his/her way: 46 percent
3.Tattle on another co-worker: 44 percent
4.Make a face behind someone's back: 35 percent
5.Form a clique: 32 percent
6.Play a prank on another co-worker: 36 percent
7.Start a rumor about a co-worker: 30 percent
8.Storm out of the room: 29 percent
9.Throw a tantrum: 27 percent
10.Refuse to share resources with others: 23 percent

Bad habits for a bad career
None of those behaviors will make your co-workers admire you more, nor get you closer to a promotion. In fact, they may even act as red flags in your career path. An earlier 2015 CareerBuilder survey among employers found that some specific adolescent behaviors can have a negative impact on an employee's chances of being promoted, including:

• Negativity: A majority of employers (62 percent) say they are less likely to promote employees who have a negative or pessimistic attitude (whining, pouting, etc.).
• Vulgar language: More than half of employers (51 percent) consider vulgar language an indication that an employee is not ready for promotion.
• Gossip: Nearly half of employers (44 percent) say they would think twice before moving an employee who participates in office gossip up the ranks.
• Sloppiness: Employees who do not clean up after themselves can hurt their chances for a promotion in the eyes of 36 percent of employers.

Real-life drama and workplace tantrumsThere's a difference between sounding crabby in a 4:30pm meeting occasionally and being a habitual crabapple. When asked to name specific immature or adolescent behaviors they have seen at work, employers reported the following observations of one or more employees:

• Company owner threw tantrums, yelled and slammed doors when he didn't get his way.
• Employee hid to get away from duties and work responsibility.
• Employee intentionally set up a co-worker to get him/her in trouble.
• Employee ate other employees' food from the company refrigerator.
• Employee blocked parking spots to prevent other employees from parking closer to the front door.
• Employee gossiped about all of his direct reports, then pretended to be their advocate.
• Employee constantly pulled up inappropriate content on her cell phone and showed it to her "clique."
• Employee went to lunch and never came back.

"Some degree of what we may consider 'adolescent' conduct can be harmless, enabling employees to let off some steam and even promote a sense of camaraderie in the office," says Rosemary Haefner, chief human resources officer of CareerBuilder. "But there's a fine line between innocent fun and inappropriate behavior. Actions like spreading rumors, 'tattling,' and forming cliques to exclude others can be perceived as mean-spirited, bullying and even harassment." Leave the drama for your favorite TV shows and focus on your work and having professional relationships—your career will thank you.

4 hacks to a happier workday

Some days, everything seems to go wrong from the moment you hit the snooze button. Here are four tried-and-true ways to turn a bad morning around.

Some days, it's a struggle to find the energy to push the snooze button, let alone get out of bed. Other days, though you think you've got it all together, you arrive at work and realize you forgot your headphones, your morning coffee… or your laptop. And on those "I can't even…" days, you step on said headphones, spill your coffee all over your new white shirt, or face the "blue screen of death" as you open up your computer.

What's a working gal or guy to do when your day doesn't start off as expected? Here are four hacks to turn a bad morning into a prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay, prett-ay good day.

1. Clear your head. OK, first things first: Step away from your desk or work area. Pry your keys off that keyboard or phone screen, and head to the nearest exit. Use the 20 minutes or so you'd normally spend surfing the Internet and instead, get outside and enjoy some fresh air with a walk around the block. (Studies have shown even 20 minutes of exercise like walking can boost happiness, reduce risk of disease and improve memory). Practice your breathing techniques while walking (aka breathwalking) – and actually reap the benefits of meditation while getting your circulation going and your mind off of the fact that your Pop-Tart landed in a puddle just minutes earlier.
Can't get outside? Walk around your office, or take three minutes and meditate at your desk before you step back into reality. The benefits may last you all day long.

2. Laugh. Sometimes, on a bad day, you aren't sure whether to laugh or cry. And while it's true that sometimes you may just need a good cry, it's not always easy to open the floodgates while surrounded by co-workers. Something you can –do – without usually getting too many raised eyebrows – is laugh. Laughing is almost always guaranteed to get you out of your current slump, it helps to put things in perspective, and it not only costs you nothing – but also has major stress relief benefits. It even may be contagious: If you find something funny (and work-appropriate) that gets you back on your A-game, why not spread the love and share it with colleagues to give them a boost? Try Louis CK talking about how everything is amazing for a chuckle and some quick perspective on why things aren't always as bad as we think.

3. Do something nice for others. You don't have to be the person sticking Post-It Notes on people's arms on the morning train commute that say "You're looking sharp today!" – but then, you don't not have to be, either. Post-It Notes and invasion of personal space not your thing? You're in luck: There are many other simple but meaningful ways to improve the day of those around you – and it's a proven fact that helping others actually raises your own happiness levels.

Short on time but big on heart? Try the "Five-Minute Favor": Take just a few minutes a day to do something small but with big benefits to the recipient. This could mean buying a co-worker a cup of coffee, making it a point to say hello to people you pass in the hallway, writing an email to thank someone for his or her efforts on a project, or even retweeting someone or replying to a friend or stranger with an encouraging comment. It's a small commitment for you, but may mean a lot to them.

Try extending your altruism outside the office walls, too. Consider volunteering at an organization that means something to you, help others in need, and start getting the feel-good vibes back tenfold.

4. Be kind to yourself. Sometimes you need the work equivalent of comfort food to get past your blue mood (or, you may just really need some mac n' cheese). It's important to be kind to yourself and realize that everyone has a bad day now and then – and we all make clumsy mistakes. Give yourself a break! Consider treating yourself to a latte from that fancy coffee shop down the street – and if you're feeling dangerous, maybe even a piece of chocolate (#noregrets). Schedule a massage so you have something to look forward to that night or later that week, or make a date to marathon-watch "Gilmore Girls" or "Arrested Development" to get you out of your funk. Dive into a good book at lunch (while eating that mac n' cheese), or spend an extra five minutes dissecting the latest episode of "True Detective" or chilling out to the latest Beach House album.
Whatever your happy place, get yourself there, even for a few minutes: It may just be the indulgence you need to get past that morning's horrors and face the rest of the day… and then do it all again tomorrow (hopefully sans Pop-Tart puddle).

4 Things Employers Want From Job Candidates

Ace the interview by putting yourself on the other side of the table.

Kelly Harry

Shutterstock

By Arnie Fertig

Have you ever wondered how hiring authorities go about the process of figuring out who to interview and what to ask when they meet candidates face to face? Leslie Gurka and Joel Brodsky can tell you. They have spent their professional careers as educational leaders in the New York Public School System. Now, they consult schools systems around the U.S. on a variety of issues, including how to effectively hire the best teachers and administrators, as part of the Executive Leadership Institute team.

While their focus is on the educational system, their concerns, methodology and insights apply broadly to almost any hiring situation. In order to whittle down a large group into a manageable pool of candidates, they initially screen out résumés missing key ingredients, like licensing credentials. They regularly eliminate candidates whose writing reveals poor grammar or punctuation, and they critically assess the overall look and format of one's résumé and cover letter or writing sample.

Gurka and Brodsky recently discussed the whole hiring process with me. Below, they describe how they go about figuring out what to ask during interviews and how they ferret out winning from losing candidates:

1. Specifics. After you've been interviewing for any period of time, you can easily spot someone who is out of their depth by their vagueness. Gurka eschews people who are too general in their interviews, and she always wants to know why a candidate is interested in a specific job at a specific time.

She cites a general and unimpressive statement as something like: "This is a wonderful school, and I want to work here to help students." Instead, she looks for what she calls a "business-specific" answer. For example: "I want to work at this school, because it services underprivileged students, it services a wide diversity of students, and it has a focus in the arts."

Tip: Do your research, and be prepared to show that you know something about the employer and to relate that to your abilities and interests in a compelling fashion. Show why you belong in that environment.

2. Team acknowledgement. You might think of a teacher as independent in his or her classroom, just as with so many other roles in America's workplaces. Yet, Gurka is careful to pay attention to the ways people project themselves into the roles they seek. For example, if someone continually says things like "I'm going to do this or that" or "in my last role I did A, B and C," it shows the person is focused more on her own accomplishments than on how she fits into an overall team effort.

Gurka looks for people who give at least a nod to others. You might say: "as part of the faculty, I did ...", "along with my colleagues, I did ..." or "If hired for this job, I'd look forward to contributing to the overall effort by doing ..."

Tip: Of course, you need to identify your strengths, contributions and value. However, you should take pains not to take sole credit for shared accomplishments or for the role you have played in relationship to others.

3. Demonstrated value. "I'm looking for creativity," Brodsky says. "I'm looking for someone who really loves kids and is excited about the job. And lastly, I'm looking for someone who is willing to learn."

He continues: "But, if someone came in and said: 'I love kids, I'm excited about this opportunity, and I'm willing to learn, I would assume its a prepared answer and I would not be impressed." He prefers more creative responses that show the candidate's value, he says, "by bringing up stories that really illustrated how they have these qualities and desires."

Moreover, Gurka isn't about to let someone off the hook by claiming he or she has a passion for something. She follows up by asking: "Tell me something about your past that illustrates the passion you are talking about."

Tip: Spend some time thinking about the role you seek to fill, the values a successful candidate will need to demonstrate and how your past actions have shown you to be that kind of person. Put simply: Show, don't just tell!

4. Unique contributions. "We know that every serious candidate has all the qualifications, so the question that often comes up is: Why should I select you for this particular position compared to the many other candidates?" Gurka says. "I've always asked candidates that question point blank."

She continues: "People who knock that question out of the park are the ones who speak directly to accomplishments and experiences that they've had in the past."

Tip: To be taken seriously, be prepared to authentically speak from your experience. Think about stories to share that demonstrate the value you bring to your next employer. And, most importantly, don't hesitate to share why you want to make a contribution to the team you seek to join.