Here’s some advice dealing with criticism at work from the book “How to Survive Your First Job (or Any Job)” (Hundreds of Heads Books, www.hundredsofheads.com, $14.95), straight from people who’ve done it:

“If you burn me in my personal life, I’ll declare war. But when my boss criticizes me at work, I don’t take it to heart. My job is different. I understand that I’m young and still learning, so when somebody tells me I need to do something differently at work, I reflect on the advice and look for ways to improve. I ask myself, ‘Did I follow protocol here? Can I justify my actions?’ As long as the people who are criticizing me are trying to help me, there are no hard feelings.”

“I have an odd way of dealing with both criticism and praise from my supervisors. When I’m being criticized, my first instinct is to take it too much to heart. My thoughts spiral from, ‘He doesn’t like my work on this project’ to ‘I’m a terrible person.’ But the older I get, the more I realize how unproductive that thought process is. Rather than let my thoughts get out of control, I now try to focus on what needs to be fixed and remember that criticism is a good thing because it will improve my work.”

“There are two kinds of criticism, in my opinion. The first is constructive, and I take the good information and feedback and make the necessary changes. The second is nitpicky criticism. Once, during a formal annual evaluation, my former boss said I needed to use more ‘white-out.’ And she actually wrote that on the evaluation form! I was enraged at first, but then I realized that if that’s the only problem she could come up with, I must be doing my job OK.”

“I only get ‘talked to’ when I’ve done something wrong, and that’s a hard adjustment to make from college, when all the hard work I did was rewarded with good grades and positive comments from my professors. I deal with it by reminding myself from day to day that I’m doing a good job. In addition, I actively seek feedback from coworkers and my boss. I might send an e-mail to my boss and ask him how he thinks I’m doing. Although the feedback will include some criticism, I always end up getting some much-needed praise.”

“I get a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I’m criticized by my boss. But I do everything I can to remain stoic on the surface by reminding myself not to take it personally.”

Hundreds of Heads Books’ survival guides offer the wisdom of the masses by assembling the experiences and advice of hundreds of people who have gone through life’s biggest challenges and have insight to share.
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