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Hillary Widlitz | Career Advice

@the__precedent

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I thought it was time to introduce myself.

I’ve shared a lot about careers here, but not much about the person behind the advice. I’m Hillary. Welcome to The Precedent.

Really glad you’re here. We’re just getting started. #theprecedent taken in New York, New York by @the__precedent

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3 months ago

Apparently these are slightly unhinged. I thought they were just… efficient.

7 things I did as a Managing Director that I thought everyone knew how to do:

1. Put follow-ups on my calendar immediately. If I said “I’ll circle back next month,” there was a calendar reminder before the conversation ended.
2. Scheduled emails instead of sending them at weird hours. Just because I was working at 10:47pm didn’t mean everyone else needed to know.
3. Put the ask at the top of emails. The more senior I got, the shorter my emails got. Tell me what you need, then give me the context.
4. Kept a running list of people I wanted to stay in touch with. Networking is much easier when you don’t wait until you need something.
5. Sent myself emails constantly. Thought, reminder, something I needed to do tomorrow? Straight to my inbox before my brain could lose it.
6. Over-prepared for short meetings. A 15-minute meeting with the right person can matter more than a two-hour meeting with the wrong one.
7. Wrote down the tiny personal details. New baby. Big presentation. Vacation to Italy. Follow up on them. Being thoughtful is a career skill.

None of these are revolutionary. That’s kind of the point.

The people who are really good at work often have a hundred tiny systems nobody ever teaches you.

Save this and steal mine.

#careeradvice #careertips #corporatelife #youngprofessionals #careergrowth by @the__precedent

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a month ago

Things no one taught you at work, but should have:

Episode 1 - How to ask a question without sounding unprepared.

Never lead with:
“Sorry if this is a dumb question…”

You’re immediately undermining yourself before you’ve even asked it.

Instead, try:

“My read is X because of Y. Am I thinking about this correctly?”

Or:

“Just so I’m following, are we saying X because of Y?”

Or even:

“Can I ask one question on that?”

The goal isn’t to sound like you know everything. It’s to show that you’ve been listening, you’ve thought about it and you’re asking from a place of curiosity instead of insecurity.

Good questions make you look thoughtful.

The apology is usually what makes you sound junior. #theprecedent #careeradvice #executivepresence by @the__precedent

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a month ago

Things No One Taught You at Work (But Really Should Have): Nothing on your work computer is private.

I learned this early in my career at JP Morgan, and it’s advice I’ve carried with me ever since.

A few rules worth remembering:

1. Assume your work emails can be retrieved. Even if you’ve deleted them.
2. Slack and Teams are not your private group chats. Don’t confuse casual communication with confidential communication.
3. Be careful with humor and sarcasm. Tone doesn’t always translate, especially when messages are read without context.
4. Don’t write anything you wouldn’t want your grandmother to read. Or your boss. Or the company’s legal department.
5. Know when to pick up the phone. If a conversation is sensitive, nuanced or turning into a 15-message exchange, talking is often more productive.

And remember, picking up the phone doesn’t make a conversation confidential. It just gives you a better opportunity to communicate with context and nuance.

The rule: Write every work message assuming someone other than the intended recipient might eventually read it. #theprecedent #careeradvice by @the__precedent

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19 hours ago

The difference between attending a meeting and making yourself useful in one.

Seven small habits that make a surprisingly big difference, especially early in your career.

Number 4 deserves its own post.

Follow @the__precedent for the things no one actually teaches you at work. #theprecedent #tinyhabits by @the__precedent

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2 days ago

One of the biggest interview lessons I’ve learned came from sitting on both sides of the table.

As a candidate, some of my best interviews weren’t the ones where I had the perfect answers.

They were the ones where I got the interviewer talking.

Years later, after interviewing hundreds of candidates myself, I realized why. The candidates I remembered most didn’t try to fill every second talking about themselves.

They did two things exceptionally well.

1. They asked thoughtful follow-up questions.

Not questions they found on Google. Questions that showed they were listening, connecting ideas, and genuinely curious about the business.

2. They turned the interview into a conversation.

People enjoy talking about their work, their team, and the problems they’re trying to solve.

When an interviewer walks away thinking, “That was a really enjoyable conversation,” you’ve already separated yourself from most candidates.

Your goal in every interview should be simple: Talk less. Learn more. That’s how you build relationships.

#theprecedent #careeradvice #fromthehiringmanagersdesk by @the__precedent

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3 days ago

Some of these were strategic. Some were slightly unhinged. All of them taught me something.

1. I kept a mental list of everything my boss hated doing.
Then I got really good at those things. Becoming indispensable is sometimes about mastering what everyone else avoids.

2. I prepared for meetings I wasn’t invited to.
I wanted to understand what was happening in the business, even when I wasn’t technically supposed to be in the room.

3. I studied how senior people communicated.
Their emails, presentations and how they pitched our business. Then I shamelessly borrowed what worked.

4. I kept a running list of every mistake I made.
Not exactly the kind of journaling they recommend for your mental health, but I tried very hard not to make the same mistake twice.

5. I treated every meeting like I might be called on unexpectedly.
Even when I was only there to take notes, I wanted to have something intelligent to contribute.

6. I built relationships across departments and offices.
Accounting, operations, administration, investments. Some of the most valuable people in my career weren’t in my department.

7. I volunteered for things that weren’t technically my job.
Especially when they gave me exposure to people, decisions or parts of the business I wanted to understand better.

I didn’t do all of this because I had some master plan. I was ambitious, curious and probably a little too worried about making mistakes.

But looking back, the common thread was that I was trying to understand the business beyond my own job description.

And that turned out to be one of the most valuable things I did.

Save this if you’re early in your career. And tell me which one you think is the most unhinged.
#career #CorporateLife #ThePrecedent by @the__precedent

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4 days ago

The more senior you get, the more your job becomes sales.

Not necessarily selling a product.

You’re selling your team on a direction.
You’re selling leadership on an investment.
You’re selling a candidate on joining.
You’re selling a client on trusting you.
You’re selling your boss on giving you more resources.
You’re selling people on an idea before there’s perfect information.

Early in your career, being technically good at the work can carry you pretty far.

Later, your ability to get other people to believe in the work matters just as much.

That doesn’t mean becoming slick or performative. It means learning how to communicate clearly, understand what matters to the person across the table and make a compelling case.

At a certain level, influence becomes part of the job description whether anyone writes it down or not.
#theprecedent #careerdevelopment by @the__precedent

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9 days ago

Senior people notice a lot more in meetings than most junior employees realize, and often it has very little to do with who talks the most.

1. Who actually prepared. It becomes obvious very quickly who read the materials and who is seeing them for the first time.
2. Who talks just to be heard. More airtime does not automatically equal more influence.
3. Who can explain something complicated simply. Clarity is one of the strongest signals that you really understand the issue.
4. Who understands the bigger business question. Are you just answering what was asked, or do you understand why the conversation matters?
5. Who gets defensive when challenged. How you react when someone questions your work says a lot.
6. Who gives credit to other people. People notice generosity, especially when you could have taken the credit yourself.
7. Who knows when not to speak. You do not need to have a comment on everything.
8. Who hears the question behind the question. Sometimes the most important skill in a meeting is understanding what someone is actually worried about.
9. Who leaves knowing exactly what happens next. What was decided? Who owns what? When is it due?

Meetings are one of the places where your reputation gets built quietly. The person who looks most senior is not always the person who talks the most. Often, it is the person who helps move the conversation forward.
#careeradvice #careergrowth #careerstrategy #theprecedent by @the__precedent

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10 days ago

Some of the hardest career decisions happen when your career is objectively going well.

You’re successful. You may be well paid. You may like your colleagues. You may even genuinely enjoy a lot of the work.

And yet, you can still find yourself wondering whether you want to keep doing it exactly this way.

Before making a big change, I think these are the questions worth asking:

1. Am I actually unhappy, or am I just curious about what else is possible?

Those are very different problems. Curiosity does not automatically mean you need to leave.

2. If nothing changed for the next three years, how would I feel?

Not “could I tolerate it?” Would you still feel challenged, energized and proud of what you’re building?

3. Do I want a different career or a different version of this one?

Sometimes the answer is a new company, boss, role, schedule or level of autonomy. You may not need to blow up the whole thing.

4. What am I unwilling to give up to make a change?

Compensation, intellectual challenge, status, flexibility, great colleagues, stability. Be very clear about what matters before you romanticize the alternative.

5. If I stay, am I choosing to stay or just not choosing?

Staying can be an incredibly good decision, but ideally it’s a decision you’ve made deliberately, not simply the default.

The goal isn’t to convince yourself to leave. It’s to make sure you’re still actively choosing the career. You are in charge of your path, you are not stuck on one. #theprecedent #jobsearch by @the__precedent

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11 days ago

A handful of things that made me smile this week.

This week: what the S&P 500 can hide, why WFH may be costing younger employees more than they realize, the denominator effect, career pivots, bubbles, a very hungry caterpillar, tire swings and diner food.

Because sometimes understanding what’s happening in the market makes you better at your job. And sometimes understanding what’s happening in your career makes you realize you may want to change it.

A little life lately. 🤍

P.S. This week’s 7 Things Worth Knowing is up on Substack and linked in my bio. by @the__precedent

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11 days ago

Things no one taught you at work, but should have — Part 3: the meeting is not always where the decision gets made.

Early in my career, I thought decisions got made in 30-minute meetings.

They usually don’t.

If you need someone’s support, don’t make the meeting the first time they’re hearing your idea.

Give them context beforehand.
Surface the objections.
Answer the obvious questions.
Figure out where they’re hesitant.

Sometimes that means a five-minute conversation in the hallway. Sometimes it’s a quick call. Sometimes it’s sending the deck ahead and saying, “I’d love your reaction before we discuss this with the group.”

The point is not to manipulate the outcome. It’s to make sure the people whose opinions matter have enough context to actually make a good decision.

Good decision-making means giving the right people context before they walk into the room.

The meeting should move the decision forward, not be the first time everyone hears about it.

Save this for the next time you’re preparing for a meeting where you actually need a decision.#theprecedent #careeradvice by @the__precedent

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14 days ago