I see so many posts on the internet about what you should do, and shouldn’t do in a job. Frankly, there are a lot of written and unwritten rules in the workplace that can be a land mine to negotiate. Here are some simple tips that if you are able to follow them, will make you seem like a rock star, or at least a pretty good employee.
Career Tips No-One Ever Tells You
- People will judge you by your grammar. They will assume a lot of things about you if you fail to use proper grammar in emails, presentations, and text messages. Use correct and proper grammar in all communications. If you have trouble with spelling, use spell check.
- Work to be a good team player. Which isn’t to say to be a doormat. But bite your tongue, and try to see the other person’s view point. Even pick up the slack if you have to.
- Leave the drama at home. This is especially true for women. I don’t care how great of a worker you are, but if you bring drama to me, you will eventually be leaving the company.
- Find solutions to problems. Don’t just bring problems to your boss to solve. For every problem you bring, consider coming up with a solution or two to offer.
- Keep tabs on your emails and paperwork. I’m not saying immediately respond to every email. But, rather set aside specific times to work your way through emails, and paperwork, and get it handled. In fact, you should not be constantly checking emails, and should turn off notifications for most emails. Remember email is not a synchronous form of communication. Paperwork should be dealt with on a regular basis, depending on your job and needs, but you should never let it stack up or get out of hand. When you get an email requesting something, or that you’ve requested someone send you, you’ll seem like a rock star, if you just send back a simple “got it” or “I’m working on it, and expect to have it to you by ‘X'” within 24 hours of receiving the email.
- The words “It’s not my job” are a career killer. In this day and age, employers expect you to be flexible, and step up to the plate.
- Take careful notes when you have to ask someone for help. They will tend to get annoyed if you come back with questions more than once.
I’m sure that I could give dozens and dozens of simple career tips no-one ever tells you, but that’s all we’re going to do for this one, as these seemed like the most low hanging tips.
