Do More than Expected to Get Ahead
One of the best things you can do to increase your career advancement opportunities where you work is to do more than expected. It's often not enough to just do a fine job and expect promotions now and then based on longevity. So find opportunities to show you can handle more responsibility or different duties than those in your job description. Here's one example from my own personal experience. I had a great job as the executive assistant to the general manager. But I often didn't have enough to do to keep me busy. I hate being bored, and I enjoy writing. So I began writing articles and submitting them for the employee newsletter, even though none were solicited. The editor liked what I wrote, and every article I submitted was accepted and published. Readers even began looking forward to my articles. One day the editor left for a position with another company. Having already demonstrated my writing talent, I was asked to apply for the job. I had to go through the standard hiring process and compete with other applicants, but because I had volunteered to write articles, the hiring manager had first-hand knowledge of my capabilities and I was hired. Not only was this a promotion, it was a move into a position that I found much more challenging and rewarding. So look around and take advantage of opportunities to do more than expected. You'll enjoy more job satisfaction, help others, and -- just maybe -- get rewarded for your efforts! You may reprint/republish this article if you include my name and a link to this website. Bonnie Lowe is author of the popular Job Interview Success System and free information-packed ezine, "Career-Life Times." Find those and other powerful career-building resources and tips at her website: http://www.best-interview-strategies.com. | | | | RELATED ARTICLES Cross Cultural Interviews At this moment in time, the increase in cross border human traffic has meant that companies are no longer dealing with a homogenous native community from which they recruit their staff. Companies are now facing cross cultural challenges in how they recruit, manage and develop a multi-cultural staff. One area of note where HR and management are finding difficulties is in the interview room. The Chicken or the Egg? Even before I checked my calendar on Monday morning, I knew the appointment would be there. Passed over for promotion again, Ralph wanted specifics on why I hadn't chosen him for the position. This was not a new conversation. I thought of Ralph as my chicken and egg dilemma. Ralph was the chicken. He believed he would make a great Team Leader, and when I promoted him, he would step up and show me how well he could lead. My position was that of egg. Prove to me you have leadership skills by demonstrating leadership in the job you have now, and I'll consider giving you the next position. Here's the question: is it better to do the work, knowing you will ultimately be rewarded for having done it, or should you wait until the reward is there before you do the work? Like the proverbial question of which came first, the chicken or the egg, people differ widely on the answer and run their careers accordingly. Here's the way I see it - one has more to lose by taking the position of the chicken and waiting for someone else to anoint them, than by being the egg and anointing oneself. If I had waited to be a leader until someone offered me a leadership position, I might still be wishing and hoping for someone to notice me. When I wanted to be a manager, I did the work of a manager by taking on more and more responsibilities. And, I got promoted. When I wanted to be a director, I did the work of a director, without questioning compensation or title. After proving myself, I got the job, the title and the compensation. Same with being a vice-president. Doing the job first, gave me the job. It's the same now that I'm out of the corporate arena. Take my dream of being a writer. Changing careers after twenty-something years in management, I could have waited to write a column until I secured a writing contract for one. But, why would someone pay me to write without reading my words and knowing I can. Chicken and egg again. What works for me has been consistent. When I do the work first, the rewards follow. I think of it like exercising. Doing it gives me better results than thinking about it. No one likes to be called a chicken, so ... be the egg. (c) 2004 Nan S. Russell. All rights reserved. Settling Successfully Into Your New Job The euphoria of getting a new job can sometimes be overcome by apprehension about what comes next. After all, you're "the new kid on the block," and there's much to learn--about your new job duties and much more. But here are some things you can do to make the process go smoother. Image and Style Count When I was a child, there was a pool nearby and every year my parents bought us season tickets. My brother and I swam there everyday. One day we were swimming the length of the pool underwater. As I came up at the edge of the pool gasping for air, the lifeguard was there to meet me. He asked if my brother and I would join the swim team. We were so excited; we talked about it for days. 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