Advancement
It still pays to play nice at work, a Robert Half survey confirms. When employees were asked, “In your opinion, to what extent does being courteous to co-workers positively impact a person’s career prospects?” 48% responded it can accelerate advancement.
“Exactly, what is the advantage of LinkedIn?” asks one administrative pro on our online forum. “Many people I know are on it, but no one can say what they get out of it.” According to most admins, the benefits are many, if you use the online tool the right way.
A growing body of research confirms what you may have suspected: Looks matter, especially when it comes to making a first impression on others. Surprisingly, though, it’s also the way people draw conclusions about our ability to do a job.
Does your mind work like an executive’s? When Jodith Allen first stepped into the job of executive assistant, she received a swift lesson in thinking like a manager. Here’s what happened:
“What do you do?” Be prepared for this question before you head to any networking event because you’ll probably be asked dozens of times … Need someone to make a decision? Approach him in the morning. “Decision fatigue” is a very real phenomenon affecting people who have to grapple with an ever-increasing number of choices.
Protect your job—or set yourself up for a promotion—by communicating your quantifiable on-the-job results at a moment’s notice. Warm up with this exercise:
Being a stellar admin requires the skills of a mind-reader. So it was a boon recently when admins heard two executives speak candidly at the 18th Annual Conference for Administrative Excellence about the administrative profession.
Focus on knowing where to get information quickly rather than knowing how to do everything … Watch what you say on Facebook: More than 90% of job-screeners say they’re using social network tools to weed out applicants … Take the lead in developing your own professional skills.
Executive search firm CEO Skip Freeman calls it “Fatal Career Mistake #4”—not branding yourself as a person who can save or make money for a company. These days, you won’t be hired merely because you have the know-how, he says. You’ve got to be a problem-solver.
A recent survey by OfficeTeam reveals that one in five employees knows someone who has lied on his or her résumé. Here’s the type of information employees are most often misrepresenting or exaggerating about:
A few bits of career counsel from Lilit Marcus’ Save the Assistants: A guide to surviving and thriving in the workplace: Know the difference between a job and a career. Do your job, and do it really, really well. Pay your dues intelligently. Learn everybody’s name and develop the right allies.
If you have the gift of gab, it can limit your opportunities to move ahead. Communications pro Barbara Pachter offers these tips to rein in loquaciousness:
Janie used to wear a ponytail to work, along with scant makeup, khakis, sweaters and loafers. Then a “Power of Image” workshop changed how she presented herself. Now, when she shares her ideas with senior managers, they listen and buy in to what she’s saying.
