Archive for the ‘Ready for a Promotion?’ Category

Job Promotion - Feasible or Impossible?

Saturday, June 20th, 2009

Workers who have stayed glued to the same positions and the same salaries for years wonder if that much coveted job promotion will ever come their way. They are punctual, submit reports on time, and get along fine with other workers. So what’s the snag? Perhaps they are doing some things the wrong way.

Taboos At the Workplace

There’s always a way to get that job promotion or a salary hike. You don’t need to lavish your boss with corporate gift baskets, although the thought is inviting. Honestly evaluate your self in terms of your work and how you get it done. If you’ve been in your job for 8 years and nothing exciting has happened, there must be something wrong with the way you do things at work.

Okay, assess how you accept new assignments and how you react when you’re loaded with work. Do you whine and make snide, nasty remarks? Do you suddenly get glazy-eyed when your boss asks you to make an evaluation report? Do you keep asking your supervisor to repeat instructions? Or do you blurt out that you don’t know how to do the report? Perhaps you get rattled when something entirely new is dumped onto your lap.

Whatever the tasks given to you, it’s better to stay cool and collected. Ask the necessary questions like the deadline for the report and what is needed from you. When an additional assignment is tossed your way, always ask again for specifics. You can always review which ones need immediate attention and which can be shelved for a while. In brief, prioritize.

Absenteeism takes a toll on your chances for a promotion. If the boos asks for you and you’re not around, he’s likely to ask if you’re on an approved leave of absence or out on official travel. If you’re not in any of this category, you’re absent and if this happens quite a lot, you can expect your boss to be antagonized and mark you as an unreliable.

During meetings, don’t be caught snoring or doodling while your mind is somewhere else. Review the agenda of the meeting and take along what might be needed from you. Before you take your seat, make sure you’ve got your laptop or pen and notebook and the reports that might be needed. Be ready for anything.

Taking an Active Role in Those Meetings

During meetings, take up an open body posture and make eye contact with the people in room. Take a seat where you can be noticed by everyone and if possible, choose a place nearest to the center.

Participate in the discussion, but do not hog the limelight nor say anything that might repel those in the meeting. The most important thing you can do is listen actively. Communicate by bodily movements that you are onto the thread of the discussion and ask follow-up questions. Don’t interrupt anybody who is speaking. Listen to what they’ve got to say. You can always pick up good ideas which you can put to work.

Volunteer for some projects that you are passionate about. That will make people notice you and they’ll appreciate this. Meetings are also venues where employers can observe their workers and make direct comparisons. So use these meetings to your advantage.

A job promotion is feasible if you work your way to the top, have the right attitude, and are always ready for anything. This enthusiasm will show and your boss will notice it. So take heart, that job promotion is possible.

Make your way to the top with tasteful leather business card cases and a magnetic money clip. You can also impress your colleagues with corporate gift baskets. Visit ExecutiveGiftShoppe.com today.

“No Degree, No Job”

Sunday, August 10th, 2008

eLearners.com Study Reveals Millions Have Been Snubbed
For Not Having a College Degree

Hoboken, NJ, August 5, 2008 – With workers’ fears about job security and upward mobility at record highs, education may prove to be the saving grace.   A new study by eLearners.com, a web resource of EducationDynamics, and Kelton Research found that nearly one in five (19%) Americans—that equals about 40 million adults—know someone at their current or past workplace who has been passed over for a job because they didn’t have the right degree.  One in ten (10%) respondents say they themselves have been denied a job at some point for not having a degree.  

Even once someone has landed a job, not having a degree can hold them back from moving up the corporate ranks. Nearly one in five (18%) Americans – another 40 million – report that a coworker of theirs was denied a promotion because they didn’t have a certain degree. And, more than one in ten (13%) divulge that a colleague of theirs was denied a raise because their education level left something to be desired.

“The statistics from this study confirm what has widely been known, not only is a degree critical to getting a job, but it is also key to advancing in one’s career,” said Terrence Thomas, EVP Marketing Operations at EducationDynamics.  “And given the current economic climate, a degree might be needed just to keep your job.”
(more…)

Leaders - Pencil Down and Listen Up

Wednesday, June 18th, 2008

Being accessible makes you more valuable to the people you lead and the organization. Staff must feel comfortable approaching you when they need to. The benefits to you are that you keep your finger on the pulse of the organization and are better equipped to avert problems and take advantages of opportunities as they occur. Also by using your accessibility as a teaching tool in the form of probing questions you are creating a training session that conditions your subordinates to think through their concerns, questions or problems. Your work time as a leader is just as valuable your subordinate’s. Don’t waste it by being the answer man or woman.

There are always exceptions to the rule. You will be giving direction in emergency situations or when facing time deadlines.

People know the right answers and as leaders we have the obligation to create an environment that supports thinking out loud and the confidence to express views, questions, comments and concerns without fear or judgment. You are a confidence builder, not a creator of self doubt. Become a force multiplier. Teach your staff to think by effectively using questions rather that statements or direction.
(more…)

You Can Be A Success At Work

Monday, May 26th, 2008

It can be difficult when you put everything that you have into your job and you feel like you are continually passed up for promotions. When you watch everyone around you climbing the ladder to the top and you’re standing at the bottom looking up, it can be daunting, but it doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. Many of us are never successful at work because we develop a poor attitude about the job and our ability to be a success there. When you stop believing in yourself, you stop having the potential to be a success. If you want to succeed you need to believe in yourself! You can gain self-confidence and success by utilizing your very own success affirmations.

Success affirmations are simply statements that describe how you want to think, feel and live. The stronger you believe in these statements the more power they have to help you change your life. If you want to be a success at work, you simply need to develop your own or take advantage of the vast libraries of free positive affirmations online and apply them to your life. Many people start each day by reciting the success affirmations that speak to them and this helps them to believe in themselves. When you use success affirmations you’ll stop being the victim or pitying yourself and you’ll start seeing that you are capable of climbing that ladder to professional success.
(more…)