Do Your Job Well

The most important thing you can do to advance you career within your own company is to do a kick ass job. Show that you can deliver results with ever task and role you have. Be the best at what you do and people will notice.

• Strive to be the best there has ever been at your job
• Have a passion for your job
• Do more than is expected of you

Develop Yourself

Learn your strengths and your weaknesses and improve both. Don’t just look to improve your weaknesses. Build your strengths and so you can do what you do well even better. Develop talents that others in your department or company do not have. These will make you indispensable.

To advance you career and do your own job well you need to constantly improve yourself.

• Become a great communicator
• A master of time management
• A Jedi master of technical skills and knowledge in your field or one you want to advance in

Build a Network

Build a strong network within your department and your company. Not the butt kissing kind of network, but one where you have peers you can go to for advice and help when you need it. Learn what they do well and what you can learn from them.

• If you have the opportunity to help one of your peers take it
• Show that you are a “one company, one team” type of person
• Show you are collaborative and can work with others to solve problems

Have a Career Development Plan

Plot a course for your career and take the steps you need to get there. If you know where you want to go you stand a much better chance of getting there. Find out what skills you need to improve on, what knowledge you need to learn to move to the next stop on your career path.

• Develop a career plan
• Start taking the steps needed to advance your career
• Commit yourself to continuous improvement

Commit Yourself to Advance Your Career

It is not likely someone is going to knock on your door and advance your career for you. The key to advancing your career is YOU. Commit yourself to taking the steps needed to make it happen.

• Commit to your department and company, not just your career
• Commit to improving your skills and knowledge
• Celebrate your achievements as you make them

If you want to advance your career remember the key is YOU. You have to take the steps to make it happen.

It does not matter if you have been with the company 20 years or 20 months you could be laid off. Many highly skilled IT professionals have gotten the pink slip and have been laid off for the sake of cutting the bottom line.

For the business this is a strategic move to cut costs and improve profits in the worst economy since the great depression. For IT professionals it is a nerve-racking experience with many wondering if they will be next to be laid off. There are steps you can take to help make yourself more valuable to the company and less likely to see the pink slip.

10 Ways to Avoid The Pink Slip

1. Be Dependable – Good attendance has always been important and now it is more important than ever. Be on time for work and don’t leave early. In the past you may have called in sick when you felt bad. Now only do so if you are unable to work. Companies need people they can depend on to be at work every day, on time and work the full day.
2. Be Passionate About Your Job – Having a true passion for your job, being driven and motivated to always do your best is a good way to avoid the pink slip. If you have lost your passion read “How Passion For Your Job Can Lead To Success” to get it back.
3. Be Likeable – If you are one of those people with a rough edge you need to soften up. Companies want employees who are able to work together and get along well. Refrain from expressing your displeasure over something. Don’t be that person who always says no or has the dark negative cloud over their head. Treat co-workers with respect and try to help others when you can.
4. Be A Team Player – “One Company, One Team” is a mantra you should live by. Companies want employees who are team players. When approached with a problem don’t respond with “It’s not my problem”. If you can’t help find someone who can. Look for ways you can help others to reach their goals and make their jobs easier.
5. Align With Company Goals and Objectives – Do you even know what your company goals and objectives are? If not you had better find out quickly and make sure your work is aligned with them. In this tight economy cutting costs is a top goal. Look for ways you can improve a process or do the job with less to save money.
6. Learn to Handle Pressure – With job cuts many are asked to take on extra duties. This can add to an already high level of stress and pressure to get the job done. Knowing how to deal with working under pressure shows you can handle the heat.
7. Stay Positive – Maintaining a positive outlook can be difficult during times like these. It is important that you be able to stay positive even in negative situations. If you fly off the handle when something goes wrong it means you need to learn to control your response. Maintaining a positive outlook about your job and your work is far less stressful and in times like these is what others need to see from you.
8. Learn What Your Employees Want – If you are a manager keeping your employees happy makes them more productive and shows you are a good manager. Companies want high performing teams and the best way to do this is to start by focusing on the needs of your reports.
9. Make Your Employees More Productive – Once again if you are a manager your performance is tied to how well your team does their job. The more time you spend coaching them, training them to do their job better and to do new task is time well spent. Remember their success is your success.
10. Be the Best at What You Do – This last tip is the most important. If you want to avoid the pink slip. Simply do your job better than anyone has ever done it. The best advice I can give you for this is to read this great article “Be The Best at What You Do”. It shows you how the power of being positive and being passionate about your job, regardless of what your job is will lead to success.

Bonus Tips

The stress and worry about loosing your job is like a daily drum beat in your head. It can distract you from performing at your best and possibly end up causing the exact thing you are trying to avoid. Another tip I can give you are some “Formulas For Success”. Read about eight steps you can take to not only help secure your job, but help boost you up the company ladder.

During tough times like this you should look at your career. Are you heading in the right direction? Is your career path on track? If you have never considered these much this is a good time to start. Read “How to Develop Your IT Career Plan and Why You Should Do It” for tips on developing a career plan and ways to advance your career. Should things not work out for you and you do get the pink slip and be laid off it is important to know how to handle a detour in your career road map.

Enter your zip code, select your area of IT, then select professionals to find salary data for you or employers to find data for your current employees and new hires.

You will be shown the average starting salary range for that position in your area. Any available jobs in your area for that position. Salary ranges in surrounding areas. Additional details such as which skills add value to the position. And an explanation of the method used.

Skills Add Value to Your Position

One interesting aspect of the results is it shows you what percentage to add to the salary range for certain IT skills. This is a good indicator of where you can invest in your training to improve your career and your earning potential. Adding to your skill sets not only make you more valuable to the company, but they can actually pay off in your salary.

Read 10 Certifications to Improve Your IT Career for more.

7% – Basic administration skills

9% – Cisco network administration skills

8% – Linux/Unix administration skills

6% – Windows 2000/Windows 2003/XP/Vista skills

7% – Windows Server 2008 skills

7% – Virtualization skills

To use the salary calculator visit the Robert Half Technology web site. Click on the Salary Center menu item and then the Robert Half Technology Salary Calculator widget. Be sure and look around the rest of their very good web site.

Knowing what your position and skills are worth in the current job market is a valuable tool for salary negotiations. If you go in with accurate data you will be more likely to come out with a better salary. This applies to those looking for work as well as those who are looking to increase their salary.

Which certifications are right for you depends on your career path. A certification in your current line of work will certify your skills and increase your value in your present position. If you are looking to move into other areas of IT a certification can give you the skills and knowledge you need to make the jump.

Certifications should be looked at for what they can do for you now and in the future. If you look at your career plan as a road map a certification is just one stop on the way to your next destination. If you do not already have a career plan read “How To Develop Your IT Career Plan and Why You Should Do It”.

10 Career Building Certifications

Below in no particular order are 10 certifications that can certify and improve your present skills and add valuable stops on your IT career path.

ITIL V3 Foundation Certificate in IT Service Management

ITIL v3 is a best practice framework for IT Service Management that is being adopted by IT departments around the world. There are four levels of ITIL V3 certification. The Foundation certificate is the entry-level certification that shows general knowledge of the key parts of ITIL V3. ITIL V3 certifications are most useful to managers and leadership.

For more information on ITIL V3 certifications visit the ITIL website.

CCA – Cisco Certified Architect

Cisco offers a range of certifications from entry-level to master. The Cisco Certified Architect is the highest accreditation achievable within the Cisco Career Certification program. This certification is intended for experienced Cisco network professionals and puts a  large gold star on your resume.

For more information about CCA visit the Cisco Certified Architect website.

MCTS – Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist

MCTS offers a variety of certifications you can specialize in. MCTS certifications prove your ability to successfully implement, build on, troubleshoot, and debug a particular Microsoft technology, such as a Windows operating system, Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft SQL Server, and Microsoft Visual Studio.

For more information about MCTS certifications visit the Microsoft MCTS website.

CompTIA Security+

Network security will always be an important part of IT. The CompTIA Security+ certification is an international, vendor-neutral certification that proves competency in system security, network infrastructure, access control and organizational security.

Although not required, it is recommended that you have at least two years of technical networking experience, with an emphasis on security.

For more information visit the CompTIA Security+ website.

VCP – VMware Certified Professional

Virtualization is a hot topic in IT and will continue to grow in the future. The VMware Certified Professional Program is designed for people who want to show their ability in virtual infrastructure and increase the potential for career advancement.

For more information visit the VMware Certified Professional on vSphere 4 website.

PMP – Project Management Professional

Since so much of what IT does today is project related a Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute is a valuable certification for project managers. The PMP certification shows you have demonstrated the knowledge and skills in leading and directing project teams and in delivering project results within the constraints of schedule, budget and resources.

For more information on PMP certification visit the PMI PMP website.

CompTIA Strata Green IT

CompTIA’s Strata Green IT certificate is designed to improve an IT professional’s experience, knowledge, and existing IT credentials to incorporate emerging technologies shaping the global green IT industry today.

This is one of CompTIA’s newest certification programs. It is designed to show that a candidate is schooled in power management as well as virtualization techniques. The certification also includes training on developing and calculating ROI for green IT initiatives and knowledge of environmentally sound waste disposal techniques.

For more information visit the CompTIA Strata Green IT website.

CCNA – Cisco Certified Network Associate

CCNA has become the standard for network and IT professionals who work in network related areas. Cisco Certified Network Associate prove your ability to install, configure, use, and troubleshoot route and switched networks, including implementation and verification of connections to remote sites in a WAN.

For more information about CCNA certification visit the CCNA Certification website.

MCITP – Microsoft Certified IT Professional

Microsoft Certified IT Professional certifications are Microsoft’s newest lineup of specialized certifications. Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) certification enables IT professionals to show comprehensive skills in planning, deploying, supporting, maintaining, and optimizing IT infrastructures.

For more information about Microsoft Certified IT Professional certification visit the MCITP website.

MCPD – Microsoft Certified Professional Developer

For those who create and support the software solutions in IT the Microsoft Certified Professional Developer (MCPD) credential certifies a comprehensive set of skills that are necessary to deploy, build, optimize, and manage applications successfully by using Microsoft Visual Studio and the Microsoft .NET Framework.

For more information visit the Microsoft Certified Professional Developer website.

To help you get ready Microsoft Press for a limited time is offering “First Look: Microsoft Office 2010”, by Katherine Murray. It features 14 chapters about Office 2010. Find the download links at the bottom of this post. Here is what is included in the sample.

First Look: Microsoft Office 2010

Sample Contents

Part I: Envision the Possibilities

Chapter 1: Welcome to Office 2010
Chapter 2: Express Yourself Effectively and Efficiently
Chapter 3: Collaborate in the Office and Around the world

Part II: Hit the Ground Running

Chapter 4: Create and Share Compelling Documents with Word 2010
Chapter 5: Create Smart Data Insights with Excel 2010
Chapter 6: Manage Rich Communications with Outlook
Chapter 7: Produce Dynamic Presentations with PowerPoint 2010
Chapter 8: Organize, Store, and Share Ideas with OneNote 2010
Chapter 9: Collaborate Effectively with SharePoint workspace
Chapter 10: Create Effective Marketing Materials with Publisher 2010
Chapter 11: Make Sense of Your Data with Access 2010

Part Three : Next Steps with Office 2010

Chapter 12: Putting it All Together
Chapter 13: Security in Office 2010
Chapter 14: Training Made Easy

Download this EBook from here PDF (10.5 MB) or XPS ( 27.9 MB) format. This is available only for a limited period.

As a manager or a member of leadership it is your responsibility to encourage your employees to pursue education and training. You add value to the employee which in turn adds value to your team, your department and to the company. Coaching employees towards their success leads to your success.

Without the proper knowledge and training of employees your IT department runs the risk of not being able to deliver and manage existing technologies to their full potential.

Make Learning an Expectation

One of the first things you want to do is to create a learning friendly environment for your employees. Get them in the habit of building new skills, pursing new certifications and continuing their education. They should understand that improving themselves is an expectation of their job. It helps to create a strong culture of performance.

Employees may have done four years of college and passed a few certifications, but their training and education can not stop there. As technology evolves so to must your employees. Given the chance most employees will jump at the opportunity to learn a new skill, get a new certification or continue their education. Your job is to help them do it.

What Motivates People to Learn

An interesting study reveled six reasons people are motivated to learn job related skills. This is useful information you can use to craft a learning plan  after you assess for your employees. Learning what motivates your employees also help you improve performance.

1. They are more likely to learn what they need to learn to do their jobs. Just-in-time learning works well in IT. You teach your employee a skill when they need it. There is no sense in wasting time or money to learn a skill you do not use.
2. Not everyone learns in the same way. For some all they need is a book and time to study. Other do better in a class environment. Talk with the employee and find out what type of environment they learn best in.
3. People prefer to learn at their own pace. This works well for those who self-study since they set the time and place they learn. You do not want to force your employee into or rush your employee to complete training. You do want to keep them motivated and on track.
4. People want to learn a variety of new things. Learning is a continuous process and most employees will benefit from a variety of skills. Their first learning task may be a new technical skill they need. Their next may be a new soft skill. By mixing up what they learn you keep the engaged and interested.
5. People want to be in charge of what they learn. You can offer a variety of technical and soft skills for the employee to develop. Even offer suggestions on which ones they will benefit from the and which skills are needed in their present job or a new role. Ultimately it is up to the individual to learn the skill and it needs to be something they want to do. Trying to learn a skill you do not like or are not interested in will yield poor results.
6. In the workplace most people learn best when taught by others in the workplace. For some skills this is very practical. One employee possesses the skills another needs. You set aside time for them to work together and learn. Cross training employees is very effective.

Provide The Tools to Learn

To help create a culture of learning in your workplace you need to offer the tools and the time for employees to learn. You need to do assessments to find what skills are needed and a path towards obtaining them.

Assessment

• Perform skills assessments on employees so you and the employee can better see where it would benefit them to develop.
• Help your employees develop a career path so they know what education and training they need to get to where they want to be. See “How To Develop Your IT Career Plan and Why You Should Do It”.
• Include skill and knowledge development as part of each employees performance review.

Providing The Tools For Learning

• Work with employees by allowing them to adjust their schedule so they can take classes.
• Have the company offer to pay for relevant classes or for the cost of a certification exam.
• Purchase CBT nuggets for your employees and schedule time for them to use them.
• Purchase books and training materials to create an “Employee Development Library”. Employees can check out books and training material to learn at their own pace.
• Schedule instructors to come to the workplace to hold classes for employees.
• Hold meetings that employees can attend to learn from skilled employees.
• One way to train an employee is by delegating new tasks to develop your employee in new areas.

Take Away

Companies that value employee  improvement will outperform those that don’t. A well-trained IT staff with a diverse set of technical and soft skills will allow IT to support and improve present services as well as provide new services the business will demand in the future.

You should make sure you employees know that improving themselves is an expectation of their job. To create a culture for learning you must assess each employee to decide what skills they need to develop and determine the environment they will best learn in.

You must accommodate employees who want to improve themselves by providing them the flexibility and time to pursue it. Provide the tools that employees need to learn with. It will cost money, but the benefits will greatly outweigh the costs. IT is graying so it is important to have people trained and ready to step into vital roles.

Get your employees in the habit of learning. This is the foundation on which you will build. The rate of change in IT is so fast you can not let yourself or your employees fall behind the technology curve. Make learning new skills part of your work environment. Educating your employee adds value to them and to the company.

The business world is competitive so there is a lot we can learn when we look at how underdogs win. They face more talented, better trained and more experienced competition, yet at the end of the game they prevail and celebrate their success. So how do they overcome the odds and win?

“If there’s one cultural quality we have, it’s that we always see ourselves as an underdog.”
– Bill Gates

What Underdogs Can Teach Us About a Winning Attitude

Teamwork

Basketball is the perfect example of teamwork. No individual player can win the game and to be successful you can not do it alone. You are only as successful as those you lead. Managers are only as successful as the people who report to them. Success is a team effort that is shared by all. See “Coach Your Employees – Their Success is Your Success”.

Passion

Some call it passion, drive, motivation, zeal. It is the self-driven attitude to be the best at whatever you do. When you are passionate about your work, your team, your project, your department, your company and every other aspect of your life, you will be successful. See “How Passion For Your Job Can Lead To Success”.

Believe

Winners win because they never lose their belief that they can win. Even when faced with what seems like insurmountable odds, they have faith in themselves that they will find a way to make it happen. As soon as you think it can not be done you have lost. High achievers believe they are destined for great things.

“If you don’t believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed at the end of the day.” – Neville Southall

Stick To The Basics

Stick to the basic strategies that lead to success. Passion for your work, good attendance, a strong work ethic, and using best practices are all basics that lead to success. There are no shortcuts to success. Consistently strive to always do your best and continue to improve yourself. Success comes in small steps. See “Four Essential Skills For Managers to Master”.

Don’t Let Fear Hold You Back

Fear is often what stops us from being successful. The sense that you will fail, that it is better to play it safe than to take risks. Don’t let the fear of failure hold you back. See challenges as obstacles to overcome. See risks as opportunities to achieve. When failures do happen learn from them so they do not happen again.

Step Up To The Challenge

Never back down from a challenging task. These challenges are what will prove that you can get the job done regardless the circumstances. They teach you lessons that you need in order to overcome even more challenging tasks in the future. The road to success is full of challenges and lessons to be learned. Don’t avoid challenges, embrace them, seek them out.

Keep Your Ego Under Control

An inflated ego can literally kill your career. When you think of yourself as a “know it all”, a person who is always right, a person who better than everyone else you are in deep trouble. You don’t know it all because there is always something new to learn. If you think you are always right you close yourself off to new ideas and approaches. When you think you are better than others

“Look for intelligence and judgment and, most critically, a capacity to anticipate, to see around corners. Also look for loyalty, integrity, a high energy drive, a balanced ego and the drive to get things done.” – Colin Powell

Have a Plan

Trying to improve yourself and your career without a plan is like taking a trip to a place you have never been without a map. You have to know where you want to go and how you are going to get there. Your ultimate destination or goal may be far off so there will be many stops along the way. You must develop a career plan so you will know how to get from point A to point B. See “How To Develop Your IT Career Plan and Why You Should Do It”

Have a Strong Work Ethic

Success does not come to those who do not work hard at it. Being successful at anything is not easy. It requires dedication and yes hard work. When you consistently work hard it gets noticed. When you have completed a task ask for more. This applies to your career as well. Education, certifications and learning new skills will help you advance. All of them require your time and energy, but most of all your dedication and commitment to doing them.

“Some People Dream of Success While Others Wake Up and Work Hard at It”
– Author Unknown

Rebound From Setbacks

You will not win every time, but how you handle setbacks and failures can determine if you win the next time. When you suffer a setback find out what happened and take steps or learn lessons so that it does not happen again. Setbacks do not mean the game is over. Pick yourself up, learn your lesson and get back in the game.

On any given Sunday you’re gonna win or you’re gonna lose. The point is – can you win or lose like a man? – Tony D’Amato from the movie Any Given Sunday

Summary

We all want to be winners in our career and in our life. To be successful you must take on a winning attitude. No matter how difficult of a challenge or task you face, having a “can win” attitude will lead you to success.

This is how underdogs win and eventually become top dogs. Regardless of you present position or station in life, you can be successful, you can overcome insurmountable odds and be a winner. Never quit, never give up.

Coaching is not just a tool for correcting behavioral or work related issues. It is a tool that can be used to develop and improve your employees. Developmental coaching can be used to “fine-tune” an employee to improve them at their current job and improve your team overall.

If you want to improve an employee and your team there is no better investment of your time as a manager than developmental coaching. By adding knowledge and skills you will empower your employees to take on greater challenges and reap greater rewards.

The first step in developmental coaching is to identify the employees and the areas they need to improve in. Start with those who will benefit the most as an employee and those who will strengthen your team.

Meet With the Employee

Meet with the employee to explain what you are doing. Ask them for feedback like areas they feel they need improvement on. Everything should be positive and constructive. The goal of the meeting is to gather information about areas that need improvement , encourage the employee to improve and get a commitment from the employee.

After the meeting take all of your notes and use your own knowledge about the employee and the team to identify your goals for improvement.

• Analyze which competencies are the most critical for the employee to develop in performing their current job and build them first.
• Determine which competencies are the most critical for the employees contributions to the team and the business.
• Select no more than one or two areas for development at a time to keep both you and the employee focused.
• Don’t just look for an employees weaknesses, look to develop their strengths even further.
• Determine what your resources are. Available training from the company, from other employees, and from yourself.
• Determine how much time you and the employee can devote to developmental coaching.

Develop a Plan

Once you have identified the employees and the areas for improvement you need to create a developmental plan.

• Pick the one or two areas for development you will concentrate on for the employee.
• Create a chronological list of learning activities that will develop the employee in these areas.
• Create a list of dates and actions the employee will take such as taking company provided training or training from another employee.
• Create a list of dates and actions you will take to aid in the development of the employee in these areas.

Implement the Plan

Meet with the employee again to review the development plan with them. Take time to listen to any issues they have with the plan and adjust if needed. You want to get a commitment from the employee, but you do not want to compromise your goals.

Developmental coaching should be implemented as part of the employees work. It should not be a distraction from their current job, but you must allow them time to do it. Depending on the area of development it can be as little as one hour per week or as much as several hours of company provided training.

Evaluate the Outcome

Once the development plan is complete you need to come back and reevaluate the employee to see if it was successful.

• Has the employee improved in the desired areas?
• Is more time or training needed for optimal development in an area?
• Are there any lessons you learned that will make you a better developmental coach?
• What further areas of development does the employee need?
• What other employees need development?

Once you have answered these questions you can begin a new development plan. Use the same priorities as you did before. The goal is the strengthen the employee, the team and the business.

Some skills continue to be in demand year after year so some in the list are no surprise. As businesses and IT departments look to recover lost ground due to the economy they have a lot of initiatives on paper just waiting for funds to implement. Qualified people with key skills and knowledge will be needed to implement and support these new initiatives.

In a recent Global Knowledge/TechRepublic 2010 salary survey one of the questions asked was “What skill sets will your company be looking to add in 2010″. Below is the list in order of ranking.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

A lot of what IT does is project driven or involves the types of skills used in project management so it is not surprising to see project management at the top of the list. Project management certifications and skills will enhance your resumé and given you valued skills in 2010 and beyond.

SECURITY

Security continues to be a huge concern of business and IT organizations. With more advanced forms of data breaches occurring using more advanced methods, security skills are always in high demand.

NETWORK ADMINISTRATION

Networks are the backbone of IT and of the business. With more bandwidth intensive applications the demands placed on networks grow each year. So does the need for experienced network administrators and those with key network skills to upgrade and manage them.

VIRTUALIZATION – CLOUD

With IT budgets growing tighter the cost savings offered by virtualization, cloud storage and SaaS applications become more appealing.

BUSINESS ANALYSIS

The role of business analysis in solving problems and coming up with new solutions are in demand today. Business analysts once again find themselves in high demand and they seek to find more cost efficient ways to meet the needs of the business and IT.

BUSINESS PROCESS IMPROVEMENT

The role of Business Process Management  (BPM) in finding ways to cut costs and improve services is expanding in a budget conscious business world. Improvements can lead to real savings for the company’s bottom line and this puts BPM professionals in high demand.

WEB DEVELOPMENT

It is no surprise with the continuing boom on the Internet that web development skills are in high demand. As businesses look to leverage the expanding mobile market in addition to new services web development skills will be in demand for a long time.

DATABASE MANAGEMENT

For a long time databases have been at the heart of important business systems. Database administrators and those with key skills in database management systems continue to be in demand. Database technology and improvements from major players such as Oracle, IBM and Sybase are driving improvements in database management and the need for the skills to implement and manage them.

WINDOWS ADMINISTRATION

As many companies look to upgrade their aging Windows platforms to newer and improved operating systems for both desktops and servers they need people skilled in these new technologies. It is not limited to OS, as many Exchange, SharePoint and other platforms will be upgraded to take advantage of increased capabilities.

DESKTOP SUPPORT

Windows 7 is expected to generate a lot of need for skills to support it as more companies roll out this new OS. Enterprise desktop support technicians will be in high demand due to Windows 7 and other applications and technologies that businesses will want to roll out.

For more information on these top ten IT skills in demand visit the Global Knowledge web site.

Simply stated hard work, self-improvement, a strong work ethic and passion for your work will get your further than any formula. But there are “formulas” you can use that will enhance your reputation and your chances for advancement. Let me share with you a few I know work.

Don’t Bring Me Problems, Bring Me Answers

Don’t run to your boss or co-workers each time a problem comes up. Evaluate the problem and come up with a solution. Then approach them with the problem and a possible solution. Show that you have the knowledge and skills to analyze a problem and come up with a workable solution.

Under Promise, Over Deliver

One way to get noticed is to deliver your project or task ahead of schedule, under budget and with better than expected results. When your boss gives you a task and wants it done in four weeks, do it in three. When you are expected to deliver 20 pieces by the end of the week deliver 30. Hard work, yes. Pays off, yes.

Deliver What You Promise

Your word is your reputation. Knowing that you can be counted on to do what you say is an important trait for anyone. Knowing your capabilities and limitations is the key. When you are given a task and asked for a timetable to complete it, do not try to impress someone with an unrealistic answer. Deliver what is expected of you on time it shows your boss can rely on you.

Finish Your Job First, Then Ask For Other Tasks

If you are eager to learn new skills and expand to other areas first finish your primary job. Once you finish what is expected of you, go to you boss and ask if there are any other tasks you can do. It shows that you can do your primary job very well and that you are eager to help in other areas. Be careful to properly finish your primary job before asking for new tasks.

Do More Than is Expected of You

Your boss should clearly outline their expectations of you. Let’s say one of your jobs is to keep track of all service calls. That is the expectation and so you should do an outstanding job of it. Don’t stop there. Since you are tracking service calls you are seeing all the issues.

Examine them to find common trends that can point to an underlying problem. Gather the data, break it down into specific calls for the same issue and present it to your boss. This should lead to a root cause analysis which will end up reducing service calls and costs.

Develop a Network

Develop relationships with people outside of your own department and chain of command. It builds a network of people you can go to for answers to problems so you can do your job better. It gives you a wider knowledge of what goes on in the other areas of your company. Most of all it establishes relationships and gives you knowledge that you can use to further your career.

Find Ways to Improve a Process

I believe in continuous improvement. There is always a better way to do something. Look at a current process. Break it down and see if there is an area that can be improved. Great ideas do not have to be complex, but they must be workable and actually improve something if you want to succeed. If you have a great idea research it, rehearse it and sell it effectively.

Improve Yourself

While these “formulas for success” are valid, the best way to move up the ladder of success is to improve yourself. Read, study, take classes, obtain certifications, network, learn more about your company and how it works.

The most sure-fire way to advance your career is to make yourself more valuable to the company. Learning new skills not only helps you do your job better, but they give you the knowledge needed to advance. Even if it does not lead to advancement right away, doing your job better can lead to more money and more responsibility.

Don’t just sit there and wait for opportunity to come knocking at your door and be handed to you. Instead show that you have the desire and the passion to improve yourself and do more. Companies want to talented people and talent = desire + passion. Show you have the desire to improve and a passion for your job.