How to Get Noticed for the Right Reasons: Three Career Advancement Principles You Don’t Want to Forget

John Morgan

Featured Guest Blogger: John Morgan of Pounding the Pavement

John Morgan writes for the up-and-coming career blog, Pounding the Pavement. In his free time, Mr. Morgan also tackles topics related to online career training for Guide to Career Education.

Have you ever noticed that some people seem to be predisposed for success in the workplace? I’m not talking about business superstars—the superrich or super-successful giants like Warren Buffet or Steve Jobs—but the more down-to-earth successes that we see around us all the time. These are our colleagues and carpool companions who, though on the surface may seem no different from the rest of us, seem to have an uncanny ability to get recognized more quickly than others and to be offered opportunities for advancement that pass us by.

In our current competitive job market, it can be difficult to feel like we have what it takes to get ahead. Some people just seem to have that extra charisma that we wouldn’t know what to do with if it hit us in the back of the head. Nevertheless, there are certain, common-sense but easily forgotten principles that, when put into practice, stand out to employers and supervisors and can help pave the way to advancing your career.

Here are three time-tested principles for standing out at work:

Manage Your Time Wisely

One principle has stuck with me ever since I got my first job in a fast-food restaurant: “If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.” Everyone knows advice that rhymes is almost always true, but seriously, there is a lot of wisdom in this oft-repeated maxim that we can easily forget when we move into careers with opportunities for advancement that are no longer based on our mopping skills. Too often, the project- or goal-oriented work ethic dominant today gives us a premature sense of completion at the end of every task we perform, and this sense of completion makes us feel that we’ve earned ourselves a little break—that we’re entitled to “take it easy” for a few minutes before seeking out something else to do.

The better choice is to move forward on your own. If you have time to lean back on your chair, take a meandering walk around the office, or to make a longer-than-necessary trip to the coffee pot, you also have time to get going on your next project. Be self-motivated and give yourself a rolling list of things to do. Always be ready to jump to the next task when you finish the current one. When you’re being paid for your time and work, most employers don’t want to see that time wasted in idleness.

Just say “No” to Facebook

Okay, so this is really a subset of managing your time wisely, but I think it deserves its own spiel. And, of course, “Facebook” here is really a synecdoche for all of the social media and smartphone apps that we convince ourselves are harmless 5-minute reprieves from work. I regularly hear from friends who are incensed by employers who take measures to block sites like Facebook or Twitter (the nerve!). The thought of being disconnected from these sites for eight hours a day is enough to throw heavy users onto the ground in convulsions.

Maybe there are good arguments for allowing access to these websites as a means to increasing productivity. Maybe you work someplace that actually encourages occasional social media activity as a means of connecting with potential clients or customers. In the long run, though, these sites waste the time that you’re being paid for. You may not get fired for getting caught on Facebook, but it certainly won’t help your chances at advancing your career in meaningful ways.

Check the Attitude

I have a close friend who works extremely hard at his job. He’s efficient, he’s self-motivated, he works long hours (even when on “vacation”), and he almost always is grumbling about one aspect of his job or another. Now, I give him the benefit of a doubt in assuming that he doesn’t complain about his work while at work—that would be stupid—but I find it hard to believe that his attitude has no bearing on his overall relationship with his supervisor and employers. The popular ethic of self-fulfillment (“What matters most is that I’m doing something that makes me feel truly happy!”) has caused an epidemic of workers for whom any employment that doesn’t fit that ethic feels like a great evil.

The truth of the matter, I would argue, is that most jobs are not universally gratifying. Even if something seems great at first, the day will likely come when you wake up feeling like you’d much rather play hooky than go into that place for another day of the same old work. When employers sense this attitude in you—and most employers are pretty good at sensing it—they’re much more likely to look for somebody willing to contribute in a positive way than to help you (Mr. Negativity) advance.

Like I said, these are common-sense principles. There should be nothing groundbreaking here. But often-times the common-sense principles are the ones we take for granted and forget about. If you’re looking to advance in your career, these will give you a great place to start.

Related posts:

• Professional Societies: How Important are they to Career Advancement?
• What American Idol Can Teach Us About Career Advancement
• Career Goals: Don’t Sell Yourself Short!
• Engineers: Don’t Settle for Less in Your Career
• Career Advancement Starts with Awareness!