Gain Respect when You're a Young Executive
You landed your first job and are working for the bigwigs. Congratulations! So how do you impress the bosses enough to move up the ladder without stepping on any toes? Here’s how to move up without taking any steps backwards.
Steps
- Do your best at the job you were hired to do. Sure, we all want to move up as fast as we can. But you can’t move up without successfully completing the tasks at hand however uneventful and meaningless they may seem.
- Respect those who are at higher job levels than you. So you may not want to hang out after work or become best friends with a particular senior executive you work with on a daily basis. Keep it professional and learn as much as you can from this person. It will prepare you for bigger and better things!
- Stay away from the gossip. Someone is always talking loudly about personal matters on the phone or is wearing an outfit deemed too revealing by your colleagues. Keep your opinions to yourself. You don’t want it to get to your boss that you are spending your time gossiping about others in the office when you should be working.
- Volunteer to take on additional projects. If you have the bandwidth and are ready for a challenge say yes to taking on some new projects. No your salary won’t increase right away, but you will soon be touted the rising star. Your efforts will be noted come time for a promotion or raise.
- Don’t dart out the door as soon as the clock strikes 5. You don’t always have to burn the candle, but show you are putting in a little extra effort to ensure your work not only gets done, but gets done correctly. Even an extra 20 minutes makes it seem like you were not staring at the clock all afternoon waiting to leave.
- Accept lunch offers. The best way to get to know your colleagues and network is to be social. Building relationships with your bosses and co-workers is an important part of your job that is not written in job descriptions. You will become known as a team player.
Tips
- Stay off the internet and don't Tweet or change your Facebook status while on the job if you want to be taken seriously.
