Succeeding in Your Career
Tips for Today’s Business World
© 3/17/2009
Marrietta Reber
Keep a Log
Update regularly, weekly is a good idea
 List assignments, work activities,
completed jobs, responsibilities, critical
conversations, and problems as well as
successes
 Print copies or email to yourself at nonwork email (if allowed)
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Track Project Progression
Create and track timelines, minutes,
responsibilities, status reports
 Demonstrate impact to overall timeline
when a deadline is missed to discuss
rational next steps
 Keep track even if you haven’t been told to
do so
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Create a Paper Trail
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Save critical outgoing and incoming email on
company mail server
Bcc for forward critical emails to a personal noncompany email account (if possible and allowed)
Send emails to confirm critical decisions, relay
critical conversations, and get approval on
documents (often with deadline for corrections)
CYB by objectively showing where the ball was
dropped
Document, Print, and Store
Everything in Writing
Memory can be faulty, paper is tangible:
keep a PRINTED paper trail!
 If you get oral work description or
agreement by a supervisor or content
expert, always recap, summarize and
send it to everyone involved for
confirmation
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Organize Your Documentation Well
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Print hard copies
File all work documents effectively
Make files easy to find
Printed documentation does you no good if you
can’t find a document when you need it!
Remember that in the worst-case scenario you
may be escorted out of the workplace without
access to your computer files
Keep a List of Contributions and
Accomplishments
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Keep track of your own achievements: it is not
high on a supervisor’s priority list, so present
yourself well and be prepared
Update regularly as you will likely forget some of
your valuable contributions by the regular review
cycle
Make list concise and verifiable
Present list at evaluation whether asked to or not
Market Yourself
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It is easy to loose track of a quiet employee who
always does a good job – so beat your own
drum strategically
Help your colleagues appreciate your
contributions – you want to be someone they
want to work with
Be subtle—no one likes someone who is
constantly tooting their own horn
Always Try to Get Buy-In From Other
Team Members
Engage co-workers to encourage them to
take ownership and responsibility
 Solve problems more easily if all parties
involved invested in project and feel their
opinions have been heard
 Have a kick-off meeting that involves all
and encourages collaboration and sharing
of ideas
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Ask for Advice and Help from People
You Trust
People love it when you stroke their egos
and seek them out politely as mentors—
you can learn a lot!
 Be cautious with who you trust!!!
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Evaluate and Establish Trust
Be very careful about who you trust
 Use your best judgment, but be prepared
for errors
 Recognize the risk before you take it
 Evaluate how people you admire behave
with others and mimic their behavior
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Watch What You Say at Work
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Walls have ears!!
People who gossip with you are likely to gossip
about you
Rumors spread fast and viciously
No heart-to-heart discussions at work —take a
walk, go in the parking lot
Personal opinions are best discussed off-site or
with people who are NOT coworkers
Understand Another’s Point Before
Making Your Own
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Understand and repeat another person’s
opinion/statement before you assert your own
Understand another person’s words as they
were intended to avoid misunderstandings
Try to build on common feelings and thoughts
Make them feel they have been understood,
then you have better chance of making your
point
Resolve Conflicts
Always deal with problem at lowest level.
Deal with other party directly and politely
 Go to a higher level only if there is no
other way of resolving the conflict directly
 Try to resolve tension when possible
rather than letting it fester
 Sometimes you may have to agree to
disagree and then be pleasant
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Set Expectations Appropriately
It is better to under promise and over
deliver
 Do the best work you can and try to
exceed expectations
 Don’t say yes before thinking—it is okay to
get back to someone with an answer after
you’ve had a few minutes to think
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Set Appropriate Boundaries
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Your work is not your life - know how much you are willing to do
Pick your battles and save your silver bullets
Be a team player and give a little extra when you can, but say no
politely when enough is enough
Find objective ways to set boundaries with little emotion
You don’t leave your personality and ethics behind just because you
have a job!
Remember that rarely does a company truly care about your health,
family relationships, work/life balance, or sense of fulfillment and
happiness
If you are salaried, why wouldn’t they want more work for the same
amount of money?
Companies care first and foremost about their own survival and the
bottom line—don’t mistake their natural self-interestedness for
undying loyalty
Keep Your Resume Up-to-Date
Update regularly
 Keep adding new accomplishments/skills
to resume as they come up
 The worst time to update a resume is
when you desperately need to!
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Keep Your Eyes and Options Open
for New Opportunities
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Job searching while you have a job allows you
to evaluate what’s out there
Don’t be an ostrich with your head in the sand—
know what your options are and why you are
where you are
There’s always the possibility of sudden and
unexpected layoffs at your company
Remember a job is not quite the same as a
romantic relationship
Keep Your Contacts Warm and Stay
in Touch
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Meet for lunch occasionally and/or send emails
to useful people just to keep in touch
Help them with information etc. whenever
possible
Don’t ask for help at the last minute after a long
silence!
Cold contacts are hard to resurrect naturally
Save Some Money if You Need to
Quit
Offers you incredible freedom if you can
ideally save 6 months of expenses
 Gives you some peace of mind – you have
some fallback if you loose your job
 Allows you to take a stand – you don’t
HAVE to stay at your job if it becomes
unbearable
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