Maybe you survived the massive job cuts and lay-offs that have become the norm across our great country, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax! You should be thinking about what you can do to make yourself a much needed asset to your company.
If you want to be the last person they’d think of letting go, follow these ten tips outlined by Tania Khadder in her article for Monster.com “10 Ways to Make Yourself Unfireable”.
1) Save Your Company Money
Do you have an idea for how your company can cut costs? Pitch it! Even if they don’t adopt your brilliant plan, they’ll respect your eye for savings and appreciate your effort.
2) Be Positive
Be optimistic about your company, and focus on steps you can take to have a positive impact on its future. Share good news. Make jokes where appropriate. Smile!
3) Work Longer Hours
Be prepared to stay until the task at hand is finished – that doesn’t mean grabbing your sleeping bag and camping out for the night but make an attempt to come in 15 minutes early or stay a few extra minutes in the evening to make sure the job gets done.
4) Be a Leader
Being a leader means helping others. It means understanding the bigger picture. It means being vocal about possible improvements and thinking not just about yourself and your position, but about the overall goals of the organization.
5) Steer Clear of Gossip
As tempting as it can be, don’t get sucked into office gossip. As soon as you do, you implicate yourself, make enemies and come off as unprofessional. If someone else insists on telling you something, make sure it stops with you.
6) Enhance Your Skill Set
Why not enhance your skill set to make yourself even more valuable to your team? Or better at your job? Maybe faster? Whatever your industry, there is always room for improvement.
7) Work Well with Others
Effective collaboration is seen as a key driver of success. So put aside differences in age, background and interests, and learn how to communicate effectively with your teammates.
8) Watch Your Back
Think your boss doesn’t notice all those personal calls? Or how much time you spend on Twitter? Think again. Often, they’re paying closer attention than you think. And if ever they suspect you’re wasting their time, they can easily look up phone, email or internet records.
9) Keep Time Off to a Minimum
It’s not that you shouldn’t take time off. It’s just that you should try and be a little more particular about your reasons, especially if your company is experiencing cutbacks. Don’t call in sick for a headache or plan any long, extravagant vacations (at least until the waters settle).
10) Be Visible
If you’re working late, helping others and/or coming up with new, killer ideas, make sure someone knows about it. Give your manager regular updates on your progress. A simple recap of your accomplishments sent by email will do the trick. You’re not bragging you’re just making sure they know what you’ve been working on. Let’s face it: if you don’t toot your own horn, no one else will.
Maybe you survived the massive job cuts and lay-offs that have become the norm across our great country, but that doesn’t mean you can sit back and relax! You should be thinking about what you can do to make yourself a much needed asset to your company.
If you want to be the last person they’d think of letting go, follow these ten tips outlined by Tania Khadder in her article for Monster.com “10 Ways to Make Yourself Unfireable”.
1) Save Your Company Money
Do you have an idea for how your company can cut costs? Pitch it! Even if they don’t adopt your brilliant plan, they’ll respect your eye for savings and appreciate your effort.
2) Be Positive
Be optimistic about your company, and focus on steps you can take to have a positive impact on its future. Share good news. Make jokes where appropriate. Smile!
3) Work Longer Hours
Be prepared to stay until the task at hand is finished – that doesn’t mean grabbing your sleeping bag and camping out for the night but make an attempt to come in 15 minutes early or stay a few extra minutes in the evening to make sure the job gets done.
4) Be a Leader
Being a leader means helping others. It means understanding the bigger picture. It means being vocal about possible improvements and thinking not just about yourself and your position, but about the overall goals of the organization.
5) Steer Clear of Gossip
As tempting as it can be, don’t get sucked into office gossip. As soon as you do, you implicate yourself, make enemies and come off as unprofessional. If someone else insists on telling you something, make sure it stops with you.
6) Enhance Your Skill Set
Why not enhance your skill set to make yourself even more valuable to your team? Or better at your job? Maybe faster? Whatever your industry, there is always room for improvement.
7) Work Well with Others
Effective collaboration is seen as a key driver of success. So put aside differences in age, background and interests, and learn how to communicate effectively with your teammates.
8) Watch Your Back
Think your boss doesn’t notice all those personal calls? Or how much time you spend on Twitter? Think again. Often, they’re paying closer attention than you think. And if ever they suspect you’re wasting their time, they can easily look up phone, email or internet records.
9) Keep Time Off to a Minimum
It’s not that you shouldn’t take time off. It’s just that you should try and be a little more particular about your reasons, especially if your company is experiencing cutbacks. Don’t call in sick for a headache or plan any long, extravagant vacations (at least until the waters settle).
10) Be Visible
If you’re working late, helping others and/or coming up with new, killer ideas, make sure someone knows about it. Give your manager regular updates on your progress. A simple recap of your accomplishments sent by email will do the trick. You’re not bragging you’re just making sure they know what you’ve been working on. Let’s face it: if you don’t toot your own horn, no one else will.
Who wouldn’t want to live in paradise doing a job they love? Well, maybe you can. I recently read an article by Helen Coster called “Jobs You Can Do in Paradise”. I wanted to share, so here are a few bits and pieces from the article or you can check out the full article here.
What may not be so surprising is that the hospitality industry offers plenty of opportunities in resort towns but what you may not know is that, according to Helen, doctors, electricians, teachers and other professionals can make quite a comfortable living as well!
Here are some great examples from the article:
• If you're a mountain lover, turn your passion into a career and by becoming a professional climbing guide. You can make up to $70,000 a year guiding clients around spectacular mountain landscapes.
• Water fanatics can earn their living on the sea by working as charter boat captains. The U.S. Coast Guard offers the Operator of Uninspected Passenger Vessel license, which lasts for five years and allows you to transport up to six paying passengers. Captains' salaries vary, but boat operators earn an average of $36,000.
• Food lovers can parlay their passion into careers as sommeliers and chefs in fancy resort hotels.
• Photographers can work on the slopes of Vail or Aspen, snapping pictures of skiers as they get off the lift at the top of the peak.
• And, as mentioned earlier, teachers, doctors, nurses, electricians and plumbers are always in demand.
Have you opted for a career in paradise? If so, what career did you choose and can you add any careers that maybe the article missed?
How dependent have you become on Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc? How many times a day do you check your Facebook wall and read through the status updates of your friends and family? Has social media started to take over our lives?
All very interesting questions and, from a personal standpoint, I can definitely say that I’m more “addicted” to it than I would like to admit. I’ve definitely calmed down since joining up with the networks and find myself checking it less and less … but it seems now that every business out there has a Facebook page and a Twitter feed.
What started out as a simple way to network with your old High School buddies and keep in touch with long-distance relatives has become BIG BUSINESS. Companies are running specific specials just for their Facebook fans and Twitter followers … even churches are beginning to develop their own social media profiles.
So what do you think? When is enough, enough? Where will we be in another year … another 5 years? Let us know what you think!
I chose Penn Foster because of their long history, accreditation, and convenience. Having a very busy lifestyle, a traditional classroom setting was simply impossible to manage. Penn Foster offers the opportunity to complete coursework online as well as in print, making it easy to find time to study in a hectic lifestyle. Along with affordable monthly payment, Penn Foster was an easy choice for my higher education.
Since graduation, I have gained the knowledge needed to enter and excel in the computer support industry. I have been able to get my A+ certification and have moved to a system analyst position in the company that I work. The knowledge gained through my Penn Foster course has proven invaluable in a very short time.
For current and prospective students, stay vigilant with your studies. Your coursework will prepare you for you field and in today’s economy higher education is a necessity. Your diploma or degree with give you the edge in competitive markets. Higher education equals job security, which is priceless. Good luck!
Contributing Blogger: Jonathan Roberts