Six Ways to Make the Most of Your Job

Kiplinger's has a good list of six ways to make the most of your job. Their thoughts:

1. Get a mentor.
2. Renegotiate your job description.
3. Hitch to a rising star.
4. Volunteer for projects.
5. Open your mouth.
6. Pay attention to your appearance and attitude.

Here's my take on each of these:

1. I agree, but a good mentor can be hard to find. But here she's talking about a more informal relationship -- where you simply get someone's advice on a project, document, presentation, etc. every now and then. I think this is a more practical way of having a mentor than the traditional (or at least traditional to me) setting up a formal relationship where someone knows he's mentoring you. In addition, her idea allows you to go from person to person, having a few mentors, not just one.

2. I see #2 and #4 as basically the same thing. What you're doing here is looking for ways you can contribute more to the company as well as develop your own career. And when you're successful at contributing more to the company, you have a way of getting promoted, making more money, earning bonuses, getting recognition, and so on.

3. GREAT advice. I've done this a couple times in my career (with success -- I've also hitched myself to someone who didn't do as well as expected, so be careful) with very good results. Think of it this way: you become Mr. Right-hand-man for an Executive Superstar. When he gets promoted, he needs someone to fill his old job. Who's perfect for this position? You are, of course.

4. Covered in #2 above.

5. Networking, yes. Being interesting, yes. But for heaven's sake, if you don't have anything intelligent to say, don't open your mouth just for the sake of being heard. I've seen more careers torpedoed by a loud-mouth who loved to hear himself talk than I can count. It's a sure path to destruction.

6. Unfortunately, appearance is a major part of how you're viewed. It's part of your image, which is part of your brand. Dress the part appropriate for your position, industry, and company.

As for attitude, I've always said that attitude and ability are the building blocks of a successful career. No ability but a good attitude will at least by you some time and make people want to help you get better. Good ability but a bad attitude will make people resent/dislike you, which is never good for a career (though, admittedly, if you're results are good enough, you can have almost whatever attitude you want and still be a success.) But with both a great attitude and strong ability, you'll rise high quickly and many of your co-workers will cheer you on (or at least be happy for you.)

For more thoughts on making the most of your career, see these posts:

• Five Reasons to Turn Down a Job Offer

• Grow Your Career by Promoting Your Work

• Ace an Interview by Preparing for It

Comments

[BeyondtheConsumer]

I've done, 2 (involuntarily), 4, 5, and 6. The result is I now have more work for the same rate of pay. I might be able to accomplish #3 and hitch on to my rising star boss after I finish training him.

[plonkee]

At my workplace, the younger staff (including me) have assigned mentors - this has never worked as well as the informal mentoring that I acquire for myself by asking people questions.

@BeyondtheConsumer
Erm, you might want to look for another job?