Becoming a better employee isn't just about keeping your job safe and staying employed -- it's about long-term career success! Learning how to keep your job safe can lead to getting a promotion or earning a raise. Improving your work performance requires more than doing your job right, getting to work on time, and working as part of a team. Those are the basics...but knowing how to negotiate a raise or promotion goes beyond the basics.
Your long-term career success doesn't end with professional resumes, fantastic job interviews, and job training. That is just the beginning....and these tips represent the next stage!
10 Tips for Keeping Your Job Safe and Staying Employed
- Assess your job skills, education, and accomplishments. Is your job training current, your skills valuable in today's job market, and your performance effective? If your career or job requires regular skills updates or job training, stay on top of it.
- Keep your skills polished. If your biggest qualification for your job is that you've been doing it for ten years, consider taking a refresher job training course. Adult education classes or night school is a great way to expand your job skills and broaden your horizons.
- Know who's hiring in your field. It's important to know your options. What skills, education, and job training are employers looking for? If you were unemployed, could you apply for the open positions?
- Track trends. To keep your job, stay current on industry events, changes and news. Read newspapers, journals, trade magazines; talk to colleagues to improve your work performance.
- Be positive about your long-term career success. Avoid slandering your coworkers or gossiping about your supervisors. Be slow to criticize your clients, employees, or couriers – whether it's to their faces or behind their backs. And, be as positive as possible about your future prospects -- because thoughts become reality!
- Hone your networking skills. Whether you're planning to stay with your employer, learning how to negotiate a raise, or looking for a new job, keep networking. You'll learn valuable information, both professionally and personally, if you stay tuned with the people around you.
- Keep your resume updated. Even if you're not actively looking for work, update your resume regularly. Add your new responsibilities, changes in job title, professional associations, volunteer work, etc.
- Take care of yourself. To keep your job, get plenty of sleep, eat nutritious food, and exercise regularly. Deal with mental, emotional, or spiritual issues; don't ignore your problems.
- Dress professionally. Take pride in your appearance; if you're not into the current fashion, ask your partner or a salesperson to make sure you're well dressed. Even if you're in an entry level job in the service industry, make sure your hair, face and hands are neat and clean. Leave the nose rings, lip rings and eyebrow rings at home.
- Practice the basics. To keep your job, get to work, meetings, and workshops on time. Do your job well. If you can't meet deadlines, get support. Be reliable, consistent, and trustworthy.
To stay employed and enjoy long-term career success, be the employee you'd be glad to hire and promote!
If you found How to Keep Your Job Safe helpful, you might like:
- Staying Healthy After a Job Promotion
- 6 Tips for Coping With Conflict at Work
- 7 Job Interview Strategies for Introverts
Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen - Laurie Pawlik-Kienlen is a full-time writer and blogger in Vancouver, BC, and the creator of the Quips and Tips blog series.
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