While many a career guide would state that the key to nailing a new job is to fly under the radar, Phoebe Watt thinks this advice is majorly overrated.
In the first instalment of this two-part series Phoebe shared some of her best tips for killing it at work. Now in part two, she gives five more pieces of career-advancing advice.
Use your initiative to anticipate what people want – This isn’t university, you’re not going to receive a detailed assignment brief for every task you’re required to complete. Most of the time you’ll just be piecing together information from an email thread that’s been forwarded to you with the subject heading ‘FYI’. If something is unclear, ask for clarification. If that’s not an option, put yourself in your boss’s shoes and try to imagine what you’d be happy to receive at the end of the day given the resources and instructions provided. If you’re still worried about under-delivering (or even if you’re not), put the task you were given in its ‘big picture’ context and when you hand it in, offer to start work on what the next logical task is likely to be. Even if it turns out someone else has this covered, it never hurts to show that you’re thinking one step ahead.
Be willing to do jobs you are overqualified for – You have multiple university degrees? That’s great. You also have feet, and your time is inherently less precious than your boss’s, so if her salad is missing a key component, you’re going to take it back to the café from whence it came and get it fixed. Not that she is actually going to ask you to – here in New Zealand a fairly innocuous request like this would probably fast-track her to diva status before you can say ‘tall poppy syndrome’. She will say yes if you offer though, and she won’t forget it.
Know your CC from your BCC – potential clients don’t need to know who else you’re sending that particular proposal to, and you sure don’t want to be snapped sharing an email with a third-party who has no real business being in on the conversation. On that note, proceed with caution when using an unfamiliar email client. Recently I forwarded a (non-work related) email to a friend and we bitched back and forth about its contents. When I eventually replied to the email’s original author, it’s possible that this entire bitch sesh was part of the chain (I say it’s possible because her frosty response was nothing out of the ordinary, so it didn’t reveal anything). The whole situation was very low stakes so I didn’t lose any sleep over it but boy did it teach me a lesson – chief of which being save the bitchin’ for the kitchen. It’s so much more low-risk.
Be a solutions person – At an event last month I was denied re-entry into the main venue after accidentally walking out without my lanyard. A colleague who was smart enough to have kept hers on her person kindly offered to go back in ahead of me and bring mine out. I was pretty surprised when she reappeared through the doors only 12 seconds later (our table was at least a minute’s round trip away). Turns out, she’d just waited on the other side for a believable amount of time and then come back out and passed off her own lanyard as mine. “That’s why I’m an editor” she said, when we were both safely back inside. Mind. Blown.
Have a power outfit – Red lipstick, your highest heels, your most structured jacket – whatever your sartorial talisman is, wear it to that important meeting/interview/presentation and show everyone who’s boss (or at least boss material).
Read Part 1: 10 tips for nailing a new job (Part 1)
