Entering into the workforce with a college mindset is dangerous. Unlike professors, you can’t expect your supervisors to detail every part of your position, hold your hand, and answer the smallest questions.
If you do poorly in college, you receive bad grades. If you do poorly at work, you get fired.
But the working world is simple: add more value than your wage, and complete tasks well, whether they’re your responsibility or not. In other words, get shit done.
My quiet coworker taught me how to do this without saying a word. Every day, she went out of her way to create value. She didn’t care if the tasks were in her job description, or if the things she was doing were just “secretarial” work. She made her boss’s job easier.
If she didn’t know the answer to a question, she responded with “I don’t know, but I can find out.”
She didn’t complain, she showed up and left on time.
She was kind to others and especially to those new to the company.
Much work is different from school in that intelligence level doesn’t matter as much. While there were always incredibly smart people in my college classes, acing final exams after skipping, sleeping, or reading other books during class, there aren’t as many at work.
So while some claimed to be a lousy student in high school or college, no one has an excuse to be a poor employee. The foundation to be a good employee requires no talent or genius.
- Punctuality
- Work Ethic
- Clear communication
- Good body language
- Energy
- Attitude
- Passion
- Coachable
- Adding value
- Being prepared
If you can do just these things at work, you’ll outperform 70% of your coworkers. Many people, especially long-time employees, forget that having a skill and a job gives one purpose in life. While most people look forward to retirement, I believe playing golf and watching TV reruns would quickly get boring.
Life is too short to show up every day at a job in which you don’t give your best. And if you hate your job, then quit. Go find a job you love, one that you wake up every day before your alarm rings because you can’t wait to go to work.
In the word of Warren Buffet, “I think you are out of your mind if you keep taking jobs that you don’t like because you think it will look good in your resume… Isn’t that a little like saving up sex for your old age?”