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Newsletter on Career Topics and Tips Volume 4
Develop a Professional Work Ethic
You designed an appealing resume, crafted a compelling cover letter, and landed a job that seems tailor-made for you at a company you respect. You’re confident you have the skills the job demands. How can you make sure you succeed in your new position and flourish at the company? Develop a professional work ethic. Employees with a solid work ethic demonstrate the following qualities.
Professionalism
Other people form impressions about you based on characteristics they can observe, including your speech, attitude, behavior, dress, posture, and interactions. Projecting professionalism involves presenting yourself as a successful person according to company standards and leaving colleagues, superiors, and customers with a positive impression.
Poise
No matter how tight the deadline or difficult the assignment, you figure out a way to complete the work, often exceeding expectations when you do. Even under stress, you demonstrate integrity and respect for the people you are dealing with.
Dependability
Others can rely on you to keep your promises and follow through on your responsibilities. That means being on time and prepared for meetings, completing your work on time, and communicating with others about your progress. As you do, you develop a reputation for dependability—that others can count on you to do everything you say you will.
Accountability
Time Management
A big part of being dependable is managing your commitments so you can complete assignments on time. Find a time management tool that works for you, such as a digital calendar on your computer or phone that can remind you about deadlines. Start each day by planning your tasks and assigning a priority to each one. Block distractions and minimize interruptions, but be flexible enough to change direction when necessary.
Soft Skills
Soft skills are qualities and traits associated with your personality and behavior, such as professionalism. Employers say that soft skills are just as important as hard skills (measurable skills you apply to perform a particular job function, such as tracking sales data) in career success.
The following table shows the results of a national survey that asked employers to identify the most important soft skill they look for when hiring.
|
Soft Skill |
Number of Employers |
|
Strong work ethic |
73 |
|
Dependability |
72 |
|
Self-motivation |
60 |
|
Teamwork |
47 |
|
Communication |
40 |
|
Flexibility |
25 |
|
Problem solving |
22 |
|
Total |
|
Written Communication
Most jobs involve some type of written communication, ranging from formal reports and proposals to messages to colleagues and other professional contacts.
In all of your written communication, use proper grammar and spelling to project a professional image. Proofread your writing, especially in electronic messages, to evaluate its tone. Before you send a message, consider whether a face-to-face meeting or a phone call is a better way to address the topic. Except for formal or academic writing, follow the A-B-C approach for effective writing:
Nonverbal Communication
As you interact with other people, you are communicating nonverbally through your facial expressions, your tone of voice, and other qualities. Pay attention to your nonverbal communication to make sure it conveys as much professionalism as your spoken words. The following table provides examples of professional nonverbal communication.
Expressions Smile when greeting someone.
Be alert and attentive in conversations.
Eye contact Maintain eye contact when talking to someone.
Posture Sit and stand to show confidence.
Gestures Nod to indicate agreement.
Touch Shake hands firmly when meeting someone.
Voice Use a tone that projects confidence, warmth, and interest.
Personal space Keep a comfortable distance between yourself and others.
Keep in mind that nonverbal communication changes from one culture to another. For example, the thumbs-up gesture in English-speaking cultures is a sign of encouragement or approval, but it is offensive in other cultures. Successful communication depends on the receiver interpreting the message as the sender intended.
Teamwork Skills
On the job, a team is a group of people who work together to achieve a goal. Most of the work you do in the business world is as a member of a team.
If you are a member of a project team, you work with others to complete a project—a long-term task that often results in a tangible result, such as a training manual. When the team completes the project, the team disbands. If you are a member of a cross-functional team, you are one of many employees from different areas of the organization. On a self-directed work team, you and the other team members determine how to complete a job and then perform the tasks you defined.
To work together as a successful team, a group must develop cohesion—a quality that reflects how well the group works as a whole. In a cohesive team, members are willing to get to know one another and are open to new ideas and diverse points of view. The members trust one another enough to share ideas and explicitly support each other. Team members also show respect toward one another, especially when sharing opinions and reactions.
The skills and qualities you contribute to the team also affect its success. To be an effective team member, you should take responsibility for your assignments and accept accountability for them. Accept and receive constructive feedback, which focuses on ideas and behaviors rather than people and their personality.
Problem Solving
Many of the tasks you perform as a professional involve solving problems for clients or customers or for someone within your organization. Effective problem solvers perform four basic steps when confronted with a problem: 1) Define the problem, 2) Generate alternatives, 3) Evaluate and select alternatives, and 4) Implement solutions.
Lakewood College Career Center
[Company]
Effective writing
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
This file created specifically for Jesus Mojica
