A. HOW TO AVOID JOB PITFALLS
1. Be on time
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Half the battle is won by showing up, so make
sure you reach the office before time every day.
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Do not come up with poor excuses.
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Respect time and you will be seen as a
professional serious about work.
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Also, stay back with team mates who are working
overtime on projects.
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You will learn a lot and engage with your team
better.
·
Remember that it takes 10,000 hours of effort to
be world class in any sphere.
2. Double your job
description
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Each job description leaves a lot unsaid.
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Being a great team member, go-getter, volunteer
for all occasions, and a person who gets things done, comprise the critical
half that was left unsaid.
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Understand your requirement and increase it to
include the unsaid terms.
·
You will stand out from your peers as a bright
spark destined for greater things.
3. Remember names
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First, get to know your team mates well, and
then find out about everyone else in the office.
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Keeping track of personal details builds
camaraderie.
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It will also get your work done much faster and
make you welcome in the office.
4. A favour a week
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Always lend a helping hand to your team mates.
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Aim for an extra task every week and a favour to
an over-burdened coworker.
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You will learn more and build a strong bank of
favours that will stand you in good stead over the year.
5. Share your meal
times
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Make it a point to join your team mates during
lunch hour.
·
Do not avoid your supervisor or senior
colleagues.
·
This is the best time to build positive
workplace relationships and become part of the team.
·
In most professional organizations, it is also a
time when the trickiest and most challenging issues are sorted.
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Being around will help you learn how things work
and how the team members relate to each other.
6. Stick to the best
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Get attached to the best people and habits at
the workplace.
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Try to be friends with the best professional in
the team – people who are positive about their work, the firm and its
employees, and great at what they do.
·
Avoid the members who complain, back-bite and
are negative.
·
The same is true of your work habits, where you
need to sweat the small stuff and work hard on getting the details right.
·
Mind your e-mails, language, even the typos.
·
The little things that you believe everyone
ignores will actually get you noticed in the long term.
7. Get out of school
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Unlike school, you are not judged by your
performance only on the day of the exam.
·
This is not about a system, where the emphasis
is on treating everyone equally and carrying together underperformers at the
cost of over achievers.
·
You are judged every single day and
underperforming ones are the first to be axed.
·
Building a reputation takes time and requires
you to deliver high quality results consistently.
8. Know your boss
·
Understand that your team leader is not your
friend, relative or teacher.
·
Your supervisor may take the time and effort to
treat you like a friend or be concerned about your problems.
·
However, he does not owe you any of these, and
needs to ensure that work gets done.
·
Do not slip up by not delivering on results
expected from you or take him for granted either in your conversation or
behaviour.
·
Learn to take criticism and adapt quickly from
the feedback.
9. Be professional
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Professionalism in its simplest form means doing
what is expected.
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Start by following the dress code, your
communication and impeccable manners.
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Complete your tasks on schedule, report back
both accomplishments and problems well in time.
·
Work towards your team’s goals and be flexible
in your attitude.
·
When in doubt, seek the counsel of senior
colleagues to figure out the right professional approach in a situation.
10. Complete the year
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Work for the whole year at the job, irrespective
of how bored you are or how terrible the organization appears to be.
·
Quitting the job in search of another merely
delays your learning curve.
·
On your resume, it signals an inability to
persevere, adapt and learn.