Stand out at your office — for the right reasons

Are you stuck in a job rut? Make sure you get noticed at promotion time with these tips for making a great impression on your boss.

If you have been in your job for a while but feel constantly overlooked for promotion, it can be difficult to know what to do. Perhaps you feel frustrated to the point that you want to leave your job, citing a lack of career progression as a key reason.

Before you start typing up your resignation letter, stop and think it through. This drastic solution may not be the best way to get ahead. Instead, try these tips to rebrand your work attitude and help you climb your own ladder of success.

Show an interest

If you are keen to be recognised in the workplace, your colleagues are too — so show an interest in them and their work. Each morning, ask one of your co-workers about their current projects. There could be something they need to chat about that a friendly opener will reveal.

Have an opinion

Every office has those meetings where the room goes mute when it comes to question time. Make sure you are not one of the silent number and be prepared with an opinion or a query. Getting your voice heard will show that you listen, are proactive, and care enough to speak up.

Bring positivity

However hard, long or dull a task may seem, don’t let it get you down. Negativity is a vicious circle that is hard to break and infects those around you too. There’s no need to be overly enthusiastic or falsely cheerful (read: annoying), but there’s an opportunity to be seen as the team problem solver; the person who comes up with a different way of looking at each project.

Be relevant

It’s easy to get preoccupied with your day job and not devote any time to reading up on the latest industry news. Not only can these be great conversation starters, it also shows that you have relevant knowledge, which will mark you as the go-to if your boss has a new idea or project.

Share ideas

If you want to know how good you are, you must first know how good everyone else is. Be on the lookout for brilliant ideas, quotes and cartoons — anything that inspires your creativity, really — and share these with your team. Creating an ideas network will initiate brainstorming and motivate everyone to try a bit harder.

Make the coffee

You don’t need to turn yourself into the office coffee machine, but when you are getting up to refill your cup, offer to get a round in for the team. Or bring in a packet of biscuits on a Friday. It’s the small, meaningful gestures that will get you noticed as well.

When you are looking for a promotion, it’s important to recognise that expectations don’t just flow one way. Your boss needs to see you standing out from the pack — in the right way.

If you are looking to change jobs, do you have an insurance savings plan in place?

Disclaimer:

The information in this article does not necessarily reflect the views of Prudential Assurance Company Singapore Pte. Ltd. Certain information in this article may be taken from external sources, which we consider reliable. We do not represent that this information is accurate or complete and should not be relied upon as such.

This article is for your information only and does not consider your specific investment objectives, financial situation or needs. We recommend that you seek advice from a Prudential Singapore Financial Consultant before making a commitment to purchase a policy.