When you want to be a superstar at work, these 4 acts of work will not go unnoticed. Make sure that “noticing” is for all the good reasons.
This post is sponsored by SecureTheJob. The first community platform where users share job-specific career advice.
Career Advice for young people does not end when you find a job. It only transforms from basic to advanced level of career advice.
When you are in a job and realise there are hundreds of other people just like you who want to progress their careers, it can be a difficult realisation. I’ve got some career advice for young people who are in jobs but wondering what can one do to further their career.
When you start working, you will be given small tasks to see how you cope before entrusting you with a larger piece of work. It’s these small tasks and how you do them that defines how you progress.
1. Focus on delivery
Here’s one piece of career advice for young people, focus on delivering what you are expected to deliver. A business makes money on what it ships outta the door / service it provides / software it sells / advice it gives – and for all of this, you have to deliver to the customer.
Focus on delivering your piece of work in a timely manner. If you can deliver your small / big task in time, it will help the overall project. And eventually affects the bottom line of the business.
2. Do what you said you will do, when you said you will do
This ties into the delivery bit – remember to always do what you promised to do. Your boss, she will be expecting and scheduling rest of the work on timescales you’ve given her. It is important to be that person who is known to deliver when he promises he will deliver.
This isn’t just career advice for young people, this should be part of your DNA. Always do what you promised you will do. It can be easy to look at small tasks and think you will deliver 2 big tasks and not do one small task. No. If you said you will do all three tasks at work by x date, then do them.
You need to become the employee that can be trusted to deliver in a timely manner, when promised.
3. Don’t surprise your manager and never a bad surprise
I’ve rarely seen a manager say she’s pleasantly surprised by any work. It’s either a good bonus to finish earlier or deliver more than promised or it’s a bad surprise / shock of it not being done at all.
This piece of career advice for young people is often overlooked as they try to postpone the bad news as much as possible.
Look, there are times when you may be struggling and know that you cannot deliver to the time scale. In that event, let your manager know as soon as possible. She will be more appreciative if she knows well in advance what to expect, than get a surprise on the day before the project is due for completion.
Nobody likes a bad surprise and make sure you are not the person constantly giving these bad surprises. Let your manager know about any slippages or delays in advance, and she may be able to help or even support you by offering additional resource to the project.
4. Career advice for young people – think about your career!
Huh? What? Ofcourse I think about my career. I want to become a team leader in 2 years and then a manager in 5 years. I will work hard and work my way up the ladder. I’ve already thought about my career.
If that’s what you’ve thought for your career, then we have a problem.
When you start working, nobody is going to spoon feed you with career advice. You need a Individual Development Plan (IDP). It does not have to be fancy, but a more thought through way of how you want to progress and what you need to do. Get your manager’s buy in. Once she knows what you want to do in your career, she could help by putting you on projects that help you gain relevant skillset.
For e.g. You could say in 2/3 years you want to become a team leader. 
For that you need experience in leading a small team for a part of the project. You would also like to have the opportunity to work with the customer and understand their requirements, etc. Your manager will look at it and take that as a voluntary submission of when she is looking for members of her team to help with various roles.
The 4 steps above are true for any level of management. However, when you start new you need to showcase these qualities to build trust.
If you like the post or have any comments, please let me know in the comments section below. Share the post with anyone who is starting a new role or struggling to make an impact at work!
This post is sponsored by SecureTheJob. The first community platform where users share job-specific career advice.
Number 2 is one the best pieces of advice for anyone in work, not just a young person. It’s a piece of advice I was given many years ago and has stood me in good stead.
Doing what you say you will, when you say will do it is crucial if you want to carve out a career and become known as a dependable member of any team or business.
Another great post.