Doing a job is easy. You go to your office, interact with your colleagues, attend meetings, take directions from your boss and superiors, complete the task, learn from your feedback, and repeat the process while moving up the corporate ladder.
Hone your skill set
Doing a job is easy. You go to your office, interact with your colleagues, attend meetings, take directions from your boss and superiors, complete the task, learn from your feedback, and repeat the process while moving up the corporate ladder. This sounds easy, right? The challenge is just not to be regular at work; the real test is to keep learning while you complete your daily tasks and fulfill the prescribed job responsibilities at the organization.
There is always a glass ceiling above the head of every employee. The company uses this ceiling to make the employees work in accordance to their job positions on a daily basis. The promotion, however, temporarily removes this barrier from above the heads of the chosen few as they ascend in their ranks and a new invisible ceiling comes in place. However, it is in the employee’s mind to ignore the invisible ceiling and evolve.
You must follow orders of your superiors, but your aim should be to complete the work not for the mere purpose of completing it, but to learn from it and to expand your horizon. You must keep honing your skill set and work experience to explore your capabilities and to expand your career.
Your current job is your next job
While working for a company your objective must be to prepare yourself for the future. This future, however, should relate to your professional life, two years ahead. Work processes are changing so rapidly that sometimes you feel as if you are an alien on earth. While working for a monthly magazine on regional politics and business, I learned that keeping myself attuned with the latest happenings in the world of politics did help me perform my job as an assistant editor; it also leveraged me in becoming an opinion columnist for some of Pakistan’s leading English dailies. What you learn today will remain with you forever and will assist you in your next job or when you are promoted to a new position in the same company. You have to prepare yourself for the future.
Curiosity creates growth
People normally resort to being silent out of respect and fear of their boss or superiors. It is also natural for people to ask too many questions from their seniors. However, it is advisable to ask questions from your head of department and especially your colleagues. Curiosity expands your horizon while the replies and explanation to your questions provide you with insights regarding your job. Every question asked grows your learning curve.
Take off your blinders
Your job description is akin to your holy grail, which keeps you focused on your day-to-day activities. However, do not engross yourself in your own work to the extent that you begin ignoring your surroundings. Instead of sitting on your seat doing your work, you should keep your mind and ears alert to your surroundings. Your observation will lead you in finding solutions on your own, which will broaden the scope of your work in profound ways. Observation is imperative.
Learning must continue
Regardless of your job description or the industry you work in, you must always make avenues to learn. Working as an assistant editor of a magazine made me learn how to put forth an idea in a precise manner. I also learned the designing process and how page layouts are made while keeping balance between images, headings and the text. Learning never ceases.
Take initiative
Your credibility increases when you take initiatives to do work outside your job description. You can create a new job description, provide insights to add effectiveness to a job, make avenues to attract more clients, highlight issues that waste time and productivity, or provide strategies to increase productivity. Your initiatives will add value to your career.
The writer is a Karachi-based columnist.
