Dated May 11, 2005
I wish to make mark in my organisation, could you suggest a few tips on how to become an indispensable employee in the company?
Ravindran
Chennai
The following are some suggestions that can help you become an indispensable employee in your organisation, where the company needs you more than you need it.
Become an expert in some essential field of activity. Get yourself known as the first and obvious person to turn to on anything to do with your chosen subject. Read all you can about the subject. Speak on the subject whenever you are given the chance, at meetings or in presentations.
Make sure that your subject is essential to the company - to its manufacturing process, sales methods, essential competitive edge and to its debt collection. Whatever it is, make sure that you are widely accepted as THE expert.
Build your contacts, in a way this is related to the preceding point. You must get to know who needs your expertise and make sure that they know that you are the expert. The better the contacts and the more informal they are, the better position you will be in to become an indispensable employee. If you are faced with a problem you should know straight away whom to contact. Without wasting time you can go to the source of the knowledge and return with the solution. In this case you are not the expert, but you know who is. You don't have to be an expert, but you can always find the solution. Thus, you become a vital asset to a company.
Remember the past. Take note of things. File it away mentally or in writing. Remember the methods that have worked and remember the methods that have failed. Study why they have worked or have failed and learn from the experience. Learn from other people's mistakes and don't make them yourself. As a result become a source of wise and reliable advice. Become someone who is listened to, someone whom others turn to. In other words become a steadying influence when times become hard and people start to panic.
See the whole picture. Look at the company as a whole. Don't get immersed so much in your own narrow field that you fail to see the complete picture. Understand what is going on in the world at large. Understand the events that influence your own company's performance in the market place. Understand the pressures under which the top management is working. Anticipate what will be needed. Anticipate the changes that will inevitably have to be made. Be an active player in implementing those changes.
In all of this, the essential point is that you must be of real and genuine value to your company.
I always feel overburdened. Is there any way to exercise control over one's workload? Please give some suggestions.
Promila Chakraborthy
Bangalore
Managing workload properly is important to improve one's efficiency. The following are a few steps that would help you organise your workload:
1. Spend your time working on things that are important. This may sound obvious, but many of us are tempted to work on easy tasks first so we can have a sense of accomplishment. Time spent on those "easy" tasks can quickly add up, creating even more stress when there does not appear to be enough time left for the important work.
2. To find out what your time is being spent on, start keeping an "activity log". Every time you start and end a new activity, including taking a break, make note of the time.
3. Set daily goals. When scheduling your time, assume that something unexpected will come up and build in a cushion of time to deal with it. To minimise the stress of meeting self-imposed deadlines, avoid making promises about when tasks will be completed.
4. Aim to meet or even exceed expectations, but don't try to achieve perfection. Wherever possible, delegate routine tasks even if you think you can do them better than someone else.
5. Unless you are expected to be on call, work on eliminating interruptions. Select a time of day when you will return phone calls and emails.
6. Avoid letting other people's problems become yours. When someone comes to you with a problem that isn't yours, try limiting your contribution to advice instead of taking on the task yourself.
7. When you are feeling overwhelmed, say so. Companies want to keep good employees so most bosses will want to know when you are having difficulty.
These techniques probably won't help you enjoy the life of leisure envisioned by those early futurists. But they can cut down on your stress and may make your work more manageable and enjoyable.
What is the need to write a career objective? How should it be written?
Arvin
Mahabubnagar
The need for a career objective is to focus on the desired job title. Hence, it is essential to concentrate on what you can bring to an employer, not on what you hope to get out of the position.
The career objective, or summary should be about 20-35 words and should be written in the first person singular.
Here is a good example of a career objective: "I am a very experienced purchasing manager and team leader with an impressive record of successful negotiations in the printing and packaging industry."
Your career objective should summarise your career aspirations and has three main benefits: In wording the statement, you should become clear about which of your skills you wish to utilise and the job you are looking for. When placed within your CV, it should clearly highlight your skills and achievements. It's advisable to place it usually near the top of the CV, as it prepares the reader to receive positive information about you. Finally, in the context of the interview, your career objective can be used as the cornerstone on which you base replies to questions. You may even have the opportunity to state it, at the beginning of a response to a question such as: "Tell me about yourself?"
The FAQ column deals with career concerns addressed to The C&K Management LTD. PO Box 2178, Secunderabad 500003 or emailed to faqs@cnkonline.com
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