2024 AUGUST– BENCH JEWELER “NEWSLETTER” 

The days have long since passed when people would stay at one job for their entire career.  Across the board of all workers, the tenure of years that wage and salary workers have worked for their current employer is 4.1 years.  Staying less than a year in a job, or being tagged a “job hopper” is very risky, and can be the single biggest obstacle in getting a new position.  If you were to change jobs every three to five years, you would be right within the average, and the job switches may reward you with higher compensation and a broader base of skills than you’d acquire by working for only one or two companies during your entire career.  

If you have several short-term jobs in your employment history, ask yourself some questions before you decide to resign and start another job search.  Questions like…Are you leaving for the right reasons (better job, more money, etc.)?…Is there anything you can do to improve the situation at your current job?…Will changing jobs now impact your chances of securing a new job later on?…etc.  You have to remember there’s no such thing as a perfect job! 

Now plug in a person who can help you with all aspects of finding and securing the next and hopefully right job for you…a Recruiter!  

Things to Ponder…..  

• Change your socks or underwear halfway through the day.  Feel how it gives you a new lease of life for the afternoon! 

• Try out a new perfume or cologne. 
• Attend an inspirational talk, in real life or online.  Allow the professionals to motivate you and inspire you with their tales.  Who knows what spark they may unlock within you?  All you have to do is show up. 

Ten tips to be more visible in your job

By: Bryan Robinson

Ten tips to be more visible in your job

Are you the type of employee who keeps a low profile at work because you believe staying unnoticed will help you keep your job? If so, you’re wrong. And you can get that tattooed. Being visible in the 2024 workplace is more important than ever. But as the American workforce attempts to adjust to today’s transitioning and conflicting work cultures, visibility isn’t easy to maintain, often requiring extra effort. Still, recognition is hugely important for career advancement.

Invisibility Can Be a Career Killer

Invisibility has been shown to be detrimental to overall earning prospects over a person’s career. Plus, employees who feel unseen are more likely to experience burnout and imposter syndrome, which translate into feelings of inadequacy, self-doubt and loneliness—all of which can be detrimental to both employees and their work.

Studies show that when employees are absent or lack consistent contact and communication, their invisibility spikes. Remote workers find it even more difficult to stand out. If you’re like many remote workers, you might feel unseen on a daily basis or that your hard work goes unnoticed. Even volunteering to do extra work can be difficult to get noticed if you work far away from the office.

If you want to be seen and heard effectively, it starts with finding the right role that matches your personal set of skills. Once that’s accomplished, the next step is to develop a visibility strategy that puts you in the spotlight. When employees make a special effort to be visible, they are more likely to receive raises and promotions. A visibility strategy ensures that your employer notices your hard work. And while 96% of respondents in one study say they believe remaining visible is important to career advancement, only 36% had a visibility strategy.

10 Steps to Create A Visibility Strategy

Knowing how to get noticed at work can promote your career. Although it takes extra time and effort to maintain visibility, the payoff is well worth the effort. Here are ten steps you can take to create a visibility strategy and make sure your hard work gets noticed:

1. Take time outside of work to write down your career goals. Then under each goal, describe an action you can take, in addition to your role, that meets the goal and allows your efforts to shine.
2. Check your attitude. A positive, optimistic attitude—versus a negative pessimistic attitude—is the sign of a strong leader. Even on days when you don’t feel up to the task, it can help to think of one thing you look forward to during the day that can lift your mood. Shoulders back, head up and a smile on your face can make you stand out, making your demeanor contagious to colleagues.
3. Sharpen your professionalism. Develop a reputation to be punctual for meetings, compassionate in how you deliver feedback, helpful to coworkers and impeccable in the quality of work that you do. Focus on solutions to problems instead of getting stuck in the problems.
4. Nurture collegial relationships. Make as many personal connections as possible, showing that you care. Be the first to welcome and befriend a new hire. Make it a point to connect with others in the company by reaching your hand out first to introduce yourself, instead of waiting for them to take the initiative. Find a different coworker each week to have lunch with and get to know employees in other departments. Show colleagues whom you already know that you care by checking in with them periodically, just to see how they’re doing.
5. Go above and beyond daily expectations. Be assertive and volunteer for tasks and opportunities that showcase confidence in your skills and abilities and contribute to the overall goals of your team, instead of waiting for someone to request your participation. Demonstrate responsibility, leadership and coaching expertise by volunteering to show a new employee the ropes or mentor a coworker struggling to keep their job.
6. Ease a coworker’s workload. Show that you’re a good team member by having empathy for those with whom you work. Lend a helping hand to a colleague who is overwhelmed, stressed out or having a chronic illness. Agree to lead a meeting or share skills and strategies you have learned from a professional meeting or an online skills course. While helping others, it’s also important to take care of yourself by setting boundaries, practicing work-life balance and saying no when you have bitten off more than you can chew.
7. Make sure all of your projects keep moving. Staying on top of your projects and reporting their progress to your boss and team is another to stay uppermost in their minds. If you routinely help others when they are overloaded, treat yourself equally by asking colleagues for assistance when you’re under the gun.
8. Take care of small and large details. Be part of group brainstorming to show genuine interest in the common good. But also make an effort to focus on small details and the ability to carry them out. Make a commitment to yourself to complete projects on time and, when possible, even reach deadlines early.
9. Be innovative and demonstrate creativity. Offer new ideas and solutions to chronic problems. Even if they’re not adopted, offering up possible remedies shows that you spend time thinking about what’s best for your company and that you’re invested in the overall common good of the team. And when your ideas are successful, it’s another feather in your cap.
10. Never shrink yourself. Constantly putting yourself down or calling yourself names isn’t the way to promote yourself. And most people can see through false modesty when an employee pretends they don’t have the answers in order to elevate someone else’s ego. Instead of practicing passive manipulation, modeling self-respect, self-compassion and self-confidence are more genuine, appropriate and powerful strategies to elevate others. Along with self-care, boost others, praise them and and make it a habit to constantly give compliments and affirmations to the those with whom you work.