If five people want your job right now, what are you doing to keep it (or not)?
A friend once said that you should ask your new boss to tell you their biggest work-related pet peeve and then NEVER do that. It was sound advice. I should have listened. I think Career Columnist Anita Bruzzese might agree with this sentiment.
Bruzzese, who also has published two books on careers, spoke this week to a group of students and journalism educators at her alma mater, Oklahoma State University. The columnist gave her audience a list of things that drive bosses crazy. They’re worth noting.
- Wearing the wrong thing to work. Bruzzese’s advice, if you can wear it clubbing, sleeping or mowing, don’t wear it to work.
- Talking on your cell phone in the office. Bruzzese said texting is the same. A quote I loved: “You don’t have an invisible force field around you. I can see you.”
- Not communicating well. Bruzzese’s advice was to find out the method in which your boss prefers to receive communication from you and do it in that manner.
- Failing to network within your company.
- Refusing to step outside of your job description.
- Dating on the job (specifically, bringing it to work).
- Not showing personal responsibility. For Bruzzese, sleep was a big example of this. She gave examples of the level of employee ineffectiveness that occurs because of a lack of sleep.
- Asking for something you don’t deserve (like a raise just because you need the money or when others are being laid off).
- Using email improperly. Bruzzese spoke about how lawyers use company e-mail as a tool in company-related litigation. She advised students never to put anything in e-mail that they didn’t want their boss to read or that they didn’t want in court.
So, tell me, what are your greatest work-related pet peeves?
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