Have you ever thought you are doing a GREAT job for your employer but wonder why you aren't getting ahead or appreciated more. There may be a different answer than just not being understood. Perhaps your contribution IS understood, but you are missing the broader goals.
Early in my career I had the good fortune to be recognized as someone who could trade fixed income secruities (bonds) very well. I got a job as a trader at a large NYC Bank. And I generated a lot of profit for my bank. And I was young. And I had perhaps too self-centric a world view. And it hurt my career. I want to share that so perhaps a few jobcasers might benefit form my hard-earned lesson without going through the confusion and pain. You see, I was able to make a lot of profit from my trading for the bank. And I thought something like "they are gonna LOVE me -look how much money I am able to make them". But heres the thing- the leadership of my bank was not articulating a strategy of a proprietary trading led organization. Yes, any profitable cash flow was appreciated, but not nearly as much as building client relationships, and building/selling other products that had more 'stickiness' and less risk. Punchline - I was tone deaf to where my activities fit into the overall goals of the organization. So, though successful in my narrow focus - I was actually somewhat unsuccessful in positioning me and the bank for the broader strategic focus.
Take the time to understand what matters most to your organization. If its a public company - just read the CEO's quarterly report to investors online. You can skip boring math stuff like EBITDA, etc. but focus on what he says about strategy. You can ask your boss about career paths and what gets rewarded. But to really succeed - one needs to not have the narrow self-centric view I used to have as a younger man, but a broader context.
For example: if you are a custodian at a hotel. Maybe you are the BEST at cleaning, fixing things, and every other aspect of that job. But if you are grumpy to guests in the hall that you pass in the course of your day, then I am pretty sure you are failing. The overall goal of a Hotel is to have happy customers turn into repeat customers. And seeing reps of the hotel mistreat them (even unintentionally) is counter to the organization's goal. So you could be doing GREAT in your specific duties, and fail in the overall job for the organization.
This took me a long time to figure out. Not sure why, but it did. But I am hoping that maybe this morning even a couple Jobcasers out there might benefit by thinking .. hmmm, what more should I be doing for the organziational goals of success besides my specific job-goals.
Well, thats my thought this morning. I hope its helpful for someone trying to get ahead in a current job. Its great to see the conversations on Jobcase community about getting a job - but thats just the beginning to empowering each other in our worklives. The bigger part - is how we share learning so we can all get ahead! Fred

At Jobcase.com, we pride ourselves in being the social media platform for every aspect of your working life. The members of our community represent a rich diversity of work and life experiences that we all can learn from. Read on to hear the perspective of our featured Jobcaser – Ra'mon Johnson (https://www.jobcase.com/p/ramon.johnson15)

Ra'mon is an independent recruiter and community member in Pontiac, MI. She spoke to us about how Jobcase helped her start her recruiting business, and how creating her own niche has helped her on her career path.

How did you find out about Jobcase?

Ra'mon: It was purely by accident! But, I started poking around the community - so I stayed.

What keeps you coming back to Jobcase? Ra'mon: First, the people. Meeting people and seeing people that are having a tougher time than myself. I’m a people person. I want to help people, so I started responding to posts.

I want to educate people on how to use it as well as get more employers to use it, because I think it’s a great tool. It’s better than Monster and anything else out there, because you have the ability to see what this person is actually like - a small snapshot of their personality, you can see what kind of communication skills they have, their writing skills - things like that. Then later on, it was all of you at Jobcase - I feel like I know you! I talk to you all the time!

So you recently became an independent recruiter! How do you use Jobcase in that new role? Ra'mon: I became an independent recruiter, kinda happened by happenstance - it was not my intention at all! I interviewed for a position, which was something that I didn’t want to do - I am not a sales person - but I offered to send across qualified candidates. And that’s how I got started as an independent recruiter. I kinda in a way, don't want to reveal my secret that Jobcase is what I use! As I said before, I think it’s a game changer!

How has Jobcase helped you in your recruiting efforts? Ra'mon: I can search by groups, profiles and resumes, before I even approach the person. It eliminated a lot of the fuss. I didn’t have to have people bombard me with resumes, I could handpick people who I thought were qualified.

What’s your job background, you’ve given some great advice on our community! Ra'mon: I come from a family of educators - education and hard work was a given. I started out pumping gas. I’ve always been one of those people who don’t see gender as a prerequisite for any type of job. If you said a girl can’t do it, that’s what I wanted to do.

I had fallen in love with the first computer I ever saw, but I didn't know a lot about them. I wanted to know about the insides as well as the outsides of computers so I enrolled in ITT Tech and got my associates degree. At the same time, I was in the Navy and doing my reserves, so I had to withdraw in the middle of my bachelor's program to take care of that. So I kind of incorporated those things in my background. I have a history of working in a lot of law offices, the first one I worked at was actually a record label. I also worked for Blue Cross Blue Shield through a temp agency. I like temp agencies, they kinda help you get your foot in the door and you can test the waters and see if you like it.

I combine the admin, the legal and the IT to kind of make a niche for myself wherever I went.

My military background kinda gave me my leadership skills, as well as my teamwork skills. In order to be an effective leader, you need to be able to follow as well. If you can’t do one you can't do the other. I’ve never asked any of the people that I have managed to do anything that I wasn’t able to or willing to do with them.

What is the best advice that you have been given? Ra'mon: The best advice that I have been given, actually came from Dr. Mike Murdoch. What he said was “A watermelon doesn’t look over a cucumber and say ‘what do you want to be when you grow up?’” It’s already in you. Everyone has the programming in them, you just have to figure out what your purpose is. The way to do that is to find your passion. I’ve always taken jobs that I really believe in. If I don’t believe in your product, I won’t do it. I think that has shaped everything that I’ve done, since I’ve heard it.

What would be your words of wisdom to the community? Ra'mon: Find your passion. Find something that you really like to do, and then find someone who is willing to pay you to do it.

A lot of people have a misunderstanding that it can’t be done. But you can incorporate “that thing”, whatever it is. For example, you might like making popsicles. You might not be able to find a job making popsicles, but you can find a job in the popsicle industry, or the ice cream industry. You need to be creative, especially in this day and age. You have to be inventive and make a niche for yourself. I try to make myself irreplaceable.

Want to connect with Ra'mon Johnson? Follow her on Jobcase!

Interested in being featured on Jobcase.com? Message us to schedule a time to speak about your experience with Jobcase!

Grammar, correct spelling, and continuity in formatting are all very important in applications, resumes and cover letters. If you are lackadaisical with your own business one could assume you would be just as lackadaisical with theirs.