As a good employee, never make excuses for why you didn’t do a task that was assigned to you.
If you don’t know how to do a certain task that your employer expects you to perform, ask your employer or co-workers.
Also, if the office has a budget crisis and lets people go, highly-trained employees stand a better chance of being retained than those who can only do one thing.
For example, say that a client points out that you made numerous grammatical errors on advertising copy. Instead of becoming defensive or blaming someone else, take this as an opportunity to brush up on your writing skills.
For example, if you work in an advertising agency and you’re assigned to a type of client you haven’t worked with before, find out from your boss what you can do to succeed at the assigned task. You might say something like, “I’ve never represented a car company before; do you have any advice on what types of ad strategies work best?”
Take a moment to put away loose papers, clean up your work space, and locate things you’ll need for the next day.
Even if you work from home and don’t see your co-workers in person, you can still develop working relationships by being polite over email.
Of course, you want to establish a good rapport with your co-workers, and a little chatting is inevitable and can help the time pass. But, keep this chatting professional and positive, and avoid talking about other employees behind their backs.
Be careful what you say to new employees, and always keep your conduct professional. Don’t air your grievances, frustrations, or interpersonal conflicts.
If you walk around the workplace with a negative attitude and spend your time griping or complaining, you’ll lower the morale of the entire staff.
If this is your first job out of high school or college, it may help to imagine that everyone you interact with is a teacher or professor.
Frequent absences, missed deadlines, reprimands for unprofessional behavior, or too many complaints from customers may cause you to be dismissed from your job.
If you struggle to be on time, try planning to get to work 15 minutes early. That way, even if you’re running late for your intended arrival time, you’ll still arrive at work on time.
Examples of inappropriate attire for any workplace include: stained or torn clothing, unwashed clothes, and shirts with inappropriate words or images on them.
