Making It Big Monday

Get Ahead in Your Career

You go to work every day and you do your job. I am sure that you try your best to do this job well and that’s a great start, but did you ever stop to think that the job that you do is a really important part of a much bigger picture?

Few people take the time to understand the business that they are working for. They go to work every day, do what they are supposed to do and go home without another thought. While this is fine if you are satisfied with where you are, this is the wrong thing to do if you want to get ahead in your career.

Why do I want to learn about my company?

People that understand the big picture are better employees:

• They "get" the customer.
• They "get" the client.
• They "get" the supplier.
• They understand the market.
• They understand the history.
• They "get" the product.
• They know the mission.

Wouldn’t you want that person working for you - the one who doesn’t just perform their job but understands why their job is important?

When you learn about your company, you tend to see yourself as part of something bigger and will likely take more ownership in the part that you have to play in your company’s success.

What should I want to know about my company?

You want to know the history of the company:

1. How it got its start.
2. Why it was started.
3. You want to know what its biggest struggles are.
4. Learn who its best customers are.
5. Learn who the competition is.
6. Learn about anything that can make you understand the decisions that are made.

How do I learn about my company?

Make some appointments with people who can teach you what you want to learn:
Talk to people that have been there forever to tap into some of their historical knowledge.
Talk to senior people in other divisions.
Talk to senior people in your division.

Think of these conversations as interviews – only don’t tell anybody that you are interviewing them. Tell them that you want to speak with them so that you can do your job better.

What do I ask?

Firstly, you need to approach people properly. Make them feel important and intelligent and they will be happy to give you some of their time.

Schedule your meetings by saying, “I really want to understand more about the work that we do so I can do my job better. Do you have some time for me?”

Secondly, you need to prepare for these conversations. You want to come across as someone who is conscientious and responsible. Make sure to have a set of questions prepared before you meet anyone.

Here are some sample questions to ask.

• Can you tell me about the history of the company so I can understand my role better?
• Can you tell me what our biggest achievements have been?
• Can you tell me what our biggest struggles are?
• Where do we want to be in five years?
• Do you have anything that you can tell me that will help me do my job better?

How do I use this knowledge to get ahead?

Now that you have all this fantastic information you need to use it wisely. How to use it is very important.

Don’t be a know it all. Don’t rub it in people’s faces that you have met with all these great people in the company.

Use what you have learned to sound smarter in meetings. Use the connections that you have made to build relationships with people in the company. Use the information to do your job better and use it to show people that you really care about the organization.

Cheryl Stein, http://career-advice.monster.ca/career-development/getting-promoted/how-to-get-ahead-in-your-career-canada/article.aspx