My husband and I have both found this true within the workplace. We've both had positions where we get hired for one job. We work that job, doing what is required, then a little bit more. And we keep our eyes open. If we see a problem area, we offer some solutions. We make ourselves invaluable.
Pretty soon, the employers see that there is a real need for a particular position ... and we seem to be just the right person to fill the slot.
My husband has done that over and over again at the credit union. He started out as a graphic artist for the newsletter. He moved into writing. He went on to building the company's first website. Then he learned a statistics program and made a job for himself in research and development. Then he started sharing his vision of where the credit union could grow and became part of the strategic planning team. And on and on. I can't count the number of titles he's had over the last 17+ years. Most of those positions were created for him.
In my case, I was hired on as a short-term employee for the county assessor. They liked my work so much that a position was created for me. I was a floater, because I was able to go from station to station and adapt to the job at hand. Then I was offered full time work. Soon I showed some adeptness at computer work when desktop computers were first introduced into the appraisal department. By staying just one step ahead of the others in my understanding of technology, I was advanced. Then I was recruited by the toughest manager to help in commercial assessments. In my third year, I was awarded Employee of the Year -- the quickest anyone earned that honor.
If you wait for opportunities to drop in your lap, you'll be waiting a long time. It's not that it won't happen now and again, for it will. But if you make yourself open and available and take some steps to learn new skills, those opportunities will come your way more quickly.
[A lesson for my daughters]
No comments:
Post a Comment