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This post was sponsored on behalf of TracFone Wireless. All opinions stated are my own.
I started my first paying job when I was 10.
I knew it was work and that I was earning money but since it was as local talent in a national ballet company, it didn’t really feel like I had a job…more like I was getting paid to have fun! A lot changed over the years as my jobs became more about earning an income for my family and less about just having fun. Along the way, I was lucky enough to learn some very wise career advice from some amazing mentors that has really changed my life!
Here are my favorite career tips:
1. Make yourself indispensable. Know your job and how to help your superiors do their jobs better. Make it so that your help is necessary, not a luxury.
2. Go above and beyond. This goes with making yourself indispensable. Don’t just stop at completing your job. Do more and do it better!
3. Accept all opportunities to learn more. If your company offers learning opportunities or way to further your education, do them all. Take home learning material or study it on breaks. Never stop bettering yourself.
4. Tackle your most important project first thing in the morning. The day always bring new issues, make sure you take care of what you need to get first thing in the morning so that it gets done before other things get in the way. You will also get a bump of energy knowing that it is already finished.
5. The early bird gets the worm. Don’t ever be late to work. Get there early.
6. Don’t become too comfortable. Always keep looking for changes in your industry. Adjust to these changes and stay ahead of the curve.
7. Stay away from office gossip. Don’t be a part of either side of it. Keep your personal life at home and don’t participate in gossip about others.
8. You must enjoy your work to be successful. The most successful people love what they do. Find your passion and find a way to earn an income doing it.
9. You don’t have to enjoy every aspect of your job to like what you do. As long as you like doing the main part of your job you will be okay. Nobody loves every aspect of their job.
10. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. So important! This was one of the first bits of wisdom I learned. Dress for the job you aspire to have, not just the one you have today. If you are the receptionist but want to be the manager dress the part. It is a lot easier to get a promotion when you already look the part… and when you’ve been preparing yourself for the new job too!
These tips have been such a huge help in helping me reach my career goals and Tracfone is doing their part to help others reach their career goals too!
TracFone wants to help provide women across the country with the skills and tools they need to enter into and thrive in the workplace so they have co-launched a cause marketing campaign in partnership with Dress for Success! Have you heard of TracFone before? They are one of the largest and most well-known no-contract cell phone service providers with nationwide coverage on America’s largest and most dependable networks.
TracFone offers an extremely affordable way to own and use a cell phone.
They have plans with talk, text and data starting as low as $19.99 for 90 days and affordable phones from leading manufacturers like LG and Samsung. There are no overages, no bills and no hidden fees to worry about.
With the Success is Calling™ program, designed to help women make that critical first impressions during phone interviews,, TracFone will provide women who complete the program with a new smartphone and one year of airtime to support them as they prepare to enter the workplace. The device, coupled with TracFone’s partnership with Dress for Success, serves as an ideal tool to create job-readiness, instill confidence, and assist budget conscious consumers who are seeking to unlock their career potential.
Want to join TracFone in helping women realize their potential?
Awesome! By purchasing a TracFone device at Walmart (or Walmart.com) during the month of April, you too can help make a difference because TracFone will donate 20% of its handset sales, up to $525,000, to Dress for Success. For more information on the program, please visit Success is Calling™.
Those are my recommendations, but do you have any of your own?
Share them on Twitter using the hashtag #SuccessisCalling and you’ll be entered for a chance to talk about career advice from TracFone partner Vanessa Williams! Rules can be found here.
Those are all very true! Going above and beyond is a big one.
Great tips! My favorite is: Tackle your most important project first thing in the morning. I do that every day – really helps set the tone!
Definitely! Then you don’t spend all day stressing over what still needs to be done!
I’ve learned the hard way that I must love my work in order to do my best job. I’m grateful to have a good job and one that I love!
All so true! I try to go above and beyond with EVERYTHING i’m asked to do or even if I’m not asked to do anything, I do it anyways. I love challenging myself and doing more than whats the norm or expected!
Oh yes to all! So many people don’t go above and beyond and it’s so easy.
These tips will definitely help someone excel in the workplace. Accepting learning opportunities is helpful in any environment!
It’s really amazing that TracFone will donate 20% of its handset sales. I admire companies that help support great causes. I have a friend who recently recommended one of these to me and I’m definitely going to check it out.
I agree with all these tips and as an ex executive I practiced all of them. Now as a self employed person I still do most except I get to do it in my pj’s if I want.
These are great tips. It’s so important to remember that every day is a new day to better yourself or promote yourself in a better light.
These are awesome tips, especially the gossip one. Many fall victim to that, and it sure bites them in the end!
Love the tips, great way to get off to a good start for your career. I love the tackle the biggest tasks first off!
I try to get my household stuff done first, and then my blogging. Now that the weather is warmer I want to be outdoors more, and enjoy life.
It’s so important to stay out of the gossip game. It only comes back to bite you.
I used to work in HR, these are definitely important tips for job seekers, if only they would take heed! 🙂
This is really great advice. I always try to get the hardest stuff done first thing in the morning. That way the rest of the day is easy sailing.
These are great career tips. I will have to share this with my kids. They are just starting College.
I love this… especially the last one. I remember my mom telling me this, and I think it is SO important. Getting dressed does something for our confidence- and it’s so important to help when you’re envisioning yourself in a different position.
These are amazing tips!! I agree with dressing well and being on time. Those are crucial to showing your self to be a valuable employee
These are amazing tips!! I agree with dressing well and being on time. Those are crucial to showing your self to be a valuable employee
My husband always gets to work early. Way before anyone else and it is noticed!
When I worked outside the home I was always at work early. It allowed me to gather my thoughts and breath before the hustle and bustle started.
These are great tips! Especially for someone like me who is about to join the career world in a year
Staying away from the office gossip was always a big one for me. I hated getting involved in that. I always try to go above and beyond.
Being indispensable is a myth as long as you work for someone. A friend of mine who worked for the same company now for 27 years was just laid off because they are “restructuring”. She brought the company out of near bankruptcy many years ago and that’s the thanks she gets. The real reason is her age. They are ready for her to retire and she wasn’t. All the other tips are great, but working for yourself is really the true path to career success. I know not everyone can or should work for themselves, but if that is your desire…go for it
Great tips. Office gossip is a sure-fire way to not move forward in your job. HA… Thanks for sharing this. Great list
Staying away from office gossip is important. You don’t want to be caught in the middle.
i agree because when you get too comfortable and relaxed most likely that is when something unexpected happens!
These are some sound advice. I agree with staying away from office gossips. I work an office job before I got married and there’s so many of it around so the best thing to do is just to mind your own business.
These are some great tips! I try my best to do a lot of these on a daily basis.
I think the best tip I’ve learned is doing what you enjoy. It’s so difficult to take pride in or do a good job with work that isn’t satisfying.
Love this post! its perfect for recent graduates who not only would benefit from the career tips but using a Tracfone is a wise financial decision.
These are great tips. I think they should be passed out to every high school senior with their diploma!
I have dealt with some dreadful bosses. With them, I think it’s better to admit you’re wrong even when they are…
these are all great tips. you also dont’ have to like everyone you work with either!
These are all great tips! I agree with tackling the most important things first. It’s so easy to get distracted and slip on things though the day, get the big stuff done first.
These are all great tips, and things I wish I had learned much sooner. Especially tackling your hardest task first.
Making myself indispensable has been a goal for as long as I can remember. I’m so thankful that my dad engrained that in my head when I was young.
These are amazing tips! I agree with the no gossiping at work that is the biggest downfall for a lot of people.
Great tips, I’ve been working on a few of these. I’m glad I grasped some of these in my younger days.
I started working early, and hard, too. I’m now disabled and unable to work outside of my home, and while I’m grateful for the opportunity that allows me to remain full time with my daughter, I miss the thrill of constantly working at being my best, in a competitive environment. For me, my number one thing has always been to accept challenge. As long as I’m not lacking qualifications that would make going for it plain stupid (or dangerous), I’m always saying yes to experiences that test my limits, and grow me as a person.
Those are some great tips. I will certainly bookmark this page for future use. As for the Tracphone I think it’s a great idea for kids.
Great tips and all so important to follow. I especially think people should stay away from work gossip, it’s so unprofessional.
These are great tips. I try to always make sure I go above and beyond in everything.
Those are amazing tips. It is important to go above and beyond
These are great tips. I just got back into the corporate world, and a lot of these are things I’m trying to do.
I always think to myself how much I dislike my job, but it’s really not true at all. I do enjoy it and it shows in the success I have had in the last five years here.
Hi Heather, I really like the ‘Make yourself indispensable’ tip best – along with the other great points and the TracFone offer really is an affordable way to own and use a cell phone! Very cool too,
the Success is Calling™ program – thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Great career tips! I agree with them ALL! Definitely envisioning yourself as a success will lead to success!
I told a young lady today, ” Don’t complain at work (leave that at home), and never talk badly about your leaders”.
Great tips. I couldn’t agree more with you.
Krysta
That is some good advice Krysta!
Awesome tips! Office gossip is a big one. That can drag you down faster than you can blink an eye if you are not careful. Another thing, never stop learning. While this sort of falls in with the ‘take every opportunity’ one should also keep up with the times and take classes when offered and even on your own.
These are some awesome tips!!! I can’t believe how cheap Trac phones are these days!!! Such a great deal!