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The 21 steps
Try these steps to get your career in motion.
March 17, 2005: 4:03 PM EST
By Donna Rosato, MONEY Magazine

NEW YORK (MONEY Magazine) - Check out these ways to stay current and -- who knows? -- start pulling ahead.

1 | STAY CURRENT You read the daily business section and the same trade rag you've subscribed to for a decade. Fine. So does everybody else. It's time to deepen your knowledge by subscribing to new trade journals, signing up for industry newsletters and scanning message boards related to your field.

When you come across a timely story that could affect your business, pass it along to your boss. If she hasn't seen it, you suddenly look very, very smart.

2 | FEAR NOT THE BLOG One other new resource to add to your daily reads: blogs. Short for Web log, a blog (if you haven't heard) is a sort of online diary that could offer anything from ramblings on a person's trombone collection to the inside scoop on your industry or even your company.

Marketingvox.com, for example, is for marketing professionals and Autoblog.com serves the car industry. To look for daily insights about your field, use a blog-specific engine such as Technorati.com or Blogsearchengine.com.

3 | DRESS LIKE YOU MEAN IT When it comes to office attire, "people who get comfortable in their jobs tend to dress comfy. That's a risk," says Jill Bremer, a corporate image consultant whose clients include Intel and Abbott Laboratories. A casual wardrobe signals a casual approach to work. Your best bet: Take a cue from your boss' attire.

4 | BE A MENTOR Most people have, at some point, sought guidance from a mentor. But when you've been around for a while, being a mentor can be just as rewarding.

"Mentoring makes you realize what your skills are," says Sandy Throne, 53, who advises younger workers as a way of keeping herself fresh after nearly a decade at a New York City-based financial services company.

5 | ASSOCIATE WITH DOERS If you find yourself kibitzing with whiners -- who tend to be the people with the longest tenure -- find a new crowd.

"If I see a person with a negative attitude hanging out with two other people in the break room, I'll assume they have the same attitude," says David Mitchell, director of customer service for MetTel, a telecom company in New York City.

Be seen with the people who the boss praises in meetings. Invite them to lunch. Ask them for advice. Walk by their office. A lot.

6 | REDECORATE "Your workspace is an extension of you," says image consultant Bremer. "If you have too many little fuzzy things stuck on your computer monitor, it suggests that you may not understand the reason you're there, which is to do business."

A framed photo or two on your desk shows that you have a life outside work. An "I Don't Do Mondays" coffee mug shows that you don't understand the meaning of the word "professional."

7 | SPEAK UP Think, for a moment, about the last meeting you attended. What's the first memory that comes to mind? Does it involve somebody speaking?

Of course it does. The only way your superiors will remember you even attended a meeting is if you say something. Don't worry if silence has become your habit over the years -- it's never too late to start speaking up.

Request clarification of someone else's idea or, better yet, introduce an idea of your own. Before each meeting, make a habit of e-mailing the person who called it and asking her what will be covered.

8 | THINK POSITIVE How do bosses know who has a bad attitude? "It's not hard to tell," says MetTel's Mitchell. "They stop griping when you walk by, like in the classroom when everyone's shooting spitballs and they stop when the teacher walks in. You should not be griping in the first place."

9 | ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES "A good employee never says, 'That's not in my job description,'" says Mitchell. "I'll clean out an office and scrub the desk if I have to. You do what needs to get done."

But be careful about the work you volunteer for. "You don't want to be the person everything gets dumped on," says psychologist Dory Hollander, president of Wise-Workplaces, a career advice firm.

10 | FILL EMPTY SPACES When you see an opportunity to work on a new project, pounce on it like a cheetah killing a ferret on the Discovery Channel.

Larry Kist, formerly a project manager at Mercantile Bank (now U.S. Bank), had been running a small department when the head of a division was called up for a military assignment. Kist volunteered to step in. "The bank was downsizing and the job I was in wasn't challenging, so I thought it could be my chance to shine," says Kist, 48, who lives in St. Louis. Within six months of taking over, he had helped boost morale and erased the department's longstanding reputation for missing deadlines.

Next: More strategies for getting ahead  Top of page

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