How to Become a Business Asset, not a Liability

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With a good job now being viewed as a major asset in someone’s life, it’s more important than ever to carefully manage your professional reputation.

Showcasing your value as an employee is utterly crucial in beginning and developing a career. No matter what business or industry you’re looking to join, the following pieces of advice will help you to enhance yourself professionally.

Get a Master’s after accruing solid work experience

A Master’s degree can be a major boon for your career, providing you with an accelerated education, job skills, and professional references. Employers are impressed by well educated job candidates, but they’ll be more impressed by your degree if it’s buffered by solid employment references. That way you look like a hard worker who wished to elevate yourself to the next level by going back to school, instead of someone who simply couldn’t find a job. A degree rarely substitutes for an ambitious employment history.

Become a social media user, but not an abuser

Sites like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook are becoming increasingly important in professional environments as ways to network with clients and share critical information. But these sites are easy to abuse, as any number of Facebook addicts can testify. Also, there are stigmas attached to Twitter and Facebook. Don’t get caught using them too often at work or you risk being thought of as a slacker. Additionally, if colleagues or bosses are among your online friends, be very cautious about what you post. There are more than a few cases of employees getting into major trouble for committing very avoidable social networking snafu’s.

Go into meetings knowing the score

If a business meeting has been called and you know the salient features that will be discussed, do a bit of research on the issues and proposals in question. Nothing looks worse than being asked “what do you think?” and responding with a blank stare and a sheepish “uh, well, I’m not sure.” Also, it will impress your bosses and superiors if you have a track record of thinking intelligently about concepts that affect the company. Don’t force your opinions and facts down their throats, but occasionally chiming in with a relevant factoid will do wonders for your professional reputation.

These are three bits of advice for the wayward career seeker that are applicable for unemployed people looking for work, employed people looking to switch careers, and employed people looking to bolster their positions within their respective companies. Following these tips will go a long way toward helping you to developing yourself as a devoted professional who is major business asset.

What other tips would you offer?  Share them with our readers in the comments below!

Author: Alex Summers, MBA 

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