Reader Debs is fed up of listening to her colleagues brag – especially when it keeps getting them promoted. Our Jobs Guru James Innes is here with some advice
Dear James
I’ve always believed that if you work hard, keep your head down and do a good job, people will notice sooner or later.
That’s how I was brought up and, to be honest, I still think there’s something a bit distasteful about constantly talking yourself up.
But I’ve started noticing that the people moving ahead fastest at work are often the ones who make a lot of noise about what they’ve done. They seem far more comfortable selling themselves than I am.
Meanwhile, I’m the one sorting problems out, staying late when needed and keeping things ticking over – but I’m not the one getting the bigger opportunities. Is that just how careers work now?!
Debs, Birmingham
Answer:
What can I say? Pretty often, yes, Debs!
Not because work has become one giant talent show. And not because the loudest person in the room is automatically the best. But if people don’t really know what you’ve done, or how much of the difficult stuff you’re carrying, you can’t be too surprised when someone more visible ends up getting more credit.
A lot of hardworking people still cling to the idea that good work somehow glows in the dark. It doesn’t. Not reliably. Not in most workplaces.
Your manager may know you’re solid. Your team may know you’re the one who sorts things out when everything starts wobbling. But promotion conversations don’t usually run on vague goodwill. They run on what people can point to when your name comes up.
That doesn’t mean you need to turn into some unbearable self-publicist.
But it does mean learning to talk plainly about your own contribution: the problems you fixed, the time you saved, the mess you calmed, the work you got over the line and the difference it made.
If you won’t say it, don’t assume somebody else will.
Top Tip:
You don’t need to show off. You do need to get used to saying what you’ve done well, and why it mattered (without apologising for mentioning it!)
Spotlight On: Why ‘quietly doing a good job’ often stops paying off
There was a time when people liked to believe hard work naturally rose to the top. Sometimes it did. Sometimes it still does. But plenty of workplaces are too rushed, too political or too muddled for that to be a safe career plan.
And, once you become ‘the reliable one’, another problem kicks in. People start depending on you exactly where you are. You become useful in place. That’s nice for them – but probably not brilliant for you.
The person talking more confidently about their wins may not be better than you. They may simply have learned something you haven’t quite accepted yet: you need to be both seen and heard.
Get a head start in your job hunt with James’ new book, The Job You’ve Always Wanted – out now from Pearson at £16.99.
Our Jobs Guru, James Innes, is a best-selling careers author and founder of the world’s leading group of professional CV and resume writers .