提升你职业生涯的七个策略

 　　A great way to differentiate¹ yourself in the workplace is to “Brand” yourself as an effective, reliable, trustworthy, and hard-working professional. It’s about more than being productive—it’s about building a reputation as someone who gets things done, can be relied upon and who is considerate of others’ time and effort.

　　You might not consider your attitude, your interpersonal skills, or even your conduct as factors of productivity, but they are important considerations for employers. Branding yourself as an effective and professional employee can be a significant advantage in advancing your career, regardless of whether you have the most experience, or the most talent: you can ensure that you’re recognized as being one of the most dependable candidates out there.

　　Best Practices for Professional Branding

　　1. Respond to voice-mail in a timely manner

　　This might seem awfully² basic, but if somebody leaves you a message, return it. Call back or send an email—whichever you prefer—just as long as you do it within an acceptable time frame (24 hours is fine, or a few days at the most.) Respond even if you don’t have the answer: it’s better to admit that you don’t know something than to ignore the message.

　　2. Leave an effective message

　　This should actually be part of the first tip, but phone tag is so annoying that it deserves its own section. The typical “call me back,” message is not effective. Instead, explain the reason for your call, what you need in return, and the best time to call back. This allows the recipient³ to gather the information for the return call and leave a response if necessary, thus avoiding the unnecessary back-and-forth exchange.

　　3. Complete projects by deadline

　　Be realistic when setting or agreeing upon deadlines; if something comes up that will make it impossible to meet the deadline, inform the other party of the delay and agree on a revised due date. The familiar business saying, “under-promise and over-deliver” is a good strategy to keep in mind.

　　4. Manage Email Efficiently⁴

　　The concept of “inbox zero” may seem overwhelming, but make an effort to clean up your inbox each day. The average American worker sends and receives over 100 emails per day, and though your own volume of email may vary, the principal remains⁵ the same. Not staying on top of your email leads to missed opportunities and frustration⁶ for both the sender and the recipient. The acceptable time window for returning an email is usually even less than with voice-mail, and it’s both a frustrating⁷ and a waste of time for people to have to fire off a reminder⁸ email to follow up on the previous one.

　　Set aside a period of time each morning (30 – 60 minutes) to take care of your inbox emails, and do so again in the afternoon. If this seems impossible, it’s likely that you’re either receiving too many emails, (reduce newsletters and notices, and if possible, suggest to your team that they not copy everyone unless necessary,) or you’re not processing your inbox efficiently. (Hint: Use 4D’s method – Delete, Do, Delegate, Defer⁹.)

　　5. Follow-up

　　When a task or project has been completed, send a brief email to confirm that the required action has been taken. This may be as simple as a quick email just saying “Task done” or a summary of actions completed.

　　6. Step Up

　　Take on additional responsibilities when possible, such as volunteering for projects or taking a leadership role if appropriate. When you do more than what you absolutely have to, you demonstrate motivation and effectiveness. Most importantly, do a great job: don’t take on something that you don’t think you can do well, as excellence¹⁰ is far better than adequacy.

　　7. Get Along:

　　The ability to get along with co-workers and be a part of a team is a valuable asset. Excellent interpersonal skills will help you stand out from the higher-maintenance employees, and will also increase the likelihood that you will be given a leadership role, thus improving your chances for career advancement¹¹ both with your current employer, and future ones.

　　Branding yourself as an effective, reliable, productive employee is one of the most valuable strategies to advance your career. You have to do the work anyway, so why not save yourself time and build trust along the way? Doing so will pay off in success dividends¹² later on.

1 differentiate   

vi.(between)区分；vt.区别；使不同

参考例句：

• You can differentiate between the houses by the shape of their chimneys.你可以凭借烟囱形状的不同来区分这两幢房子。
• He never learned to differentiate between good and evil.他从未学会分辨善恶。

2 awfully   

adv.可怕地，非常地，极端地

参考例句：

• Agriculture was awfully neglected in the past.过去农业遭到严重忽视。
• I've been feeling awfully bad about it.对这我一直感到很难受。

3 recipient   

a.接受的,感受性强的 n.接受者,感受者,容器

参考例句：

• Please check that you have a valid email certificate for each recipient. 请检查是否对每个接收者都有有效的电子邮件证书。
• Colombia is the biggest U . S aid recipient in Latin America. 哥伦比亚是美国在拉丁美洲最大的援助对象。

4 efficiently   

adv.高效率地，有能力地

参考例句：

• The worker oils the machine to operate it more efficiently.工人给机器上油以使机器运转更有效。
• Local authorities have to learn to allocate resources efficiently.地方政府必须学会有效地分配资源。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

7 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

9 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

10 excellence   

n.优秀，杰出，(pl.)优点，美德

参考例句：

• His art has reached a high degree of excellence.他的艺术已达到炉火纯青的地步。
• My performance is far below excellence.我的表演离优秀还差得远呢。

11 advancement   

n.前进，促进，提升

参考例句：

• His new contribution to the advancement of physiology was well appreciated.他对生理学发展的新贡献获得高度赞赏。
• The aim of a university should be the advancement of learning.大学的目标应是促进学术。

12 dividends   

红利( dividend的名词复数 )； 股息； 被除数； （足球彩票的）彩金

参考例句：

• Nothing pays richer dividends than magnanimity. 没有什么比宽宏大量更能得到厚报。
• Their decision five years ago to computerise the company is now paying dividends. 五年前他们作出的使公司电脑化的决定现在正产生出效益。