No matter how hot or slow the job market is, looking for a new career or attempting to progress in a current role is challenging and can take a toll on your emotions and self-confidence. Taylor Studniski, an assistant accountant and sales associate, has navigated multiple career transitions and experienced firsthand the power of positive thinking. Here she shares the top ways to move ahead in the workplace with a great attitude as your guide.
Taylor Studniski says enter interviews with a great personality
Sometimes careers are best managed by transitioning away from a given field or moving to a new role with a current employer. Whether interviewing internally or externally, positive thinking can ensure your personality shines through during an evaluation.
Taylor Studniski advises entering an interview prepared for success — and without negative thoughts — helps you bring your A-game and answer questions with the same confidence displayed in preparation efforts in front of the mirror.
Maintaining a positive outlook and projecting confidence is also essential should an interview question throw a curve. Employers are more impressed by a cheerful acknowledgment of misunderstanding or a request to explain a comment further than general confusion or a basic response displaying uncertainty and a lack of confidence. The former demonstrates a willingness to learn and take in additional input while the second shows more inhibition. Be willing to address any issues in a straightforward, confident and positive manner.
Make friends in the workplace
Personality and positive thinking also help you make work friends more quickly. Maintaining solid friendships with co-workers makes for a more pleasant work environment from a personal perspective while also increasing your access to additional opportunities at the office.
From learning more about the roles of others to cross-training, Taylor Studniski advises friends are a great way to advance at a current job and also maintain a social network bustling with new opportunities as both you and your friends move on to different roles.
Embrace confidence to broaden horizons
Positive thinking is also essential to see the potential for growth in a current job or new roles. When you are confident about your abilities, you are more likely to take on ambitious tasks and develop additional skills relevant to an existing role or the next step in company leadership.
Taylor Studniski recommends saying “yes” when volunteers are needed for new projects of interest or speaking up when a good idea is rattling around in your head during a meeting. Be prepared to network with co-workers outside a core team to learn more about different areas of the company and diversify knowledge.
As you learn you can master new skills, the sky truly becomes the limit.
Increase efficiency with a new attitude
In addition to social benefits, a positive perspective helps increase productivity. By staying positive, you move past any negative situations more quickly, including personality problems that can present themselves in the workplace. When you aren’t engaging in gossip or infighting, Taylor Studniski advises productivity soars, and personal credibility can also increase as other employees and supervisors take note of your focus.
From a more scientific perspective, productivity boosts are also fueled by the increased energy a positive attitude can provide when compared to energy-draining negative emotions and stress.
Affirm positive qualities
Sometimes your positive thinking needs to focus solely on you via affirmations and reminders. On a bad day when a promotion doesn’t materialize or a project encounters delays or problems, avoid letting a bad situation become worse. Taylor Studniski recommends reminding yourself of past accomplishments and restating your best qualities to yourself to realign your thinking and start developing solutions.
By demonstrating one setback cannot hold you down, your career will soar in the long run.
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