Climbing the Ladder

How I went from the bottom floor to the corner office:
Tips on moving up in a company.

Do you feel stuck on the bottom level? Mid-Level? Do you think there is no room for growth? I don’t know your exact situation, but I can tell you that I’ve been the low man on the totem pole. I work for a small family owned business and I’m not family. When I started, I didn’t even consider the possibility of being at the level I’m at today. I don’t know who you work for or how the company is structured, but I can say it isn’t out of the question to move up within your organization.

I was hired in 2002 when I was eighteen years old, fresh outta high school. My dad talked them into giving me a shot (Thanks Dad). I literally worked one day a week. They gave me the WORST job. I was supposed to count inventory in this crappy shack of an office, it barely had air conditioning and it smelled like sweaty guys and solvent materials. After I counted the materials in the dungeon, I was supposed to enter my counts into an excel spreadsheet and balance the material. Easy peasy. After a couple weeks, I knew the procedure like the back of my hand. This in no way was a full day of work for me. Instead of completing my assigned task and pretending to be busy or going home, I asked if there was anything else I could do. Lucky me, no one in the office liked to file. So…. I got handed a backlog of files, and so began my journey of climbing the ladder.

Here are some things that have worked for me and will hopefully work for you.

Do the work no one else wants to do

In my experience, if you are willing to do the hard stuff, the annoying stuff, the whatever stuff that others don’t want to do, it makes you valuable. Sure, it might be stupid that you are the only one in the office that files but run with it. Pretend to enjoy it, whatever it takes. You want to do a great job, no matter how simple the task.

Work efficiently

Don’t drag your feet on completing assignments. Work diligently and if you finish early, ask for something else to do. Chances are, there are wish list items that they don’t have time to do. Keep being productive and asking for more. Worse case you get done early and they send you home. Whatever you do, don’t waste time to get your full day paid. That shit gets noticed and not in a good way.

Create Work

Once I had a solid foot in the door, I looked for things that they could have been doing but weren’t. For example, I created a warranty log, with permission of course (Don’t do anything without permission). I went through every file, starting from the first job in the 80’s and created a log of the project and the warranty provided as well as other important info. I taught myself how to use Microsoft Access. This created a TON of work. Sure, it was a snoozefest but I needed money and I liked the company. I ended up completing the files for my division and spending some time in the other division, documenting their records. At this point I was working full-time, because of work I created for myself.

Train in other areas

I talked to my boss about learning other positions, just in case anyone wanted to go on vacation or had an emergency. She liked the idea, so I began learning other parts of the business. Sure enough, someone had an emergency, I filled in and hit the ball out of the park. I did all of my work and all of my coworkers work and still had time to spare. I asked for more.

DON’T COMPLAIN

Seriously, when you are trying to move up in a company, DO. NOT. COMPLAIN. Take everything you are given and complete it as fast as possible without error. Don’t complain about others not doing their job, just quietly pick up their slack. Trust, it won’t go unnoticed forever.

Do what is suggested

I was asked to become a notary, I signed up for the class, no questions asked. I was asked to take a grammar refresher class, and then a business writing class. I gladly signed up for them.

Continuing Education

After those first suggested classes I was hooked on learning. I started looking for other classes that would be beneficial to the company and asked if I could take them. They said yes, the company even paid for the classes and for my time to take each course. Win/Win.

Train Others

If you have the opportunity to train someone else to do your job, DO IT! Don’t be afraid that they will take your job. You want them to take your job, so you can move up. If there is no one to do your job, how are you going to move to the next level?

Know when to keep your mouth shut

This is a big one. There is a time to give your opinion and a time to keep it to yourself. You might be asking “how will I know” or “when should I keep my mouth shut”. This is just my opinion and what has worked for me. I tend to give my opinion or share ideas only when the mood is positive and when my boss is receptive. You will know if it isn’t a good time. If you are the messenger of bad news, I advise you to wait for a better time, if at all possible. If you don’t like someone, particularly your superior, keep it to yourself. DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT tell anyone unless you are okay with that person finding out.

Ask for the Promotion

This was the hardest step for me. I was the work with your head down type of girl. Do as much work per day as possible. Be reliable, be responsible, be respectful, no drama, no nothing. I assumed responsibility after responsibility, sometimes with someone else taking credit for my work. I use to drop subtle hints that I wanted a new position and sometimes they picked up on it. For my current position, Director of Operations, I asked to be considered for the job. I explained all the reasons why I would be perfect for the position and left it there to be thought about. It only took three months for the announcement to be made.

I have almost eighteen years of experience at the same company. It was a slow and painful climb, but I made it to the top. I am a leader in a company and I’m not family. I got here by hard work, dedication, perseverance and courage. Nothing in life comes easy, I wish more people understood this.

Work for it, believe you deserve it and it will be yours.
Set your goals, set your intentions and move your ass.
You can do this!

“The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.”
-Andrew Carnegie

Until Next Time,

Sherry