80.3% of people believe that one sure way to secure a job is to earn certification relevant to their role. Although this is true, there are other things you can do to ensure job security. Are you currently employed? If yes, what activities have you been involved in recently to boost your status as an employee and, most importantly, to remain employed? Here are a few practical tips.
Earn an advanced degree relevant to your job
As the years go by, more people see the need to earn at least a first degree to aid their job application processes. However, after gaining entry-level into that role you’ve aspired to for so long, it’s not advisable to rest on your oars.
Keep in mind that the competition out there on the job market is increasingly keen, and you risk losing your career to another who has the competitive edge.
As a tip, it will be in your best interest to earn a master’s degree if what you currently have is a bachelor’s. Assuming that your current job role is health-related, you’ll find it worthwhile to study for a Masters degree in public health administration.
That will boost your relevance and prove to your employer that you’re committed to self-development. Additionally, always ensure that your study is current and has a vast influence not restricted to your current workplace.
Be conscious about your measurable contributions
As expected, your employer is interested in seeing their decisions pay off in the best ways, including their hiring choices. It would help if you made it a priority to carry out your work effectively and efficiently. These should be contributions that impact your work, such as cost savings or new customers you brought to the company.
As you work towards the assigned tasks, the value you bring to the business should be evident.
Doing this will strengthen your job security and enable you to stand out among the rest. To get it right, discuss your performance goals with your boss and agree on a good time for feedback to create a healthy and referable platform where your efforts and achievements can come to the fore.
Besides, upper management will notice your passion and consider you a valuable staff member if you remain consistent. Assuming that your work ethic and other admirable values help the company, it increases the likelihood of your job being secured.
Request for more challenging tasks within your expertise
It’s best not to request challenging tasks outside your job expertise as you may not deliver on them effectively.
Instead, you should identify your strengths and capitalize on them to make an impact in your company. Doing this will help prevent you from highlighting your inefficiencies and coming across as incompetent. When you ask for additional duties within your skillset, you have the perfect opportunity to show a broader range of your expertise.
Businesses appreciate employees who seek to enhance the value of the organizations they’re employed by through their efforts.
It shows a willingness to self-develop while sending a message to the employer that you’re versatile, reliable, and available.
Usually, these become significant indicators during employee layoffs and determine whether you’ll last in the company or not. Employers appreciate staff members who embrace challenges, are adaptable, and ready to grow.
Be a team player
Are you considered a team player by your work colleagues and your employer?
Teamwork goes beyond being a buzzword on your CV to your ability to work with others to achieve a set goal. Being a team player involves having healthy working relationships with everybody you work with while building mutual trust and respect.
It also requires good communication, your ability to put yourself in others’ shoes, take the initiative and rally others around a common cause.
Everybody you work with should be able to approach you and vice versa.
Additionally, it’s best to guard against attaching yourself to any specific office clique when that only pulls you away from your overall objective. Even more, you want to be a team player so that management can see you as that employee who gels very well with everyone.
There are several dynamics at play when you find yourself in the work environment, which can work for or against you depending on how adequately you utilize them. Therefore, you should try your best to make your advancement a priority as long as it’s within the limits of the law and not against company culture.