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It doesn’t matter whether you’re in an entry level job or well into your professional life. You need to know how to establish credibility in order to be taken seriously on the job and to be able to take advantage of any opportunities that come up.
Once lost, it is very difficult to regain credibility. It is worth taking the time to think before acting to assure that you don’t make an error that will follow you throughout your job tenure.
These eight tips can help as you navigate your professional life.
Do not call out sick when you’re not sick
I have written a whole post about calling out of work that you can read here. It is worth another mention because it is a big deal. Inappropriately calling out from work is noticed, by your employer and your colleagues. Can you get away with it once? Yes, probably. More than that? Whatever you’re thinking, the answer is probably not.
Whether or not anyone says anything to you, I promise there are consequences to using sick time inappropriately. As a manager, I have had to put multiple people into the category of not being reliable. They have been affected by:
- Not being able to switch to a shift that they might prefer
- Not being considered for a promotion of any kind
- Not being offered or given a good reference when they were looking for another job
- Being fired for excessive absence or lateness
If these things don’t matter to you (and they appear not to matter to some), then calling out isn’t a problem for you. For everyone else, you’ll want to do some planning around days off.
Read 6 Things to Know about Calling Out of Work for more insight into how your practices around attendance can harm you on the job.
If you’re late, just admit it. Being in the parking lot at your start time is not being on time
Don’t argue this point. Being on time means being ready to work at your start time. You are not ready to work in the parking lot. Don’t argue this point; it makes you look ridiculous and gets you labeled as not credible. There’s no reason to do that. Just admit you were late and get to work on time from now on. If this happens once, it’s not a big deal. If it keeps happening, or if you argue about it, this can become a big deal.
Get a driver’s license
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have a car or if you never plan to have a car. There are lots of jobs that require that you have a license. With very few exceptions, there is no reason not to get a driver’s license. Get one and keep it up to date.
Leave a brief, understandable voicemail
You’ve probably had this experience: You’re listening to voicemail and the person leaving the message says their name or number too fast for you to understand. Maybe the number came up on your cell phone, which makes that part easier, but maybe you’re listening at a desk phone, where the number isn’t so easy to retrieve. And even if you can decipher the number, you don’t want to return a call not knowing who you’re calling.
Or maybe you’ve had this experience: the voicemail is too long and what if you miss one little piece of information and have to listen again to get it. But it takes so long to get through to the piece that you’re listening for that it’s just not worth the effort.
The moral of this story: leave a brief, understandable voicemail:
- Your name – spell it if you don’t know the person
- A brief message.
- Give your phone number s-l-o-w-l-y
- Now you can expect a call back
Know your company’s inclement weather policy and don’t lie about it
Wherever you work, there is a policy about bad weather. Maybe you work somewhere that closes during a snowstorm and all you have to do is stay home and keep warm. Lucky you!
If you’re an essential worker, the policy is probably that you have to come to work, though can probably be paid for coming in early and/or staying late for safety.
Be sure that you know the policy before it starts snowing.
Be honest. I had a staff member call to say she had tried but just couldn’t get in to work due to snow and ice. I knew for a fact that she lived just around the corner. I had driven in from 35 miles away and it hadn’t even taken me any longer than usual. It was just a flat-out lie. Why would you do that to your credibility?
I had another staff member leave town (or say she left town) the night before a well-publicized forecast storm. She was scheduled to work the next day. Of course she called out saying she couldn’t get back. Whether she actually left town or just said she did, it was dishonest and she never regained her credibility with me. I did not consider her for a promotion that she applied for because I knew for sure I could not count on or trust her.
Don’t be the person who runs their mouth at work
There could be a few exceptions, but most employers are not stupid. They know who is doing a good job and who isn’t. They do actually care and doing a good job is always your best bet in terms of employment longevity, promotion, recognition, and getting a good reference if you choose to leave for a different opportunity. In other words, doing a good job earns you credibility. There is no downside to doing a good job.
That being said, there is absolutely no reason to bad-talk other employees. It does not spotlight whatever they may or may not be doing wrong. All it does is spotlight you as a troublemaker and takes from your credibility.
You also don’t want to be the person who keeps bashing your employer in the office. If there is something that isn’t right and you have an idea how to make it better (and there are plentiful examples in all workplaces), bring it to your supervisor or whoever could actually help with the issue.
If all you do is gripe, and not to the people who could help with a situation, it just labels you as a complainer and not a problem-solver. The problem, whatever it is, doesn’t get fixed and you lose credibility at work.
Name your files
I’ve seen this happen more often than you think:
I’ve been waiting for an email with an attachment. I open it, ready to get to work on it, and find the sender’s cable bill instead of the attachment that I was waiting for. Occasionally amusing, but usually just annoying.
If I scan documents to my computer and don’t immediately name them, I do not remember which is the one I meant to send. Even though I think I do, I don’t. Neither do you. Name your files.
Set up your voicemail
Many business calls are confidential. You’re going to mention a client that was referred, the name of a work project that isn’t widely known about, there are lots of examples.
If I call you and all I get is “you have reached 555-555-5555” with no indication of who the line belongs to, I can’t leave my message. I can only say something like, “Hello, this is [my name] returning a call from [my place of business]. I’m not sure I have the correct number, so I can’t leave an answer to your question. Please call me back at [my phone number].”
Anything else would be irresponsible.
This happens to me a lot. If it’s a work phone OR if you use your personal phone for business of any kind, please set up the voicemail.
Click here for more tips for establishing credibility at work.
