8 Tips To Be Successful At Any Job, At Any Company—Or Life In General

These 8 tips are a crash course in how to be successful, and take ownership of your career, no matter what company or industry you choose.

In classic ad-agency style, Oneupweb is constantly hiring and training. A big piece of integrating new team members is helping them navigate the company culture and teaching them how they can be successful in their specific role and within the company. These tips will help any new Oneupweb employee, or any new hire, hit their stride and kick-start their carreer.

1. Do What You Were Hired to Do, and Do It Really Well.

On my first day at Oneupweb, Carly Wujcik, the Director of Sales and Marketing, told me these wise words. I asked her what I had to do if I wanted to move from an entry level position to hers. She said, “It’s simple, do the job you were hired to do, and do it really well – better than anyone else.”

2. Leverage Your Proximity to Power

As soon as possible, figure out who/what it is at the center and get close to it. There is a difference between those who carry titles on an org-chart and the people who run the company. Find that person or persons. It could be your direct supervisor, a mentor in another department, or maybe someone in senior leadership like your director or CEO. If you want to move through a company, develop personal relationships with the people who have influence. If you’re doing a great job and they can trust you, you’ll be top of mind when an opportunity presents itself.

3. Do What Needs to Be Done

Beyond doing what you were hired to do and doing that well, there will be times when you need to just do something because it has to be done. I think about Mike Staff, one of my first bosses and dear mentor who hired me fresh out of college and dealt with a lot as I learned to wear my big girl pants. He taught me how to see things that needed to be done, and he encouraged me to have a heart to serve in completing them.  Maybe it’s helping a colleague meet a deadline, washing the dishes in the company kitchen or learning a new skill-set to better equip you for a role—whatever it is, when something needs to be done, do it. Don’t wait for others or procrastinate on it yourself.

4. Speak Up

You have a voice; use it! Your boss and clients are always looking for trusted advisors who have opinions and solutions and who aren’t afraid to voice them.  Speaking up is the only way you’ll ever get noticed or have an impact.  Speak up for yourself and your team—defend your work and your opinion. You may not always be right, but at least you’ll be heard.  If you have a problem with something, a new idea or if you just need a little help, then go to someone—in person—and talk about it. An email or backhanded gossip won’t fix the problem. (I think this is one of the biggest pieces of being successful here at Oneupweb and with Lisa Wehr).

Side note: know when to shut-up. More on that in a later post.

5. Promote and Empower Others

Acknowledge the people and talents that surround you. Give your teams and colleagues the freedom to do their work. Tell them how much you appreciate them, and tell their superiors as well.  It’s a sad fact, but no one truly gets the thanks or recognition they deserve, so do your part in acknowledging a job well done.  It makes someone feel great when they’re praised and senior leadership appreciates being made aware of the talents and mutual respect within their teams.

6. Always Be Learning

Things move at lightning speed in every business, especially digital marketing, and if you’re not actively learning, your relevance within a company is fading. I can’t count the number of times I’ve gone and learned a skill or program on my own time because it had become a crucial element of success in my current role, or the role I was aspiring to.  You can’t always learn on the job; learn when you have time, so you can shine when you have the chance.

7. Take Ownership

Take pride in your work and forget making excuses. No one else is going to care as much about your success as you do. Be humble in your faults. Be quick to admit when you’re wrong. Help find solutions. And always ask for help when you need it.  There is much more grace from both senior leadership and clients when you’re proactive. At Oneupweb Lisa Wehr will always pick up the pieces, go to bat and forgive your mistake if you go to her, take ownership and humble yourself.

8. Give A Damn

If you’re not passionate about the work you do, you won’t be successful. If you find yourself burning out, it might be time to change positions, jobs or industries. The truth is, once you find something you care about and you bring that passion to it, the previous 7 tips will come easily. If you spend your day cruising BuzzFeed and spamming your colleagues, you’re in the wrong job and not doing yourself, your career or your company any favors.

These 8 tips are my life mantras, and I think they’ll help anyone be successful in any job at any company (of course, I’m a millennial, so I think I have it all figured out—that’s just my nature).

If these tips seem difficult or unfair, Oneupweb probably isn’t the place for you—but neither is any other job, really. If you think you could hack it and you’ve got digital marketing experience, you should check out our careers page. I’d love to work with you.