In this tough economy everything pretends to be an expert on how to get a job or how to keep a job but very few of these people are the ones doing the hiring or doing the firing.  As the owner of a 25 person marketing company, I think I have a pretty reasonable perspective as to what a business owner is looking for in his or her employees and what they are not looking for.

From a bosses perspective, I am the owner of this company and while I cannot expect you to work the way I work, you can assume that I would really like you too if I had my choice.  That is where you should start.   Notice your bosses work ethic, attitude and general activities at the office and see where you can best mimic those activities.  We do notice the text messages that you send, the T-shirts that you wear, the extra time you take smoking and the fact that you show up 5 minutes late as opposed to 5 minutes early.  Nearly every boss looks out side of his office at 5:35PM once a week or so … just to see who is still around. 

Some Quick Tips That Annoy Bosses and Put Your Job At Risk

• 5 Minute Employees – The ones that show up 5 minutes late, leave 5 minutes early, take 5 minutes extra at lunch and take 5 minute phone breaks.  It isn’t the 5 minutes, it is the message it sends and the lack of respect for the company, your fellow employees and me.
• 1/2 Talk – 1/2 Work – Employees always have to interact to accomplish their  jobs but it is the ones that mix business with pleasure every time.  You go over to the desk of a fellow employee to discuss something and then talk about American Idol .  Not only are you wasting your time, you are wasting other peoples time
• Your Phone – My Time – When I first starting working after college, I never made personal calls. Now everyone assumes that since it is their cell phone, they can take and make as many calls as they want.  It is still my time and I am paying you for it.
• Negativity – Bad mouthing other employees or me.  It permeates the office and it really annoys us.  If you assume that you can tell your best friend something and it won’t get back to me, you are wrong.   The only thing people like to do more than bad mouthing the boss, is telling the boss what other people are saying.

What Do You Do To Make Yourself More Valuable and Assist in Keeping Your Job

• Be Helpful - By being the person that does things that are not within his or her general job responsibilities and doing them correctly, that person eventually becomes the go to person for the boss.  Letting the go to person go becomes a personal inconvenience to the boss.
• Be Positive – remember, the boss has to come to work every day and they want to enjoy their environment.  We don’t want to be around negative, unhappy people.
• Multi Task- if there are other functions within the company that will make you more valuable, learn them but learn them on your own time.  Every baseball team has a utility infielder, it is easier than having an extra player at each position.
• Do your Job Well – no matter how helpful, positive or multi talented you are, if you don’t do what you are hired to do well, everything else is irrelevant.

StarReviews Top 3 Job Search Websites

1) Monster

2) CareerBuilder

3) The Ladders

Compare All Job Search Websites

No boss likes to lay people off for any reason but when we have to do it, we let go of the people who will be missed then least.  If you are sitting at your desk and realize that they can split up your daily responsibilities among a few of your co-workers without skipping a beat … assume you are going to be the first to go in this tough economy.

Tags: Jobs