Employers in today’s job market are looking for people with an attitude rather than just an aptitude for job success. Of course, they feel very lucky if they can get both in the same person and will believe they have won a prize employee.

Most young people focus on getting into the best school or getting trained for the highest paying career but pay little attention to the role that the proper attitude plays in job success. They often come to an employer with the attitude, “Here I am, what are you going to do for me?”

What are the attitudes of job success? Employers cite such attributes as enthusiasm, dedication, loyalty, getting along with others, taking responsibility, teamwork, punctuality, pride in appearance and a willingness to learn. In fact, Zig Ziglar, a renowned motivational speaker, states that of the 45 top qualities most employers are looking for, 35 of them are attitudes rather than skills.

Employers often choose whom they feel to be the best candidate for the job based on education and experience only to find that the highly skilled person consistently arrives late to work, argues with co-workers and is heard to loudly proclaim; “that’s not my job, they don’t pay me enough to do that.” They are, of course, the first to complain when someone else gets the promotion.

So how can you develop the qualities of success? The good news is that it costs less to develop an attitude than it does to learn a skill. The first step is to analyze what you hope to gain from the position. If you want to be successful in a job it is important to consider the long-term effect of your efforts. As in every aspect of life you have to give in order to get. An employer is not going to promote someone who is barely competent in his current position just because that person says they are capable of doing a higher-level job. Denise Bissonnette in her book, “30 Ways to Shine as a New Employee,” offers 8 important considerations that are essential in developing an attitude for success.

1. Livelihood is a journey, not a destination. Look at the “big picture.” If you plan to use your current position to get you where you want to go, you need to use this job so it works on your behalf. With a creative, positive attitude, you can develop the job into one you want to stay with for a long time while making yourself such a valuable asset to your employer that he will never want to see you leave.

2. Any job you do is worth doing well. The satisfaction you get from knowing that you have done your very best will increase your sense of self-satisfaction as well as your job satisfaction. There is no job too unworthy of doing well. If it is worth your valuable time to do it, it is worth doing to the best of your ability.

3. You’ll get as much from your job as you are willing to put into it. You must bring effort to your job if you expect to benefit from it. If you always volunteer to do more than is expected, you will build a reputation as a team player and a person who gets things done. In addition, you will learn valuable skills that you might not have an opportunity to learn in any other way or that would be very expensive if you had to attend school to learn them.

4. ATTITUDE Matters!! As any great card player can tell you, success in life comes not from holding a good hand, but from playing a poor hand well. We do not have control over the hand we are dealt but we are in control of how we play the hand. How you think about and respond to events is totally up to you and really makes the difference between success and failure.

5. It is the small daily choices you make that determine and shape your destiny. Keep your thoughts and energies focused on the areas where you have control. It has been said that people can be divided into three types: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder, “What happened?” By taking small, achievable steps every day on your job, you can become part of the group that makes thing happen.

6. Successful employees treat their employers as customers not caretakers. Just as the quality of a business’s customer service earns them repeat business so the quality of your service to your employer makes your job more secure. No one owes you a job and a successful employee will continually work to earn the right to remain employed with their employer.

7. Success on the job is related to skills and behaviors that are learnable. If you want to thrive on a job rather than just survive keep your focus on learning all you can to enhance your employability. And there is no better way to learn than by doing.

8. You want more from work than a paycheck. Everyone has the right and the ability to find joy in their work. Every job can and should work to benefit the worker. Work is not just about making a living but is about making a life.

 

By living by these principles you will find that instead of feeling that employers are taking advantage of you, you will actually begin to feel that you are taking advantage of them. They are paying you while teaching you valuable employment skills. You can enhance your job security not only with your current employer but will always be able to find employment regardless of state of the economy.