We all have work experiences, right? I started working when I was 14, I am now 50. I have seen a lot and been through a lot at work. I have picked up a lot along the way, here are 5 things I have learned while working that I feel are super important:

Advocating for yourself: If you are lucky, you have a great boss who will go to the wall for you. If you are like most of us, you don’t have that luxury. When its your review, when you have completed a project and when the company is going through transitions, you have to advocate for yourself. Ask for good raises, point out you did project “X”, affirm why you are an asset. Keeping the boss happy: This will be very unpopular but its an important lesson to learn. It requires a pretty large degree of humility but if you can keep your boss happy you will be happy at work. I mean this of course within reasonable context, but the bottom line is when my boss at work asks me to do something I try and do it as quickly and efficiently as I can. This simple thing, while challenging at times, has resulted in my getting good raises and bonus’s over the years. Keep showing up: Excessive absences create negative conditions as work still has to get done. If you are out a lot, someone else has to pick up your slack. If you show up everyday chances are, you’re picking up slack for others. This is extremely valuable, at the end of the day companies want work done they are less concerned with how you feel about it. If you show up everyday this enables the first item, advocating for yourself to be an easier sell. Deal with issues early: When you put a group of people together inevitably something happens, or people don’t get along. The last thing you want is someone bad mouthing you behind your back. If you have a problem with someone at work, even if its not your fault get it resolved. I’ve seen several examples of people being undermined at work but unhappy people. Deal with it quickly. Its about the money: You are 1 of 2 people in my opinion when it comes to work. You love what you do and are thrilled to do it, or you go to work to get money to do the things you love. Know your value, at all times. Every quarter you should be looking up online what someone with your degree and experience is being paid in your area. Don’t be lulled into benefits packages (they are nice, don’t get me wrong) or “corporate culture” memes from HR. Money is why you are working, the more you have the more things you can do with it.

I’ve got another 10-15 years left of work, how long do you have and what are your biggest take away’ s from working?

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