Keeping a record of career accomplishments is an employee’s own responsibility. If a manager is accountable for ten people, they may not remember the special thing one team member did ten months ago. A person can make it easier on themselves and on their manager by keeping track of their accomplishments, and by letting managers know, specifically, what those accomplishments are. This becomes a powerful tactic when a juicy promotion becomes available.

Self-promotion and managing your career is part of your career. An employee should want to gain as much as they can during the course of their career, says guest expert Dan Rust. Self-promotional strategies should be genuine, positive and occur during the course of a normal workday.

Tactics to help you toot your own horn at work:

• Have a response for your boss when they ask how things are going.
• Make the most of your annual review.
• Make them see you sweat, BUT meet your deadlines.
• Offer to help others and tell your boss about it.
• Promote others.

The key is to not be anonymous. Make your ideas or insights known, during a conference call or meeting, even if the idea is incomplete. A study found that those who are willing to step forward with an unpopular idea, leave other people with a higher perception of them.

Furthering your career path is a game you can win!

Dan Rust Bio

Dan Rust is the founder of Frontline Learning, a publisher of corporate training resources. He regularly speaks on employee engagement, productivity and career management. Dan is also the author of a new book, Workplace Poker: Are You Playing the Game, Or Just Getting Played?, and more information can be found at his website Workplace Poker.

Ben’s Job Search Resources:

Keeping track of accomplishments is useful for many reasons, including resume creation or updates, annual reviews, and for realizing one’s value. Finding the time to pull all of your accomplishments together can be a difficult task in itself. This thorough article, Tools and Techniques for Brainstorming and Tracking Accomplishments from Livecareer.com includes information on journaling techniques, organizational apps and third-party validation ideas.

Jenna’s Find Your Dream Job Listener Question:

Ben, Jenna and Mac provide feedback to Brenda Somes’ question - “How does a super-qualified candidate get a serious employer to even talk to her?”

If you would like the team to answer a job-related question, email it to jenna@macslist.org or call her at 716-JOB-TALK. Or if you’ve found a job resource you think everyone should know about, send it to ben@macslist.org and tell him how it has helped you find your dream job.

These segments are sponsored by the 2016 edition of Hack the Hidden Job Market Course. The course launches November 1st - lock in your early bird pricing now.

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Opening and closing music for Find Your Dream Job provided by Freddy Trujillo, www.freddytrujillo.com.

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