You can Work Your Way to the Top

Now that summer is here and another round of graduates is embarking on the real world looking for jobs, some job advice is needed. Most college graduates end up feeling let down after realizing that they worked hard, studied hard, and paid a lot of money to get their education, and it still doesn’t seem to matter when they apply for a job. It will help you to understand that you won’t go from graduate to CEO in the time it takes to give one interview. Sometimes, you have to work your way to the top. A couple of assistants-turned-high power career women have offered the following advice for moving up in the workforce.

Be the Best “Insert Unamazing Job Title Here” Ever

Most people start off at the bottom of the totem pole. This is a good thing, however, because it means you have nowhere to go but up. Now that you are the lowest of the low in your company, don’t dwell on your crappy job stapling papers and making copies; make the best copies your boss has ever seen and staple those papers like a professional. Being the best at the most tedious of tasks shows your superiors that you are willing to work hard at even the most menial tasks, which means you will continue to work hard when your job is way more important.

Remove the Word “No” From Your Vocabulary

When you are doing your job, don’t let someone else mess it up for you. Think about the scene from The Devil Wears Prada when Meryl Streep’s character tells Anne Hathaway’s character that she wants a copy of the as yet unpublished Harry Potter novel for her daughters. Rather than weep and accept the fact that the book isn’t published yet, Anne Hathaway’s character asked just about every person on the planet to find her a copy – and she found one. That’s what you want to do at your job. Don’t let people tell you no; figure out how to bribe them, sweet-talk them, or scare them into giving you whatever it is that you need – within the law, of course.

Earn Respect

Don’t walk into your office on the first day of work expecting that your coworkers and boss will respect you: They won’t. You have to earn it. This means being a good employee, a good coworker, and a good person. Just do it, it’s not that hard.