The road to success in one’s career or job search can often be unpredictable, unexpected, or counter-intuitive; however, there are a few traits that the most successful among us seem to have in common. In her article “The Three Things All People Who Get Promoted Have in Common,” Forbes contributor William Arruda identifies three promotion-worthy attitudes and approaches most frequently adopted by successful people. Even if you aren’t settled in a career yet, expressing these qualities during an interview will show your potential employer exactly what you bring to the table and how you would fit in with the company.

  1. Go “Above and Beyond.” Simply showing up to work to clock in and clock out will not prove to your employer that you want to be there, that you want to contribute to the company’s overall success and advancement. How can you add value and avoid becoming just another body taking up office space?
  2. Show that you possess the skills and knowledge necessary for the new position. This goes hand and hand with adding value and going above the call of duty mentioned above; in order to receive a promotion you must first demonstrate your ability to take on more than what your current job description outlines.
  3. Be committed. If you can manage to incorporate the first two points in your daily experience at work, being committed to your company should follow naturally.

Photo: “Ladder” by Terra-Lee Gratton, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 License.