Context:
I'm a 24 year old, working in a small IT company ( mature start-up ) in Bangalore as Project coordinator/manager. I deal with international clients because of my language skills and make sure their requirements are met.
This is my first job, and I have no IT background. I'm a language person ( the speaking kind ) and I still wonder how I ended up in coordination/Project Management- ish role. All the knowledge I've gathered about the tech side has been through spending nights watching YT, searching online, and asking chatGPT/developers to explain me.
Here's the problem:
I am trying to learn how to 'show' my work. It's convention in corporate that even if you're not working, you must 'show' that you're working, adding value, getting things done.
I've faced a lot of brunt saying that I'm not adding much value to any of the projects I work on, whereas I am confident I do my best and ensure things are done on time.
I'm not blind, and only human, so I compare myself to my peers and see they're more 'seen' and recognised for the work they do.
I simply haven't quite learnt it yet. So here I am, asking from other fellow corporate workers.
Lastly, do you ever wonder why must I keep showing my work? If my senior ( in this case CEO ) doesn't notice/observe all the work I'm doing, there needs to be a change from their end too right? And I understand if it was an MNC with a huge strength. But our company's employee count is in double digits, and the coordinator count in single.
Would appreciate any help/tips y'all might have :)
Your first job is important & it is mostly a learning phase on how your career would look like in future. Coming to your question - from your post, it seems like you write well. That's a big win to begin with when it comes to big organisation. Your slight loss is that you are in a smaller organisation where bol-bachan matters less. Anyway, few things I do -
Assess - "What if I didn't do certain work? What would have been the impact?" (Gives you insight on whether you are doing meaningful works. At times we feel we are doing, but we are not)
Observe - "What are my peers doing extra?" Observation is the biggest power in corporate.
Listen - "How my peers are selling things?" You will find good communicators everywhere, see how they are killing it.
Seek feedback - Make everyone comfortable & seek feedback.
Training - Stand in front of mirror. Role play as if you are in an investment pitch. How would you sell your work?
Lastly, when you are in a communication, in a team, never tell you are special. Make them feel they are special. This is hard, but in long run, you win
Thanks a ton. Going to do all this before the next yearly reviews.
If you are in delivery there must be no escalations and SLA and CSI should be high that should earn more projects from reference that's the expectation..but if you are in leadership role revenue growth will be the yardstick and also margins. In your case it is the delivery excellence parameters and personal learning or acquired new competencies do matter
I tell you what to do:
Hope this helps ;)
Lol
Sounds ditto like my manager 😂
Plan a 2 week vacation and let this fall apart in your absence. Then your employer and your client will understand the meaning of your presence. It's tried and tested method,. although I once used it to clear all my dependencies so later I can ask for release.
This made me laugh a bit but logical, it's one of the right way to ask for a release.🙌
Have been working in startups since I started my career. Here are my two cents on getting visibility in a healthy way
Despite doing all this if the company fails to recognize your work then its not a YOU problem it is the company's culture.
Thanks a bunch, these sound insightful.
Document everything you do. Make it marketable.
Micro - Generate daily/weekly reports of your efforts and impact. Macro - Monthly/Quarterly/Annual reports.
Take initiatives beyond their expectations and proactively ask for feedback get their inputs on what's going well and what could be improved. Put it on the record as well.
Constant engagement helps, as long as you don't eat up too much of their time. You need to appear as someone they can delegate stuff to with confidence, without much supervision.
Also, words are of little value in the corporate world, so documentation helps.
That said, it's never all about the work you do. Be visible and create a rapport with all the key folks in the company, network well.
If it still doesn't work, ask yourself if they are adding enough value to your career or helping you grow in anyway, even with the challenges. If not, better pivot.
Good luck!
Everyone seems to be saying documentation is key. I feel like I'm asking basic questions, but what kind of reports? Like a reduction in number of escalations since I arrived? Increase in client satisfaction? Number of features I handled end to end?
@GeorgeJetson On point! This definitely makes a huge difference.
Not sure what you mean by dealing with international clients. But if you are one of those who deals or handles deals on service/ product then you can keep a track of them in a excel document or ppt as however you like , and the impact you skills created especially in figures and monetary terms like usage of percentage and financial numbers , this will greatly help but not all , if the organisation is not toxic and pays well then you can be proactive in some scenario showing your participation. But in all reality , just do the work you are given and maintain good relationship with peers and do your job without causing trouble should be it.
Talk about money more. Things will get easier.
At the end of the day, write down everything in a notebook or word document, you did that day. Give feedback and ask for feedback from your colleagues. That is a good place to start.
Thus requires a little bit of time, which currently my job does not give. But documentation is key, so I'll try to give it a shot.
No matter where you go, no one else has the responsibility or need to look at what your are doing or for your career. That's entirely on you! Managers, ceo etc have lot of things in their mind and lot of folks under them. They cannot really go and take note of what you are doing!
And who else can better explain what you are doing than yourself?
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