Or how to help yourself at work Part 4 

I’ve written in the past about how to survive at a job you hate,  I wanted to add another quality that I only touched on in that post: being the go-to person.  Or,  the person people know will pick up their phone.

Sometimes we think of that as more of a curse then a blessing,  after all how are you supposed to get your work done if you constantly have people calling you?

Trust me,  this is a good thing.  You want to be known as the person with the answers,  the person who picks up the phone,  the person who gets stuff done instead of punting it. This is valuable at any phase in your career.

The other day I overheard the phrase “Call ____ she always answers the phone.”  At first this grated on my nerves because the person on the other end of the conversation was being pushed off to another department,  instead of the issue being resolved right there on the phone.  I didn’t know what the issue was or if it could have been resolved on the phone but  I felt for the person on the other end.  When you are trying to get something resolved no one wants to be told they have to call another number.

Then I thought about it some more and realized how great it was for that employee.  She has a solid reputation.  In her area of the company she is known for getting it done, answering the phone, being helpful,  getting answers; kind of like a Linchpin.

Regardless of your job situation,  love it,  hate it,  don’t care, be the person who answers the phone! The bigger a company gets the harder it can be to actually get anyone to answer the phone and provide the information you want.  When you have that information, give it out! It’s a great foundation for your reputation and  career!