VIRGINIA CALCAGNI — Staff Writer
Words of advice come at many different times throughout life. Some might be a quote from someone famous, a song, something your mother or father used to say. It could be something that is meant to give you advice, or something that you feel guides you to the decisions you are trying to make in your life. Either way, most words stay with you for the longest time. But sometimes these words come from the least expected.
While I was at my internship a couple weeks ago, I received advice that I never thought would make sense until I actually took in the meaning behind what was said. “Work smart, not hard,” is what was said to me, and it really stuck with me.
“Work smart, not hard.” It really makes sense when you think about it. It is not meant to say don’t work hard, but don’t just focus on working hard. You have to mold yourself to the place that you strive to be.
This is also something that school books and teachers can’t teach us. Motto’s ways of thinking, a way of life, or how you mold yourself into being able to achieve something is what you do for yourself.
We are taught to work hard and almost ignore the use of common sense. It hit me when my internship advisor gave me this advice. The questions become clear. How do you make people notice you? Or make people like you?
We have all been in the position where we have wondered why we haven’t gotten a job or been offered a higher position, and it comes down to not working smart, but trying to work too hard.
There are always questions about whom you look up to and what gets you by, or why you desire the role you are going after. It is hard to stop and think about how you would be able to make their heads turn and say, “That is the person that I want to hire.”
You can work so hard, get all the work you need to done, and still get noticed. But someone who does less work and appeals to the needs of the business and people around them can end up with positions that some might not think where suited for them.
It also becomes nerve-wrecking when you start to think about all of this stuff and then think about the decreasing number of jobs in the job market.
How far exactly does the idea of appealing to the right people and selling yourself to the form of a company appeal as smart or foolish? You can’t put on an act at the end of the day. You have to have want and passion for what you are going after.
One of the best lessons I have learned is to not be a closed book. People like it when they can see a personality, and that helps them judge where they can possibly put them. But who am I to give job advice?
Plainly it is the fact that this is a conversation I had with someone who is supposed to be guiding me into my job future, wherever that future may lead me.
My point is the power of words and the inspiration you get from them can at times make our break what people see in you or think of what you have to bring to the table. I have seen this in places I have worked and also where I have interned. The people who are quiet and just try to do their jobs and excel at it tend to just stay at the position they are currently in. For some people that is OK; others are dying to move up.
It is amazing how a conversation and a piece of advice can completely change your view on what to do or how to act in the work place. All I know is that “work smart, not hard,” seems to be a route to start taking. It is almost like “Don’t worry be happy;” don’t stress it too hard. It will all come together if you go with your gut and your head. Hopefully.