The path to success isn't that rocky

Common sense, hard work, and reliability will take you far..

Published on June 1, 2005 By Draginol In Business

Whenever I talk to someone looking for a job, I'm amazed at how often they are down on their own abilities. What they don't realize is that the issue isn't always so much how good they are but rather how awful their competitors for many positions are.

Since finding myself on the employing end of the business line, I've been shocked at how often people given every opportunity to succeed will still blow it. Even when the position requires just showing up on time (or close to it) and answering emails, it's amazing how many people can't even do that.

The people I've been forced to fire over the years have largely had these things in common:

Didn't show up to work on time repeatedly (as in, typically would show up a half hour or more late - even after being warned several times).
Didn't show up at all -- just didn't come in.
Flagrantly didn't get their work done due to messing around (example: Job is to answer customer emails, but only manages to send out a half dozen per day, rest of time clearly spent browsing the web, playing games, etc.)
Doing something unscrupulous (going on other people's machines snooping, going into manager's offices to look through their files, etc.)

Time and time again though it's the same story. People blatantly not doing what they're supposed to be doing. Playing video games instead of working or not showing up, or doing something flagrantly dishonest. In the US, the path to success or at least doing reasonably well is not full of obstacles. And yet, people manage to blow it anyway. And I bet if you talked to any of these people, they would find excuses (another consistency, it's never their fault, it's always the world conspiring against them) to justify their actions/behavior/consistent lateness.

For many office positions, all it takes is some hard work, reliability, and integrity to get in on that ground floor. From there, you can rise as high as your ability, ambition, and desires can take you.

Comments (Page 2)

Gideon MacLeish

on Jun 02, 2005

We also have an "honesty" policy at Stardock. If you are looking for another job- don't hide it. Let us know so that we can find a replacement. In return, we understand if you go to a job interview and we'll give a good parting review

That's rare. Most companies I have worked for will make your life a living hell if you tell them you're looking for another job.

mick_k

on Jun 02, 2005

I still enjoyed the work while I was there Travis. We did something that was unique and went up against some huge corporations and beat them. Also the same software was still being sold 5 years after I left and still stacked up well against what some of the big corporations were offering. It felt good knowing you were responsilbe for that.

Biggest regret is giving up the best working years and not having anything to show for it. There is no way I can put in as many hours now as I did when I worked there. Working that long and hard with no break definately put a toll on my health.

Dr Guy

on Jun 02, 2005

That's rare. Most companies I have worked for will make your life a living hell if you tell them you're looking for another job.

That is my experience as well. Some even fire you outright. Something about company loyalty and all.

joeKnowledge

on Jun 03, 2005

I guess allot of peoples experiences are just different. I know of people who work hard, try to make inroads into something just to get pushed out by someone who doesn't know squat but knows someone and they are in. Time and time again.

Common sense, hard work, and reliability will take you far, but it still does not mean that road will not be rocky. Hard work creates opportunities (like going to and finishing college) but without an opportunity to work, find a position (remember, there is a whole lot of competition out there, someone is just NOT going to get that opportunity), and make career moves. All while taking risks (like quitting without having another job or taking 2 full time jobs),
This might give you an idea on how one persons view on life and how to be a success con be blurred by their experiences.

My experiences were awful, and so are many I have met, so I came to a conclusion of just working hard isn't enough; there has to be other factors in becoming a success that are out of your control. All you can do is be the best you can be and hope you get the opportunity to make a move. I was harassed at work, threatened, called names all while my life was put at risk. Created a situation where I have hypertension and, without Medicaid, I would have quite literally died (most likely of a stroke). Some of the social programs (yes, I know, they can be better, but without them we all would be worst) that some malign as being useless and totally wasteful actually give people a chance to make use of the hard work they should be doing in the first place. Opportunity: without it, hard work is no more than a chance in the dark with a hope that it works.

I now am working for UPS, of which actually has a real program for entry level employees that when you show hard work, punctuality, and an interest in the company, you can move up (quite quickly and easily.. if you call working hard easy

) Many people have moved up in a matter of 2 months to longer work hours and a larger pay scale. Other became part time (that's right part time) managers earning 30,000 a year with bonuses for doing well. If you walk through the parking lot you will see (at least half of the car there) brand new cars and well kept cars. At UPS, you can work hard, have common sense and be reliable and it will take you far. Many don't see it because they are breaking their backs taking out boxes and sorting them like me, but I see this (and the fact that they pay for school, have medical coverage, many discounts, 401K, and stock options).

This is what I mean by the difference between working hard and being given an opportunity. UPS was not like that before the union (and no i am actually not to fond of unions, but in this case...) got in about 7 years ago. So NOW it is like that, and the funny thing is, UPS is making more money then ever before because they actually allow workers to move up and achieve if they are willing to work hard.

Many jobs are NOT like this therefore working hard can result in a hole lot of nothing, but given an opportunity and all of a sudden, there is change afoot. At UPS, I now actually have a chance to earn more, use my degree, finish school (grad school), find out more about business and technology. WHY? Because I got the job through a welfare office... the very same one that would not exist without your taxpayer money (and mine to at one point when I was earning something).

Travis

on Jun 03, 2005

Wow UPS must have been fixed right up after the Unions got in. I remember UPS being a horrible place to be, bad management, evil corporate overlords, the whole works. UPS guys that delivered to where I worked were always complaining about long hours, low pay, and terrible work environments. That's great to hear the Unions cleaned them up. I still feel there is a place for Unions and this is a clear example of why.

Management just blows at 90% of the companies i've ever worked at. The 10% that didn't blow were Union. Best of all, you had protections from being fired or being treated poorly, so you had job security, which made you feel like you were part of a team and not going to be "let go" at any possible moment on the whim of some corrupt manager. Given that, I wish more companies were unionized, I can think of more than a few that sure could use it.

Gideon MacLeish

on Jun 03, 2005

I've never understood this mindset at all. When I've held management positions, I've let those under me know that I would never hold it against them for trying to better their situation in life.

I've actually seen people dismissed by their employers immediately after giving their 30 day notice. This cost them a month's wages and set an example for others NOT to give notice.

mick_k

on Jun 03, 2005

In Canada you have to give 2 weeks notice and you will be paid for the 2 weeks even if the company wants you out right away. At the one company we had alot of people leaving the IT department. Most of them were escorted out right away and the just started in a new job right away and got the 2 weeks pay. Unfortunately I quit after the department was a little bare from all the people that left so they made me stay and work for the 2 weeks.

Dr Guy

on Jun 03, 2005

Unfortunately I quit after the department was a little bare from all the people that left so they made me stay and work for the 2 weeks.

Sometimes they do what their money's worth!

Draginol

on Jun 04, 2005

At Stardock, people who give a long notice are treated very well. People who leave Stardock sometimes eventually return or at the very least keep in contact with us in various ways.

I'm an engineer, I wanted to have a company that is a fun place to be at. I also recognize that other opportunities rise. Look at each good perosn you have working with you as a long term ally and youc an benefit when they go to other companies. Never burn a bridge.

joeKnowledge

on Jun 05, 2005

Yeah, good ole UPS! Its great there. Its allot of hard work moving 1100 boxes and hour for about 3 hours straight (there is a 10 minute break but they don't have to give us that).

You see, this is what I am trying to tell people here and what the different is between working hard/opportunity created from working hard and just plain opportunity:

The old UPS would have had me work like this with no benefits, no anything. Me showing up on time, making quota every time and so forth would have gotten no more than a pat on the back. Maybe 1 in 30 people (or less) would have been given the opportunity to move up. Period.

Now, people who are coming from welfare or just down on their luck can come into the company and if they, uh herm… work hard and do the things Frogboy listed here, they will actually move up and quite quickly I might add.

Please, don't get me wrong about hard work: it does open up some doors. The reality is that an open door does not work most of the time. The door OWNER must WELCOME THE PERSON INTO THE OPPERTUNITY. In another thread, little_whip's father took a risk (another part of the equation of making it) to find a place that he would be recognized as a valuable employee. Trust me when I say this: Many could just as well say that little_wip's father was irresponsible for leaving his wife and child and risking his personal health and life to travle across America looking for work. Taking a risk is not hard work, it is a decision. Me taking out 40,000 in school loans to get a dual MBA/MISM degree with a post Bachelorate IT degree to move from Architecture to technology was a risk, not hard work. The hard work was going to school and getting A's and B's for classes and then actually implementing what I learned on my own time through web projects like esourcemagazine and Announce Your Life.

I'm writing proposals to Goodwill/Public Assistance to help create a job network for themselves on-line using what I looked up myself and the education I received so far. That is hard work. An opportunity is someone saying to themselves, "Hmmmm... he would make a great consultant."

As I said before, I now work at UPS. Will they give me the opportunity to shine and a hard working employee or just think of me as some poor sap who 'made some stupid mistake' somewhere in his life and is just to dumb to take on real work?

If more employers were like Stardock and the current (IE not past) UPS, I wouldn't be writing about 'Hard Work does not equal you will make it' articles. I would not be saying opportunity is why people from Mexico practically kill themselves to come here to work (why not just stay where they are??? Oh yes, maybe its because of a lack of opportunity???). Maybe this is why, for generations, people from all over the world come here. Its opportunity: a chance to make it if you put down the effort to do so. Someone has to make sure opportunity exists; otherwise we are no different than USSR, Mexico, China...

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