Take that! Make sure you create an impression

The ability to blend into the background is a skill just perfect for the moment when you realise that you’re the one responsible for spelling the company’s name wrong on the front cover of the annual report. Utter stuff-ups aside, however, your career generally fares best when the right people notice what you’re up to.

1. Do something interesting. New graduates without much work experience should use their gap year to take up an activity that will add zip to their CV. Adrian Starkey, a practice director at SHL (UK), a company that specialises in workplace psychometrics, says that one job applicant got his attention by listing an interest in scuba diving. “There are so many graduates that employers want to be able to distinguish someone.”

2. Focus. Aim to get very good at two or three things — true expertise stands out. Gabriella Goddard, a personal branding consultant, says concentrating on one or two of your strengths won’t box you in for your entire career. “It just gives you a solid base,” she says. “You can reposition yourself in time, like Madonna.”

3. Get on the committee. Both Starkey and Goddard are firm believers in networking by joining a professional body. Goddard suggests signing up while at university and volunteering for the social committee: free entrance to conferences, a great chance to learn everyone’s name, and a fantastic excuse to talk to interesting people. Networking is equally important for established employees, because the more people you know, the more people will know you.

4. Be authentic. “I can think of examples where people have made a strong impression but it has been undermined by the suspicions of those around them about their motivations and intentions,” says Starkey. Be honest about who you are. People will know if you’re not.

5. Flash your bits occasionally. Figuratively speaking, that is. It’s not immodest to talk to your boss and your peers about your achievements, as long as you don’t gloat, Goddard says. “What’s the point in being the company’s best-kept secret if it means watching other people get promoted?”

6. Let others sing your praises. “Don’t always blow your own trumpet,” Starkey says. “Some of the most powerful positive messages come when other people talk up your achievements.”

7. Be nice. And not just to the boss. Remember point 4, because fakery will out. “There will be suspicions if you are always the one standing up to be counted and always treading on other people’s toes to do it,” Starkey says.

8. No one loves a critic. The person who is always finding fault is likely to get a reputation as a troublemaker; the person who suggests solutions will be asked to present them to the MD.

9. Write all about it. Company newsletters are usually crying out for stories, Goddard says. Hit two birds by being the helpful person who provides copy and getting your name in print; bonus points if you’re writing about the £1,200 your team raised for the firm’s official charity.

10. Speak your mind. If you know what you’re talking about, tell someone. Conferences, breakfasts, in-house training sessions; there are all sorts of opportunities to share your knowledge while getting your name in lights, or at least on to a PowerPoint slide.