How to Get Noticed at Your Job

In past years, I got used to hearing the comment that “I fly under the radar.” It kindly translated to “You’ve been doing exceptional work that’s not noticed by others.” It was supposed to be encouraging because, while my work wasn’t always noticed in the past, it was getting noticed now. Even so, it really got me down. 

My previous strategy for career growth was such: clock-in, quietly do more than asked, and clock-out. Surely, my performance data was overflowing somewhere in a metaphorical stack and a promotion would soon follow. It took a few of my peers getting promoted before me, not being invited to interviews, and some key executives not knowing my name for me to realize that my strategy was insufficient. What I thought was independence was actually invisibility.

When I took ownership over why my work wasn’t standing out, I started to make gradual changes. If you also fly under the radar, I wanted to share some intentional steps I took to get noticed for my work.

Show Your Work

Like in math class, it’s not just correctly getting the final answer that matters, it’s proving that you took a logical route to get there. Allow others to evaluate your work in the same way a teacher evaluates how a student solves for x.

To put it into practice, here are a few examples:

• Rather than giving a final opinion in a meeting, first think your thoughts out loud as you sort through new information before expressing your conclusion. 
• During the weekly staff meeting, instead of zoning out, speak up for the first time to confirm your understanding of an issue.
• Swap out your anonymous email image for a clear photo of yourself to help link your face to your accomplishments.

By using this method, prepare yourself to have mistakes exposed, but take satisfaction when it happens. A public mistake can set a benchmark to measure how quickly you can grow from it. Improvement is commendable–not having ever messed up in the first place.

Fix A Shared Nuisance

When there's a known issue that affects more than one person, volunteer to resolve it. Sometimes other people don’t have the time, skills, or drive to work through it themselves. Stepping up to solve a problem like this is a good way to publicly show your capabilities to others. You can work out problems that affect just you all day long, but that doesn't help the goal of trying to get acknowledgment for your work.

If you discover a shared pain that you’re able to quell, you become someone who's in it for the good of the team. It can quickly lead to credit that you didn’t ask for, but you’ll receive it anyway.

Complain Up

Management is often hurting for people to say what they really think. Step into the role of providing honest, constructive feedback when appropriate, and you’ll instantly be in the minority. Typically, when employees are unhappy at work, they go to their peers and vent, but they don’t go to their managers (the people who can actually make a change).

Because giving feedback to people who rank higher than you is intimidating, it rarely happens. If you can have a difficult conversation with a supervisor, your maturity and confidence will help you to stand out.

Find An Advocate

There are people in every organization who naturally gravitate towards encouraging others. They make exceptional leaders, but they aren’t always in a leadership role. Wherever they are, find them. When you start to build a relationship with these people, they will tout your skills to anyone who asks or even to those who don’t.

I believe you need to help yourself, but if you also have someone publicly supporting you in the office, you won’t be invisible for very long.

Final Thoughts

The more you expose your work to others in a proactive manner, the more others will form an opinion about it. It doesn’t mean you’ll receive perfect marks, but your chances of being known can only increase. 

Allowing others to witness your style creates a portfolio of your contributions, builds a brand for yourself, and puts trust in your name.