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Tips to Keep From Being Fired

Is it ok to check personal email at work? Is it alright to be a couple minutes late back from lunch? Do they really mind if you bring home a stapler or two? We may all think we know what is the right and wrong in the workplace, but there may be a lot of little things you are doing to compromise your job status-that you aren’t even aware of. Sure, you may know you do them, but perhaps you don’t know how serious they are to your employer. Below, we take a closer look at some of the most common on the job mistakes people make to get themselves fired, to help you avoid them.

1.  Internet Use- One of the most abused aspects of a person’s employment is the amount of internet use that      is not work-related. Because-in this day and age-the internet is an integral part of most of our professions,      it is that much more available and therefore, can be that more enticing to use it for personal use. We’re not      saying that employers won’t be reasonable and let you check your personal email every once and awhile,      but when you start playing online games, planning vacations, or anything else that takes up more time      than you job duties-you probably will be fired. What most employees do not know is that their employers      can and do monitor their internet usage for just these reasons.

2.  Being Too Honest- Though honesty is the best policy, in the workplace you want to use honesty with      caution, as you can be too honest. This means telling your boss what you really think of him/her, telling                                                                        employees how they could improve their job performance, or a                                                                        client that their ideas are ignorant. Thoughyou may think that you                                                                        are doing them a favor by helping them to improve, the                                                                        workplace is not the place to let them know.They are not your                                                                        friends and this is how you pay the bills, and therefore, in all                                                                        things career-related youneed a strict attention to tact and                                                                        charm.

                                                         
                                                                  3.  Vacations/Sick Days- Another biggie on the reasons you could                                                                        beconsidered less than valuable at your job is if you take                                                                        a lotofvacations or call in sick a lot. Though  we all do                                                                        deservevacation timeand a day or two off when we get                                                                        sick,everythingin this categoryshould be used in moderation.If                                                                        you are planningvacations andcalling in sick all the time, you are                                                                        showing yourpriorities that arenot in line with your job. Also, not                                                                        being presentenough makes yourbosses consider you less                                                                        dependable as wellas someone whodoesn’t contribute value or                                                                        time to their goals.

                                                                  4.  Not Being on Time- Though this one is closely tied to      thepreviousno-no, it is just as valid. You may think that just showingup to yourjob is good enough-and a      testament to the respectyou have foryour position and company-but it isn’t. You must beon time as      well.Though most employers will allow theiremployees a handful of days to be late without reproach,      theydon’t take kindly to being tardy every day. Even if you have the best excuse, their business is a      business and must be run with schedule. By being late-yes, even by a few minutes-every day, you show      your superiors that you do not respect them as bosses or value the position you have at their company.

5.  Being an Exception: Another way to make your employer consider firing you is to act like you arespecial      when it comes to what you need for salary, schedule, tasks, etc. Though you may think thatyou are      different because you have kids that need to get to soccer at a certain time every day,andthat your      boss should understand why you have to leave early; you’re not. Everyone hasresponsibilities outside      of work, and making arrangements to take care of them must be made-without assuming your job will.