Last Hired, Most Valued

You’ve heard the expression, “Last hired, first fired,” right? This is the idea that employees with the longest time on the job have the most seniority and therefore should be the last to be let go if an organization has to downsize. However, in today’s marketplace, your cost-benefit ratio to the organization will likely be what decides whether you stay or go in a downturn.

I’m Katherine Akbar, the president of YES Career Coaching & Resume Writing Services. In this video, I’ll share three ideas on how to make yourself the most valued employee even if you are the last hired.

To figure out how to be the most valued, you must think like your bosses. First, I strongly recommend using Interview Aikido to find out what goals your bosses have and how you can help them achieve them.

What does this mean? Interview Aikido is our proprietary technique for asking great questions and building rapport.

So, for example, request a meeting with your supervisor and—with your supervisor’s buy-in—your supervisor’s supervisor. Ask great questions and take notes.

Some questions to ask could be, “What are your goals for the next year? Where do you need a breakthrough? How can we leverage my skill set to be the most helpful?”

Express empathy and understanding of each point; never argue. If you see something differently, ask for clarification.

Then go home and meditate on the stuck areas and brainstorm creative ideas that could be helpful. Go back to the boss and share them, getting their buy-in for you to go ahead on the best ideas.

Number two. Be sure, as you are solving problems, you are also taking care of your main responsibilities, of course. Be organized, work hard, take responsibility when you mess up, and treat everyone better than you think they deserve.

That leads to my third point: be sure you get along with everyone. If you have colleagues who try your patience or rub you the wrong way, challenge yourself to the game of finding out how to be the office jerk whisperer or figuring out what you love about them.

Focusing on people’s flaws is easy, but the consummate professional goes the extra mile to make friends and influence people. And remember, you never know when someone “unimportant” could be more influential than you think.