On my last day at work, a coworker/friend asked for a bit of time to give me some advice. He is 60+, and used to be a psychiatrist. Now he works as the QA of our company. I respect him very much, and know that he would only tell me something to help me and not to hurt me. So what did he tell me?
"I want to tell you this so that you can be successful at your next job. You can take it or leave it. But this is what I see.
1. You are too friendly and talk too much and talk too loud. You need to be more defensive. The more words you say, the more likely you will piss someone off.
2. Don't yawn in a meeting, it shows that you are not interested.
3. Don't slouch in your chair... ever! Even if your manager doesn't mind, the people walking by will see and think that you are goofing off.
4. Don't curse at your computer when your code/project is not working.
5. Protect your reputation by being more defensive. Because if you keep a professional reputation, then people won't be bugged when you ask them questions or for help. If your reputation is one of a goof, then people won't take you seriously and won't take your questions seriously."
When he said "defensive" he meant: keep a professional distance.
His advice is very valuable. When you work at a company for a while, you get comfortable with everyone. At this point it's too easy to expect people to give you the benefit of the doubt. But you must ALWAYS put your best foot forward at work. Other people may cut slack for Joe Schmoe, but they might not have the same perception of you. So when you go to work, find a good role model. Don't try to emulate the genius engineer who has terrible social skills. Instead, emulate the coworker who is well respected, well liked, and gets his work done.
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