Tuesday, December 13, 2005

43rd Day Of Internship At Batey Ads

I've found out that the best way to look busy in the office is to simultaneously bang the keyboard plus a stressed out facial expression. A messy hairdo is optional but it'll be good too. The sound of mouse clicks won't do you any good as it may only portray that you're either surfing the net senselessly or playing an online game.

Combination of keyboard-banging and mouse-clicking is good but if you get the ratio of both sounds incorrectly, it may only lead other people to think that you're chatting on an instant messaging programme.

When you're at it, please take notice of all the eyes on you. A few of my colleagues installed a small-round mirror onto their monitor so that they can identify instantly of anyone looking at what they're doing without turning their heads. If there were any awards for the best office equipment, this would be it.

Pretending to talk over the phone with business associates would get you out of the "Hey you! I've got something for you to do" situation that your boss would most likely to initiate. Depending on the nature of your work, the type of phones used can further enforce the realism factor of this pretentious, yet meaningful act. If you're in the sales line and are always on the move, handphone is the best. If your work requires you to stay in the office 3 quarter of your working hours, use the office phone on your desk.

Most employers are fully aware of employees exploiting the office phones and thus the existence of things like entering special dialing codes before making a phone call or dialing to the internal operator before being able to make a handphone call. Unless you're working in an IT firm or your boss is super tech-savvy, there's always a way to get away with it. Try to promote a good relationship with trustworthy, old-timer employees or your IT manager. Buy him lunch, flash at him, do whatever it takes to break the ice. Once they feel hot, ask them how to go about with the office phone.

At times, it's good to stay away from the computer and do it the old way. If you've got a magazine that has an article that you're interested in, photostat it and hide it below, in between your work-related papers. Read it discreetly with your left hand supporting your head to portray a sense of stress. If you feel that someone is behind watching you, quickly shift the work-related papers to cover your article.

If you have a blog, type your blog entries onto your Outlook under the 'Reply' column. Once it's done, paste it onto the web template. Do not type directly. If anyone were to pass by your desk, you may be able to fool them into thinking that you're replying a very tough client.

The abovementioned steps will be able to get you through to lunch time. Repeat the same steps above after your lunch during the 2nd half of your work day and the next thing you know, it's time to go home.

-:+:- Courtesy of an Account Executive -:+:-

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