Keeping your job is not hard to do as long as you do those things in your control with intent. Having worked at over twenty different places myself before I had ten years in the workplace, I saw many people, including myself commit job suicide. I also watched people excel while seemingly doing little actual work, by doing a few important things correctly.

The real key in keeping your current job lies in remembering how you felt when you found out you were going to be hired. Did you arrive at your current position through luck or did you do your homework, and get the needed skills to win your job. Did you feel special when you were hired?

Were you excited and elated over the possibilities of your job, or is it just another job? Many of my early jobs were just another job. Walk out one door and in another door. If your skills are in demand everywhere, there is always someone hiring, because someone like my previous self is always leaving.

Do you appreciate the job you have, do you feel special doing it? Think of the other people you work with as if you were their boss. They are your competition, how do they feel compared to how you feel about yourself. Do your feelings about your job stand out from theirs?

If you are not doing anything different than everyone else is doing for the same position, whether you keep your job, or someone else does is a roll of the dice. You are really just holding a position, and from the companies perspective, whether it is you, or someone else in that position does not really matter. In other words you are expendable.

Many people are their own worst enemies when it comes to both enjoying and keeping their job. I doubt many of them even are aware that they are doing it. As an extreme example is the work group rebel. Rebels tend to disagree more about their work than any other personality. Dissent is a good thing until the rebel crosses the line and dissents not only about the way the job is done, but the job itself.

Remember why you were hired. What were your initial hiring criteria? You were hired for a specific set of skills that need to be done. Many people after they become comfortable with their work, start rewriting the rules they will work under, deciding that certain areas are part of their job, and other tasks suddenly are not. Essentially they rewrite their job requirements, generally to their detriment.

Taking on and completing an extra task or two is very important, and they do not have to be critical tasks. Find something that needs to be done and do it. Show you are willing to do a little more than everyone else. This shows you care, and you want to be successful. You do want to take on tasks that compliment what you are currently doing. Do not take try to take on tasks outside of your area of influence unless it is of great benefit to the company as a whole and your boss approves.

Your boss or those above your boss are not your enemies. Making your boss an adversary through your attitude, or actions is a sure way to start the process of looking for a new job. You boss and those above your boss need you as much as you need them. They can not be successful without you position being successful. Being abrasive, or difficult to approach is not a character trait you want from your bosses perspective. Your boss has his or her own problems same as you do. They do not want their job to be more difficult than it has to be.

Most people in their daily work, are not mindful of these few indicators of job success. Your boss will focus on what is important, and that changes all the time. They will remember when they have to make decision about you, what type of employee you are. The decisions your boss makes that effect you are your raise, advancement, opportunities, and contributions to the company. You want to be more than a random name drawn from a hat when it comes to your future.