—Confucius
This cannot be emphasized enough – having a strong work ethic doesn’t mean you have to work 60 hours per week. There are plenty of people who “act” like they are working hard and hang around getting essentially nothing “real” done. The simple truth is that doing your job may mean taking on projects that aren’t part of your job description, learning new skills or even being the go-to person in the department.
Time and time again, being organized, dependable and willing to do whatever needs to get done – in other words being conscientious, is still and probably always will be, among the top indicators of job performance.