by Lisa Fagan

Created on: November 12, 2008

Now that you finally have a job, you have to do everything within your power to keep it. Not necessarily in that order, here are some of the reasons that people end up losing their jobs.

1. ATTENDANCE: Attendance is very important! The company wants to make sure that you get in there on time every single day. They are not going to pay you for not showing up. In my entire 31 years in the workforce, I have never been severely disciplined, or even fired from a job for attendance problems. If you can't make it in, call your boss right away and let him or her know. This has always been my number one rule! I now work for a company that is very strict about attendance. I am a part-time telephone agent, and they want you in your seat at your scheduled starting time and dialing. If not, then they mark you late. When I first started there, they said something to me a bout, and I wasn't even aware of it; but now I know. Because of public transportation schedules,I now get there at least a half an hour before my scheduled start time in order to get myself organized before I get started. I have even started between 15 minutes and a half an hor before my scheduled start time, and they really appreciate it. Attendance is something that I take very seriously, and I don't usually call out unless I have a very good reason!

2. EXCESSIVE LATENESS: Just like attendance, I've never been severely disciplined or fired from a job for excessive lateness either. And if I'm going to be late, I will simply call my boss and let him or her know. Excessive lateness, as well as attendance problems, is something that I try my best to avoid. Even in my experience in job hunting, I always find out what the hours are, as well as if there is adequate public transportation that would get me there on time. If I can't get there on time, as well as work the scheduled hours, I cannot work there. At least the employer appreciates my honesty.

3. INSUBORDINATION: Even if your boss is a pain in the you-know-what, never be insubordinate; unless they want you to do someting that is either illegal, unethical, or even against your principles. At my last job as a market research interviewer, I was trained on a survey where one of the questions mentions the male sex organ. I asked the office manager (who trained us on the survey), if I could be excused from the survey. She said yes, I went to the supervisor, and she put me on another survey. The next night, the office manager came up to me and wanted me to write

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