Exceed expectations.
It’s the easiest recipe for success around, yet it’s not as simple in practice as in theory. Instead, you could get so caught up in workplace drama, social media connections or personal dreams that you forget the advice of  Dale Carnegie, the author of “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and the creator of a huge training company. Said Carnegie: “Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success.”
The persistence especially paired with critical thinking and creativity really can raise you up. My latest article in the Washington Post offers pointers to recent graduates and others who are stuck in a barista job when they know they should be the coffee shop’s marketing director. Turning a basic job into something better starts with your ability to excel.
So how do you do that, especially if you’re 23 and worried about your college loans and career path?  Here’s five approaches to help you “underpromise and over deliver” no matter what job you landed:
UNDERSTAND WHAT’S EXPECTED. Know the basic requirements of the job – and the measures of success that will be applied to you and your boss. Sometimes these are not what they seem:  Pizza sales may be the mainstay of the business, but if your shop owner has decided to diversify into salads and sandwiches, those may be the measures that really count.
Ask for a written job description. Ask coworkers for the real story. Ask questions about expectations – “What are the best ways to spend any extra time when things are slow?”  “What’s a benchmark of sales you’d like me to hit?” and “What else is expected of me?”  Then after you’ve been working for a few weeks, ask them again – and different ones again.
A CAN-DO, CREATIVE ATTITUDE.  Your attitude determines your altitude, as the saying goes. So choose one that will help you fly. Among the best: enthusiasm and energy, confidence, creativity, a willingness to take on new work, a willingness to do the dirty work, persistence, good humor and helpfulness.
Now you may not have these as natural parts of your personality. Then fake it. Put them on like you put on your comfortable sneakers or your apron.
INTENSE FOCUS.  Some young people think because they have an easy job – scooping Italian ice and selling lemonade for example – they can just take it easy, chat with friends and go with the flow or just hang out and daydream. They forget instructions; don’t watch the weather or disappoint customers. They forget to focus. It’s a big mistake.
To impress your boss, concentrate on all the big and little details of the job. Focus on making things run smoothly and making your mark.  By paying careful attention, you may come up with some great ideas to improve sales, or engage customers or organize the shop. By focusing on your job like a professional soccer player focuses on the game (World Cup or regional league), you will improve your game – and eventually be a star.
EXTRA HOURS.  You may have a 7 hour 15 hour a week job. Yet you know that if you could work 20 hours, you’d really shine.  So do it – even if you aren’t paid for most of the extra time.
That’s how my former Newsday intern Julie managed herself – and managed to write more cover stories and feature articles than anyone else on an academic internship ever had. She chased stories on the weekends and stayed late to come up with better examples and quotes. She was amazing and impressed us with her efforts and her results. At the end of the internship, she had an excellent portfolio, some great experience – and excellent references.  (Julie now works for a National Public Radio station and from what I can tell still is a star.)
AMAZE THE BOSS. And if you can, impress the boss’ boss while you’re at it.
This is the most difficult to do, especially if you work for a boss who’s been around a while, or who has a cynical perspective or who has very high expectations, as I do. Small things – like bringing her coffee with the right amount of cream or a chocolate truffle – won’t work. Big things – like landing a new six-figure client or solving a situation that has dogged her for a month – will.
As a boss of Mity Nice, the Italian ice cart business I co-own, I’d be amazed if one of my teen employees hit $50 an hour in sales for two or three shifts in a row. And I’d be amazed if someone spent a couple of hours recruiting friends and others to our Facebook page – and doubled or tripled our count. And I’d be thrilled if someone discovered shortcuts for opening more quickly and efficiently, and taught everyone how to manage this feat.
In summary, you need to be a star in your starter job while reaching up for the step-up job and demonstrating your stellar talents for it. You need to exceed expectations.

If you want lots of vacation time for kayaking or hiking in India or Indiana, try to win a job at Great Harvest Bread, Clif Bar or New Belgium Brewery. After a year, their lucky workers earn 24 days or more of paid time off, according to Outside magazine.

Better yet, land at Livestrong, which encourages those with cancer to live well. and you’ll have unlimited paid vacation as long as you don’t abuse the privilege.

These companies make Outside magazine’s third annual best places to work list – 50 employers that understand work-life balance provides time for mountain climbing, extreme sports or travel to see untouched beaches or bayous.

The No. 1 company this year is Natural Habitat Adventures in Boulder, Colo., which grants 15 vacation days and profit sharing among other perks.  The company hires field staff and adventure travel guides who the company boasts, bring guests “face-to-face with a giant polar bear, reach out and pet a friendly gray whale, and sit amongst a family of mountain gorillas.”

Natural Habitat offers staffers free “site inspection travel,” Outside reports, and discounts of up to 80 percent for family members who want to see “wild and ancient China” or the shrines and elephants of Nepal. Neither staff nor customers are expected to rough it; they stay at hotels and lodges the company says are “specially chosen to bring you closer to nature and offer you an intimate look at the area without sacrificing comfort.”

Travel is a perk and a reward at several top companies. Staffers went whale watching days (at MindBody) or on a team-building white water rafting trip (Dominion Digital) while Realeflow took its crew on an all-expense paid cruise to the Bahamas last year.

If you’re thinking a vacation is just what you need, remember that one-quarter of American workers do not get paid vacations, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Vacation time for a worker with one year’s tenure varies from nothing to 19 days, with four in ten receiving 10 to 14 paid leisure days, the BLS reported.

Unlike most other best places to work lists, almost two-thirds of the Outside employers are small – fewer than 100 total workers. Many have 20 or fewer total staffers – enough to field a really good soccer team with a few colleagues to cheer from the sidelines. Only a handful qualify as big businesses with thousands of crew members- they are W.L. Gore and Associates, Eddie Bauer, Cheaseapeake Energy and Aspen Skiing Co.

Many of the best employers are clustered in Colorado, California or Oregon, and only a smattering are found in my home region of the Midwest. (Minneapolis has two – advertising/PR firm Carmichael Lynch and Quality Bicycle Products.)

Nearly two-thirds of the employers are in the outdoors industry, and many sound like fabulous places with great practices and values. Yet I could really see myself working at Paradigm Group, a Nashville, Tenn., employee benefits consultancy, or The Dream Program, a nonprofit youth mentoring organization, and at Natural Habitat, when they’re ready to have a full-time writer / blogger aboard.

The article and list are not posted yet, but eventually you’ll be able to see all 50 workplaces on Outside’s website.

For now, I’ll share this list of the top 10 best employers from Outside:

1. Natural Habitat Adventures Boulder, CO, travel  tour operator

2. NewBelgium Brewing Fort Collins, CO, brewery

3. Clif Bar & Company Berkeley, CA, organic food manufacturer

4. Smith Optics Ketchum, ID, sunglass manufacturer and goggles

5. Amer Sports Winter & Outdoor Co. Ogden, UT, outdoor gear and apparel

6. Rally Software Boulder, CO, project-management-software developer

7. Tabar, Inc. Bethel, CT, glove manufacturer

8.  LeBoot Camp Dover, DE, online diet and weight-loss program

9.  Seventh Generation Burlington, VT, earth-friendly household products

10. Paradigm Group Nashville, TN, employee-benefits consulting

Outside’s third annual list of best places is chosen using confidential employee-satisfaction surveys and other materials chosen and analyzed by Best Companies Group of Harrisburg, Pa. The companies were ranked based on their ability to balance worker productivity with an active, eco-friendly lifestyle.

And if you don’t see a company on the list that suits you or is in your geographic boundaries,  you still can find a potential employer with high quality of worker life. A while ago, I wrote a piece about ways to scope out workplaces for the Washington Post.

And I wrote about an array of employers who make Fortune magazine’s best places to work list year after year in a blog post in January. I’m reposting it here (after a web hacker took out all my earlier posts).

“Better late than never” doesn’t work in tight economic times. And it especially doesn’t work for anyone whose paycheck comes from a retailer, a hotel or other hospitality employer.

Punctuality is preferable when jobs are scarce – and  more workers are arriving on time, a new CareerBuilder.com survey shows. Yet a few inventive staffers come up with crazy explanations for showing up late. Among the examples collected by CareerBuilder.com from hiring managers:

-”I dreamt I was at work already.”

-”I had an early morning gig as a clown.”

-”I had to go to the hospital because I drank anti-freeze.”

-”My dog swallowed my cell phone.”

And this one, clearly offered by someone who’s living on subsistance wages: “My car door fell off.”

The biggest reasons for running late: traffic and lack of sleep. Seven percent of the tardy types blamed their children’s preparations, or drop off at school or day care, and another seven percent blamed weather.

Overall though, fewer workers showed  up for work late in the last year, CareerBuilder reports, based on a HarrisInteractive survey of 5,231 full-time employees.

Some 16 percent admit to tardiness at least once a week, down from 20 percent in 2008. The margin of error was 1.8 percent. CareerBuilder says the tighter job market may contribute to less lateness.

Or perhaps workers got the message when a colleague was fired for oversleeping a few times.  One-third (34 percent) of employers surveyed by CareerBuilder say they have let go someone for arriving late, up a bit from the previous latecomers survey.

But some sectors are more of a stickler for on-time staff. Nearly two-thirds of the leisure and hospitality managers and half of retail managers surveyed said they had dismissed someone who was late, CareerBuilder said. Least likely to fire slow pokes were government and IT managers.

It’s not just the repeat offender who’s late every day who’s at risk. Based on a survey two years ago, one-fifth of employers said they’d likely fire someone who was late only one to three times. Another 8 percent would take that drastic step after four to six late arrivals.

As one who has shown up after the usual start time at more than one newspaper, I’m hoping this punctuality trend loses  momentum as the economy gains some. And I wish that all my bosses and yours fall in the 43 percent who said arrival time doesn’t matter as long as the work is done on time, and with high quality.

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If you need help getting to work on time, start by looking for motivation and time saving steps.

Allen Teal’s blog post on Socyberty offers 10 common-sense tips for on-time arrivals. Among them: Raise the priority you put on your job.

And Deb Gebeke with North Dakota State University Extension offers some good advice, aimed mostly at working Moms or Dads, on avoiding the morning rush. Have children make their own lunches, if they’re old enough. And remember to reward yourself if you arrive to work on time.

I won’t add any suggestions here, but welcome your best tips to be on time for work.