How a messy desk can limit your career (VIDEO)

WASHINGTON – Hard workers have another reason to keep their desk clean as a new study shows employers take habits like organization into account when they promote from within.

The Career Builder survey shows 30 percent of employers would not promote someone if they have a messy desk.

So those extra layers of paper, tchotchke, mugs and pictures could be keeping hard workers from climbing the corporate ladder.

How Messy Are American Workers?

  • 33 percent consider themselves hoarders
  • 51 percent still have paper files in their office or desk
  • 38 percent admit that 50-100 percent of their desk surface is covered
  • 36 percent still have paper files that are at least a year old
  • 13 percent have paper files that are five years or older
  • 6 percent still can’t let go of files that are 10 years or older

source:MSN Careers

Most workplaces have notorious messy desk offenders. Here at WTOP, WFED’s Senior Correspondent Mike Causey holds the top honor. Causey’s desk boasts two feet of layered newspaper, packages and printed emails.

If you know someone with a messy desk that rivals Causey’s impressive years of layering, send a picture to webmail@wtop.com.

Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2012 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up