Career crisis | 7 signs your co-workers think you're dumb

Maintaining a respected position in your company isn’t just an aesthetically satisfying move; having the admiration of your peers and colleagues means that you’ll be considered before others for high-profile projects, asked for input in important decisions and even potentially fast-tracked for promotions.

Being respected can quite literally transform your career prospects. So how do you gain respect?

Obviously working hard and outputting consistently strong performance are the keys to gaining the respect of others, but these have to be coupled with the ability to cultivate a strong corporate image. This means, unfortunately, having to be conscious of your actions and measured at all times when in any corporate environments.

Many careers have been sabotaged when the lines between personal and corporate conduct are blurred. For example, colleagues will lose respect for you instantly if your office demeanour is professional, yet at work drinks events you drink too much and embarrass yourself.