How To Approach Your Career
Have you just finished campus? You could be looking for a job or maybe have landed your first job! How are you looking at your career? What comes to mind when you think about this journey you are about to start?
Most young professionals starting on their career, tend to think about making money! While that’s not a bad thing, it is best to know where you are headed in the long run. This helps you to have the proper mindset even as you start your career.
Having Goals
When starting your career, have some goals you are setting out to achieve. Have both short-term and long-term career goals. These will keep you motivated and hungry for more. They will keep you on your toes.
Goals also help you map out a career strategy. Which in turn assists you to keep on track and achieve your goal. Remember not to settle for less.
Consider both your strengths and weaknesses
What are your core strengths? What are you good at doing? Is it networking or writing? Know what your strengths and weaknesses are.
Play to your strengths and strengthen your weaknesses as well. While you are starting your career, you will be quick to notice where you are talented. If you can learn to maximize this area then you can easily compensate for your weak area.
However, this does not mean you should not work on the areas you fall short. Take time to learn and improve yourself in those areas. You may be excellent at doing networking but poor in your organization skills. Learning how to get organized and even use some tools to help you, will help you come out more all-rounded.
Adopting such a mindset will allow you to learn and grow faster in your career.
Develop Your Career Skills
Whatever skills you may have today, may not be adequate for the next step in your career. If you intend to grow, developing your skills is a must.
Attend as many workshops as possible that are relevant to your career. Take a course online and learn something new related to your field. Take time and research what is going on in the industry.
Individuals that improve their skills and update their skill set always stay relevant.
Go back to school and get a degree or master’s if necessary. To advance your career and get to the top you need to get educated. You must have some qualifications that show you are an expert at what you do!
Write research papers and participate in as many publications as you can. These will help improve your credibility as a professional and expert in the long run.
Remember a few years ago it was easy to be a cab driver without an app on your phone. Now you can hardly make money as a cab driver without some kind of app like Uber on your phone!
Stay on top of the trends and keep yourself informed. This way you will not only stay relevant but see new opportunities when they arrive.
Be prepared for opportunities
Opportunities are given to everyone! Someone once said that success happens when opportunity meets preparation. How prepared are you?
Most young professionals are hardly prepared when opportunities arise and end up missing them.
Get your basics updated. If you have been working on all the above areas, then you must keep your documents updated. These documents are your CV/ resume, cover letter, and LinkedIn profile. Ensure your references are also updated.
Some people are hired on LinkedIn without much of an interview because of their profile. Recruiters search for talent there and pick candidates there these days. Ensure it is detailed and optimized for recruitment. Here is an article on how to update your CV.
Be emotionally mature
In the work environment, it is good to learn to control your emotions. Learn how not to take everything personally. You can do this by practicing how to take responsibility and own up to your mistakes.
These are just some of the few ways you can practice being emotionally mature. Also, learn how to be empathetic and understanding others. Remember that in a workplace, you interact with different kinds of people. Therefore having the capacity to understand each other is vital.
Emotionally mature people progress well in their careers. In a tense situation, they handle crises well. They also have a good rapport with their colleagues.
Career Mentorship
In a fast and ever-changing world of careers, when starting it is easy to be confused. This is why our last tip is you should get a mentor.
A mentor will help you maintain a clear and objective view of your career. They can also give you advice that will help you advance your career. They should be someone more experienced than you.
Mentors will help you avoid mistakes and help you pace yourself properly. They will assist you to grow and can even help you network.
You can find mentors at work, seminars, or workshops. They can also be found by applying for mentorship programs. You can also have a friend be your mentor if they are more experienced than you.
When starting your career, you need to stay focused and have the right mindset. Do not give up when things get tough. Learning to be flexible and adjusting to new environments will also be helpful. Be open to changes and you will see yourself growing. This is how you can develop a winning mindset for your career.
Are you a young professional or a seasoned one? Are you a student trying to plan for their career? Tell us, what you found interesting in this article. Is there anything you would like us to explain further? We would like to hear back from you, and if you found this insightful please share it with others.
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