Happy New Year!!
I do hope your had a restful Christmas and New year holiday season and have started your new year on a positive note. The New Year presents a perfect moment to move your career in the right direction. This being the second week of January, I know you have already come up with a list of things you want to start or improve on career wise this year.
Whether a pay rise, promotion or a new job are among your resolutions, these 5 career resolutions are going to help you grow professionally.
- Build on firm foundations
As a professional, you are a bundle of skills, qualifications and capabilities. When you are job seeking you are selling a product or a commodity. Commit to develop a killer resume that best illustrates your skills, qualifications and capabilities.
Your CV is the most financially important document you will ever own. When your CV works, you work and when it doesn’t you don’t. Your CV is the basic marketing device that introduces you to the professional world. If you write it properly it ensures that future/potential employers see you exactly as you would want to be seen.
- Expand on your skills set
Know what your major strengths are and most importantly, look to develop areas which you perceive as your weaknesses. Regularly update your CV so it doesn’t become a hassle when it comes to rewriting when a new opportunity arises. Make sure your CV reflects development and a clear strategic plan of the path you are taking towards a rewarding career.
Examine your weaknesses and look to develop areas which you perceive as weaknesses |
Also develop career management skills such as: how to write an outstanding resume, how to get job interviews, how to turn job interviews into job offers, how to secure your job and get promotions and how to strategize career changes
- Network and connect to your profession
Most of us don’t appreciate the importance of having a professional network, until they are in a job search and realize they don’t have one.
Through networking you might hear of opportunities that you would otherwise have missed |
Everyone knows networking is an important skill. Reconnect with professionals in your field, friends, family and colleagues. Through them you may hear of opportunities that you would otherwise have missed. After all, it’s often said that it is not what you know but who you know!
Make networking an ongoing career management responsibility as the people you network with could be holding the key to your dream job or big break in business. Of course, this requires that you build and nurture a professional network.
A good way to build your professional network is to join LinkedIn and become actively involved with profession specific groups. This will help you increase your contacts, credibility and visibility as a professional.
- Be proactive and alert at work
Most companies nowadays organize training and professional development courses for their staff. Jump at any available opportunities to improve on your professional skills as such skills will come in handy at some point.
Ensure that that each day provides an opportunity for you to learn something new. Be it from reading up on industry developments or learning from colleagues; don’t let a day go by without learning a new thing. Grow and develop every day.
- Be willing to take risks
If an opportunity comes up, take it! Don’t be held back by anything. Try new things; volunteer to perform duties that you have never done before. You will not only learn from them but you will also get noticed in the process.
Even then, making a list of things you want to achieve in the new year is useless if you don’t follow through. Have a comprehensive plan on how you will achieve what you have set out to accomplish professionally. Remember, creating an actual plan will help you stick with your career related goals for the year. Don’t wait for things to happen, make them happen.
The entire team at Executive Edge wishes you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2016!
What are some of your resolutions for this year? Share with us on the comments section below