Jo blog - January 2008 Entries

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January 2008 Entries

At this time of the year, we often have customers who have decided that this year they want a new job. They have a clear goal of finding a new employer or job and moving away from their current environment.

This blog entry is not for those people. It is for those of you who have decided to stay in your current role for a bit longer and have returned to work after a holiday. It is easy to get back into the standard routine of things, but if you really want to maximise your career success, you need to be thinking smarter than that.

Like your physical health, fitness or relationships, you need to continue to invest time and energy to maintain or exceed your current level of satisfaction.

Ask yourself these questions. At the end of this year:

What do you want to have achieved at work?
What skills will you have developed?
What 'wins' do you want to add to your CV?
Who will notice your work this year?
What relationships will you have built or improved?
How will you be better positioned for a promotion?
What will you do better?
What kind of reference would you receive if you needed one?

I encourage my clients to set an imaginary exit date from their current job. It might be 12 months, 2 years or 5 years for example. With that exit date in mind, what should they be doing right now to achieve what they need to in their role? Although the exit date is imaginary, it puts a time constraint around their achievement in that role. This helps to take action to make most of this time.

Set yourself some career objectives today for this year based on your answers to the above questions. Think about 12 months from now and what will be different. Create a plan on how you will achieve your goals, and take one step towards them today.

Be proactive, planned and energetic and achieve your career goals for 2008 and watch your success soar.

If you want help with creating a Career Strategy or maximising your current success, visit our website at www.careeranalysts.co.nz or call Jo Mills on 09 353 0957 at Career Analysts for a confidential chat.

posted @ Wednesday, January 16, 2008 5:45 PM | Feedback (19) |

Become An Expert

What would it do for your career if you were more knowledgeable than others in your field? Had a broader understanding of your industry? Always knew the latest advancements, industry 'gossip', business deals or changes in your field?

At the very least it would increase your credibility. It could also raise your salary, your status and hone your ability to do a high quality job.

You don't have to be the most knowledgeable person in the world. You just need to surpass the people around you in terms of the depth of your knowledge. Even if you have 10% more product knowledge, have independently researched the latest programming code, or have read an overseas article about latest marketing strategies and can share your knowledge with others - you will stand out.

A lot of the time people think they have to return to tertiary study to become more qualified in their field. Sometimes this is true, but there is a significant amount of hands on practical knowledge that you can gain by personal application.

So how much time will you commit to being the best?

10 minutes? 20 minutes? Diary in a time every day where you can add to your knowledge.

Try:

Reading the newspaper every day focussing on headlines/articles about your area/industry
Subscribing to (and reading) industry/technical magazines
Searching the internet for particular key words
Receiving automatic RSS feeds
Reading non-fiction books
Watching movies, videos, documentaries etc that profile people in your industry
Going to networking events, seminars, conferences
Subscribing to newsletters (trust me, there are 1000s! to choose from)

With very little effort, you can become switched on to what is important in your field.

If you find this difficult or boring – then you seriously need to think about your choice of industry or job. People who are passionate about their work are naturally hungry for more information about it.

Start reading and learning!

Jo Mills

Jo is the Managing Director of Career Analysts. Career Strategies, Career Analysts work with you to maximise your career success, helping you to find and succeed in work suited to your motivations, talents, values and preferences. Go to www.careeranalysts.co.nz for more information.

posted @ Tuesday, January 08, 2008 12:33 PM | Feedback (21) |