Easy Ways to Boost Your Career Prospects
Your career prospects might not be looking so great right now, but that doesn’t mean it has to stay that way forever more. If you’re really serious about going places in your career, it’s time to start thinking about what you can do to make your chances of finding success a reality. That’s not to say that this journey is going to be easy or straightforward for you though.
Anyone who wants to achieve in their career can do with the right levels of application. Read on now to find out about the things that you really should be doing to get on the right track towards your career end goals.
Get Better at Networking
Networking is important because it allows you to make direct contact with the kinds of people who might be in positions to offer you career opportunities if you approach them in the right way. The better you get at networking, the easier it’ll be for you to make those connections and really impress the people that matter.
Know Your Own Value
This is one of the major things that’ll help you as you climb the career ladder. For instance, one of your connections opens a business in line with other startup companies in San Francisco, you have a greater chance to be part of the company if they’re open for a vacant position. This can also be a greater opportunity for you to get promoted immediately when they see your potential.
If you don’t know your own value, how will you ever show the world that you have something to offer? And how will you avoid being that person who is willing to accept a lower salary than they’re really worth? To get the most for yourself out of your career, you really do need to know your own value, and there is nothing arrogant about this at all. It’s something that you should definitely be giving some thought to right about now.
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Find Out More About Your Industry and Niche
Your industry probably has more layers to it than even you really realize. You should keep pushing in new directions and finding ways to improve your knowledge of your niche if you’re going to really make a success of your career. There are plenty of things to learn about, and if you can prove to employers that you’re interested in this stuff, they’ll see you in a more positive light.
Take a Relevant Training Course
If you want to go far in your career, it definitely makes sense to train in relevant ways. This will certainly boost your overall career prospects because it will show prospective employers that you’re the kind of person that can be relied on to get things done in a professional and capable way. The certificate you receive will be proof of that fact. Whether it’s manual woodwork training, or HTML training, it should be specific to your career aims. There is a lot of choice out there. Even in areas where you think that you won’t need a course of training, there is something that can be used to help you reach the next point in your career progression. For instance, you might think getting into the sporting industry requires you to be a sports person, however, thanks to courses like this football management master degree, you could instead find yourself in the position where you are the one calling the shots for players.
Don’t Forget the Importance of Challenging Yourself
It’s so easy to take a backseat and to just get on with the easy stuff in your job. But if you coast along like this, you’re probably never going to achieve the things you want to in your career, and that would obviously be a huge shame. It’s best to start doing what you can to challenge yourself and to find new ways of being pushed in new directions. Everyone needs that little push sometimes.
Put a Long-Term Plan in Place and Show Employers You’re Serious
Long-term planning is essential in any career, so don’t let yourself skip past this anytime soon. You will find that when you make an effort to plan things out in your career, you will be more inclined to put in the effort and work gradually towards the end goals that you’ve put in place. It will also show employers that you’re serious about improving and making strides forward in your career. That’s really important because employers love go-getters.
Stop Procrastinating So Much
If you spend all your time procrastinating and not getting much done, your career will also be languishing behind. You need to make sure that you stop this behavior as soon as you can and start finding ways to get work done more efficiently. We’re all capable of finding ways to procrastinate when we should be working, and we’ve all been there. But you can overcome it with the right approach.
Your career is one of the most important aspects of your life, and that’s not a bad thing. If you want to go as far as you possibly can in your career, you should definitely be looking for ways to make the right strides forward, and that’s what the ideas laid out here will help you to do.
25 Comments
Kate Sarsfield
So many important points here to even just get your foot in the door. Networking would be my downfall.
Mary Gardner
These are all important points. I really need to work on getting better at networking.
Tamra Phelps
I think you’re right about a long term plan. You really do need to know your end goal. You need to plan how you’ll get there, too.
Tamra Phelps
I’m almost glad I don’t have to compete in today’s business world, lol. It’s much more complicated today, with the internet sales, etc., but then, they can earn much more today.
Rosie
I’d go back to college if I could, but cannot afford it.
Tamra Phelps
I think the most difficult thing for me would be networking. I’m not much of a social butterfly, lol.
Rosie
The best way is to get a job through knowing someone, hands down. Not everyone can do that, though!
Tamra Phelps
Definitely don’t procrastinate. I’m guilty of that sometimes and it just wastes valuable time.
Kate Sarsfield
In my 40-odd years of working I’ve found that it’s still the case of not what you know but who you know. It may be because Ireland is such a small place. That being said, I completed another degree course in my 50s. I just like being challenged!
Crystal K
I would add that it can be helpful to read career advice from people within your specific field, whether it’s a blog or a book.
Tamra Phelps
Taking a new course sounds good. It can’t hurt to update your skills or learn a new skill.
Diane K. Brimmer
This is some really great information. Wish I had seen this a few decades ago. Networking would have really helped me at that point in my life.
Tamra Phelps
Know your own value is important. I’ve heard recent studies show that women tend to undervalue themselves. They are less likely to ask for a raise, and when they do, they ask for less than men would. Women need to recognize their value!
Rosie
Something that is more important now than days of yore is education. I see many people with master’s degrees for the same jobs that high school graduates or a few college courses would suffice. It is a starting point, and then also the networking. It is often who you know, more than what you know to get many promotions and leadership positions. Of course, for highly technical positions such as science you need the ph.d degree, but you need to keep publishing articles, etc. Can’t just get the great job and then figure you’re set to cruise!
Sarah L
Very excellent advice. Networking is how I got many of the jobs I’ve had.
Nikolina Vukelic
I really enjoyed reading the entire post, thank you for all the useful tips!
Rosie
These are good suggestions. I have found when many co-workers got laid off, they get a few rejections and fell apart and basically gave up. Some interviews were very rude when they saw the candidate was older. I’d add perseverance, too!
Karen R
These are great tips. My employer pays for a college class each semester. It increased my value to the company.
Kate Sarsfield
Most of the supermarkets in Ireland offer their staff management degree courses these days. The same applies in many other businesses. I did my (last) Hons. Degree a couple of years ago as my employer was able to avail of grants/tax breaks for encouraging the expertise of their staff. They paid 50% of the cost of the course & covered any days off I needed to take as well.
CJ
Stop Procrastinating. And more training. I think those are the most important. Good jobs need more and more skills. Even in retail there are courses some chains want their employees to take. Times we live in.
Dana Rodriguez
These are really great ideas. Showing employers you are serious and always open to learn new things has always done well for me in the past.
Natalie
I have found that networking is key to getting any job your truly want! It helps to have connections.
shelly peterson
Thanks for these wonderful ideas. Finding a job isn’t always easy.
mami2jcn
These are good tips for my son! He’s a big procrastinator.
Tamra Phelps
Women definitely need to know their value. So many women keep earning less because they are less likely to ask for a raise than men.