Developing your career is incredibly important, seeing as how it will benefit both your private life and your professional aspirations. By earning more, getting more respect, and feeling proud about what you do, you’ll get self-confidence and generally improve your own feeling of self-value. Still, professional development is a rocky road and it takes some skill, and determination but also a strategy to make all of this come together. Here are the top seven professional development strategies that are bound to give you the results you need.
- Do your research on the subject matter
The first thing you need to do in order to grow your career is to do some research on the position that you plan to assume in the future. What are some of the main responsibilities? Are there any skills that are requirements for a person in this position? Once you wrap up your research, you’ll finally get an idea of what you need to work on in order to get there. Also, you might get an idea of what kind of a starting position you should pick so that you set yourself on this path.
- Develop a decent network of contacts
The next thing you need to understand is the importance of becoming better at establishing business contacts. No matter how hard you try, you just can’t make success on your own. You can’t advance in any company unless your superiors appreciate you. It’s also impossible to run a successful project if your coworkers don’t respect you and if you don’t have decent communication. This is why it’s a good idea to learn how to become better at networking.
- Make some goals
Making a goal is quite simple – you take a dream and give it a realistic deadline. Still, setting major goals can be quite misleading and it’s something that you can’t always control. For instance, becoming a team leader by the next year is not necessarily up to you. Even if you do all that’s in your power, there might not be a job opening by that point. Also, management bias is a huge adversary on this path. Instead, set only goals that you can control. Try not to miss any deadline in the next six months. Finish that extra course that you’ve planned on taking. Improve your skills. These few habits can make a massive difference.
- Set a self-improvement budget
Running a business doesn’t mean just owning assets with the capacity to earn you money. In a way, your own skills are such assets as well. So, in order to improve them, you need to invest in them. You should start by setting a self-improvement budget and dedicate a part of your time to hone and develop these skills. For instance, if you are working as a makeup artist you can always look up specialist makeup courses and improve your skills. A certificate from a prestigious institution and, even more importantly, the knowledge acquired there can make a world of difference.
- Become more active online
In this day and age, the majority of people will check you out online before they ever start doing business with you. So, start with a brief audit of your social media profiles. While many people may argue that checking private social media accounts of your employees and potential employees is not fair or ethical, it’s still widely practised. Starting your own personal blog, maintaining a decent LinkedIn page and even starting your own website might be a good idea.
- Ask for more responsibility
Finally, you need to understand that management is always looking for someone who is ready to take the initiative. In other words, instead of waiting to be offered more responsibility, you need to be actively asking for it. Remember, once you move to a higher position, you will be asked to act independently and leap on the opportunity. Showing that you have this inside you is one of the best indicators that you have what it takes. Once the management recognizes this, they won’t be quick to dismiss your requests, even if they think it’s too early for your advancement.
In conclusion
The beauty of the above-listed seven tips lies in the fact that they’re universally applicable, regardless of your current position. Even if you don’t plan to climb the corporate structure but aim to grow your own business, instead, there are a number of tips on this list to help you advance. Self-investing, establishing a network of contacts and improving your lifestyle habits is always a good idea when it comes to forwarding your career.
Jasmine Anderson is a Sydney based lifestyle blogger and a toddler mom. She loves to spend quality time with her family, go thrifting, and spend just a little bit too much time on the internet.