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Is Your Career on Track?Develop Your Skills to Attract Future Opportunities
Experience is the best teacher but the lessons don't have to come by chance. Don't wait for opportunities to come up; choose your lessons and create your luck.
Maybe the next promotion looks like it is several years away. Or, perhaps you’re reluctant to make a job change because of the uncertain economy. Whatever the reason, there’s no need to put career goals on hold. Instead, assign yourself new tasks or volunteer to work on new projects that will allow you to grow and broaden your horizons without necessarily changing jobs. To gain the skills you need for your long term career goals, you can identify a variety of developmental opportunities and incorporate them into your current job. Or, you can let your manager know what skills you’re trying to develop and, together, you can choose projects that will help you improve in those areas. Small Projects and Start-upsThese types of projects are available in any company. They provide opportunities to practice your influencing skills, learn new content quickly, work under time pressure and strict deadlines, deal with new groups of people, and assume more than just one role. Small Scope Fix-itsThese opportunities are great for team-building, developing individual ownership, improving your problem-solving and decision making abilities, and working under time pressure. Small Strategic ProjectsThese projects require a different approach and focus. You will need to switch from the operational to the strategic. These opportunities are great for developing your overall understanding of the business, your intuition, and for seeing how everything works together. Formal Courses and CoachingWhile research shows that we only retain a small percentage of the learning coming from formal courses, they are still a very useful developmental tool. Training courses provide intellectual stimulation, and, when coupled with a coaching component, they also create an environment conducive to increased self-awareness. Activities Outside WorkAny type of volunteer work or community service, taking an active role in professional organizations, or coaching children’s sports teams – they all provide you with numerous opportunities to develop your leadership skills, team-building and relationship-building abilities, and work with new people in a non-threatening environment. Since your work is strictly on a voluntary basis, the pressure associated with the possibility of “failing” is less obvious. Finally, be aware that for true learning to take place, you must commit to trying new activities and approaching them in new ways. Don’t assume that you already know the best way to approach something. To really learn from the situation, you need to do things differently and be open to new suggestions and ideas, even if that means getting out of your comfort zone. "The mind is like a parachute, it works best when open." (Anonymous)
The copyright of the article Is Your Career on Track? in Human Resources Management is owned by IULIA MIHAI. Permission to republish Is Your Career on Track? in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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