Whether you are on the verge of graduating or you have other plans to join (or re-join) the workforce, you need to look for ways to efficiently and effectively develop as a professional. You have to continually improve your strengths and/or your weaknesses, build good rapport with your co-workers and bosses, and be able to prove your worth to be the best employee you can be.
Related:3 Steps To Create Your Own Career Development Plan
New employees can sometimes be confused when trying to identify the right steps to take. Some end up in choosing the wrong job, and this creates obstructions in an otherwise bright career path.
Here are three career development tips that can help you achieve success with absolute confidence.
1. Polish Your Curriculum Vitae (CV)
A well-formatted CV is the ideal way to let your employers recognize your educational qualifications, work experiences and skills. You need to constantly revise it to keep potential employers up-to-date about your accomplishments.
It’s very important to design a CV properly, since it also plays a key role in making the first impression on people you haven't met. Remember, in today’s job market, you need to represent yourself in such a manner that your future employers are convinced they should hire you without having a single doubt. A legible and reader-friendly CV can work wonders for your career, especially if it highlights what makes you an employee that does more than the minimum required.
Distraction is a word you must wipe out of your career dictionary to achieve success. There are people who initially aim to equip themselves for their dream jobs. However, because of outside circumstances, their dream doesn’t get fulfilled. You need to be the exception in this respect.
If you have always dreamt of having a specific job, give your heart and soul to get it. Keep yourself updated on the news and developments within your industry. Never stop researching the employers who are hiring people for your position. Even if you have your own business, try finding out how others are performing in the same field. This would surely keep you informed of your competitors, which in turn would help you adopt strategies for staying ahead of them.
3. Look For Opportunities That Can Let You Lead
The more you accumulate experience at work, the easier it becomes to master leadership qualities. However, if you are new at work, you can’t expect to become a leader within a couple of months. This is a reason why graduates opt for career development courses like MBA's to qualify for managerial positions later.
Enroll in a course that can play a vital role in heightening your career prospects. If you are working and have no time to enroll in a full-time course, you can look for accredited online university courses. In fact, pursuing an online course will help you apply your course-based knowledge to your existing work, which will later help you lead in a top-notch organization.
There are other strategies that you can adopt for career development. However, the ones mentioned above are no doubt crucial and effective. If you keep them in mind, no one can stop you from achieving a bright future. That’s a promise!!
This post was originally published on an earlier date.Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Is your job search turning into a grind with no end in sight? It may be time to take a step back and reevaluate your entire approach.
In cold weather climates, the beginning of spring is a time to clean the house and get organized—a practice known as spring cleaning. Through the years, spring cleaning has taken on a larger meaning with people using the time to organize and declutter things in their lives.
For professionals on the job hunt, a little spring cleaning (metaphorically speaking) could be a great way to reinvigorate your job search. Here are a few strategies your job search spring cleaning should include.
Reevaluate Your Job Search Approach
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Make a list of the last handful of jobs you applied for and see if you can identify any positive or negative trends. Consider things like:
How did I learn about this job?
How did I apply for the job?
Did I earn an interview?
What was the ultimate result?
A lot can be learned about your job search approach just by answering these questions and identifying patterns. For example:
Negative Trends
You discovered five jobs through job boards, applied to all of them via the job boards, and never heard back from any of them.
The common pattern here is applying through job boards. This isn't to say that job boards don't serve a purpose in the job search process, but they have their limitations, and you can't run your job search entirely off of them. When you apply through a job board, there's a good chance that your materials will never get past the applicant tracking system (ATS) and never be seen by an actual person.
One simple fix is to research who the hiring manager or recruiter is that posted the position and email your materials to them directly.
The more efficient fix would be to take a proactive approach by putting together a bucket list of companies that you want to work for and start making connections on LinkedIn with people who work at those companies. You may already know some people who work there or have connections that can refer you to some individuals.
This is a great way to network your way onto a company's radar.
Positive Trends
You applied to three jobs via referral, were invited to two job interviews, and made it through multiple rounds of interviews for one of the jobs before being passed over for someone with a little more experience.
The pattern here is that getting referred to a job by a professional acquaintance is a great way to land a job interview. This indicates that you're leveraging your network well and you should continue to focus on your networking efforts.
The next step is to review the interview process and determine what went well and what needs to be improved. Sometimes the interviewer will provide feedback, and that feedback can be valuable. However, not everyone is comfortable with giving feedback.
Chances are you probably have a good idea about areas of improvement and the skills you need to gain. Put together a plan for addressing those shortfalls.
The good news in making it deep into any interview process is that it indicates that the company likes you as a potential employee (even if the timing just wasn't right) and the experience could be a roadmap to a job with that company at a later date, or another similar opportunity elsewhere.
Give Your Resume & Cover Letter Some Much-Needed Attention
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Are you continuously sending similar resumes and cover letters to each job opening with only minor adjustments? If so, your strategy needs some serious spring cleaning.
The reason why it's so important to tailor your resume is that throughout your career, you acquire numerous skills, but the job you're applying for may only be focusing on 6-8 of those skills. In that case, those skills must rise to the top of the resume with quantifiable examples of how you successfully used those skills at previous jobs.
Remember, recruiters go through hundreds of resumes. They need to be able to tell from a quick glance whether or not you're a potential candidate for the position.
While updating your resume, you could also spruce up your LinkedIn profile by highlighting the skill sets that you want to be noticed for by recruiters.
As for writing a good cover letter, the key to success is writing a disruptive cover letter. When you write a disruptive cover letter, you're basically telling a story. The story should focus on how you connect with the particular company and job position. The story could also focus on your personal journey, and how you got to where you currently are in your career.
If your resumes and cover letters aren't unique, now is the time to clean things up and get on track.
Build Your Personal Brand
Just because you're looking for work doesn't mean that you don't have anything to offer. Use previous career experiences and passions to build your personal brand.
Ask yourself, "How do I want other professionals to view me?"
Pick an area of expertise and start sharing your knowledge and experience with your professional network by pushing out content on your LinkedIn and social media accounts. Good content can include blogs, social media posts, and videos.
By sharing content about your experiences and passions, you slowly build your personal brand, and others will start to notice. The content could lead to good discussions with others in your network. It could also lead to reconnecting with connections that you haven't spoken to in years, or making new connections.
You never know when one of these connections could turn into a job lead or referral. The trick is to get on people's radars. So, when you're cleaning up your job search, be sure to build a plan for personal branding.
Maintain Healthy Habits During Your Job Search
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Your job search is important, but it's even more important to know when to pull back and focus on personal health and spending time with family and friends.
There are actually things that you can do for your own enjoyment that could help your job search in the long run, such as:
Grab coffee with a friend - It's good to engage in light conversation with friends during challenging times. And if your job search does come up, remember that most people have been through it themselves and you never know when a friend may provide you with a good idea or lead on a job.
Volunteer - Volunteering is a great way to get involved in the community and help others. In addition, if you develop a little bit of a career gap while looking for a job, you can always talk about how you filled that time volunteering, if you're asked about it during a job interview.
Continue to focus on other passions - Are you a fitness nut? Blogger? Crafter? Continue to do the things that bring you happiness. And if you're in a position to profit from your passion through a freelance job or side hustle, even better!
Spring is the perfect time to clean up and improve your job search so you can land the job you want. If you're struggling to find a job, follow the tips above to reinvigorate your job search—and watch your career blossom!
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This article was originally published at an earlier date.
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