Gone are the days when professionals could merely connect with a company and trust that their careers would expand and grow along with the business. Today, every professional who wants to maximize their career satisfaction must take matters into their own hands.
This is good news! It means that how you define “success” is largely up to you – and that choosing the tools you’ll use to reach that goal is up to you as well. Here are five easy career adjustments that can help you identify and pursue your career success:
- Know what you want. If you haven’t asked yourself “what do I really want in my career?”, now is a good time to start. Make an inventory of your interests, your strengths, and your work preferences. Think about the types of work environments in which you excel – and the ones in which you do badly. Ask yourself what you’d most like to do with your life, both inside and outside work. The more you know about what you want, the easier it is to move in directions that maximize the things you want and minimize the things you don’t.
- Try a new challenge. Reaching outside your comfort zone can teach you things about yourself and your work that you didn’t realize before. Even if you’re planning to stick with your current job at the moment, try changing your approach or your attitude. Ask for an assignment or project that is a bit outside your comfort zone.
- Meet new people. The world is full of fascinating people who can change your perspective, offer new opportunities, and help you learn more about yourself – all of which can help you find a great new career. Make a commitment to meeting at least one new person every day. You might start by contacting a recruiter who specializes in helping professionals in your field find career success!
- Toot your own horn. In our information-saturated world, it’s hard to get ahead merely by doing good work and keeping your head down. Instead, reach out and share what’s important to you and about your work. Start a blog, connect with other professionals on LinkedIn, and offer to help coworkers and supervisors tackle new projects by demonstrating and identifying your useful skills. You’ll put yourself “on the map” for others in your field and learn about new career opportunities at the same time.
- Don’t just wait for opportunities – seek them out. When is the next local job fair? Does your boss have a project he or she has been putting off that you could handle? What kind of cross-training between departments does your company offer, and does any of it sound like it would boost your career? Finding out the answers to these and similar questions will help you put your career on the right track. Even if you don’t seize every opportunity, merely knowing what’s available will allow you to make better decisions for yourself and to become a resource for colleagues.
At Burnett’s Staffing, our experienced recruiters can help you push your career in the right direction. Contact us today to learn more about our job opportunities in the greater Dallas area.