To get started on your journey as a modern professional, you have to understand how to build your career in the 21st century.
Many people follow the old-school method of dedicating themselves to their work by arriving at the office before 8 am and leaving after 7 pm. However, this is no longer sufficient to help people climb the career ladder. Building a career is now a huge enterprise, requiring many investments, numerous pivots, and knowledge of the best digital tools to get hired. It can be a daunting task if you are not sure where you want to be in your career. Many professionals spend late nights at work searching for answers and guidance to aid them in their pursuit of success.
Defining Your Professional Vision
Getting the most out of your career means making progress. In order to do that, you have to have an idea of where you want to go. Not necessarily in every detail, but just generally in the right direction. This can mean moving to a higher position just because it is a step up, only to be stuck in a role you don’t like. This is not ideal and is a waste of time. You have to think about your goals and consider whether or not your career is helping you to meet them. This is especially important when thinking about how your career will fit with your strengths and how it will affect your life outside of work.
So long as you’re building a body of work you can be proud of, then it does not matter if you are progressing vertically or horizontally. I was watching the rain outside my window a few years ago and realized I was working for a title that I had no interest in. To be of value as a modern professional, you have to be aware of your limitations as well as your skills. The next learning horizon is the next set of challenges that will help you grow in your career, and the only way to find out what they are is to take a chance on a new role, even if it doesn’t look like it’s going up.
Mastering the Subtle Art of Networking
There is much that is counterproductive in typical professional networking. Many people have gotten used to attending numerous receptions and workshops where they are expected to treat all people with the same amount of interest and to display enthusiasm for every speaker. And when they leave these events, they throw the business cards of the people they met into a drawer and forget about them. When they send a connection request on LinkedIn, they rarely think about whether it would be good for both of them. Modern professional networking, on the other hand, is about building relationships of a more permanent sort, where both sides can expect to gain from the relationship.
Rather than looking to ask someone what they can do for you, look to add value to the professional’s life, and you will see that opportunities will come your way. Share articles, leave feedback on work that someone has published, and connect the professional with someone in your network who also works in a similar area.
Connecting with others professionally on a high level requires more than the typical networking approach. Instead of looking for ways that others can be of help to you, you need to be looking for ways in which you can be of help. Write a note to someone in your network to thank them for a referral, to comment on a recent post, or to wish someone happy birthday. When you are always on the lookout for ways to be of help, opportunities will naturally arise, and you will be building a great network of contacts in the process. And as long as you continue to be of help to others in your network, those connections will continue to be of help to you as well.
Crafting a Compelling Professional Story
Your professional history is far more than a simple list of your previous job titles, responsibilities, and roles. Your professional history is your story of growth, of how you have solved problems, and of how you have overcome obstacles to become the professional that you are today. When talking to other people about your career, it is very important to clearly and confidently articulate your history. Explain where you started, describe the challenges that you have faced, and then explain how your experiences have prepared you to meet the challenges of your current career. If you can clearly and confidently articulate these things, then it is easy for other people to see the value that you bring to the table.
Just prior to an interview with a human, you’ll go through an initial screening by computer programs. These programs read through your written resume or cover letter to determine whether you’ve followed proper, and easily readable, formats and structures to sort you out for human consideration. Many turn to ATS-friendly resume templates to strengthen their applications and improve their chances of reaching hiring managers rather than being filtered out during the initial screening process.
Finally, once your credentials have made it past the automated screening, it is your human experience and professional accomplishments that will be the focal point of your application and interviews. Rather than highlighting the day-to-day responsibilities of your previous work, highlight the positive impact that you made at your place of work and how it led to specific accomplishments. The accomplishments that you chose to highlight should be measurable, such as improving an antiquated internal system, guiding a team through corporate upheaval, or even cutting costs to save a company money or increase production. These types of experiences are key to building a solid professional identity. As with any aspect of your life, it can be hard to acknowledge your accomplishments, but when it comes to your professional development, it is essential to take ownership of your successes.
Developing High Value Soft Skills
Technical skills will get you hired to your first job, but soft skills will get you promoted to leadership positions. And it is very rare to find people who possess highly valued soft skills. These are people who have the ability to listen to others, manage conflicts, and communicate clearly and effectively with others. These are the skills that help build successful teams and help companies achieve their goals. Leadership is not about having authority over others. Rather, it is about influencing others to achieve common goals.
Cultivate your ability to pause before you respond, particularly in crisis situations or during time-sensitive communications. People give more respect to someone who takes the time to formulate a thoughtful and measured response than to someone who delivers a hasty and potentially hurtful response.
Furthermore, to become better at your job, it is helpful to know how to deal with criticism in a healthy manner. Yes, it is natural to feel slightly offended by points of criticism; that is nothing in comparison to the gain that you can receive from the insight and feedback from others. There are a few people in this world who are not able to improve in some area or another, and those who are able to best improve themselves are those who are willing to act as if they are perpetual students of their trade.
Presenting Yourself with Intention
Presenting yourself in a professional manner can also extend to more than how you look (i.e. your wardrobe) and can also mean how you present yourself via speaking, your body language, your time management, and how you present yourself online. The respect that you show to your colleagues by turning up on time, being prepared for meetings, and fully committing to tasks at hand are examples of professional etiquette that transcend generations.
This is why it is so important to dress for the role you wish to achieve and also to ensure that what you are wearing is of good quality and fits you well so that you feel comfortable in it. If you look good, then you will feel good, and this will automatically come across to everyone around you. The same applies to your online presence, professional portfolio, and all public contributions. You must evaluate your online presence objectively and make sure that it reflects your desired professional identity and projects the right image to potential employers.
The Long Game of Professional Development
A career is not a sprint; it’s a marathon – long distance, and requires a lot of patience, a lot of perseverance, and many, many occasions to step outside of your comfort zone. The greatest enemy to growth and development in any area of your life is complacency. When you become too comfortable in any area of your life for too long a time, you stop learning and growing. And that is where your career will stagnate.
By taking responsibility for your professional development and carrying yourself with integrity and the highest standards of work, you will be able to thrive in any economic environment. This means reading books outside of your field of work, attending workshops, seminars, etc. that pertain to your industry, and seeking out a mentor who can challenge your way of thinking.