5 Ways To Further Your Career In 2017
The following is a guest post by Noel Griffith. His bio follows.
Most of us use the end of a year to look back and reflect on how we’ve progressed, what we achieved, and set some goals for the New Year.
While I’m not a fan of waiting for the end of the year to take action, I am a huge advocate of setting career goals and the New Year is as good a reason as any to make some positive career changes.
If you’re feeling complacent, not enjoying your current job, need a raise, or just have that fire to learn some new skills – here are some starting points to give you that boost of motivation you need to make some changes this year.
Know Your Worth and Claim It
Undervaluing one’s self is one of the most common reasons people do not progress or get a raise. Even if you have been in the same role for a while and don’t feel like you have done much to further yourself, things change around you and so has your worth.
There are always two starting points I ask someone to look at:
- Take a look at similar roles in your industry and see if they are offering more than you’re being paid.
- Write down all the things you bring to your role you’ve gained through experience that a new starter would have to learn.
If both of these points show you should be being paid more, and I’m sure they will, take them to your manager.
Further Your Professional Development
You may be satisfied in your current role, and you may even enjoy going to work, but this doesn’t mean you should stop furthering development. There is no telling what tomorrow might bring, having some extra skills and professional qualifications to your name is always going to be beneficial.
Don’t be afraid to think outside of the box a little too. You don’t have to pursue qualifications directly related to what you do. There are plenty of courses that will compliment your career, or even set you up to enter a field. And it doesn’t have to be from traditional brick and mortar colleges. So, for example, if you had an interest in business and commerce, you could pursue an online Master of Commerce program.
Network More within Your Industry
Networking is one of the most powerful tools in the business world. Don’t worry, you don’t have to attend mixers and hand out business cards. A good place to start is updating your LinkedIn profile and connecting with some influencers in the same line of business.
Being noticed, and being available are two key aspects to attracting new career prospects. Keep casting a larger net and you will reel in more contacts. You never know when a new position or opportunity will arise, and being one of the first to find out puts you in a good position.
Put Together a Progression Proposal
A lot of people are perfectly happy in with their current employers and don’t want to shake things up by moving company. There is nothing wrong with this, but if you feel like this is doesn’t mean you can’t forge your own path to progression.
Write down all the extra skills you bring to your role and how you can either expand your role, or take on some workload from someone else. This ticks the boxes for showing initiative, progression, and will lead to more money and more skills you can use within your current role or take to a new company.
Do Some Freelancing
This is always a tough choice as we are already short for time when we work full-time. However, freelancing is entrepreneurial work, and being an entrepreneur means making sacrifices now so that you enjoy the benefits later.
There are numerous attractive benefits to doing some freelancing and many overlap some of the points raise in this article. Consider the following:
- You’ll earn some extra income
- It’s a great way to network and work with companies in your industry directly
- It may become your full-time career, along with all the perks of being your own boss
- You’ll grow professionally and add lots of new skills that transfer over to your day job
The only real drawback is the time. But like I said, the positives all but outweigh the negatives, and with plenty of online marketplaces and platforms to help you find clients it’s easier than it’s ever been.
In Summary
If you want to further your career in 2017 it starts with you. All of the points in this article will make a difference, you just need to take the first step. Here’s to 2017 being the most successful yet!
Noel Griffith
BIO
Noel Griffith has worked as a careers advisor and recruitment consultant for a number of years both on a one-to-one basis and with large corporations. Finding a passion for blogging and sharing his experiences with a wider audience in recent years you can find him at careerswiki.com, or contact him directly atcareerswiki1@gmail.com.
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