How to get your career to pole position
You may find yourself at a cross roads and you are not sure if you should change your career or shift into gear for that promotion.
Here are 10 ways to get your career into pole position and ensure you stay ahead of the race.
1. What is your current position
Talk to someone and identify if you want to stay on your career path or change it completely. Make a list of what you like and dislike in your current career and confide in friend, relative, or someone who can give you a good perspective.
Key personalities traits can be a key indicator in defining what career is right for you.
2. Your drive
Understand what motivates you, whether this is money, status, luxuries, holidays and be true to yourself. If money does motivate you, then put that at the top of your list and think about the career that will give you that level of money.
If helping others drives you, then you may decide to work with people in the caring profession.
Whatever the case, make career decisions for you, not your friends and family.
3. Keep your eye on the right track
Everyone wants to move forward in life and it’s important to stay positive and not get dragged into the negatives of what you don’t like in your job. Keep work complaints to yourself and adopt a positive, can-do attitude in work.
It will make you popular with your colleagues and, ultimately, your boss could notice you.
4. Rev up your responsibility
Ask for more responsibility at work or look for a career, which can offer you a greater challenge. To climb the ladder you need to improve or move in most jobs.
Plan the conversation with your boss and let them know you want to progress and you are ready.
5. Be a mechanic
Get to know the inner workings of the company, become involved in networking for your business, make new contacts and connections.
If you are looking for a career change altogether then think about how you can get into that new career, for example, education may welcome an active school governor.
6. Get an Upgrade
How can you develop yourself more to do a better job or land that new career? It could be some thing big such as a part-time degree or something more modest, perhaps learning the latest computer package or a short self-development course.
7. Service your CV
Keep your CV up to date by putting down recent achievements to remind yourself of how much you have done. You will then have a CV ready should the right opportunity come along.
8. Keep your eye on the prize
Define what is important to you in your work and in your life and ensure what you want balances with what you can do. You need to decide what your priorities are in regards to, career, lifestyle, friends and family and this will help you to focus on balancing your aspirations with your lifestyle.
9. Ready, Steady, Go!
Don’t wait, and sit there thinking about what you want to do, make it happen by following these steps. Only you can put into action what you want and no one else will progress your career or put you ahead for promotion.
10. The finishing line
We’ve all been there and watched the goalpost move, the finishing line get further, usually down to our own excuses. You must set yourself a target and a date when to go for that promotion or change your career.
Now you are ready for your career race, so…… GO!