Openness at work winches up your career prospects

Today, the corporate world and all workplaces are abuzz with the word ‘transparency’. Why the corporate world, people want transparent governance and also transparent dealings by companies whose goods they purchase.

Openness is synonymous with transparency. What does openness mean and what are its implications at work? Openness at work implies being truthful, candid and forthright about your concerns and abilities, It is also about what useful contributions you can make at your workplace and how. Openness is honesty and sincerity in all your dealings; and they are important tools that can uplift your career.

How can you be a follower of openness at your job? Here are five methods that can help you portray an image of being frank, upright and trustworthy: 

· Be aware of your competencies: You should be confident of your skills and abilities. When you discuss anything with your boss, you should be frank and forthright in voicing opinions and recommendations. While you should not volunteer for an assignment that you know is beyond your capabilities, it is also important to not let any of your dexterity known for fear of being assigned additional responsibilities. Even if you do not or are not required to make use of a special skill that you possess in your present role, letting the management know about it will always stand you in good stead for obvious reasons. If you are not communicative about what you are capable or incapable of doing, your company will not be able to utilise your skills for organisational and your personal benefits.

· Let your actions manifest your keenness to help: You can have brilliant ideas about how your company can improve or even how you can effect a better performance. Such ideas are of no use unless you make them known. Communicating your ideas will indicate to the management and the environment that you indeed have your thinking cap on and that you want to be really valuable in so far as discharging your work responsibilities are concerned. You could be engaged in a specific task that calls for an understanding of how a different vertical functions but under normal circumstances, you do not play an active role in the functioning of that vertical. If you make your intent known, you will be appreciated for your keenness to learn and work sincerely.

· Inform your seniors about what inspires you: It is possible that because of financial constraints, your company may not be in a position to offer you a substantial increment. However, if you are frank about various non-pecuniary motivations that impel you, you will certain succeeds in getting some that raises your job contentment level. There may be occasions when you would like a couple of hours off to attend to family obligations or when you would like to take recourse to a flexible time schedule. If you have been interacting with your seniors on a plane of candidness and forthrightness, it is unlikely that your management will not oblige you.

· Voice your gratitude & contentment: You could be adept at certain types of assignments or enjoy the demands of specific ones. It is essential that you provide this information to your management. If you make your preference known, in all probabilities, your boss will keep you in mind while allocating tasks next time. Your company, as much as you will be happy at it because eventually when you undertake a preferred task, the organisational productivity will be boosted.

· Take only fair share of credit: Your individual contributions as distinct from your team’s performance should be known to your seniors. This will ensure that the credit and reward that is justifiably yours will come to you. You should make it a point to not take credit for a job well done that otherwise is deserved by somebody else. The foregoing will also make certain that if a job is not completed or is not done with perfection, you will not get blamed for it. If your management gets to know who makes more contributions at work or who makes sincere efforts, it will be fair distribution of rewards and promotions. 

If you commit yourself to honesty and sincerity at your workplace, you will do well no doubt. But if you one step more and be transparent, you will go further. You should display a readiness to go above and beyond what is expected of you to foster mutual trust. Openness is going above and beyond what is required of you to build mutual trust. Overall, it is bound to uplift your career.

Conversing knotty issues with your boss

If it is a challenging discussion that you have to take part in, you will be at ease talking to any person, but your boss. Work and workplace is all about complexities and sometimes deliberate reluctance to engage in a conversation. However, every so often there will be occasions when you will have to be face to face with your boss and talk about a difficult subject.

What is a difficult subject, or for that matter, what is a difficult conversation? Both convey a situation where both parties are required to stay linked with stakes being high, opinions at variance and feelings running strong. There may be situations when you will have to initiate a difficult conversation. It is possible that your boss is not a good mind reader and if anything that is not going as per your expectations and which can be influenced by your boss, you must find your voice.

There are thousands of causes for stress, and one antidote to stress is self-expression. Raising complex subjects with your boss can be an extremely challenging task, but having done it, you will feel as if a tremendous load has been taken off your chest. If there is something that is bothering you and weighing down on your conscience, you can definitely unburden yourself. The following tips can help:

· Seek time for a meeting: If you have to discuss anything difficult with your boss, you will find it easy to put it off in hopes of finding an appropriate moment for it. Chances are, that appropriate moment will never come. You will be better off if you stop deferring and make the conversation happen. And the best way to do it is by seeking an appointment. Request a time to meet. If you take a prior appointment, it will send a message to your boss that there indeed is something different that will be spoken about; and when you sit face to face, you will get complete responsiveness. It is likely that your boss may ask you to talk right then and there; however, if you do not feel ready or you that he or she is too hurried to be able to respond thoughtfully, you must convey emphatically you were to finish formulating your thoughts and that you would prefer to discuss appropriately later.

· Organise yourself for the tête-à-tête: Whatever be the issue to be discussed, you need to be well-prepared for it. It is important that you be clear on what you want to convey and what you seek to gain from your endeavour. Therefore, you must prepare on the specific aspects of the subject, the existing actualities of the situation from an impartial viewpoint, a rough picture of the envisaged resolution and most importantly the anticipated response to your standpoint. Your preparation will present you as a confident person and you will be able to listen and react in a fitting manner.

· Let the confab be a two way affair: It is essential that you start the discussion with a statement to help remind you and your boss that both of you have a shared goal.  This will facilitate starting the discussion from the same take-off point. This calls for sharing your facts, coming out with your version, seeking views, talking tentatively and encouraging testing. The first three enumerate what you have been doing and the remainder two amplify the way you go about doing it. All these entail performing two prime activities – communicating your ideas logically and listening to what the boss has to say. To achieve this, the discussion has to be a two-way affair.

· Counterbalance your sentiments: If the subject of discussion is upsetting, you need to put your feelings aside before the meeting. You need to be absolutely dispassionate and unprejudiced; and to be able to remain so, you ought to keep your conduct professional and adhere to the facts of the circumstances. Unnecessary venting or being emotional will not stand you to any advantage. Remember that the best approach is one of candour and simplicity. Personalising the subject should be avoided as it is organisational interests that should impel you. Additionally, you must guard against overselling your point; and this necessitates making a point without any ambiguity and wait for a response.

· Be emphatic & self-assured: Since you are aiming at the resolution of an issue, it is necessary that you remain self-assured all through and through. However, you must remember that your bonds with your boss will be reinforced if both you and he gain something. And even if temperatures do soar up during your conversation, you must thank your boss and shake if culturally applicable.

Telling the truth about anything and how you feel about it are both delicate matters. You have to learn to stand up for yourself and manage differences and aberrations in a healthy manner. That calls for determining when it is appropriate or worthwhile to speak up, rather than letting the little things slide.

You & your career aspirations

“Your success in your career will be in direct proportion to what you do after you've done what you are expected to do.”

What do you hope to be in your career? There is widespread tendency amongst people from all walks of life to confuse their career aspirations with their career objectives. The truth is that aspirations are poles apart from the actual work that you do.

Your aspirations facilitate the enunciation of your objectives. What is that you expect from your job? Your response will be an integral part of defining your aspirations. While there are many people who look for the prestige and concern of a conventional career path, there are others who regard monetary wellbeing of paramount importance.  In between, there are several people who want to work in technical fields so that they come to be regarded as specialists. You will also find some people who want to be independent and do not want unnecessary superintendence. And the more intelligent ones amongst all of them seek to maintain a good work-life balance. Depending upon your fundamental individual requirements, you can outline your career objectives. 

People who want standing and positions of authority and responsibility in a recognized organisation invariably fit into a conventional job very well. The implication is that when they try to define their career objectives, there has to be a marked focus on identifying a job within the company that they are serving in. Their move up will be characterised by increased responsibilities that they will invariably accept with a conforming status boost in their existing organisation. However, people who join big corporations generally rank such an aspiration as the foremost ambition. More often than not, such people visualise the roadmap to management and executive levels as the most credible way ahead. If you able to take appropriate steps early, the roadmap becomes more clear.    

Career aspirations vary from person to person. People who seek financial security above anything else are the ones who are on the lookout for more paying jobs and go in for them. The only prompting factor for such people is money. While pecuniary issues plague everybody’s mind, they are reluctant to acquiesce such an inclination. But if you acknowledge it, you can always make appropriate decisions to make such dreams come true. It may entail establishing contacts with the concerned people and also gaining practical exposure or undergoing special training in the field of work that they are in or hope to be in. The point to note is that when you direct your efforts at anything, the prospects to attain it are more.

It is rather astonishing to note that most people do not aspire for individual approbation. Therefore, there is a pessimistic and disapproving undertone in agreeing that you desire others to come to you for help and guidance; and to recognise either you or your stature as an expert in a specific field of activity.

If you make this an ingredient of your individual career objectives, you will be able to direct and concentrate your efforts; and attain your personal aspirations concurrently. People who seek independence of action and freedom from superintendence, often have an additional requirement. There are many people who do not like to be told how to go about doing whatever they are required to do. Such people will not be able to function well in a team and hence, the most viable option for them is to have their own separate enterprise. If you can come to terms with this truth, it will help you to attain any aspiration that you may harbour.

An important aspect that warrants contemplation in career aspiration is the issue of work-life balance. There are several men and women who harbour several aspirations, but nonetheless feel that they also need to maintain an optimum level of such a balance too. They seek to prioritise between their career and ambition that comprise work; and their health, pleasure, family and leisure that collectively comprise what is known as life. The truth that goads them, knowingly or unknowingly is that the good job that they are is practically attractive but not as attractive warranting devoting their life to it. If you harbour such aspirations, you have to make certain that the objectives that you set for yourself echo this requirement. Your personal aspirations are subject to change; what you seek as a young man or woman can be totally at variance with what you seek, say twenty years later because of changed circumstances of your domestic responsibilities, health imperatives and other obligations.

 You can have any or many career aspirations. Notwithstanding what they are, it is essential that you ponder over in a deliberate manner the reasons why you are engaging yourself in a particular activity. And more importantly, what do you hope to derive from it.

Come to grips with career ups & downs

“Transformation is a process, and as life happens there are tons of ups and downs. It's a journey of discovery - there are moments on mountaintops and moments in deep valleys of despair.”

-        Rick Warren

When people set out on their career journey, they feel that they know what they want to be and that they will be able to acquire all necessary qualifications and experience to be able to lead a happy life. But as time rolls by, they realise that they were wrong. Careers are more complex and convoluted than that.

What needs to be put across in no uncertain terms is the fact that career paths are never linear. In your career journey, you should anticipate a series of changes to take place based on the advancement made by you, metamorphoses in responsibilities and also sways exerted by the actual world. You thus need to be alert and cognizant to latest developments. You need to conduct extensive research before joining a college; and understand that loving anything is something and does not necessarily imply that it is a feasible alternative in today’s market. The truth is that transformation is a process and as life unfolds itself, there are series of ups and downs. Your career journey is a journey of discovery wherein you may have moments at the zenith and moments in deep arroyos of anguish.

If you get stuck anywhere in your career journey and are unable to chart out your next course of action, it does not imply that you have failed. You ought not to be amazed by the fact most people face such enigmas in their career journey. If the career that you choose has some unforeseen or unanticipated difficulties, you should cheer yourself up by ruminating that no career is without them. There will always be several instants of stimulation followed by periods of contemplation and the cycle thus carries on. The true embodiment surfaces through stratums of reflection and flairs, with some of the greatest achievements taking time in excess of even a decade to show up. Even after good performance manifests itself, most people still do not feel gratified.

People who carve out a successful career for themselves are invariably those who find time and spare efforts to characterise their inputs and involvement; and organise themselves by creating a line of action for its attainment. The journey has its ups and downs, but what matters is not losing focus on your objectives and not be found wanting in your enthusiasm and efforts. You have to always put up a brave front and stay connected. It is inescapable for you to understand that success is actually all about walking from failure to failure with no diminution of zeal.

Coping with ‘downs’ in your career is a very personal and internally guided affair. And you need to place confidence in yourself. Some tips are:  

· Remain calm: You need to guard against frustration setting in and setting aside all tendencies to indulge in self-critical thoughts. Nothing gives a person so much benefit as to remain calm and unruffled under all circumstances. Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom, particularly in adverse circumstances.

· Take a break: You need to get some perspective. You need to simply think and deal with your feelings. Perhaps a short break can do wonders; you will be adequately rejuvenated to deal with the unfavourable developments that have come your way.  

· Ponder over the reasons for the slump: You must mull over the contributory factors that has brought your career to a standstill. Looking at the current state of things in the correct perspective and figuring out the alignment of your values with your actions and re-envisioning your dreams will help. 

· Get re-motivated: It is essential that you re-sense your purpose and direction. By actively pledging to go with your inner drive, you will be able to overcome difficult conditions. You should take a relook at your objectives and refine them, if necessary.

The ups and downs in your career are like tides; just as they return, your motivation will also do likewise. You must regard the current state not as a nadir but a minor ebb that will get you back to the shore. It is necessary that you do not miss out on your focus; the need to keep your objectives at the forefront of your mind needs no emphasis. Remember that every stumbling block bears with it the seeds of a comeback. There will be ups and downs in your career; they will be challenges. You must understand that being challenged in life is inevitable, but getting defeated is optional. After all, the world belongs to the enthusiast who keeps cool.

Mounting employee aspirations & what organisations need to do

Today, in the context of work and workplace, employees look for greater contentment and are driven by a desire to accomplish something. They are far more acquisitive and lay stress on individual progression more than ever before. Besides seeking more, they expect organisations also to offer more. And given their tendency to act on impulse, in the sense that the moment they see anything, they desire it, this phenomenon is by itself a challenge to employers and organisations.

Things were different in the seventies. People took up jobs and typically served in it till superannuation. Today, long service, howsoever meritorious it be regarded by employers, is seen as an unaspiring and unenterprising endeavour. This altered outlook has been brought about largely because of social changes; the youth of today harbour greater ambitions and are confident of achieving or accomplishing anything – work schedules, nature of work and perks, to name some.

A young man or woman who possibly joined a company two years back is pretty serious about changing his job. In the years gone by, a clearly defined career structure and company training programmes went together and in concert because a job was supposedly seen as a lifelong association. However, today the concept of a career has changed. Instead of working a traditional full-time job, job-seekers work multiple part-time jobs with different employers and concurrently freelance too. All combined, such endeavours are the equivalent of a full-time position – a multiple simultaneous career, also known as a portfolio career.

In the light of the above, the following aspects need to be organisational focal points:

· Repeated career re-creation & re-discovery: Career re-invention has become a frequent practice and effort. That is the reason precisely why a large number of employees remain perennially discontented, if not frustrated with the career that they have opted for. A large majority of them seek to do something more diverse and novel, with some intending to do so in the immediate future. The impelling factors for such a stance are not monetary by any chance. They seek to achieve greater satisfaction on academic, professional, expressive and ingenious planes; and this explains their pining to experiment with newer things. The modern workforce believe that a career ought to be stimulating and inspiring; and that it should offer excellent prospects to move ahead. Should they not find such qualities in a job, they simply switch over. The foregoing has led to reduced job spans, a phenomenon that is increasing day by day both in terms of intensity and prevalence. Statistics indicate that having worked for around a decade, people have changed their jobs about thrice. And this trend has no portent of slowing down.   

· Upholding & endorsing standards: The story does not end here. Nearly one-fourth of employees today expect a promotion after two years into a job. Of course, there are many who feel that they are entitled to a promotion every year. Organisations and employers thus need to take note of and manage such aspirations well so as to exhibit clear career advancement; this aspect warrants greater attention because quite a few workers have a dismal view of existing career development prospects. Moreover, organisations should regard career advancement prospects of employees with due seriousness, particularly when they do not want any attrition.

· Learning & development: Given such circumstances of multiple-strand careers, organisations do not visualise any great advantages of training as was planned and conducted hitherto fore. Employees could be trained by one organisation but its fruits will be used in another. And that explains why organisational policies related to learning and development do not focus much on skills enhancement but instead on individual development. The point to note is that organisations will still benefit if all-inclusive training opportunities are provided to their employees so long as they remain on their rolls. The need to capitalize on abilities and embolden allegiance needs no emphasis; and even if a person switches a job or career, the training provided will serve to fortify the name of the company.

· Necessity to alter organisational outlooks: An organisation can initiate any number of measures, but the concept of a multi-strand career has come to stay. While in India and other developing countries, this may not be very pronounced, however, in Western nations, it is definitely obvious. If that be so, organisations should understand that their objectives and interests will be better safeguarded if they bring about a change in their hiring philosophy. Rather than focussing on the long-term potential of an individual, they should look at his capability to deliver results in short spans. And in case if companies do not want attrition, there is no alternative but to make certain that the aspirations of employees are comprehended and action initiated to meet them.

Welfare includes anything that is done for the comfort and improvement of employees and is provided over and above the wages. And training is also part of welfare. Organisations need to understand and implement this.

Getting on the highway to career discovery

People may talk about economic slowdown and lack of employment, but if you scan the job market, you will see that openings and opportunities exist everywhere. But the issue is finding a job that you will genuinely love and not one that you force yourself into. The reason is that in case you do not take delight in it, you will fail to contribute optimally. The contentment and pleasure that you derive from your work actually serves to encourage and invigorate you. Resultantly, you start loving your job more and the cycle thus carries on. The fact of the matter is that to be successful, the first thing to do is to fall in love with your work.

Your job should not only heighten your career path but also serve to boost your zeal and commitment; and inspire appeal and fascination for it. Your dreams are an extremely important component of your career plan; you simply cannot achieve anything unless you imagine it. So, how do you get into your dream job? As you move on towards your dream job, there are three fundamental actions on your part that will help you to discover your career:

· Ensure that your focal point is you: Most people get trapped in a nasty succession of cyclic actions wherein they fail to derive anything worthwhile from their career. They invariably take up a job on the face value of it. They reconcile to organisational requirements and instructions, thinking that by doing so, they will move forward in their career. But sooner or later, they infer, unfortunately though, that they are ensnared in an environment that they are not keen on. Then they scout around for other jobs and in the process, err again. To get out of such a muddle, it is essential that you take stock of your aspirations in life before deciding on what job you should be getting into. Finding out what you actually seek and the methodology to be adopted to show up your dexterities is the maiden step to discovering a gratifying career. You need to create a clear and unambiguous portrait that displays your abilities and tasks that you can excel at. As you make that portrait, your career course will become well-defined. And you will realise that some valuable ideas and prospects not imagined before have come to the fore.

· Make efforts to determine your true urge: You need to be true to what naturally interests you and concurrently also plucky enough to transform your fascinations into a line of work. You must not trust what motivates others in selecting a career; you need to trust what impels you. You will harbour some fervour towards something that needs to be found out so that you can pursue it, obviate fracases and enjoy your work. In other words, your work has to be something that you are in love with. Your passion will move you beyond yourself and your inadequacies; and eventually beyond breakdowns. This calls for first peeping inside yourself, appreciating what you seek and based on it, move in the most appropriate direction. You could take up honorary jobs to gain a first-hand experience; the experience so gained will motivate you to work hard and convert your dream into an actuality. Remember that the worst days of those who enjoy what they do are better than the best days of those who do not enjoy doing anything.   

· Manipulate knowledge to galvanise your career discovery: Today, there are number of means available to help you take a correct career decision. It is likely that your academic qualifications and professional ambitions are not corresponding; this necessitates sparing time and effort to discover an ideal career and job rather than taking a decision with impulse. You need to embark on an exploratory path to find out how luminaries moved ahead in their career. This will entail significant research – surfing the internet, informational interviews and reading real-life stories will help.

Remember that if you have to create a more gratifying career and do something that you have always dreamt of, your first step forward has to be dead right. A mind plagued with doubts will never allow you to move on the correct path. The surest principle for success and happiness is to find a career to which you are custom-built for; and then keep working hard at it. The positive angle of this formula is that if you discover a career that is your cup of tea, the efforts that you put in will automatically take care of it and will cease to be hard slog.

Express your career advancement intent to your company

The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity. Your career advancement is your personal responsibility because it will never be served to you on a plate. The impetus to advance your career ought to come from within you. Under no circumstances, you can allow yourself to keep your intent to yourself.

Everybody wants to get promoted at work and advance in his or her career. However, most people are not clear about what precisely they ought to be doing in this context nor do they sincerely introspect about it. And even if they ponder over the issue, the responses are either ambiguous or insincere. The foregoing notwithstanding, the issue always plagues the mind of every employed and aspiring individual in some form or the other. Hence, it should be at the pole front of every manager’s agenda too.

The question that therefore, comes up is, “What is the authentic way-out for those who are ardent to advance in their career?” Surrounded by the parameters of talent desirability, recruitment and advancement of a career, there are men and women who progress faster than others. The fact is that if you are too shy, you may not attain what you seek. You could be a novice or a middle-rung manager, no promotion will come your way unless you strive and demand it. Times when promotions were time-bound are things of the past. The writing on the wall is clear – you and you alone are responsible to hold and oversee your career and to expect that somebody else will, is like asking for the moon.

Eventually, career advancement entails acquitting yourself exceedingly well so that getting additional responsibilities is facilitated. You need to scout around to add usefulness to your routine charter of duties and portray an image of suitability to shoulder higher responsibilities. For this, you should be doing well in your present role. The crux of the matter is to back up your talk with action. How can you achieve this?

You should be on a constant lookout to add ‘worth plus’ to your present function. You must try to help out your seniors by sharing their work so that they can concentrate on still higher responsibilities. In addition, you should craft your own work, implying that you generate innovative tasks and deal with issues that bring about enduring betterment and change. When you discern problems and come up with solutions, your dynamism is brought to the fore and which manifests your creativity, perception and acumen in consonance with your company’s sine qua non.

It is relatively easy to identify anything that is fragmented or unproductive. There will be several people who would be doing so, but it is the lot of high achievers who take on the duty of cracking them. Though much would be contingent on prevalent company traditions, you should make it a point to deliberate on whatever you intend doing before actually embarking on it. It is not necessary that you obtain prior acquiescence, provided you are able to fulfil all your other work obligations. In other words, your principal charter should not suffer and concurrently you should be able to reinforce your manager’s or boss’ intents.  

Your work will become easy if you develop the responsibilities and abilities of your subordinates. If you are doing well in your present appointment, your seniors and management may be disinclined to permit any cavernous abyss by letting you go forward. Well, if that happens, you would have achieved your aim, much to their vexation. This phenomenon is what is known as a status quo bias, meaning that if things are working well, there will be a reluctance to change them. As an individual out to get a promotion, you thus need to have your own succession strategy ready. Work entrustment is an inescapable management function and you ought to be rehearsing it. If you have brought others to a stage where they can shoulder your role, you will have more time at your disposal to do so for your boss and thus acquire those pulls or add-ons. Conveniently, you will thus be vindicating the expected management caginess about your stepping out of your present position.

Eventually, it all boils down to successful communications. You will always be expected to manoeuvre the schema since there will be a reluctance to institute a change. Towards this, the management will simply take note of things and proceed appropriately, though it will not be a very digestible effort. However, all this will not be possible if you lack the necessary attributes that are in harmony with the remuneration being offered for an envisioned position. Any organisation that is smart and flexible will invariably dicker the disturbance in return for promoting good employees for higher functions, better output and devotion that is received in return. All this entails a certain amount of prompting and which has to come from you.

Every action has costs and risks attached to it. However, their intensity is far less than the long-term perils of inaction. You must make your career advancement intent known to your company.

Revivifying your job search

Unemployment being what it is today, getting a dream job is indeed a very difficult affair. Since the voyage of discovery is not in looking for new settings, but in looking with new eyes, you need to get cracking straight away and kick-start your job hunt all over again. When searching for a job, it almost feels like a full-time job in itself; and hence can be rather nerve-wracking and formidable. But you need not get worn down.

They say that to be prepared is half the victory. Spectacular achievement is always preceded by unspectacular preparation. You should focus on the following: 

· Outline what you seek: You need to be clear about what you are seeking. Enunciating what you want to achieve and attain is indeed a difficult task and warrants serious contemplation to discern the position you want to be at, even if it amounts to taking a step back. You will be thus able to identify specific fortes that you would like to utilise in your job search efforts. It is essential that you know the type of people that you want as co-workers and the working atmosphere that you prefer to function in. These basic efforts will help you become aware of various job hunt tactics to be employed. And since you will know what you seek, should you need assistance, people will be able to render it readily.

· Anticipate severe hurdles: Intents and plans notwithstanding, all job aspirants generally get trapped in the same net over and over again. They face similar impediments, foremost amongst them being a restricted outlook brought about by impressions formed during their previous employment. Forgetting the past is what you should do. Another familiar hurdle is muddle. If your job hunt or even if a workplace is disorganised, you tend to experience intense mental confusion and because of which, your output suffers. You need to guard against all obstructions and inhibitions; and make certain that you utilise your time effectively to focus on your job search.

· Weigh your time apportionment: A job search is a job by itself, but unfortunately people do not understand this and deal with it rather perfunctorily. They do not devote adequate time for it. If you are on the look-out for a usual 9 to 5 job, you need to spend similar time hunting for one. Today, the options available are several – going through advertisements, searching online and meeting people to make inquiries. The need to manage your time well and apportion it appropriately for each one of the methods thus needs no emphasis. 

· Refine your dexterity plane: It is likely that you have got accustomed to the operational methodologies of your previous employers. But to emerge as a serious contender who fulfils all qualitative requirements, you should be in a position to envision skill sets that are pertinent and sought after by prospective employers. You must formulate a line of action to either refine or acquire them. You could do on-the-job training or even work free to gain experience. Taking memberships of professional clubs or writing a blog to emphasise skills essential for the role that you wish to perform will stand you in good stead.

·  Do good groundwork: You need to do your homework well. Racing through an interview is one thing, but being able to illustrate your knowledge with experiences is another and for which, it should be thought of in advance. Such experiences should relate to difficult projects that you undertook, how you went about handling crisis situations and what was the final outcome. Your narration should flow out naturally and not as a learnt-by-heart activity.

· Renew your self-promotion efforts: Your job search is a self-promotion exercise by itself. You have a marque tag and you need to infuse interest in people about you. Your curriculum vitae is the rudimentary instrument and which should be [H1] brushed up, taking help of professional resume drafters if necessary. You also need to focus on the social media to make certain that your communications are professional and coherent across different display sites. Your profile ought to be key-prolific and have inherent attributes to bring about participation in suitable professional groups. However, you need to monitor your confidentiality settings.

· Take time to enjoy: All the above recommendations apart, your job search has to be a sensible move in itself. If you have had negative experiences, you should not continue brooding over them, else you will radiate pessimism. It is necessary that you have your fair share of relaxation and enjoyment. Your frame of mind will remain positive if you spend time with friends and indulge in activities that you relish. You can never be sure that you meet a person who can give you a valuable lead or introduce you to somebody who can.

Abraham Lincoln said, “If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I would spend the first hour sharpening the axe.” This amplifies the truth that before everything else, getting ready is the secret to success. And a job search is no exception. Remember that opportunities generally do not come along, but when they do, you have to grab them.

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