Take your internship seriously

Internships are launching boards that initiate you into your career. They can be indescribable learning experiences. But if you take them lightheartedly and demonstrate no penchant to learn, your future will be plagued with hitches and difficulties. And your very standing and status will take a beating.

How do interns falter and how can they do well during the period of their training. The answers to this question are well-known to everybody who is on the threshold of one’s career. But despite such awareness, young men and women falter during their internship. Some major slip-ups and erring acts – deliberate or in inadvertent – done by them; and ways and means to guard against them are:

·   Not following dress codes: If you think that you can dress as you like, a wrong message will go out that you have a casual approach. Hence it is necessary that you observe how your seniors dress up at work and use your prudence to emulate them. If there is a dress code, you should not violate it. Remember that the clothes that you wear are an extension of your personality.

·   Excessive mingling with friends: You may like to mingle and move around with friends of your age, but concurrently you should also make efforts to be acquainted with other staff - those who are elder and more experienced than you. In doing so, you will always stand to gain because you can fall back on them in times of need. Senior employees will help you hook up with prospective openings and also serve as good references.

·   Disregarding workplace conventions: Office traditions are unseen powers that manifest the manner in which things function there. You can learn about them by evaluating the conduct of others. For example, if everybody is punctual, there is no reason why you should be late. Following office traditions help you in being assessed as a person who can play responsible roles in a professional environment.

·   Extreme talkativeness: You may think that that you know everything, but in actuality your knowledge could be shallow. However, prudence demands that before you open your mouth to say anything, you should know how your organization functions. This way you will be able to make worthwhile contributions and get to be appreciated.

·   Slack & slapdash attitude: A workplace may appear to be relaxed, but the working environment there could well be stricter than a college. Out of college therefore, you should adjust yourself. The flippant attitude of collegians should be shed; use of slang, exclamations and gestures that are typical of students should be a thing of the past.

·   Non-seriousness in doing mundane assignments: Imagine this – your responsibilities also include checking that all lights are switched off before you leave the workplace. The task may appear menial, but if you take it on with devotion, you will be assigned important jobs in due course. As an intern, you have to establish your credibility and if you do humdrum tasks well, you will be recognized.

·   Closing eyes to matters where you aren’t involved: Turning a blind eye to assignments where you are not directly involved them will deprive you of valuable information about how things move in the organization. You should keep your ears and eyes open to what is happening around you, even in fields where you have no role to play.

·   Not acknowledging assistance: There will be occasions when others - fellow interns and employees will come to your help. You should recognize this and make it a point to express your gratefulness to them. Remember that anybody who is valued by you will be always ready to extend a helping hand.

·   Reluctance to seek feedback: It is likely that your line manager does not interact much with you and also does not offer any view or advice. Well, he could be a silent observer. You should take initiative and ask him how he feels about you and your work. You should be open to suggestions, criticism and counseling because such a disposition will strengthen your foundation.

Once your internship is over, you should not forget it as if it was not any significant learning experience. You must depart with an upbeat frame of mind. The period of association could have been small, but yet, you must maintain contact with everybody who was there to make you wiser. An occasional line to tell them that you are indebted for the pains taken to train you will stand you in good stead.

You should remember that success in your life and career will not come to you if you keep clutch on to your past. You can succeed only by planning for your future and learning to take on your future tasks. And internships offer you precisely that. 

Making the best of working life after fifty

Not everybody in the army becomes a general. Likewise, everybody does not the reach the senior most position in his line of work. At some stage or the other, you realize that you have reached the highest point of your career and that any further ascent is not possible. This generally happens when one is around fifty, after which, one realizes the significance of life and work.

Things that used to be there in the past do not exist today. New technologies and methodologies come into play at workplaces on a continual basis; somebody who is elderly may or may not be conversant with all of them. In today's world, nobody sits idle and adjustment is essential to be able to carry on deriving pleasures from life.

A person who is past fifty years of age needs to be really flexible. It is only then that he will be able to adjust in a fast-moving world. The following tips in this regard can be of immense help:

·   Be mentally & physically active: Elderly workers face impediments of sorts and the best way to overcome them is by being physically and mentally robust. You must include exercise in your daily routine and make efforts to always have an upbeat and optimistic approach to life as a whole.

·   Know yourself: You should know yourself – your character, qualities and traits - and your requirements to facilitate contentment and glee. This knowledge is the means to arrive at a fine career decision.

·   Contemplate & reflect: In all likelihood, because of your busy schedule so far, you were unable to weigh up various aspects of your life. Many elderly people suffer from remorse for what they did or were unable to do; therefore, now that you are free, you should mull over how you want to keep yourself occupied in the years to follow.

·   Be realistic & practical: Having lived nearly three-quarters of your life, you cannot now dream to become the Prime Minister of the country. Hence, you should set for yourself reasonable objectives so that you stand the chances of reaping the advantages that follow their attainment.

·   Reach out to help others: You should be aware of your plus points and the fact that your experience can benefit others. Hence, now is the apt time to also understand that you too can derive advantages from extending assistance to others. Seeking help from career therapists can facilitate your endeavour.

·   Boost self-realization: People over fifty frequently talk about the significance of the need to make best use of their expertise and its improvement. There is nothing wrong in this as achieving mastery over own skills is always an ongoing process for everybody.

·   Value youngsters: You should recall how, as a youngster you were full of vim and the relief you got when someone more experienced came to your rescue in crisis situations. It is now your moral obligation to appreciate youngsters and help them out because you also need them.

·   Deal with anxieties: All amendments and alterations have inherent hassles and pressures. You should be candid enough to discuss the changes being experienced by you with members of your family, relatives and friends; seeking their help can be of immense use.

·   Don't be materialistic: You have acquitted yourself in life and made a good earning. Though money ought not to be your sole focus, you still need it to live your life well. However, you need to concentrate more on your individual contentment, developing your unfulfilled passions and playing a useful social role.

·   Make use of your networking: Remember that now you cannot walk your post-50 career path all by yourself. You would have made many friends in your career span and seeking their help for additional facts and data will pay you rich dividends.

·   Be flexible: Over a period of time, you would have become accustomed to certain ways and means of doing things. Now that you are out of such an environment, a rigid approach can render you incompatible. You must discover newer methods to fine-tune yourself.

·   Don't discount anything: You should now not consider the possibility of a regular nine-to-five job. Options such as being a mentor or taking up a part-time job or even self-employment are feasible alternatives to realize your pecuniary requirements. Of course, remaining in a permanent job is always desirable.

Your life as a person who has seen the world for half a century or more can turn out to be the most valuable occurrence if you are sure of what you can do and what you can achieve; and do not pay much heed to anything else. You should lend a helping hand to others and strive to be the best individual. In this way, you will remain contented and continue to enjoy your family life, something perhaps that you missed in the last twenty five or thirty years. 

Don’t falter on your word

There is one quality that is connected with any person’s career development that has to be attached the maximum importance. It is generally not talked about much but every employer seeks tit in his employees. It is integrity or honesty. These two words are generally seen to be plagued with a lack of flexibility and pragmatism. However, there are some very significant allied matters that warrant very serious consideration at all times.

In any organization, profit generating or otherwise, one issue that is frequently bartered is the belief or confidence in the power, reality, truth and goodness of a person. If a person does not trust others at workplace, it would be impossible to work with them. This is the rudimentary fact of work and workplace, for that matter even life. A word once given should not be taken back, because it actually amounts to not exerting enough to move forward in one's career. The environment invariably gathers negative impressions about individuals who do not keep their word. The affected person may however, carry a notion to justify such a shortfall, perceived lack of importance being accorded being one. But that is only a perception, with very little truth in it.

The fact is that trust, once bestowed to any person serves as a stepping stone for nurturing relationships, individual and workplace related. It needs to be understood that two things matter the most in life - trusting the other person for his credibility and reliability and being truthful. To illustrate the point, a person may have faltered and in the process earned a blot. Under such circumstances, it is always better to frankly admit own omissions and initiate corrective action before any serious fallout is felt. An act of integrity like this can offset the damage suffered to one's reputation.

In all workplace relationships, some errors are always permissible, particularly when situations arise because of promises not kept. Situations like these invariably surface out of the blue and therefore, a number of missed commitments bring about a plummeting of one's credibility and reliability ratings. Colleagues and subordinates alike expect that anybody who makes a commitment to have a work done should be able to manage affairs so that there is no let up. It is of no consequence whether it is being present at the correct place and time or meeting any deadline. The other person is presumptuous, and rightly so, that a commitment would have been made based on all factors, including one's acumen. Giving lame excuses or taking shelter behind ignorance may not work always, because the environment would want a correct and all-inclusive appreciation of facts and factors.

One can earn trust from others promptly even after the first meeting. And it takes another one to completely ruin a relationship. Rebuilding trust post-damage is a very slow process and calls for repeated credibility acts. It is also likely that trust once lost cannot be brought back to a normal state; some apprehensions in the mind of the other person will always persist. The degree of mistrust generated is contingent on the degree of seriousness of an act; it could be a complete destruction or a simply a crack.

Even if an inability to live up to one's word has had little or no impact, repeated omissions will lead to a complete destruction. It is something like bleeding to death by thousand small cuts.

Repeated failures of not being able to live up to one's words changes the thinking process of an organization. Additional tasks are not assigned simply because smaller assignments are not handled well.

In the light of the above, it is imperative that all assigned responsibilities are attached due importance and seriousness to their completion accorded. Should higher responsibilities not be assigned, the chances of career development will be grim. And this is a fact. There are quite a few people who talk big and make tall promises; but their end result is zero. Locomotives, as they are called - they are like plain locos and no motives - are fully aware that they will not be able to ensure completion of a job. Such people get pleasure blowing their own trumpet and talking nineteen to the dozen. It is best not to be in this category of people because sooner or later, they are bound to be passed over. An important aspect of the matter is that it is the action that speak more than the words; in a career, it is the tangible results achieved that matter rather than what one promises to do. And nobody ever wants to be associated with such people.

You cannot afford to be ignorant of the solemn realities of how trust is built or knocked down. If one feels that his or her career is plummeting, it is high time to introspect. It will not be out of place to begin with an assumption that one is as good or as efficient as one thinks to be. If there have been instances of failing to meet deadlines or not being punctual or simply not taking things to their logical conclusions, it is then an appropriate time to change one’s outlook. Remember that an individual who is as good as his or her words is always respected for his or her opinions and conduct.

Integrity can be construed as doing anything and everything what one undertakes or pledges to do. It is a harmonious combine of authentic seriousness, immense earnestness, conscientious conduct and highest commitment, even if one is not being watched or supervised. In short, one has to be honest in all his dealings to earn respect and do well in your life and career alike.

Find a perfect career & excel in it

Is it possible for you to find a perfect career? Well, the answer is. “Yes” but if you were to ask this question to anybody, the answer may not be easily forthcoming. The point to note is that everything associated with your career will have to be undertaken by you and you alone and this also includes all preliminaries.

Can you be well-geared to be at the wheels of your career? Answers to the following questions, if arrived at honestly and implemented appropriately will place you on a pedestal from which you will be able to exercise proper command over yourself and all your actions related to your career:

·   What is it precisely that you seek to do? You should be single-minded in your approach and first identify your life's purpose. In addition, the principal impelling factors that influence your executive and supervisory skills also need to be ascertained in clear terms. Goal avowals generally exist for nearly everybody - they could have been worked out by well-wishers, own beliefs and convictions and viewpoints surrounding us. Now is the appropriate time to ponder over your life's goal avowal and make attempts to reduce it to writing.

·   Are you aware of your penchant & preferences? You should be aware of your interests and know what you are cut out for. It is important to be sensitive to things that you love doing, both at work and at leisure. It is also equally important to know what you do not like doing. The foregoing is not an easy affair and in case of a quandary, you can undergo a career assessment test that many institutes offer. Most of these evaluations will complement your awareness, concentration and leisure pursuits with your career turf.

·   Have you done a SWOT analysis? You, as an individual and your career should both be subjected to a SWOT analysis. Your plusses and minuses as pertinent from the angle of an employee; and prospects and vulnerabilities in your present as also future work assignments need to be examined in detail. The examination facilitates knowing where you stand presently and formulation of plans to make the most of the situation. In case you are considering multiple career paths, it is recommended to study them in detail.

·   Have you assessed your workplace values? You need to be reviewing your workplace standards. People on the hunt for jobs invariably look forward to accomplish particular and definite standards from their workplace. These place-of-work standards, notions and perceptions that you harbour have a significant influence on the level of contentment that you may derive. And this contentment is not just limited to your work; it is equally relevant in all spheres of your life. When you appreciate and comprehend principles and ethics you revere the most, you can gauge if a particular employer champions them or not.

It is likely that everything may not turn out to be always favourable to you. Your career could be best-suited for you, but yet you may not be successful in it. What do you do then? Under such circumstances, seeking the help of a career counselor to formulate a career plan is recommended. Though your luck may matter to a small extent, achieving success is never accidental. Forethought and foresight coupled with sound preparations, steadfastness and continual monitoring are important success factors. Five tips that will facilitate attainment of your ambitions are:

Goals: It is essential that you set pragmatic and achievable goals for yourself. Priorities in life should be laid before attempting to work on your career goals. The issue of what you are willing to compromise and what you are not should be clear - and this pertains to health, family, money matters and own improvement. If there happens to be any dichotomy amongst them, the possibility of success will always be grim. Having fewer goals is being wise pragmatically, but it is wiser still if a timetable for their attainment is also set.

Dedication: Setting goals by themselves do not usher in success. You need to be persevering enough to ensure that they are achieved. You should have foresight so that hurdles get removed as soon as they appear. There should be no question of losing out on sincerity of purpose midway; occasional negative feelings would crop up but they should remind you of what you set out for and intend achieving eventually. You should, as a matter of principle concentrate on attainments rather than being the 'my horse also ran' type.

Self-improvement: You need to be continually sharpening your skills. That is what enhancement of abilities, expertise and competence is all about. And sharpening is not just enough - you also need to upgrade your skills. Any assignment completed and any predicament resolved leads to something new learnt. Learning is crucial for individual development, progress and success. So, you ought to be discovering newer training routes that plug all possible fissures in your skills, supplements your capabilities and above all, lets you remain in a forward-thinking and forward-looking mode.

Personal trademark: To be able to create and sell your own trademark, you need to be proactive in self-promotion. Your individual achievements should be acknowledged by the environment in general and people who matter in particular. It is necessary that you also build relationships and muster support from everybody. You should be able to enjoy a good reputation so that people remember you. Brand image is also about having good communication skills so that others are at ease with you and look forward to your advice. It is also important that your portrait does not smack of non-professionalism.

Advancement: Marching forward is simply not enough, it is important that you keep an eye on yourself too. Are you moving on the correct path and with the correct speed? The answer to this question is crucial in measuring the progress that you make. What is important is that you remain sensitive to the effect of your actions on your employer's sine qua non - profits, losses, new deals, time conserved and procedures initiated, to name just a few. You should always try to convert your actions into money form so that their impact on organizational balance sheet is kept track of on a continual basis.

Choosing the right career can be difficult, but if you have a well-defined career path, things will become easy. Correct planning, good preparation, hard work and periodic introspection to find out if any mid-term corrections are requires will facilitate you not going off-track. The outcome will be a satisfying career. What else will you want for success?

Superintend your career

If you want to be successful in your career, you have to work hard. But more importantly, you have to supervise it yourself. You cannot afford to regard yourself as just a person who has no control over his career. The truth is that you are not only an architect of your career, but its sculptor too.  

Superintending your career means taking keen interest in it at all times and ensuring that you do not deviate from your objectives at all. And that calls for lot of hard hammering, chiseling, scraping and polishing at each and every stage of your career.

Your career life-span comprises four phases:

· Commencement phase: This phase does not include formative years and starts when you are fairly embedded in your career. It is likely that you could be on the lookout for a break, though matured people will invariably be discovering what precise they ought to be doing. Should you want to go in for a career change, you will have to reset and rewind your watch. A new opening will call for immense judiciousness and skills to face new challenges that may surface. The new opening will be a prospect by itself and could range from accepting a position in a different field of work altogether to a shift in status or collaboration. The commencement phase is characterized by a sharp learning curve with lots of impediments in and around your new surroundings. If you do not have a clear comprehension of the basics, you will be required to exert really hard to stand steadfastly in your career. Under such circumstances, you must read success stories of successful personalities and subscribe to short duration training programmes. You will also be required to craft an image for yourself so that you can negotiate your salary because of your good contributions to the organisation that you work in. The commencement phase is also characterised by intense networking and that would call for appropriate investment of time and effort to facilitate smooth advancement towards your ultimate career objective.

· Advancement Phase: During this phase, your professional career will be all set to achieve success. Having embedded yourself well in your maiden job, you ought to be engaged in activities that call for increased responsibilities and higher roles. In this context, you should make use of your experience to develop your career. Your seniors may assign you difficult and demanding tasks but that should not discourage you at all. In this phase too, your professional advancement, image crafting and networking will be impacted. Remember that as you move up on the career ladder, the more is your knowledge base. It is essential that your professional advancement is in harmony with organisational imperatives; if you do not do well on his count, your overall performance will plummet. To guard against any such eventuality, you should subscribe to master classes and participate in intensive technical courses. As far as you brand image is concerned, it should not be forgotten that any advancement cannot be achieved sans a corresponding advancement of your value. If ou have been a conscientious worker all along, you will undoubtedly be Number One for all organisational matters – be they promotions, transfers to overseas appointments and increase in monetary remunerations. It is likely that your company is not quick in its response; under such situations, you could be spotted by placement agencies for appointments pitched at a higher plane. Unlike in the commencement phase, people will approach you for assistance. To meet such requirements, it is inescapable to continue expanding your contact base and share your resources with other professionals.

· Maturity phase: This happens to be the penultimate phase and is characterised by the criticality of remaining relevant in your pursuit. You can do so by maintaining your skills and knowledge at a very high state. You simply cannot bank upon something that you trained upon years ago. Participation in refresher workshops, technical training programmes and workshops and allied training events will stand you in good stead. You must be on the lookout to help anybody who gets stuck in his or her work. When you are at the advancement stage, you should have made a mark for yourself. Your organization and environment alike will place great expectations on you, but since you are already at a fairly senior position by now, there will be hardly any opportunity for promotions. Also, by this time, your contact base would have stabilised and you would know influential persons of the industry that you are associated with. Counting on their support will not be out of place at all.

· Reject & regrets phase: This is an undesirable phase and nobody wants to be a party to it. It is that stage wherein you are there in a career or job waiting to eventually phase out. Who would like to undergo the agony of such a phase? If that be so, it does not warrant any discussion. But a pertinent point is that in this phase, you should wish to start all over again so that the freshness and value of your career continues to exist in a job market that is plagued with stiff competition.

Remember that if you want something that you have never had, you should be willing to engage yourself in doing something that you have never done. That is how you will be successful. But you cannot afford to take things easy, lose out on your focus, get de-motivated and develop a negative outlook. Your personal monitoring will keep you on the correct track. That personal monitoring is what superintendence is all about. 

Handling insecurity of a career change

You are bound to feel insecure when you are in a job that is not to your liking. Why? It is because you are not doing something that is your passion and hence not putting in your best. On the contrary, if you are making full use of your natural talents, you are at ease with both your work and yourself. It is therefore, in the fitness of things to introspect and do some self-discovery to discern whether you are pursuing the right career or if you are a square peg in a round hole. But switching over from one career to another is fraught with risks – you will not be able to predict what lies in store for you in the ensuing five years or even less. And that is what uncertainty and insecurity of a career change is all about.

When you bid goodbye to your present career and embark upon a new one, you go through three distinct phases of uncertainty. It starts from apprehensions before the change per se and till the time you take the plunge. These phases and methods to handle them are:

·   Identifying fear of uncertainty: There is nothing unusual about being apprehensive of a big change. The experience could well be unbearable and even incapacitating. Alertness and consciousness of the fear are the maiden step in the right direction. Once you acknowledge this fear, you are all set to be moving on the correct course. If you suffer from a feeling of being weighed down, you can always cut down on your apprehensions by understanding why they have crept in. You must reduce to writing all your fears that may include financial issues, inability to spare time to give wings to your passions and an absence of appreciation from others. Having identified the fears that you think you are subjected to, you should write down their prompting factors; it is essential that these be done in an interrogative form. To illustrate the point, if you are worried about financial instability, the question could be ‘How will I be able to earn sufficient money if I leave my current job?’ Likewise, if your worry is about not being able to pursue your natural talents, the question could well be ‘How will I attain things that I want to if I stick around with my present job?’ Having done this, you should identify the primary and foremost uncertainty or uncertainties that are pertinent like remorse, disappointment, impression and money, etc.   

·   Triumph over uncertainty: You will automatically become aware of different openings, breaks and prospects that lie when you ask yourself about various issues that are the cause of your apprehensions. This will serve to make you self-assured that things will indeed be fine when you make the change. For example, if you fear that you will not be able to have adequate earnings to sustain your present lifestyle, you may come out with ways and means to reduce your expenditures or save money. You could also propose to yourself some extra work in your spare time. Deciding to work on an honorary basis for sometime in anticipation of being offered that job can also be silver lining in the cloud.

·   Acceptance of fear: Mere acknowledgement of fear is not sufficient; you will have to transform it into an opportunity by instituting tangible steps. There are basically two things that can cause you to be proactive in this regard without difficulty. Firstly, you need to view your life like a trial and research. There is nothing wrong if all decisions that you make are not faultless. The fact that you are prone to experiments implies that you can take risks and can cope with the ups and downs of life. Resultantly, you will take things in stride and derive enjoyment and satisfaction from your actions.

Remember that it is you alone who can be instrumental in characterize your success. It is not necessary that you emulate the definition of success of others. You should be clear about what success means to you. When you make a career change, the parameters of success will change too and that will necessitate articulating what you appreciate, treasure and cherish most once again. It goes without saying that you will experience some difficulties and hence will have to cater to overcoming them. But most importantly, you should have an open mind and accept challenges and complexities with a smile. To be able to take things in stride, you will surely need a characterization of success that is in conformity with the change that you are seeking.

Uncertainty and insecurity are two very commanding feelings. During the initial stages of a career change, they can be agonizingly influential in the negative sense. But if you remain on course with an upbeat outlook, they can serve to give you clout and muscle because they come to you along with opportunities.  Therefore, there is no need to worry; you ought to be there willing to take them in your fold with a determination to overcome them.

Focus on your job & do well

You are bound to experience disturbances and distractions at your home and workplace alike. It is not that you cannot engage yourself with any pursuit in peace, but because of disruption, it becomes a little difficult. You may be able to still manage to do things at home, but at your workplace, things indeed are easier said than done. Tea-break chitchats, corridor gossips and other office tête-à-têtes are bound to be off-putting. And if there is maintenance work going on or rearrangement in progress, the noises that you hear are in no way add more to the problems at hand.

Can you carry on with your assignments and acquit yourself well despite disturbances all around you? You need not be disheartened because you can, provided you plan your day in advance. If you schedule your work judiciously and maintain a calendar of all commitments, you will be able to figure out the time required for each activity throughout the day. In addition, you can also gauge your plus-points and weaknesses, based on which you can accelerate your work. You will thus know in advance issues that you should engage in or focus on. And if you find that there is time at your disposal for a break, you can always dovetail that in your work schedule appropriately.

The best way to schedule your day is to make a timetable, something that we all did at school when examinations were round the corner. Assign different tasks to yourself on an hourly basis. You will thus be doing different work and thus remain focused reasonably well.

Another important point is to not take your work as a liability. Let your job offer you happiness and delight. The tendency to grumble and criticize without much reason is something that knocks off devotedness. To make a criticism is a bit like complaining about the shape of the Pyramids. If you want to remain focused on your job, you must then know to derive enjoyment and delight from it.

Take your mind back to your school days. Didn't we exert ourselves the maximum to get noticed? Didn't we try to excel so that teachers and classmates felt impressed? There was no monetary prize for which we worked; it was all about securing good marks and in the process getting recognized. A pat on the back was perhaps all that one aspired for. Logically speaking, similar inducements and encouragements exist at the workplace. However we tend to ignore and neglect them, primarily because the lure of money weighs up on our minds more than anything else.

If we were to adopt the same attitude as we had when at school, we would be able to stay focused on our work and perform better. We will still get shows of approbation from our subordinates, colleagues and seniors alike. Experiencing such praise and admiration further help in remaining focused on work. We should remember that an invincible determination can accomplish almost anything and in this lies the great distinction between great men and little men. A large number of our colleagues meet with failure because of their inability to remain focused on their jobs.

This brings us to the issue of freewill. Extremely difficult to learn from anybody else, it has   to come from within. Men and women who wile away their time at coffee vending machines and yours too by detaining you in purposeless corridor conversation perhaps do not realize their aimlessness. If you were to introspect and take a decision that come what may, you will not deviate from your focal point, your fortitude and resolve will register an upswing. In fact, your grit will manifest itself as your second nature. Monotony and boredom, if any will automatically get pushed to a dark corner.

Your daily work schedule will not be devoid of difficulties, challenges and stress. Such factors will slow down your advance towards the attainment of your objectives and make a dent on your inspiration level. However, if you carry out self-appraisals periodically and understand the logic of your job, you will be able to focus your vigour on your work. Concurrently, you should imagine yourself reaping gains of your labour; by doing so, you will put in additional effort, which, is indicative of your focus. It is all about making a portrait of your aspirations; if it is complete, you will consciously and unconsciously are focused on attaining it.

It is very important to let the surprise and awe in your job continue to cling on to you. If you derive satisfaction and happiness from the work that you are doing, your motivation will impel you to finish all pending assignments. You will look forward to new challenges and tackle them intelligently. In the bargain, your move in the correct direction stands facilitated ensured. Remember that micro-level originalities and creativity will always total up to larger products. Therefore, if you formulate objectives for yourself, you will be able to remain on the correct course and concurrently be able to visualize the proximity enjoyed by you in their attainment.

Finally, if you do well or come out with flying colours, you must make it a point to indulge in some merry-making. When you do that, you maintain your focus and initiative in all your endeavours. Maintaining your focal point implies being firmly entrenched and concentrated at your current position and engagement.

Career advancement is achieved in stages

Till quite some time back, careers used to move on their own at their own pace. However, today, anybody who is into one wants it to move fast. People want immediate realization, immediate achievement and immediate satisfaction. Unfortunately, that does not happen. We have to move forward slowly and steadily to attain contentment. And success, if at it comes your way will be quite a difficult task.

In the light of the above, you need plan for your future. There are two issues about which you need to introspect and come out with answers in an honest manner. First and foremost, you should be clear about the direction in which you like your career to be moving and how will you ensure that you are on the desired path. Having done that, you should be able to decide on a line of action following which, be able to envision the effect of your career advancement on your career success.

One thing that will always stand by you as you move ahead in your career is fortitude. A large number of people lack it and do not seek to cultivate it either. If something good has to happen, it will not be a sudden development; the start and end will never be without your notice. The unfortunate part is that we think that we are geared up well for anything when actually we are not. Therefore, it is no surprise that when things happen, they fail to move forward. Be it a new career, getting onto a career path, a job hunt or any other activity, advancement will be gradual. And this highlights the need to be patient.

It is essential that you remember some basic guidelines. Your move forward from your current position should be in accordance with a well-ennunciated plan. It will be necessary for you to embark upon and remain on a safe and sound path; and as you keeping ahead, keep adding on to your qualifications. To make certain all this, you need to have attributes that help you analyze and anticipate things as also respond to emerging situations.  

If you seek to move forward in your career, you simply cannot afford to wait for somebody or some happening to impel you. You have to be anticipatory in your approach and outlook. Five strategies required to be adopted by you are: -

·   Identify a frontrunner: You ought to identify a successful frontrunner in your line of activity. He or she could be your immediate boss or even somebody working elsewhere. The very fact that he has done well implies he would have experienced varied plusses and minuses at a stage at which you are presently. Valuable guidance, clarifications of doubts and indication of directions provided by this so-called guru will assist you in attaining your objectives. Building an association with a doyen manifests your keenness to excel and can serve as a big advantage, particularly when it comes in the knowledge of others.

·   Follow a role model: You need to be watching a person who is above you in your company's hierarchy to emulate him. His or her deportment, to include dressing sense, demeanour, camaraderie and attitude can well be imbibed and followed. You need not impersonate your role model, but following all positive attributes will stand you in good stead when you endeavor to work in organizational interest.

·   Augment your learning: Learning is an ongoing process. You should make full use of various training activities scheduled by your company, including conferences, presentations and seminars. Off time, it is a good idea to join classes and acquire additional qualifications. Remember that the more you learn about your job and the level that you aspire for, your dreams will invariably come true. You will thus make yourself a valuable member of your team and in the process will remain primed to shoulder extra and higher responsibilities.

·   Plan for the ensuing five years: Whenever you think over about your career objectives, you should also think of what you seek or where you hope to be the ensuing five years. Having identified that, it must be recorded. It could well be anything - new qualifications, promotions or even a job change. Once reduced to writing, they will serve as a noticeable outline of your aims and putting together any of them in an action plan will thus be a hassle-free affair.

·   Engage in good time & resource management: Time management is an indispensable element to achieve success. It is crucial for you to maintain a good work-life balance so that you do not get afflicted by tensions that have to be regarded as part of present day work schedule. Notwithstanding the level at which you are pitched or the number of years you have put in your career, the need to manage your resources judiciously needs no emphasis. You should exercise control over your wishes and desires and make certain that you do not overspend; in this way you will always have adequate reserves and savings to cater to unexpected situations.

Remember that your luck has a very restricted function to play in your career. If you think that Lady Luck will whisper to you to get going, you are sadly mistaken. The only thing that will pay you dividends is your own belief in your own self; you will have to take the initiative to be at the wheels of your career. It is only then that your career will start moving in the true sense of the word.