Get set for your next career move

“Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood……Make big plans; aim high in hope and work.”   ---- Daniel Burnham

Into a job does not mean that you do not have to work out your future moves. You need to bring your future into your present so that you can do something about it today. If you worry in advance, then you can think and plan in advance. The fact is that a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow.

Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixed-up. The same is true for your career. You have to find your next career move. Here is how you can do that:

·   Be familiar with yourself:  You should spare time to evaluate your strong points, vulnerabilities, prospects and risks. In doing so, you will get to know yourself better and thus will be better poised to acquit yourself well. 

·   Rate yourself pragmatically:  You should prefer to pursue an opportunity that gives you prospects of advancement on all fronts. It is essential that you consider your workplace environment and people around you also; money aspects should not be accorded high precedence.

·   Maximize your merit: You should have clarity of thought and direction. This is possible only if you reorganize and simplify your functioning. Anything that is not your major aptitude should be discarded.

·   Perk yourself up:  What you should endeavour on a continual basis is self-improvement. Be it your overall performance or spoken reputation, people should acknowledge you and your contributions.

·   Be better poised:  In order to progress, you have to keep abreast with changing environments. You need to possess manifold perceptions of various issues; if you are able to incorporate your outlook with others, you will comprehend things holistically and stand at a higher pedestal to face challenges.

·   Sell yourself:  You must sell yourself for the job and position that you are seeking. You must dress and conduct well; your personal dealings should be par excellence. 

·   Appreciate long-term effects:  You should try to get into an appointment where you cannot be dislodged in the immediate future. If you happen to be an intern, recall the dedication with which you went to college and the outcome it had.

·   Empower yourself:  You must allow yourself aspects like knowledge and education. These entail interacting with people and enlarging contacts at one end of the spectrum to making yourself presentable by having good attire on the other.

·   Refine your representation:  You should be clear about the image that you want to represent. It is only after you are able to do this, you should draft your resume; needless to state it should be accurate, brief and concise. Remember that your resume is a perceivable and concrete document and hence everything in it should portray you in a positive manner.

·   Take care of your networking:  Your list of contacts should be ever increasing. You should keep meeting people and discern their thoughts and plans so that you can be of assistance to them. Remember that you cannot predict when a person can be of help.

·   Interact with well-informed people:  You should remember that if you know relevant people and also how to connect with them, they will render you correct advice. Their recommendations and suggestions will surely make you more valuable at work.

·   Be venturesome:  You need not be extra cautious in your approach and dealings so as to preclude your individuality. You must continue to give wings to your passions without having fear of failure. It is best to proceed ahead in keeping with what your conscience prompts you.

If you are working, you are not chasing a retirement plan. You are working to succeed in life; and for that you need to be full of zip. Let your next career move be well-judged and well thought-out.

Walk your way to career success

“There is one quality which one must possess to win, and that is definiteness of purpose, the knowledge of what one wants, and a burning desire to possess it.”

--- Napoleon Hill

Is career success yet to be yours? Do you feel that your long wait for it will soon see the light of the day? You should remember that success is a commodity for which you need to work hard to achieve rather than waste your valuable time in anticipating for a miracle to happen. 

All successful men and women possess that invincible quality of determination and perseverance to work against odds. But we tend to suffer from a fallacy that it is their contacts that make them successful. Luck, of course has a role to play, but then fortune always favours the brave.

Career success comes to those who aim for and work hard to attain it. Unless you are willing to drench yourself in your work beyond the capacity of the average man, you are just not cut out for positions at the top. All that it entails is a plain adherence to the following steps; any departure from it will make the process stretched and time-consuming:

·   Deem that success will be yours:   You should have confidence in yourself and always believe you will clutch success. Put your thoughts on paper as they cross your mind; there are no second thoughts in this game. You should be able to generate for yourself a portrait of your perfect line of occupation and being – something that you can view it whenever you want to derive inspiration and make it a reality.

·   Know the reality:   Once you are convinced of your ability to be successful, make efforts to reinforce your trust with truth. You should discern various actions that you need to indulge in to infuse life in the portrait that you created. This will simplify things for you. You should again jot down pertinent aspects and search for their pragmatic responses. It is then that you will be truly geared up for playing winning strokes.

·   Remain focused:   You should assert your belief to succeed and not lose out on your dedication. Remaining focused has a potency attached to it; you make decisions that matter and impel you to abide by them by altering your very stance and attitude. You will thus set for yourself a rationale and intent. Your commitment will ensure that you grasp all opportunities and not even look at bewilderment that may attempt to impede you. You will remain enthused and that is what matters the most.

·   Chart a roadmap:   With your self-assuredness and dedication firmly entrenched, you need to create a roadmap for attaining success. The actualities and realities unearthed by you should serve to direct you. The roadmap should be divided into segments, which should then be allotted a timeframe for attainment. You should accord precedence to various aspects that comprise each segment of the roadmap and address them accordingly. This will help you always remain on the correct path with appropriate concentration.

·   Do not halt:   You will suffer boredom and monotony may attempt to have the better of you. There will be times when you feel disillusioned when your efforts do not pay visible dividends. The journey towards success is not absolutely smooth; you ought to anticipate bumpy stretches also. If you harbour that true desire to triumph, you have to be in a dynamic mode. It is not essential that you make long strides all through and always; what is important is to keep moving steadily in the correct direction.

The bottom line is that the secret of achievement is to hold a picture of a successful outcome in the mind. In order to succeed, your desire for success has to be greater than your fear of failure. And that success will not come to you on its own; you and you alone has to go after it.       

Refuel your career

“I find that a man is as old as his work. If his work keeps him

     from moving forward, he will look forward with the work.”                                                              

----- William Ernest

The vision of a career ladder differs from person to person. If your career needs a boost, there are ways and means to recharge it. You have to adopt a practical and hands-on approach to address the issue.

Are you keen to fuel your career? What is the best way to get into a more dynamic mode? You have to alter your settings to experience newer feelings with every dawn. Here’s how you can do so:

·  Play down negativity:  Research has shown that people who are afflicted with negativity invariably are critical of everything.  If your workplace atmosphere is plagued with malignance, you will never be able to better your career conditions. Instead, you are more likely to get into disparaging activities. Hence you need to rely on your own attainments to push yourself forward.  

·   Pursue something different:  Though it will be a difficult proposition to influence your employers that you can switch roles, you can still productively do so with your ingenuity. Keeping your aim in mind, you will have to improve your skills and practical knowledge; and enlarge your network.

·   Acquire new qualifications:  If you have to get out of your career pothole, the best way is to upgrade your qualifications as distinct from piling up diplomas and certificates. Attending evening classes to a post-graduate degree or an MBA is worth the effort and will pay you rich dividends in the long run.

·   Switching jobs is no solution:  If you cannot derive contentment in your job, it is likely that you may not be trying enough. While some say that the grass on the other side is greener, the fact is that it is greenest wherever you hose it. But if you have to, you must move to a place with superior career prospects. 

·   Have mentors & guides:  Major decisions related to a career are confounding and perplexing, particularly when you take them sans any organizational support from your current company. Thus, you need to reach out to others. You should have a team of friends, philosophers and guides who can guide you; the support they offer will be monumental.

Time moves on, technology changes and companies either grow or fall. If that be so, occupations are bound to go through difficult periods. Hence, you should take control of your career. The following habits, if inculcated can be in your interests;

·   Regular evaluation of your career: You must review your career periodically – what you have learnt, what you intend to learn and how you will progress as an individual.

·   Having a watchful eye: You must keep your wits about to identify places where you can fit in. Remember that lateral movement is also a route for vertical promotion. Also, do not ignore opportunities. You must be watchful enough to make certain that you do not miss out on new jobs.

·   Keeping abreast of developments: You have to stay up-to-date in all spheres of activities, including those that are not your direct domain. Being knowledgeable is an important criterion to improve and safeguard your interests in this world.

Remember that you are an outcome of your surroundings. Hence it is essential that you choose a surrounding that will optimally advance you towards whatever you aspire for. You need to evaluate your life in terms of its surroundings. And since life is a series of adjustments, you can make changes as you move forward. So, the crux point is that if you do not move forward, you will never get to reach anywhere. Are the things around you helping you toward success - or are they holding you back?