career development Archives - The Career Success Doctor

45 Pieces Of Advice For Career Success

Written by Natalia

Career success is the number one goal for most professionals. Whether they are lower-level employees, members of the C-suite, or even entrepreneurs, what they want –what we all want actually- is to be successful at what we do.

That could mean earn that promotion we’re after, a pay raise, increase our sales, generate more leads… and the list goes on.

Sometimes, when we have to make choices or just need help to stay focused, a piece of advice can be truly beneficial.

What about a few more pieces? These nice folks on ‘The Daily Muse’ have compiled a list of 45 pieces of advice for achieving career success. Organised in 5 categories, you will find quotes of many successful people who are sharing their wisdom. There is always something new to learn!

“When it comes to your career, sometimes it feels like you could use all the advice you can get. From picking the “right” career to actually excelling in it, there’s certainly a lot to learn.

And that’s why we’ve gathered our all-time best career advice. From starting out at the bottom of the totem pole to advancing to a more senior position to—who knows?—maybe even branching out to open your own business, we’ve collected 45 of the best tips for whatever stage you’re at in your career.”

Read the whole article here “45 Pieces of Career Advice That Will Get You to the Top”

Who am I to be compared to Steve Jobs, Mark Cuban, Michelle Bruno, Kathleen Tierney or any other professional in this list… but, if I were to add a piece of my own, that would be these two words: “Under-promise, Over-deliver”.

What was the best piece of career advice you have ever received? If someone asked for your advice on achieving career success, what would that be?

Do You Want To Get A Promotion?

Written by Natalia

Are you thinking of asking for a promotion? Perhaps you’re too long in your current position and after all your hard work you believe you deserve to get promoted?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, today’s blog post is for you.

How to receive a promotion in 30 days

If you are planning to ask for a promotion, this article in Glassdoor has everything you need.

Heather Huhman has crafted a 6-step guide to help you land a promotion in 30 days.

Don’t forget to sell yourself properly. You can’t always rely on others to recognise your work. You have to demonstrate your value, just like you would do if you had to apply for a job.

” Research shows June is one of the best months to land a promotion, so now is the time to start planning your next move.

If you’re looking to set yourself up for success in the upcoming month, here are some tips to landing a promotion in the next 30 days… “

Read the whole article here: “6 Steps to Scoring a Promotion in the Next 30 Days”

Why you haven’t had a promotion yet

On the other hand, if you have already tried to land a promotion but failed, chances are you need to improve your strategy following the advice above.

If you feel like everyone else is being promoted except for yourself and you see your colleagues pass you by, then perhaps you need something more than a “strategy tweaking”. You might believe that you deserve a promotion but, perhaps, that’s not the case (yet).

In the following article in Brazen Life, by Levo League, you will discover the 9 reasons that might keep you from being promoted.

Self-evaluation is the key here. Be 100% honest with yourself and recognise your weaknesses in order to improve these areas.

“ When you don’t receive a promotion, the first thing you need to do is re-evaluate your qualities as an employee. If you’re trying to figure where you went wrong in your position, here are nine reasons you were probably overlooked for a promotion…”

Read the whole article here: “Feeling Stuck? Here are 9 Real Reasons You’re Not Getting Promoted”

It needs a lot of work to land a promotion, but nothing compares to the feeling you have at the end, when your work is acknowledged and rewarded. And if you evaluate yourself honestly, set an action plan for your weaknesses and follow these 6 steps, the next promotion is yours!

Career Spring Cleaning

Written by Natalia

Spring cleaning is the yearly act of cleaning the house from top to bottom which traditionally takes place in the first days of spring. Now it’s the time when we all clean our houses thoroughly, organise our drawers, and de-clutter our closets.

I stumbled upon an article today whose author suggested a brilliant idea! Why not do some career spring cleaning as well?

I believe a career-cleaning might benefit us more than we think. We tend to make plans and stick to them, trying to achieve our goals and then we realise that these goals are not in alignment with our lives any more. It might be what we needed or wanted 5 years ago, but now our life has changed and so did our aims and desires.

Akshaya Vardhan of ‘Ms. Career Girl’ gives us 3 steps to spring clean our career too this year, along with our closets.

” Though there are a few residual flakes, spring has officially sprung in Chicago! Spring conventionally signifies restoring your garden, organizing your closet, and new fashion trends. Aside from these options, why not clean more, like our careers? To help you get started, here are 3 basic steps to get you in the career-cleaning spirit:

Step 1: Assess Your Career
Our daily endeavors can deter us from passionately pursuing our careers. Regardless, springtime can be a great time to evaluate your current situation. A helpful evaluation technique is to create a 2 year plan of your desired career progress. The timeline can include graduate degrees, promotions, and other accomplishments…. “

Read the whole article here: “Spring Clean your Career”

Spring has finally come and it’s time to de-clutter our houses, our lives and our careers.

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How do you plan to do your career spring cleaning?

It’s Annual Career Development Plan And Self-Evaluation Time!

Written by Natalia

Have you sat down with your manager yet to work on a career development plan? The month of January is often the time for your annual career development conversation (for some companies this is done at the of the year, in December, rather than the beginning, or is tied in with the organisation’s financial year).

Self-evaluation is the KEY to career development

In most cases, companies ask their employees to complete self-evaluations for their managers to review. This is a great opportunity to communicate with your supervisor and remind him or her all the things you have accomplished throughout the past year, the projects you were assigned and completed successfully and in general the reasons you were hired at first place (if you are keeping a “brag list” it will be so much easier to remember everything and sort out the most important ones). And, if this is a long list and you are ready for it, you could also get that promotion you are after.

However, you have to be completely honest with yourself. We are not entirely 100% strengths; we also have weaknesses. Think honestly about yours. What are the areas where you could improve? Considering all the projects and tasks you were involved with during the past year, where do you feel you could have done better? Assuming you were asking for feedback, you should consider the feedback you’ve received throughout the year as well to list your improvement areas.

As soon as you build that list, you’ll have to come up with an action plan. What are you going to do about your weaknesses and your professional development? How are you going to improve these skills? Maybe you need additional training, practice, or more experience. Maybe you need your manager’s help on this by providing you with opportunities to take on responsibilities, to lead, to undertake challenging tasks, or to take a class you need.

If you include all this information within your self-evaluation, you will have a meaningful discussion with your manager during the annual employee evaluation process, and you will be ready to take your career one step further.

Martha Austin, in her article in FedSmith, gives a different perspective to developmental areas. She provides a framework for you to use to present them to your boss in a way as she states, “to turn the Career Development Conversation into something that brings out the best in both the employee and supervisor“.

In most cases the employee is supposed to come to the meeting having identified three areas of strength and three “Developmental Areas” to work on in the coming year. (…)

So of course the employee walks into the session knowing that no matter how wonderful their strengths are, and no matter how dedicated they’ve been to their work, at some point there will be a discussion about how they fall short. And if the employee has not identified three Developmental Areas, the supervisor will identify them for him.

This is a No-Win situation all around. The only thing more disempowering than looking at yourself and identifying the things that are wrong with you is having your supervisor do it for you. And we wonder why employees and supervisors alike HATE these conversations.

There is a more useful way to define Developmental Areas…

Read the whole article here: “Your 3 Most Important ‘Developmental Areas’”

   

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Career Development Tips: 6 Things You Should Accomplish Your First Year At A New Job

Written by Natalia

If you have finally made the big decision to change your a career and you have just started your new job, you will need to focus on your career development in your new position. Whether you have 15 years working experience or you are an entry-level employee, you will find this article from ‘Ms. Career Girl’ to be truly beneficial. Tanya Kertsman lists six things that should be accomplished within the first year at a new job, in order to help you build your career and establish your future success.

“There are some key milestones that every new employee should achieve within their first year at a new company. How you fit in with your team and your professional growth the first year can determine your success in the years that follow.

Make those first 12 months count. By integrating yourself into the company culture and showing enthusiasm for the work you’re doing, you begin to earn the respect of your colleagues, which leads to more interesting projects and greater opportunities. At least once a quarter, review this list to make sure you’re doing what you need to set up the right foundation for a long and prosperous career.”

Read the whole article here “6 Things You Should Accomplish Your First Year At A New Job”



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