Editor’s Note: Steve Browne is a good friend of Rehaul and has conducted local HR forums in Cincinnati for several years. Check out this take on career management and leave your feedback below. Check out his other posts here and here and you can also follow Steve on Twitter.
This topic of career management is too often overlooked – especially in today’s economy. People are numb and fearful about just keeping their jobs, the idea that we should manage our career just seems foreign to us. We don’t manage our careers due to several reasons:
- We get comfortable - Remember, when people get comfortable, they fall asleep and more often than not, they are picked off by companies when cuts are made, and they didn’t even see it coming!
- People don’t want to ask for help - This is sad. Independence is a myth. It is okay to rely on others because, even though you may come across some people who are only “takers”, the vast majority of people want to help others. Don’t be a lone wolf. It will limit you everywhere you go.
- We have a narrow focus - How true! It’s as if we all have blinders when we go to work. We get in our role, put our head down and crank out work. Meanwhile the world and the company culture could be rapidly changing around us and we don’t even notice. Time to take the blinders off.
- People don’t know how to manage their careers - This is unfortunate, but true and the root of this entire topic. Recently, I heard a person with the best quote about this: “Today, it’s not about the joy of having a career, it’s about the survival of having a job.”
So, is there anything we can do to truly manage our careers? I think so. I put together a list of 10 suggestions that can help you with this.
Now, I am by no means a list person. Too often when people give lists people either think they’re silver bullets to sure fire success, or they’re loathed because someone is either a list hater, or they disagree with the content. This list was honestly just a way to consolidate some very effective factors for managing your career. Take a look at see what you think.
- Know what you want to do - We all need to reflect on our career and determine if what we do each day is really what we “want” to do. We shouldn’t be in the survival mode. Not healthy at all.
- Network inside and outside the company - You’d think that we wouldn’t have to even have to mention this anymore. But people still refuse to effectively network. We need to understand that networking isn’t about a job search, it’s a business tool that keeps you as a vital commodity to not only your company, but your profession.
- You can’t help yourself until you help someone else first - You will see countless rewards if you reach out first vs. expecting someone else to reach you first. It honestly will make you healthier when you need help yourself because you’ve taken the time to put others first. It only helps!
- Intentionally seek professional development - The business world moves now faster than the speed of light. If you aren’t seeking to be ahead of the curve, you will fall back exponentially. In the past when the pace of work was slower, this wasn’t a big issue. Now, if you don’t seek to develop yourself and your skills, you can be forgotten and never found again.
- Make it a priority - Like all things, we think we have time to always get to managing our career and then one day we’re “transitioned” and wonder where that time went. This is something that is as important as any aspect of your job. Know where you stand and where you want to be. It doesn’t automatically mean that you have to change jobs. It just means that you are aware of where you are at all times and therefore less likely to be caught by surprise.
- Don’t be a lurker or a slug - Managing your career isn’t anyone else’s responsibility. If you have the “woe is me” approach to your career, others will move past you and not even notice. Be active in all forums you are involved with including – your job, your presence on social media, and your connection to your profession!
- Volunteer and be broad in your scope - Be a giver outside your narrow focus of your job. Find out where you can add value from a civic perspective and get involved. You will be more well-rounded and be a better human. That is good no matter where you are in your career!
- Your career is just one facet of your life so be balanced - Sounds wonderful doesn’t it? One of the greatest facts about the newest generation entering the workforce is that this is something they expect. It’s time we all took their example. It would make us more productive and valued people.
- Involve recruiters in your career management - People never network with recruiters just to know them. That’s a mistake. They are a great resource and if you have a genuine networking relationship, they may reach out to you when you weren’t even looking and get you to the best opportunity you never knew was there! Don’t just use recruiters as your “placement agency.”
- Stay relevant - Seems basic, but too many people become irrelevant each and every day. This isn’t a technology/social media speech, but the landscape we all work in is changing and becoming more and more fluid especially electronically. If you aren’t contributing in these forums, you aren’t relevant. They will continue to evolve and if you aren’t in the mix, then you will become archaic and won’t be able to catch up. Get engaged!
Now it’s your turn. Leave a comment and let us know if you feel that managing your career is worth doing.
{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
Great article. If YOU don’t manage your career, who will?
One addition in my mind is to make sure you are a high performer at the job you are at.
Those people who manage their career well, will have job security, (as much a possible), and will consistently have more opportunities presented to them than anyone else.
Greg – Excellent point !! It is key to be a high performer in whatever role people hold. You are correct in saying that more opportunities would become available. Thanks for commenting.
Steve, this is a great post. I especially like 3 and 10. People always start with “now” and “me.” We always need to have helped first. And 10 is important too.
I’ve actually done a pretty poor job of managing my career but there is one thing I did that I’m sure you considered in 4. Teach yourself. Ask questions, get help reflect on your experiences, read and learn. Don’t just stay in your own industry either. Many times people think because they don’t have the budget for a training class they can’t learn and develop. Abe Lincoln and Ben Franklin and many other great leaders had little formal education.
Thanks again for the great post! Mike…
Mike – appreciate the comment and the candor. That’s one of the main reasons I follow you because you keep me, and others, grounded. I agree that it’s imperative to help others. It’s why we were even created !!
Great tips Steve! Thanks for sharing these. As you’ve pointed out, it’s important to do these things throughout your career – not just when searching for a job. Managing your career is definitely worth doing!
Jennifer – Thanks for the comment. You and I both know the fact about Career Management first hand. You continue to be a great example to a myriad of others about this !!
Steve – a great post. I think points 4 and 10 are particularly important… stay in ‘learning mode.’ Being inquisitive and continuing to develop professional knowledge and capabilities is key for any field. If one becomes stagnant or complacent, then one will be apt to go the way of the dinosaurs (or any other extinct animal) very quickly.
Robin – Love the “stagnant” comment !! That is something we definitely don’t want to do. I hope others hear that solid point from you as well !!
Great post! The reminder to keep networking even when in a job can mean that your next job just gets delivered to you. That’s a cool way to grow your career.
Katherine – Thanks for the comment and for seeing that networking is a constant skill all of us should keep in front of us !! Thanks for sharing.
Networking is important. Its just not easy for all of us. I , for example need a lot of help. One of my favorite writers is coming out with a new book about it, Fast Track Networking, that I can’t wait to read. She gives such great advice on her site.
This is great advice. Wonderful article – thanks! I especially enjoyed your point on networking and agree it is essential in today’s job market. There’s a new book coming out in fact on just this called, “Fast Track Networking.” The author is a veteran marketer who draws her ideas from experience. Hope you can check it out!
thanks for sharing this mate! looking forward for more
Executives and professionals have careers. The rest of us have jobs! The boss decides what we do, when we do it and how much and then complains that we are not sufficiently “engaged”.
For rank and file who MUST be risk averse most career planning advice is useless. When we need the most is when these tools work the least effectively.
Let me give a simple contradiction to point 10 “Stay Relevant”.
What is an accounts payable clerk supposed to do to stay “current” in their “area of expertise”? Keep buying the current releases of “Quick Books”? Build pivot tables in Excel in their free time? For what business purpose?
MANAGEMENT has the fundamental responsibility to keep all employees trained, including the true professionals. The lower the employee is on the org chart the greater the responsibility of management since they have the master plan and the resources to train. Mail room clerks don’t have much disposable income for career development.
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