Coach Cath Says
1. The Rules Of Work Have Changed. Certificates Don't Matter As Much As They Used To
We were all brought up to belief that, if you want to get a good job, then all you have to do is get a good qualification, and then you'll just walk into a good job. If you want to progress, then just get another good qualification and you'll get an automatic promotion. It's not that straight-forward anymore. And that's why you're seeing young folks without qualifications being promoted. Don't beat yourself up about it. You've been trying to play the game using the old rules, and its not working, because the rules have changed. Those young folks getting promoted are playing using the new rules. Have you asked them how they're doing it, and what they've learned about what works in the world of work in your industry? In general, the people I see thriving in the world of work these days have the following:
- They might not have the certificates, but they can do the work and get the results. They make the sales/ deliver the projects/ exceed whatever other metrics are measures. And they do it consistently.
- They're great with people. They're open, they listen, they share and they have good relationships. Because they're good with people, people like them.
- They're committed to their lifelong learning. They read books about stuff in their line of business, they ask questions, they learn something new everyday.
- They're positive. They smile, they're upbeat, they say YES when people ask for help. They give their all - even if they know they're underpaid. They don't complain. People like this are valuable because they always improve the team atmosphere and raise everyone's spirits. We all like to work with people like this, rather than the complainers.
Go and ask people in your industry, "What does it take to be successful in this industry?" Ask lots of people and listen carefully.
2. Look Beyond Your Own Company, And Apply For Jobs Even When You Don't Meet All Of The "Requirements"
Have you searched for jobs in other companies? Also, when a recruiter places an advert for a job, they describe their "ideal" candidate and what qualifications and skills and experience that candidate has. Don't be put off when it says "3-5years of experience required" if you only have 2 years experience. Apply anyway, and tell them in the cover letter why you believe you can do the job anyway. Years of experience isn't a good way to measure how good someone is at their job because some people learn a lot more than others in 3 years. Become like the people who learn actively everyday and you won't need to have however many years of experience, because if you're learning everyday, you'll figure stuff out in much shorter than 3 years.
3. Get Some Honest Feedback From Your Boss And Colleagues
If you're wanting to get from where you are to where you want to be, you need to know where you are right now. This can be tough and you need to be ready to receive honest feedback. That takes courage, but you can't make a plan for getting there until you know where "here" is. It might be useful to sit down and give yourself feedback on your own strengths and the areas where you feel you need to grow. Then think about how you can get feedback from your boss and colleagues in a way that allows them to be totally honest. You could set up a free online survey for them to complete using www.polldaddy.com. Or ask them to write something for you, saying what they feel your strengths are and where you need to grow and learn if you want to progress yourself. This will help you to understand why you haven't gotten the promotions you've wanted and then you'll know what you need to work on and you can get working on it.
4. Ask Around In Your Industry And Find Out What Skills And Personality Traits People Value Most
This will also help you to know what areas you need to work on, to make yourself more valuable to potential employers, and to be able to communicate your strengths to them. People love to share and help, so just ask around at work, and perhaps even phone around recruiters and ask them what they think too. Ask people at other workplaces, not just the one you work at. You'll learn lots about how to present yourself to potential employers and what skills to focus on developing. Also, as you're meeting with all these people, you'll be extending your network, which brings me to the next point:
5. Get Out And Meet People
A lot of people get their ideal jobs through people they know. With so many people applying for jobs, you've got a lot of competition. Most people think it's only entrepreneurs who need to network, but the most successful employees are networkers. They find out about all the best jobs through their network and they use their network to help them learn. By meeting more people, they find mentors, friends, supporters and people who they can help and mentor. And when you do that, you are developing and improving your skills for working with people as well, and all of this makes you more valuable to potential employers. I know you have a business studies diploma, but at the end of the day, if you're wanting to get into the higher-paying management positions, those positions are all about people-management. And networking will help you to prepare for being great at that.
6. Take Responsibility For Your Self-Development And Commit To Learning Everyday
I don't mean formal university studies. You can learn cheaply or even for free from two key sources: the internet (for example, the Career Junction articles) and books. Think about the feedback you've given yourself and the feedback you collected from other people and find books and internet articles to read about that topic. Here's a book I highly recommend, for you to start with: "Love is the Killer App" by Tim Sanders. It's a great guide to developing and sharing your knowledge, connections and compassion - 3 key areas for demonstrating your value as an employee.
Author: Cath Duncan
Cath Duncan is a life and leadership coach and
CareerJunction's resident Career Coach. Through one-to-one coaching
and projects like the Bottom-line
Bookclub, Cath helps people learn the Agile Living Strategies for thriving at work in
this high-change era.
