The Winding Road

It’s important to manage and take control of your career.

By Diane Cobbold

Your career is one of your most valuable assets and ultimately you need to be in control of its direction.
Today’s career-minded individual understands that the cliché corporate ladder has developed a number of broken rungs.
A typical career path is no longer linear but more closely resembles a labyrinthine.You’re continually faced with a winding road, making choices through a network of inter-connecting pathways.
The choices you make and how you cope through the winding maze will determine how well you reach your goals.
The reality is that managing your career is each person’s individual responsibility.You can’t predict every detour, but knowing how to manage your career is the first step.
As an experienced career coach I have met hundreds of individuals that are reluctant to manage their own careers.They still believe that their loyalty and accomplishments will speak for themselves. Their managers will “see” what they’ve contributed and they will be recognized and rewarded without any self-promotion.They’ll just sit back and wait. And then they’ll wait a little longer.
The reality is that managing your career is each person’s individual responsibility. Don’t be a spectator. Step up and become an active participant in the direction of your career. While you can’t predict every detour, knowing how to manage your career is the first step.

IDENTIFY YOUR PROFESSIONAL SKILL SET: Be knowledgeable of your professional assets. Know who you are and what you have to offer.

 
SEEK INPUT: Make a point of actively seeking input and advice throughout your career. We each possess many innate skills and traits that we may not recognize as valuable but resonate with others we work with.

 
KNOW THE MARKETPLACE AND YOUR COMPETITION: Be aware of the ever-changing marketplace and how it will impact you.

 
SHAPING YOUR PERSONAL BRAND: Having taken stock of who you are, what you have to offer and the marketplace expectations, you now have to help shape your personal brand.
Never forget, you are a product. While you may not be as flashy as an iPhone, you are still a product that a company may buy/hire and you have your own unique set of features, benefits, service offerings, and apps.

 
KNOW YOUR VALUE: Your value in the marketplace will fluctuate depending on a number of variables. Even the best and the brightest can find they’ve been devalued due to a supply/demand imbalance or a poor economy.
Taking into account marketplace conditions your career value or net worth needs to assess the sum of:

 
SETTING GOALS AND DEVELOPING A PARTNERSHIP:

Embed goal-setting into your life. Set a combination of short and long-term goals that challenge you both personally and professionally. One important aspect of goalsetting is to actually write them down. Record or post them in a place that you will frequently see. While you may record a few goals that are ambitious, try and set realistic and obtainable goals.

Your long-term goal could be, “to be the Vice-President at a Fortune 100 company in 10 years.”Ambitious? Maybe. But it doesn’t mean with the right skills, planning and motivation it can’t be achieved. So what goals are you going to set for the next 2-3 years to get you one step closer? While you want to set as many self-directed goals as possible that don’t heavily rely on marketplace conditions, or happenchance, consider striking a partnership with your manager or employer. If you are recognized as a person with high potential, or you’re a rising star in your organization, they may be very willing to help you reach your goals if it ensures your continued employment with them.

A LIFE-LONG PROCESS

Active career management is a lifelong practice. It requires us to perform regular maintenance checks to ensure the skills, training and experience we possess in positioning us for the future. We need to be open-minded and accept that our careers will take us on a winding, and exciting journey. Don’t begin to manage your career when it’s in jeopardy or crisis. Realize that taking control of your career requires active life-long commitment.

Diane Cobbold is a senior career coach with Careego.com, a division of Knightsbridge Human Capital Management.