12 Tips for Career Success

Set Targets & Goals

Targets and goals are part of some of the most fundamental principles of Career success they offer an indication of where you are, measure your progress and reveal your destination, all while give you the opportunity to unlock your potential along the way. This most popular format of this tip is set as “Short Term Targets & Long-Term Goals”. Targets and Goals make it easier for you to reach the overall objective, these can be utilised for personal progress or applied to a task given within a company.

Gain Trust

Trust in many of our lives is the one value above all that we hold closest, that we look for in others and that most try to display to those they care about or respect. It is important above all to gain the trust of your employer as this means you will be trusted with delicate information, the biggest tasks and be highly favoured with your employer. It is important to gain trust not just from employers but from fellow employees, their trust means they can help you with a difficult task or teach you something you may not have previously known.

Take Initiative

One of the main attributes’ employers look for is the ability to take initiative. This means having ideas ahead of time or taking care of tasks that you may anticipate will be needed to be completed ahead of time. Taking initiative shows that you are always alert, it shows that you are in tune with the needs of your employer as well as yourself. You can even take initiative in your own life by making sure you are ahead of every curve. i.e. employability: enrolling in an apprenticeship to make yourself more employable. 

Communicate clearly

Communication is a skill that is always being perfected but never fully mastered, it is a skill that is needed in everyday life and required in almost any ad every situation. Being able to communicate clearly gives those who speak to you a clear understanding of your viewpoint, it becomes a part of your personality and what people associate you with when considering you professionally. 

Be willing to learn 

An eagerness to learn is needed in most professional environments, be eager to learn not just the job but also the environment you are working in, the industry you are working and the people you will be working with. All information on the job is useful information and can only help boost knowledge of the job, help in understanding the environment, industry and the people you are working within. It is not just those above you in the hierarchy that can aide in your development but also those around you, it is a fact of life that everybody has something to offer and there is always someone that knows something you do not know.

Anticipate needs

Anticipating needs can apply internally and externally, internally you can anticipate your needs in terms of how you work, the environment you need to be productive, the programme you need to work with, technology needed etc… externally naturally would mean anticipating the needs of those you work with whether they be your boss or your colleague or teammate. Anticipating needs can help you gain trust amongst co-workers and shows initiative with superiors.

Be reasonable 

It is important especially in the early days of your employment to be reasonable, at this particular time you may not have all the requisite knowledge on everything in the company or in the industry, be reasonable with those above you take their word seriously no matter how much you may not believe they are right, it is important at this point that one is able to pick their battles.

Work Smart

As the saying goes work Smarter not harder, this is a very important tip as it keeps you ahead of your competition, what this essentially means is to concern yourself only with the important tasks and aspects of the business that need to be attended to and take initiative in those areas. It helps to establish you as an important and trust employee. While unemployed you can also work smarter by applying in the most effective areas, finding new ways to get an employer’s attention or if its possible choose to strike out on your own.

Plan around Your Finances

Planning around your finances is pivotal to your success because it makes it easier to save, should have things you would like to pay for knowing your finances helps you to do that. You learn your spending habits, where you can afford to cut down on spending and be able to plan your payments for the future efficiently. It is one of the most important and effective was to keep your life in order and also it aides in understanding how finances work should you choose to run a business in the future.

Be willing to work in a team 

Teamwork makes the dream work as they say and as you begin to work a lot of times you will be asked to work with others. It is important to be open to working with the team and ensuring you are working as a team, never try to focus on outshine or throw teammates under the bus. The objective is also the most important thing next to the quality of work.

Trust your instincts

Trust your instincts in every situation, at times in a professional environment we tend to doubt ourselves when we get an idea or work on something personally. It is important that you never hesitate to bring your ideas to those above you or colleagues. It just might happen that your idea is just what they were missing or something that a colleague would be able to help you with

Ask for Help

Another common fact of life is one that reads that no man is an island. Isolating yourself from others and trying to do everything by yourself limits your success. As mentioned earlier everyone has something to offer be it knowledge or advice, if you are unemployed seek help and guidance from those closest to you: friends, family, acquaintances etc.. if you have having trouble with a task at a job never hesitate to ask for help.