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No one would deny, on this web site at least, that gaining any professional qualification is an achievement worthy of celebration.

What many people forget is that the qualification is not an end point but the opening of a gateway to a career, and that careers need to be managed.

Use it or Lose it

Successful careers rarely happen by accident, like most other aspects of life they need to be planned and that plan managed.

The reality is that if you simply let your career happen relying on fate to deliver those great opportunities it will not be long before your career dissipates into just another job, with no prospects.

Job – v – Career

What is the difference between a job and a career?

Everyone is entitled to their own definition, but for me the difference is clear.

A job is an activity that you do to pay the bills. You know what you have to do on any given day because you have been doing the same thing for quite some time, and you know exactly what you will be doing this time next year, because what you do rarely changes. If you have a job you will have reached the peak of your earnings potential very early in your working life.

On the other hand, if you have a career, what you are doing today could be quite different to what you were doing a year ago and you have no idea what you might be doing in a year’s time, it all depends, well on lots of things.

What you do know is that you are ready for what ever is thrown at you, because you have a programme of continuous professional development worked out. On the money front you know you have some way to go before you reach your earnings potential.

A New Year a New Career Focus

When a new year starts many of us are in the right frame of mind to review life and start doing things differently, so why not make your New Year’s resolution to take control of your career?

This shouldn’t necessitate a change of employer or even a change of job, but it should involve a change in the way you view your job.

Taking control of your career can be achieved by following ten practical steps

1. Invest in You – A successful career does not happen by accident, like every other asset it is something that you need to invest in. That does not mean simply spending lots of money on expensive training courses, it means having a plan through which you can demonstrate to yourself and others your plan for continuous professional development. You might be able to achieve your plan by mixing with different people, attending a CIPD branch event or reading a book. It doesn’t matter what you do, but it is important that at the end of the year that you are able to demonstrate what you have learnt.
2. Know your Organisation – Everyone has worked or will work in an organisation that for any number of reasons was toxic to them being in control of their career. To be successful in your career you have to work in the right sort of organisation, a place where your efforts to develop your career will be recognised and appreciated.
3. Hang with the Right People – You will be more successful in your career if you have managers and colleagues who are also interested in developing their careers. Work with people who only want to do a job and you will end up following their example.
4. Understand the Politics – Every organisation has its politics, you don’t need to get involved in the game playing, but you do need to understand the hidden mechanisms that get things done, and work with them not against them.
5. Ideas Machine – Professional competence is the skill that you need to deal with the problems that every organisation encounter, but you don’t want to be the person who reports the problem, unless you can also provide a feasible solution
6. Deal with Rejection – You’re a good person but no one is perfect so there will be people that just don’t like you, so work out now, a series of ideas for how you will deal with those people.
7. Communicate Clearly – If people do not know how you will be act in a situation, they will predict your response for themselves and it won’t be a nice way. Work out your person career values and what that means in terms of your behaviour and then live those values and communicate them through your behaviour.
8. Embrace Mistakes – You’re good but you’re a long way from perfect so when you or a member of your team make a mistake, make sure that you shoulder the responsibility, and that you can explain what you did wrong, what you have learnt from it and what you will do to ensure that you do not make the same mistake again.
9. Make Connections – There is a lot of truth in the adage that sometimes it not what you know, but who you know that is important. Make sure that as many people as possible have an experience with you that gives them something good to say about you.
10. Step Away – We all get attached to our jobs, the people that we work with and even the companies that employ us, but all good things must come to an end. If you are in control of your career you will have identified a series of circumstances that will signal it is time for you to move on and a strategy for making that move.

The New Year is a great time to start reviewing your career and taking control of your career progression.

Happy New Year from the team at Work Place Learning Centre!