Happy new year! I certainly wish you all the best for 2013, may all your wildest career dreams and top job search goals become a reality this year. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
The reality is that none of my wishes for you will come to life without your active participation and commitment. As you promise yourself (AGAIN) to eat right, lose weight, and get a better job, do more than make generic resolutions that get defeated by the end of January.
To keep you on the right path to executive career success, let me get you started with five new career management strategies that would benefit you for years to come:
Good luck and hard work are not interchangeable. Real professional success and career mastery doesn’t just happen – it takes careful planning, diligence and commitment. If you want to become a well-respected, trusted authority in your industry and profession, be prepared to work hard for it. Get focused about what you want.
Your ability to stand out and be different helps your career success…let’s face it, we are all unique. There are several things that you do better than anyone else and that message should come across clearly to employers and recruiters.
Make sure your career/personal brand clearly reflects your strengths and unique promise of value.
You want to get paid your worth? Then you cannot wait and hope that someone else figures out why you are the best candidate…be confident and vocal (online and offline) about your experience, expertise and strengths. Yes, even the introverts and modest folks like you have to get comfortable with self-promotion.
No matter how smart you are, what you can achieve on your own cannot compare to what you can do with a vibrant, active professional and personal network behind you.
I distinctly remember working with a client several years ago who was laid off from an industry that experienced change due to technology innovation and transformation. She was unsure about her next career move because she did nothing to stay competitive, marketable or employable in her field. You guessed it, she become obsolete in her own profession.