- YOUR CAREER IS A VALUABLE ASSET: You should consider your career as your most important financial asset. Nurture it and develop it. DON’T abuse it or take it for granted. If you do, you are already on a slippery slope and you will inevitably start to create problems for yourself. Learn more about careers in Wireless And Mobile Sales Management, Telecoms Hardware Engineering, Wireless and Mobile Software Engineering, Telecoms Systems Engineering and Telecommunications Marketing Management.
- NEVER STOP LEARNING: Take on something new that will enhance your career long term, or help you be better at the job you currently do, or want to do. If you keep up with changes by keeping your skill sets relevant, you will make yourself less vulnerable, should a period of downsizing or consolidation arrives.
- SUPPORT: You need the support of those around you in the workplace and at home. Don’t take for it granted, especially the support of your boss and colleagues, who are likely to be less loyal to you than your spouse or partner. Support has to be won and maintained. Try to analyse over a period whether key staff and your boss are treating you with more or less respect, and above all listen – how do people talk to you? Do they talk openly? Do they avoid answering pertinent questions and avoid eye contact? People can say as much by what they don’t say, as by what they do. These elements, when put together can be a good barometer of how well you are doing in the relationship stakes.
- POLITICS: Most people dislike politics in the workplace, but it is a natural occurrence whenever people are brought together – people get to know one another, form favourite groups and playing your part in these group dynamics is essential for success in any medium or large organisation. Politics is often highlighted as the reason why people become unhappy at work and either leave, or eventually lose out to someone else more popular when that important job promotion opportunity arises. Therefore, networking and getting on with colleagues in the workplace is just as important as keeping your skills sets up to date and relevant.
- SUCCESS NEEDS TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED: We all need our successes to be acknowledged. Make sure people around you get to know your successes. Use the appropriate channels within your organisation to achieve this – don’t be shy, but be measured and avoid creating enemies by bragging inappropriately. If you have a boss that strongly supports you, this is often a good place to start. And remember, like many other things in life, timing can be crucial.
- A NEW BOSS CAN OFTEN MEAN A CHANGE OF JOB: In many instances, a new boss heralds a change in business strategy. The new boss has probably been brought into the organisation to do something different, or meet a new challenge. Redundancies can occur due to a new boss re-structuring, or changing the roles that staffs currently have, in order to re-align the business with the opportunity. You need to quickly assess whether the new way of working will be acceptable to you. If your position or responsibilities have changed, assess whether your skill sets are still relevant and either fully support your new boss and all the changes, or find something else within the organisation, or leave altogether.
- LEARN FROM YOUR MISTAKES: Yes, believe it or not, we are human and mistakes get made, whether in your previous job or current job. Was it a business relationship that went sour, which ended up costing you? Or was it strategic or tactical error in the development of a plan? What ever it was, be honest with yourself. Take time to analyse what went wrong and why. Make sure you learn from it, so you don’t repeat it.
- NETWORKING: Constantly widen your personal network of useful contacts while you are in work, so when you are looking for a new job you will have some useful allies. Many jobs are filled through personal recommendation. Managers like to recruit those who can be recommended by someone they know and whose opinion they value – this takes a lot of risk out of the recruitment process for the hiring manager.
- WORK ON YOUR SELF IMAGE: Always look professional, be one time for work and for meetings, speak clearly and concisely, be polite, friendly and upbeat. Don’t give off a negative aura - you can’t operate effectively - especially in a management position, where you are expected to lead teams, win arguments and debates, be persuasive and carry people with you, if you come across negatively.
- REGULARLY APPRAISE YOURSELF: Be honest with yourself. Have you made progress this year or not? If not, why not? Are you at risk? What would your boss say to you today if you had your appraisal today? What must you do to meet your personal and career goals? Write a plan that enables you to minimise risk and maximise opportunity. Can you deliver, or do you need to go elsewhere? Put down some markers and take a few minutes each week to review what you’re achievements against plan. Decide, can you deliver here, or do you need to move on.
- REMEMBER – YOUR CAREER IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY AND YOURS ONLY: If you have a good boss, you will be encouraged to develop and reach your potential in that job. However, your boss won’t and can’t manage your career. You must think carefully what you want from your career – visualise where you want to be, but be mindful of your own limitations. Now plan how you are going to get there. Taking control of your career will give you a greater sense of purpose and empowerment. Enjoy the journey!
- FINALLY – DON’T FORGET THAT IMPORTANT WORK/LIFE BALANCE: It’s no good having a successful career and fulfilling all your work commitments, if everything else around you, like personal relationships and family life are failing.
PLEASE NOTE, Wireless Mobile Jobs HAVE TRIED TO HELP DIFFERENIATE THE KINDS OF SERVICES THAT MAY BE OF HELP TO YOU. HOWEVER, MANY ORGANISATIONS HAVE THERE OWN DEFINITIONS OF WHAT THESE SERVICES ARE AND WHAT THEY CONTAIN. YOU SHOULD THEREFORE CHECK THOROUGHLY, ESPECIALLY IF BUYING A SERVICE. MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE GETTING THE SERVICE THAT WILL SPECIFICALLY MEET YOUR NEEDS.
COACHING - MENTORING
Coaching and mentoring are terms, like career planning and counselling which are often misunderstood. What is coaching & mentoring? Well, according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel Development, it is to provide help and support for people in an increasingly competitive and pressurized world in order to help them:
- Develop their skills
- Improve their performance
- Maximise their potential
- and to help someone become the person they want to be
Many candidates, whether actively seeking work, or just keeping an eye out for new opportunities could benefit hugely from coaching or mentoring. If you are not currently in work, career coaching would be of value, where an experienced person, who may have been in your position before, can give practical help on reviewing your position and give advice on what to do next to achieve your objectives, short medium and long term.
If you are in work, mentoring is a service which again, can be provided by experienced professionals, who can advise you on an on-going basis about how to solve problems and meet your business goals.
Coaching and mentoring can be useful at a particular point in time, such as if you want to give consideration to where you are in your career now. It can also be of enormous help when you start a new job. Advice can be on hand to help you navigate through those critical early days in a new job, or indeed, right they way through your career. Help and advice can always be on hand.
Coaching and mentoring is very personal and specific to each individual.
We have teamed up with the Coaching & Mentoring Network, who have a wide variety of coaching and mentoring consultants spread geographically across many different professions.
Please go to their website for further information: www.coachingnetwork.org.uk
CAREER PLANNING
This is a service that can be of value to you whether you are at a career crossroads and are seeking a career change, or whether you are seeking that next logical step on your career ladder.
A career planner can help you put together an action plan to help you realise you career aspirations. That includes in the short term, how best to address your current situation, which probably means a review of your strengths and weaknesses, what sort of career you want to pursue, what sort of company you want to work for and methods to best target yourself and sell yourself against advertised and unadvertised jobs.
CAREER COUNCILLING
This kind of service is usually helpful to help understand long term problems that you may be aware of in terms of achieving your business and career goals. Often, various psychological techniques are used to help identify various traits and the underlying causes. Once these are revealed, a programme can be put together to help you address and overcome these difficulties.
For further help and advice on career planning and counselling, we have teamed up with Career Analysts, who have many experts in this field who are qualified and can give a broad range of relevant services.
https://careeranalysts.co.uk/