Five tips to boost your career

Nina Hendy wrote a very good blog on tips for your career in 2014.  My notes are in yellow. Enjoy and good luck! 

1. Decide what makes you happy-Decide WHAT makes you happy.  Where do you want to work? 
What kind of environment, company, location?  
Do you want to work in a 10x12 office or a cubicle the rest of your life?  
Think about that.  You are going to work for a long time, if you enjoy the outdoors, 
perhaps a corporate job isn't for you. 

It might sound simple, but there's no point chasing a career goal that won't actually make you happy.

Be the master of your destiny by first deciding who you actually would take delight in working for, suggests Deborah Blott, business manager of recruitment firm Mondo Search Group. Make a list of companies you would like to work for, then write down why you want to work for them and what you could contribute, she says.

“Many companies have hidden jobs and projects for driven, focused and passionate people, and these jobs are not necessarily advertised,” Blott says.

Look at your connections and who could introduce you to these companies, she adds. “Use social media to find out how you can connect in with people who can recommend you to these companies.”

2. Treat your career like a business- I couldn't agree more. Make a plan, plan your work! 

The only way to get ahead in your career is if you change the way you think about it. You're not in a job, you have a career, and you need to take responsibility for managing it yourself.

Professional career coach Fiona Craig says everyone should treat their career like a business.

Make sure you have a thorough understanding of your strengths and put in place a strategy on how you can use those strengths more often, she says.

“Create a career plan, a personal marketing plan and a networking plan for 2014, just as you would create a business and marketing plan for a business,” Craig says.

3. Build your personal brand - Branding is everything. It's not who you know, it is, who knows you?

To build your career, develop a clear personal brand including who you are, what you bring to a role, how you differ and so on, advocates Key Coaching's Karen Bremner.

So many employees plod along in their job, year after year, she says.

Instead, throw yourself into your work, put your hand up for new projects or better still, initiate them, she says.

Where your strengths meet an employer's needs, there's an opportunity, she says.

“Identify what you're really good at, in and out of work, and focus on how you can leverage those skills and strengths to benefit employers.”

“It's your career and it's up to you to drive it. Don't wait to be picked. Decide where you want to go and then actively seek out new opportunities to both grow your skills and demonstrate your value,” Bremner says.

4. Develop a LinkedIn strategy - You see everyone on LInkedIn, and you can get to them with an email. Be careful not to spam people you do not know. 

LinkedIn is becoming an increasingly powerful tool in recruitment, professional networking and job hunting, which is why you've got to take it seriously. Professional resume writer, Tanaz Byramji says employees need to update their LinkedIn profile at the start of each year. Once you've made sure your profile is as complete and accurate as possible, written succinctly in the first person and incorporating relevant key words associated with your area of expertise, you can start expanding your network, Melbourne-based Byramji says.

Send out personalised connections to people you've worked with over the past 12 months. Also, reach out to co-workers who may have already moved into other roles, she says.

Use LinkedIn to build your professional brand by curating industry-relevant information, posting articles, commenting on blog posts and joining relevant groups, she says.

It's also a good idea to request LinkedIn recommendations, and sometimes the easiest way to do that is to write a recommendation for someone else first, she says.

5. Always look for ways to learn -  Couldn't agree more! Life long learning. Do stop taking classes, learning new software programs, read more books. 

A great way to boost your career is to always look for new ways to learn, recommends Katrena Friel, founder of Activated Life Long Learners. People that learn throughout their career understand the importance of investing in their own knowledge and enjoy the process of learning something new, she says.

The mindset of people who feel they've already completed their schooling only update their skills when they have been retrenched, sacked or miss out on a promotion, she says.

“Some people also only go to training or coaching if their employer pays for it. They would never pay for their own development, thinking it's someone else's responsibility to look after their career.”

Shift your thinking so that you're open to being a lifelong learner, which means you're taking responsibility for your career and being curious about your true capability, she says.

Read more: http://www.smh.com.au/small-business/managing/five-tips-to-boost-your-career-this-year-20131211-2z4ne.html#ixzz2r9AKop3S