We spend the majority of our lives working, so there’s nothing worse than being stuck in a job role that’s leaving you feeling unfilled and demotivated.
So if your career is in need of a much-needed boost, here are five cracking career development tips to help you climb the professional ladder.
- Set goals and objectives
Setting goals and objectives is the first thing you should on your career development journey, because they give you direction and a means of measuring your progress.
Goals are outcomes, for example ‘to become a project manager’, whereas an objective is the specific action you’ll take to achieve that goal, for instance ‘to complete an online course in project management’.
When setting objectives, you should use the SMART framework. This ensures that your objectives are clear, detailed and easy to assess.
- Engage with others
Do you love your manager’s motivational speeches? Are you impressed with your colleague’s approach to client care? Invite them for lunch and pick their brain. This will help open your mind to new ways of thinking and working.
Don’t confine your engagements to the workplace either – you should connect with people outside your firm by attending conferences, training courses and other networking events.
The more you network, the more likely you’ll be to come across people who have something valuable to offer you – whether that’s advice, access to their network or perhaps even a job.
- Job shadowing
Job shadowing is a great idea if you’re looking to change roles or gain a promotion as part of your career development, because it gives you a vivid insight into the work required for your desired position.
This, in turn, could lead to other useful career development opportunities such as on-the-job training to prepare you for you for the role, or even a formal mentoring partnership where a more experienced professional provides you with expert guidance, support and advice.
- Research other jobs
Whether you’re planning to stay with your current firm or move elsewhere, researching job roles is a great way to aid your career development.
For example, by looking at job adverts and descriptions, you’ll be able to see the skills and experience most in demand by employers and work on these.
Alternatively, if you’re looking to move into a less familiar role or a new industry, you should use a careers site such as Prospects to find job profiles for positions of interest.
- Distance Learning
Distance Learning is the perfect practical option if you’re looking to develop your skills and climb the career ladder, because it allows you to gain a formal qualification in your field of internet.
As if that weren’t enough, the majority of your learning takes place online, which means you can plan your studies around your work commitments, instead of attending timetabled classes.
If you’d like to find out more, check out an online course provider such as Anglia Ruskin Distance Learning – its course catalogue includes digital marketing, management, healthcare and much more.
Follow these five fantastic tips and enjoy as you conquer your career development goals like a pro.
Do you have any career development tips? Share them in the comments section.
