Nearly two-thirds of employees cite being dissatisfied in their current roles because they do not see opportunities to develop and grow professionally. And with the current economic situation, many managers can't seem to find the time to help develop members of their team beyond their current roles.
As the team member looking to take their career to the next level, what are some of your options?
One of the simplest, cheapest and most effective methods is to get a mentor. It is most common to find a mentor who is several "levels" ahead of you in a comparable career path. This gives you the chance to ask that mentor very specific and targeted questions about how he/she progressed in his/her career and what he/she learned in each role. Your mentor will also be able to provide guidance on skills, credentials and associations that you may need to acquire.
You may want to consider seeking out a sponsor within your organization. Typically this is someone several levels above you in the organizational hierarchy, who will advocate for you and your career when opportunities arise. A sponsor will likely spend far less time with you than a mentor, so you should be even more respectful of the time you spend with this individual and be sure to say thank you for their support of your career.
It's not always easy to find a sponsor or a mentor. Unfortunately, by the time individuals have the experience and insight to be an effective mentor or sponsor, they are also figuring out how to create work-life balance. Consequently, they may be more time constrained than you are. If you find yourself not having meaningful mentor or sponsor relationships for any number of reasons, you may want to consider getting a career coach. Because the career coach's full-time job is to provide you with career guidance, you are going to find them to be more targeted in their approach to helping you and far more accessible.
If you have had difficulty to find an ideal mentor and cannot afford a traditional career coach, you may want to consider local career centers that can provide guidance for you at little to no cost. Typically services will range from career exploration to resume preparation to interviewing practice.
If you have graduated from a college or a university that has an established alumni association, you should investigate their career development programs. Alumni programs typically will have career resource centers whose services range from remote/virtual career webinars to in person or virtual one-on-one career counseling sessions.
If you only take one thing away from this, it should be that there is an abundance of information and resources available to help you achieve career goals. The only wrong option is to continue to experience frustration and not take steps to resolve it. So take one step that gets you closer to your career goals today!
As the team member looking to take their career to the next level, what are some of your options?
One of the simplest, cheapest and most effective methods is to get a mentor. It is most common to find a mentor who is several "levels" ahead of you in a comparable career path. This gives you the chance to ask that mentor very specific and targeted questions about how he/she progressed in his/her career and what he/she learned in each role. Your mentor will also be able to provide guidance on skills, credentials and associations that you may need to acquire.
You may want to consider seeking out a sponsor within your organization. Typically this is someone several levels above you in the organizational hierarchy, who will advocate for you and your career when opportunities arise. A sponsor will likely spend far less time with you than a mentor, so you should be even more respectful of the time you spend with this individual and be sure to say thank you for their support of your career.
It's not always easy to find a sponsor or a mentor. Unfortunately, by the time individuals have the experience and insight to be an effective mentor or sponsor, they are also figuring out how to create work-life balance. Consequently, they may be more time constrained than you are. If you find yourself not having meaningful mentor or sponsor relationships for any number of reasons, you may want to consider getting a career coach. Because the career coach's full-time job is to provide you with career guidance, you are going to find them to be more targeted in their approach to helping you and far more accessible.
If you have had difficulty to find an ideal mentor and cannot afford a traditional career coach, you may want to consider local career centers that can provide guidance for you at little to no cost. Typically services will range from career exploration to resume preparation to interviewing practice.
If you have graduated from a college or a university that has an established alumni association, you should investigate their career development programs. Alumni programs typically will have career resource centers whose services range from remote/virtual career webinars to in person or virtual one-on-one career counseling sessions.
If you only take one thing away from this, it should be that there is an abundance of information and resources available to help you achieve career goals. The only wrong option is to continue to experience frustration and not take steps to resolve it. So take one step that gets you closer to your career goals today!
About the Author:
If you are interested in learning more about climbing the corporate ladder visit http://www.squidoo.com/how-i-created-a-successful-career-development-membership-site.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire