"now I Know I Can Do It!" . . . A Four-Step Strategy To Guarantee Your Career Growth

The times are a-changing. And so are the requirements for your career growth. You see, everything's different in the employment market since 9/11, the wars, Katrina, and the economic meltdown. So, now's the perfect time to rethink your career . . . if you're ready to do it the right way! That means acquiring self knowledge as a first step. Take the time to think things through in advance . . . studying yourself, your ideas and your talents before you make final decisions . . . learning enough honesty to say "this isn't right" or "that's worth exploring" in terms of what you've got going for you.

 

Secondly, it means packaging what you learn about yourself in a way that other people (especially your next boss) can understand you. After you've come to appreciate the attractive features of your background, you have to be willing to look at the unattractive parts as well. In other words, "What do I have going against me?" That is ,"What is there about me that could be a stumbling block to my employment?"

Thirdly, don't go out to change jobs till you know what you're worth. Job seekers at all levels lose thousands of dollars because they have no idea what kind of money they could command. And so they walk away from the bargaining table never realizing how much more they could have put in their pocket. And the few thousand you leave behind today is compounded into tens of thousands over the course of your whole career .

The fourth step is perhaps the most important of all . . . that is, a willingness to look at options. There are alternative career directions that might be appropriate. There are numerous industry or business settings which represent legitimate targets for your talents. Knowing about all these up front virtually guarantees that you will select your next job rather than settle for it.

It's not always easy. Discipline is required . . . the willingness to proceed through several basic steps before committing. But it's worth it! It's working smart and hard. You'll be way ahead of the game because you've done your homework.

And, when you do go forward, you will have a plan of action, a track to run on, which will give you incredible confidence and greatly increase your chances for success. And even if along the way, you discover that a certain job isn't right for you just now, or the company you applied to can't find a place for you, you're still ahead of the game.