Career experience or growth is important in small, medium and large firms, for entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs and also students alike. Career growth helps to improve the effectiveness and overall satisfaction of the entrepreneur, intrapreneur and employees, it improves the work-life hard skills and soft skills and also improves organization growth. Gone are the days when the only thing that matters to employers is the number of years you have spent on the job. In more recent times, employers are more interested in career progression (i.e. career growth). You may have started as an analyst/associate, then grown into a managerial role and so on. This is why you need to pay attention to your career growth now more than ever.
Let’s discuss 5 career experience tactics that can help you grow::
1. Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Setting measurable goals is a very vital step in achieving career growth as it gives you the opportunity to constantly review and adjust as required along the way.
Setting your S.M.A.R.T. goals will help you know the required knowledge, skills and people you will need at different levels to achieve those goals. S.M.A.R.T. goals are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-bound. This should be the first step towards planning your career growth.
2. Get Relevant Knowledge
You should acquire knowledge that is in line with your career experience objectives and goals. One of the ways professionals hinders their career growth is by not paying attention to their knowledge and skills development. You can attend conferences, seminars and events in your field; there are so many you can find in your niche on Eventbrite.
There are many knowledge resources you can use to gain relevant knowledge in the world today such as Youtube, MOOCs platforms such as EdX, Coursera, Udemy etc. When preparing for certifications and online courses, it is advisable to join a school, community or organization, so you can have access to a few resources such as the provision of quality examination preparation tools, modern learning curriculum, access to mentors or coaches, access to a growing community, certification test formats and typical IT certification test questions so you know what to expect on test day, virtual learning programs and so on.
3. Acquire or Volunteer for Work Experience
This focuses on helping you get relevant transferable skills required for growth such as soft skills and hard skills.
Volunteering your skills or working with a company that will help you develop your career experience is a great way to apply your soft skills and hard skills, expand your network, work on real-life projects, gain more knowledge, learn avoidable mistakes people make in that career and also learn from experts and coaches as well.
Harvard Business School’s study found that 37% of employers rank experience as the most important qualification in an applicant, not education attainment and in large organisations (those with more than 10,000 employees), work experience is more important than a degree 44% of the time. A recent survey by recruitment specialists Universum found that 58% leading employers value work experience among graduates more than grades or the name of their university.
4. Get a Mentor – For feedback and support
Getting a mentor is one of the cost-effective ways to achieve growth in a professional career. According to a study of millennials by Deloitte, evidence showed that having a mentor aids job retention and satisfaction. The latest SurveyMonkey/CNBC Workplace Happiness Survey also showed that those who have a professional mentor are happier with their jobs and career growth.
Getting a mentor is one of the best tactics out there, why you ask, because having a mentor provides you with a lot of things. Mentors can help you with:
- Getting unpaid professional advice
- Improving of key skills
- Networking
- Relationship building
- Confidence and Support
5. Increase Your Visibility
Another avenue to achieve career growth is by increasing your visibility professionally. A good tool you can use to achieve this is LinkedIn; this means your Linkedin profile should be professionally optimized for visibility. With your LinkedIn profile, you can exhibit thought leadership in your domain of expertise, your experience and skillset can be showcased to the world, you can network and share valuable experiences with your professional colleagues in focused groups, as well as receive recommendations from others with whom you have worked over the years.
LinkedIn provides the tools with which you can be seen across the globe without any geographic limitations. With LinkedIn Pulse or LinkedIn Articles you can share relevant content with the world and be discovered by recruiters who are looking for your skillset. You can as well attend or organize industry-relevant events which are good avenues to network with people in your field. If you are serious about career growth, you don’t want to miss out on LinkedIn.
CONCLUSION: INTRODUCING THE MOMENTUM
“Momentum” – our fully remote digital work placement at WayMaker Digital. “MOMENTUM” was created to deliver the need for experienced and skilled professionals within the digital technology space. At WayMaker Digital, we have discovered that companies/recruiters need experienced staff not just trained people. Recently many leading companies have changed their approach about requiring degrees, including Google, Netflix, Tesla, IBM, Penguin Random House, Bank of America, Hilton and Apple.
There are many high-paying jobs and fast growing careers that emphasise work experience, such as web development, product management, and other tech-related positions.
Momentum fees would be used to cover private mentoring, on the job coaching, licencing for toolkits, work resources and training portal access across six technology-related disciplines highlighted below:
- Agile Project Management
- Product Management
- User Experience Research
- Business Analysis
- Web Application Development
- Data Analysis and Reporting
Click Here to Learn More about Momentum by WayMaker Digital.