Manage Your Career - Top 6 Career Management Tips

Manage Your Career - The Top Ten Ways To Career Success

Many people in the last decade have experienced either a layoff or termination in their lives or the lives of somebody they know. While many of these people affected have experienced outplacement-consulting services, some have not and they may be in for a rude awakening - corporations no longer "take care of you".

Career management may sound like something that only high-fliers or graduates should be thinking about. But, don't be put off by thinking that is the case, if you want to remain securely employed, get future opportunities to do different things, get a promotion or even earn more money, then introducing career management and career planning are something YOU should be thinking about. My career advice to you is this: whatever job you do today, it could be more interesting and more fulfilling if you put some of these principles into practice.

Six Top Tips For Career Management

These six tips on career management will help you to think about what you can do for yourself and protect your own long term job security.

If you are the type of person who gets bored with doing the same thing over and over, you are exactly the one who would benefit most from career planning like this. The career move does not have to involve leaving your present organisation, your goal may be promotion, so set your goals around being able to demonstrate your ability to fill the higher level job you desire.

You can manage your career by pulling these career planning tips together and making it part of your routine.

Top 6 Career Management Tips

1. Make sure you have a copy of your job description and understand exactly what your employer expects from you. Become very good at your job before trying to get credit for tasks NOT in your job description.

2. Understand your contribution to previous and future employers based on your achievements. Are you clearly able to quantify exactly what difference you made in terms of added value, cost savings or extra revenue? It's too easy to think because you were part of a successful business your contribution was automatically good. Be clear what information is known about you in your employee review.

3. Know your market worth and discuss precisely what you have to offer in very specific terms. Do you know how to do this? The most common failure amongst interview candidates, whether internal or external, is to believe that their track record "speaks for itself".

4. Maintain your motivation and persistence which will pay off eventually. Even though you consider yourself to be absolutely the right person for the job which has "your name written all over it" you may still be turned down. Take the trouble to understand where and why work opportunities are increasing or declining in your organization.

5. Do what’s needed even if it doesn't work first time. Can you pick yourself up and carry on, learning from your mistakes? Use the experience to learn better ways of working and continually strive to sort it all out.

6. Support others so that you build your network of contacts. If you give something of yourself to others while they are pushing ahead with their careers you can be sure the compliment will be returned at some stage further down the line.
   

These tips can make a real difference to how you think about your job and your future as an employee. Career planning and career development should be something you think about regularly whatever job you do now.

Although being concerned with how to manage your career may sound like something that only high-fliers or graduates think about, don't be put off by assuming that is the case. If you would like to remain securely employed, be given future opportunities to do different things or even earn more money, then introducing career management and career planning into your schedule are something YOU should be thinking about. My career advice to you is this: whatever job you do today, it could be more interesting and more fulfilling if you put some of these principles into practice.

Set Your Career Goals

Your career management process should begin with the setting of some career goals or objectives which are better if reasonably specific.

You may find this to be difficult when you don't know what career opportunities may be available, so utilising career assessments may be helpful in identifying opportunities and careers that interest you. Career assessments tests range from quick and informal like the MAPP Assessment or may be more in-depth like those such as Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)

Most free assessments, although some are very good, do not offer an in-depth evaluation.

Career Development

Have you considered what difference hiring a personal Career Development Coach could make to your career? Or how much faster you might get back to work after being downsized? Take a close look at my Career Development programme for some very good reasons to consider it for yourself.

Self Marketing

Self-marketing, or 'selling' yourself; writing cover letters and great resumes / CVs are all skills that most people could do better to manage your career with the right information. When it comes to interview skills, too many people are prepared to 'fly by the seat of their pants'. Don't let yourself down and leave it to chance like that, manage your career properly and get the latest and most complete job search information and you'll feel the difference when you approach each step of your career change more confidently - knowing you have what it takes!

You are here: Manage Your Career

Read more about how to describe your: Personal Attributes or your Key Strengths and your Key Qualities

Go back to read about Career Success and other ways to manage your career.

Return to Your Career Change home page.

---

Looking for something specific to help you manage your career?

An answer to an interview question? A CV or Resume layout? How to start Networking? More free Cover letter examples, or some ideas of your options?

Just enter your keyword in the search box below to find your answer on this site or anywhere else on the web. You will see some adverts that may be of interest since Google targets ads to your particular interests, but your results will be below that.