“Successful careers develop…when people are prepared for opportunities” – Harvard Business Review
Your career acts as a call to action, allowing you to choose what you want to pursue throughout your time in the workforce. Some individuals find their niche quickly and effectively accomplish goals they have set for themselves, while others go through the motions, rarely achieving objectives, and undertake unfulfilling roles.
Rather than leaving it to chance, commit to actively managing your career, set a plan of action and create career development goals. By mapping out your next step, progress begins, thus taking that next stride in reaching your developmental goals. Career management is the process of generating those next steps. Let us take a closer look into what career management is and the steps one can implement to manage their career successfully.
What Is Career Management?
Career management is an essential tool for achieving the desired success within one’s profession. It is a lifelong process of investing in yourself and resources to obtain your future career goals. The process can be utilized by the individual or by the organization that employs them, allowing one to gain a better understanding of their career skills, as well as guidance through career pathing.
When you begin to develop your career management, there are four things to consider: professional goals, work/life balance, personal fulfillment, and financial security. These particular components are what individuals typically seek to change when working on their career development.
To ensure success with career management, below we highlight the actions one can perform to contribute to their success.
Know Who You Are
The first step in advancing one’s career development is understanding who you are as an individual. To know what you want out of life, or in this case, your career, one must have self-awareness. Self-awareness provides self-introspect on questions such as what do you value, what are your unique skills, and what are your overall interests. Having the answers to these questions will allow you to begin setting attainable career development goals, as well as marking the first steps in career pathing.
Networking Is Key
Building relationships with others, whether they are in or out of your field, is a high-valued investment in career management. You never know who someone knows and if that individual could open doors for you in your career.
Listening and connecting with others in the fields or specific companies you are interested in allows you to learn from an employee perspective and get your name circulating within their domain and, in hindsight, remembered. You will be able to take what you have learned and apply it to your plan for enhancing your career while using the knowledge as a guide to where you do not want to lead your career.
Learning
A game-changer that will positively influence your career management is establishing a commitment to learning and exploration. To advance and reach the goals you want within your career, one must educate themselves by learning new skills. You can learn from several sources such as seminars, online courses, books, or even individuals you may know who have reached goals similar to yours. Within your career development goals, it should outline the skills you want to develop and will guide you along the way.
The Key to Individual and Organizational Success in an Ever-Shifting Market
While career management is a critical component of individual growth and success, it is also vital to organizational success as it increases engagement, builds capacity, and improves retention. CCI Consulting is ready to assist organizations and their employees with a wide range of approaches to support career development. With extensive knowledge and experience developing workforces inside and outside organizations, we are one of the leading full-service human capital management firms. If you or your organization are interested in enacting a career management service, connect with us today at 1-866-836-3032.
