Professional development is not a random act. It takes planning and focus to ensure that your professional development pays off as you wish.
Many ambitious, motivated people take steps into different directions and hope that they will be able to get somewhere. Although these steps might create an awareness and knowledge of various aspects of their field, they might not lead to a professional milestone.
The secret is in balancing the core of your learning, training and certification with complementary knowledge that could be helpful but not essential. You also need to be clear about whether you want to build your career around specialisation or being jack-of-all-trades.
To achieve his balance, you should follow a logical path of developing your career objectives.
Set an end goal
It is hard when you’re early in your career to decide where you want to be in five or 10 years down the road. You may want to try different paths and find out what works for you best. Having said that, you still should have an idea of what you want to achieve. Formulate this slightest idea into a goal.
For example, if you’re a budding sales person and you totally hate what you do, you might think that sticking with it isn’t a bad idea if you end up in management. Keyword: management. Now research what you need to do to get there. Is it becoming a better salesperson? Is it getting more educated and certified on business development?
Talk to a mentor or others who followed a similar career paths to understand more about their journeys. By doing so, you will be able to avoid common pitfalls, and remain focused on your end goal.
Consider opportunities carefully
Early on in your career, others may see your strengths and offer you alternative to your chosen path. These opportunities could be better — or worse — for your overall efforts. Never judge an opportunity solely in terms of a pay raise or title. If an opportunity takes you farther from your end goal, and it is not an appealing change, don’t take. But don’t turn it down too fast either. Understand why your supervisor co-worker or another employer is offering you this opportunity.
In addition, take your time to reconsider your future path in view of this change. Would it add to your career advancement or hinder your chance of rising up?
Set — and stick — to mandatory steps
Career goals change over time, but some steps that you recognise early on should not. For example, if you have begun your studies to get a graduate degree, don’t just give it up because you’re enjoying your current job. Long-term planning is essential when it comes to career goals. So don’t switch gears too quickly. Remember jobs come and go. What you should work for is to build your career in a way that is sustainable during the ups and downs.
With job security a major concern for many people. Think of what mandatory steps can you take over the course of your career that can shield you from long unemployment. Education can be one. In addition, consider developing a versatile set of skills. Finally, think of gaining experiences that lead toward your end goal while provide the flexibility you need to get jobs along the way.
Track and re-evaluate
Because careers take turns that might not be necessarily planned, it is important that you track your progress and re-evaluate your efforts. Set benchmarks for your professional development. With your end goal in mind, make sure you have milestones that you purpose. For example, if you end goal is to run your own business, define your professional stops along the way. These could be becoming a manager, completing an MBA, developing fund-raising skills, building solid contacts with investors or partners, etc.
Again, some of these steps take many years to achieve, but being aware of your progress should help you proceed in the right direction.
The writer, a former Gulf News Business Features Editor, is a Seattle-based editor.
Road map to professional development
Set your end goal
Develop steps and actions
Don’t get swayed by every opportunity
Track, measure and evaluate your progress
— R.O.
