Summer is officially over, and fall is in full swing. With fall being such a busy season, people can get off track in pursuing their career goals. Check out these five tips to find career bliss and achieve your goals this fall!
- Evaluate Your Current Position
According to a survey by Gallup.com, “Only 30 percent of people report being happy in their work, with 52 percent feeling blah and 18 percent hate their jobs.” If you are a part of that 30 percent, great! To further yourself, reach out to your manager and ask for additional tasks you may want to take on. Do you have any special projects in mind that you would like to get your hands on? Create a project proposal and present it to your boss. Putting yourself out there and taking on extra responsibilities will further your career and you may get some bonus points with the boss.
- Learn Your Field
Now that you’re happy with your current position, study up on your industry. If you are in the retail industry, buy a book on retail history or trends. Do you work for a publicly traded company? Keep up with the stock prices and those of your competitors. Sometimes even a simple 30-minute Google search can provide you with a lot of useful information about your industry/field and potential competitors. The more you understand about your company and your industry, the higher your chances are of succeeding in your position.
Try following the 70-20-10 model used within the training profession. It is a commonly used formula to describe the optimal sources of learning by successful managers, it says individuals obtain 70 percent of their knowledge from job-related experiences, 20 percent from interactions with others, and 10 percent from formal educational events.
- Gain A Relevant New Skill
Make yourself more valuable to your company. This is important because it could provide you with a competitive advantage toward furthering your career. Online learning is a convenient resource that many people underutilize. There are a plethora of online courses that cover virtually any field. In fact, 74 percent of companies currently use online learning management systems techniques to train employees. Ask your manager if your company offers any of these resources, and if not, you can check out free online options, all of which can help with everything from Excel training to coding lessons.
- Sign Up For Conferences
Fall is conference season! Conferences allow you to gain relevant new skills and are great for networking. Try to find some conferences/industry events in your field. Check out Eventbrite.com or look for local industry-specific events if you don’t want to travel or have the budget for pricey tickets. Sometimes conferences will even give you a nifty certificate, and if you’re lucky, free food!
With these four tips, you should be well on your way to finding career bliss this fall. Most importantly, you need to make sure you have a career you love. Loving your job is the foundation upon which all other aspects of career bliss are built, so now is the time to find your perfect position.
