Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Resources For Getting "more" Out Of Your Career

By Adrienne Bentley


Nearly two-thirds of employees cite being dissatisfied in their current roles because they do not see opportunities to develop and grow professionally. And with the current economic situation, many managers can't seem to find the time to help develop members of their team beyond their current roles.

It's a pretty crummy situation, isn't it? But here's the good news - there are plenty of tools that you can leverage to achieve your career goals, even when your manager cannot be available to you.

A mentor can be significant asset in developing your career. You will want to seek out a mentor who has a career path that mirrors your ideal career path. Typically, your mentor will be at least 2-3 levels or promotions ahead of you in that career path. Their insight into how they achieved success, in terms of the skills they acquired, the networks they joined and the lessons they learned, can be hugely beneficial in your career journey.

Having a sponsor in your organization, someone who is more senior than your own manager, can be a huge asset to your career. A sponsor, because of their seniority, can champion you for opportunities that come up at "their level." A sponsor will be less likely to spend as much time with you as a mentor, so you'll want to be particularly cognizant of demonstrating your personal brand when you are interacting with your sponsor. Also, make certain that you voice your appreciation of your sponsor being such a strong advocate of your career.

It's not always easy to find a sponsor or a mentor. Unfortunately, by the time individuals have the experience and insight to be an effective mentor or sponsor, they are also figuring out how to create work-life balance. Consequently, they may be more time constrained than you are. If you find yourself not having meaningful mentor or sponsor relationships for any number of reasons, you may want to consider getting a career coach. Because the career coach's full-time job is to provide you with career guidance, you are going to find them to be more targeted in their approach to helping you and far more accessible.

If you have had difficulty to find an ideal mentor and cannot afford a traditional career coach, you may want to consider local career centers that can provide guidance for you at little to no cost. Typically services will range from career exploration to resume preparation to interviewing practice.

If you have graduated from a college or a university that has an established alumni association, you should investigate their career development programs. Alumni programs typically will have career resource centers whose services range from remote/virtual career webinars to in person or virtual one-on-one career counseling sessions.

If you only take one thing away from this, it should be that there is an abundance of information and resources available to help you achieve career goals. The only wrong option is to continue to experience frustration and not take steps to resolve it. So take one step that gets you closer to your career goals today!




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