Planning a successful road trip can be tough without first
consulting a map to chart out where you are going. The same
holds true for your career: you need to plot your course
before you can move forward. Whether it is to track your
progress to see how far you have gone or to benchmark your
current position, a map is essential to get you on the path
to career satisfaction. In recent months, a number of positive
indicators have been pointing to a long-awaited economic
turnaround. So, what are the lessons learnt over the past
few years? As we all know, the one thing that is constant
in life is change. And during recession there were multiple
aspects of life at work that were in flux. Lay-offs led
to restructuring (the reverse was also true), business priorities
shifted and new responsibilities might have been added to
your `to-do' list. In many companies, administrative professionals
learnt new technologies to help streamline functions and
facilitate projects.
Flexibility is the key for managing change. With an open-minded
approach, professionals can quickly adapt to new procedures
and policies without getting bogged down in thoughts of
`what used to be'. In a downturn, managers rely on employees
to make that extra effort and seek a creative approach.
Your initiative and willingness to take on new and unfamiliar
tasks prove to you, and your boss, that you can handle just
about anything that comes your way.
It is often said, that hard skills will get you an interview,
but you need soft skills to get (and keep) the job. Hard
skills are specific, teachable abilities that may be required
in a given context, such as a job or a university application.
Hard skills means the technical expertise required to get
the job done. Thus, soft skills comprise of everything else—competencies
that go from self-awareness to the attitude in managing
one's career to handling critics, not taking things personally,
taking risks, getting along with people, etc.
|
