7 Tips for Excelling in your career

Are you a career focused person who wants nothing more than excelling in your career? Is your current job your dream job or are you looking for something better? Do you have the right skill set to advance in your career or to acquire that ‘dream job’? How would you go about attaining the right skills to required to progress further into your role?

There are many questions that can be asked for those looking to progress in their roles. I am a career focused woman and I knew early on that excelling in your career takes more than knowing your job. In this article, we compiled 7 tips for excelling in your career.

7 Tips for Excelling in your career

In my current role, I am a project manager a role that I had been aiming for a while and requires further training to harness it. One of the best ways I know I can further myself in this role is taking courses designed specifically to help you progress in your role. Internally, there are no current courses that aim to improve your current skill set rather learn on the job.

Externally, I have found *KMS Digital Careers that offers courses such as Project Management, Business Analysis, Software Testing and PMO with CV writing and interviewing skills coaching. They also offer coaching, mentoring and practical work experience, collaborating online working on real life projects in project teams thus getting you job ready in 3 months. For those looking for work they offer a 15 Day Job Search Boot Camp where they teach job search, CV writing and Interview skills coaching.

These are the links for the courses: Project Management: https://bit.ly/2BPokP4
Business Analysis: https://bit.ly/2SXhQYJ
Software Analysis: https://bit.ly/2GJgUk7
The 15 Day Job Search Bootcamp: https://bit.ly/2F4bH4B

I took the initiative to assess my current learning needs, what I have learnt on the job and would be beneficial for future roles. Other tips that I can advise career-focused professionals to take onboard include;

• Take on board constructive criticism – this is not always easy especially when you are a sensitive soul like myself. I learnt when I was young to take ‘constructive criticism’ onboard and ignore the white noise. It is also a skill to recognise when criticism is constructive or dismissive without letting your pride get in the way.
• Communicate well – this is something almost every job requires its employees to be able to do. Whether you work in KFC or a conglomerate, being able to communicate well is important not only within the team but with clients too.
• Be a team player – once it is important to be able to function as an individual, it’s even more important to be a team player. Being a team player doesn’t mean participating in office gossip, rather working together for the common goal.
• Word hard – now this might seem intuitive but working hard goes beyond arriving early and leaving later. It’s about being smart on how you work, prioritising your work, asking for help and taking on constructive criticism.
• Understand your employer – when we start working for a new employer, we aim should always be to understand the company’s values. When you understand your employer, you’re able to work smarter because you’re aligned.
• Mentor new employees – working in a small company, you have to take initiative in things that need to be done. Mentoring new employees go beyond the enrolment into the company but rather sharing the best practices.

When I was in university, excelling in your career was more days of the future past than anything. All we thought about was getting good grades that would then hopefully help us secure a ‘good job’. Post-graduation and entering the workplace, our focus shifted to our desire to perform well and progress in our careers.

As a career-focused person, I know first hand that excelling in your career only comes about when you take initiative. I believe in seizing every available opportunity and sometimes going in search of it in order to excel in my career. Depending on your work, opportunities can come in various forms, for me, it has been seeking both internal and external courses to further sharpen my skill set.