Six Tips to Career Satisfaction

addONE hosted a lunch and learn last month with a focus on how to add strategy to your career. Jeffery Halter spoke and gave some great tips on how to create and map out career and life goals. Here are a six tips to create the career path of your choosing:

1. Focus on your strengths, not your gaps.  By focusing on your strengths, you will gain confidence, feel empowered and take great steps forward.  Surrounding yourself with a complementary team to round out the skill set is a sign of strength and strategy.

2. Think like an entrepreneur. Since average job stay is now 2-3 years, so you need an end plan and know what you want to achieve while you are there. You are your own brand so make sure that while you are in your current position, that you rack up at least 3 measurable achievements to reinforce your personal brand.  These days it is up to us to plot our career course, you can no longer rely on the traditional company career path.

3.  Visualize what you want. Just 36% of women want their boss’s job, down from 55% in 1979, according to a survey published in 2013 Glamour. What does that mean? Women are saying I can do that job, but do I want to? We know we can succeed but is it worth the sacrifice. We want the full prize: we want balance and satisfaction in our lives to equal success!

4. Advice? Yes, you need a mentor but a mentor team is stronger than just one. Start with someone elevated in your field of interest. This mentor is great for insight, experience and direction. Second in the circle is someone who is just a couple of years ahead of your in your field. This person can offer recent insights and understand current issues. And lastly, someone in your corner, perhaps another working mom, can offer fresh perspective and accountability.

5. Look like a leader. Make sure you are walking the walk and talking the talk.  It is the perception of your image of those around you that will drive your career forward.  You may keep your head down and do a great job, but if those around you just see your head down, you will be bypassed in your career.  Which brings us to networking:

6. Network like a man. Men tend to have smaller networks but use them much more effectively. Women tend to have broader and deeper networks, average 3-5 times larger than men’s, yet use them less wisely.  Guys are better at mixing the professional with the personal.  Men will ask for tickets, jobs, dinners, golf…and talk business anywhere, anytime. Women are hesitant to ask for carpool help much less career advice!   Women love to help so look at it this way:  try implementing two simple rules to branch out: 1)contact someone new or re-connect an existing relationship once a month and 2) do something helpful for someone every week, such as suggest a new contact for a project or send someone an interesting article link. Plant the seeds and they will grow!

Overall, it was great information, great networking and a good opportunity to learn. Stay tuned as we finalize our 2014 addStrategy to your career series – the save the date is coming soon!

addONE Marketing Solutions delivers experienced, marketing staffing solutions to fit any size project or budget.  Filling marketing staffing gaps or providing affordable marketing solutions makes addONE marketing “the smartest addition you will ever make.” Atlanta-based and woman owned since 1998. Visit add1marketing.com for more information.