FUTUREPROOF: PLANNING FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
If you’re looking to advance or switch careers, it can be difficult staying on course amidst the busyness of daily working life. Professional development doesn’t always happen organically. It can be worthwhile to outline a formal plan to create a clear path to success. Here are a few tips to get you organized.
Career Goals
The first step toward reaching your career goals is to identify exactly what you hope to achieve. By setting clear ‘end objectives,’ you can work backwards to list the steps necessary for achievement. It helps to segment each stage of development and identify the minute skills, credentials, or roles at every level. This changes your daily goals from being large and insurmountable to small, fractional, and manageable.
Assessing Skills
Ultimately, our rank in the professional hierarchy is dependent on skill and experience. Therefore, it’s important to have a transparent view of our own skill sets. Take time to recognize your pre-existing expertise that is required to reach your objectives (whether this is in a particular software or a knowledge of a certain industry niche), and then set out to ‘upskill’. Take some time to review your own résumé and pick apart recent roles to identify any core skills you may have learned during your time in those positions. You may also look ahead to promotions and decide whether more time spent in your current employment will better equip you to reach your desired goals.
Training
It’s possible that your current occupation will not sufficiently equip you to excel in your future career goals. If this is the case, you may need to seek training outside of work hours. Fortunately, there are plenty of opportunities to learn remotely, meaning you can fit studies around a full-time role. For example, you could check out one of the online courses for medical coding (a high-growth programming sector). Online professional development courses can teach you how to assign the correct codes and identify medical procedures/service claims, with an end-of-course assessment to validate your skills. With the right knowledge, it’s possible to transition from one career to another without losing wages in the process.
Networking
Even in the digital age, interpersonal relationships play an important role in creating business opportunities. Therefore, it’s important to position yourself close to other professionals and expose yourself to new networking opportunities. Professional associations help by giving you direct access to work communities, thereby providing opportunities to learn, collaborate, and improve your résumé.
Refining Your Résumé
No single document will play a more important role in shaping your career prospects than your résumé. It’s important to take meticulous care as you write it, considering structure, layout, wording, and utilizing available online tools like résumé templates. They are often available to download for free, with libraries featuring professionally-designed templates and customizable copy, photos, colors, and images. If you don’t want to write your own, you could also hire a résumé writer to get your accomplishments on paper.
Setting Timelines
There are a number of widely accepted frameworks for career development, including the six-stage model. Attaching deadlines to these various stages can be a double-edged sword. You may feel more driven to succeed in your daily working life, but, without care, you can also set yourself up for disappointment. Make sure that your timelines are feasible, and remember to always take them with a grain of salt. Even successful careers are rarely straightforward and are prone to twists of fate.
Seeking Role Models
One of the best ways to spark motivation is to find like-minded role models who inspire you and who you can look up to. These high-performing individuals will often present themselves in daily working life, and the term ‘mentor’ is now commonly accepted across industries. Finding a mentor is not always easy but there are methods that can help you approach someone in a superior position or online networks that can give you communicative access to industry leaders.
Social media and media entertainment can also be leveraged to supplement your professional life. If you’re not already, take some time to browse the various career or professionally-related podcasts. You can also try revamping your social feeds, unfollowing those who do not provide healthy input, and instead following individuals who you believe will contribute positively to your career ambitions and mental health.
Planning your professional development is the simple part; executing your plan can be trickier. Take the time to write down your next steps, and whether you’re partaking in a professional development course, networking in professional associations, or simply sharpening up your résumé, you can be sure you’re taking confident steps forward into a better career.
As a young professional, Elena Pastore is influencing the world by creating and providing the best resources to develop people professionally. Learn more at: www.elenapastore.com
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Article written by Vanessa Holwell, vholwell@hiringsquad.net.
START A BUSINESS TO BEAT A CAREER SETBACK
Oftentimes people get set back in their careers when they feel stuck. They’re unsure whether to stay in the same role, same industry, or switch routes altogether. If you’re one of these people, starting a business might the best next step for you.
Deciding on Possible Businesses
When considering new prospective ventures, simplify the decision by identifying these factors:
- What is your ideal work-life balance?
- Where do you want to be on your career path in five years?
- What is the market demand over the next decade?
- Does the work play to your strengths?
- Can you build regular content and a community around the brand?
Consider other vital elements and brainstorm with friends and family to determine your optimal business opportunity.
Laying the Foundation for Your New Enterprise
Take stock of your capital, connections, and knowledge, then create a business plan to weather the worst and capitalize on the best moments. Include a brief outline of your company and the opportunities. Detail your business structure, market research, sales strategy, and financial projections. A comprehensive overview arms you with the confidence to forge ahead.
One common mistake is not separating business and personal finances. Forming an LLC is relatively simple, so you can easily file yourself or use a formation service. Either way, you avoid exorbitant lawyer fees. Follow the instructions that apply to your state because regulations vary by location. An LLC is easily operated as a sole proprietorship or partnership while protecting your personal property from litigation and tax liabilities. If you ever need to convert to a corporation, the process is much easier since company assets are already behind a corporate veil. Acquire an ETIN for tax filing and start a bank and credit account.
Securing the Right Help
When shopping for software, remember that lost time can be more costly than your monetary investment. Unreliable or incomplete solutions put you on shaky ground. Your website should be top-notch and not a pain for visitors to navigate. Difficulty submitting payments and communicating with your team pushes prospects away.
Surround yourself with trustworthy and diligent people. You may need to start with independent contractors to handle tasks, saving you the cost of employees. You can’t always place the same expectations on a freelancer as an employee, so learn the best practices in managing a contractor. You may eventually have the need to hire employees, so learn how to attract top talent with leadership and career coaching. Failure can be a harsh yet effective teacher. Use the lessons from a career reversal to grow. Set definitive goals and find the proper mental health support to overcome your setback so you can make your next foray an even better experience.
Article written by Sam Marcum from bizbenefitguide.com.
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A GUIDE TO BECOMING A TEEN ENTREPRENEUR
By starting a business as a teen, you can learn valuable skills and lessons you can’t learn in a classroom. You’re also using those math lessons and applying them to the real world. Plus, opening a business allows you to problem solve and hone your creativity.
Benefits of Starting a Business as a Teen
Opening a business allows you to learn money management skills. For instance, if you start a crafting business, you’ll need to pay for all the supplies but still make a profit. You then must figure out how much you need every time you purchase those supplies and ensure you have stock at all times. You’ll also earn profits and need to decide what to do with that money.
When you start a business as a teen, you have the opportunity to learn to problem-solve, which is essential as you grow up. For example, if you own a babysitting business, you may need to contend with an unruly child. If you own a crafting company, you may need to correct a flaw in your design or think of creative ways to sell more products, such as by creating an online store on a crafting platform.
Business Ideas
If you have the desire to become a business owner but have no clue what to offer, think about what you’re good at and enjoy. Do you excel at writing? You could start a blog. Do you like animals? Perhaps, a dog-walking business would be the perfect fit for you.
Some other examples include:
- Babysitting
- Crafting
- Tutoring
- Lawn care
Business Plan Creation
Having a solid business plan increases your likelihood of success. A business plan puts your thoughts into words, so it can help you stay organized. Through a business plan, you can outline all the essential elements of your company and have a step-by-step guide to keep you on track. It also ensures you don’t miss any key steps to beginning your business.
Your business plan should accurately describe your business and your company’s philosophy. It should have a section that outlines your products or services and another section that describes how you’ll structure your business. This outline needs to cover where you’ll acquire the funding you need and your financial projections for your company. Don’t forget to include a section on where you’ll sell your products and services and how you’ll advertise. For step-by-step guidance, read how to start a business with ZenBusiness.
Business Knowledge Acquisition
As a teen starting a company, it’s vital to gain as much knowledge about business as possible. You can talk to local business owners and ask them for tips.
Head to your local library and find books that discuss the best business practices. Inquire about the library’s programs for youth. The library may offer business classes. Depending on your age, you may be able to take a course or two at your community college to boost your business acumen.
Learn and Grow Through Opening a Business
Even if you don’t plan on becoming a business owner one day, you can learn a great deal by starting a company as a teen. Use the tips above to enhance your creativity and learn lifelong lessons simultaneously.
Become a better leader and prepare for your career with leadership and career coaching from Elena Pastore. Complete this form to schedule a 30-minute consultation!
Article written by Vanessa Holwell, vholwell@hiringsquad.net.