
Building a Strong Skill Set:
Early in your career (would be great to do this your entire career) you should fully embrace the beginners mindset. You will be full of knowledge and confidence coming out of school but there is so much to learn from on the job experience that simply can NOT be learned in school. Seek out folks with experience, ask a lot of questions, listen WAY more than you talk and truly be a sponge. I like to think about it as starting every day, every conversation, every topic with curiousity. Think about why this is important, why is it done this way, how has it evolved over the years, can you think of better or different ways to do it?
Communication is also a skill if not THE skill that will help you in your career more than any other. Whether it be in emails, hallway conversation, meetings and presentations. The ability to clearly and simply explain your thoughts, ideas, work results, etc. will make or break how your career evolves. I’ve had leaders tell me that they would bring me to meetings or give me projects because of my ability to take complicated topics and explain them in very simple terms.
Work on learning more about your role, department, company and industry than others. Sign up for newsletters, go to conferences, become an expert in your field and a person others go to in order to learn what is going on. This is also why it’s important to find a career in an industry that you have interest in, it will make evening, weekend and other reading and studying much easier and more fun if you enjoy it.
Networking and Relationships:
Behind your ability to communicate, this will prove to be the next most important thing to do as you set off on your career. I’ve often heard that getting a job is all about who you know but I think that is 100% wrong, getting a job, a promotion or at least a door opened is VERY much about WHO KNOWS YOU. This is something that takes some time and you have to be very purposeful about it. Early in your career it can be hard especially if you are in a remote or field job.
A few tips below:
- Learn the org chart and who/what areas really run the show.
- Make sure to meet these folks. Hallway chats, skip level 1 on 1s, meet and greet intros. Ask for introductions.
- When you start to have these encounters, make sure you ask about them. You have to be interested to be interesting. Learn about their career journey, learn what makes them tick, learn about their hobbies and other interests. Learn about things at work they think could be different and think about how you can help solve that. Thank them for their time and be proactive about building from there.
- Look for mentoring opportunities but make sure you dont’ waste peoples time. Lots of leaders are at a point in their career they enjoy giving back and a way to do that is to nurture a young colleague. BUT they are also very busy, so when approaching this topic, make sure to frame out what the relationship would look like. Maybe that is a 30 minute discussion once a month or once a quarter. And line out what that conversation would include, 3 ares of focus and feedback.
Always remember to be grateful and show gratitude. Relationships should be 2 way beneficial and they usually only work when you are a person they enjoy spending some time with.
Work-Life Balance:
This will not be popular with many in the current environment but work-life balance is a farce, it’s especially a farce in the early stages of your career. When you are in the 20s and early 30s, doing something you enjoy for work, no kids, probably no wife, you should be working your ass off. Be present, available, someone others can rely on. Don’t let anyone lie to you, corporate career growth is a COMPETITION and the lions eat the lambs. Once you become more established, build your brand (talked about later) and start a family it’s important to start pulling back and approaching your priorities differently but our life is full of different seasons. Early in your career it’s GET AFTER IT season.
Also, most jobs have seasons even during the year. So as you do advance and start those later seasons of your career, there will still be some busy times, some important things to tackle. During those times, you may end up working more but you’ll have built the muscle around your priorities to be present and take advantage of all the time you can devote to your non work hours.
This will also very greatly based on your goals. What level do you want to go to, how much income do you really want, what kind of personal life do you desire, is your spouse also driven? All of this matters and is part of this equation.
Financial Literacy and Management:
I think of this in 2 ways for young professionals. 1 being that of personal financial literacy and 2 being for the business/industry you work in.
From a personal perspective this is critical. Pick up some books, watch some YouTube videos and study personal finance (I dont’ care what your career is this matters to everyone). Learn about compound interest, learn about investing, learn about different asset classes and diversification. Learn as much as you can. At the same time, learn about your companies 401k or pension program. Take the free training most offer through their fiduciary partner. Make sure you understand it and seek some help if you need to. This is an important part of your compensation and your future, take it serious!!!
From a professional standpoint. Every single job at every single company impacts performance in some way shape or form and therefor the financials. Learn how your company makes money, learn the levers that impact how that performance goes. You may not think this matters but it very much matters, if your job doesn’t help the company perform at some point your job will go away. Learn what drives growth, what drives sales, what drives retention, what drives performance of the product, etc. You will become more and more valuable to your employer and in the market the better you know these things.
Developing a Personal Brand:
Everything we just talked about above will impact your personal brand. How skillful are you, how connected are you, how well liked are you, how committed are you, how dependable are you, how much do you know and understand the business, how much are you willing to take on outside of your normal job, are a person who embraces creativity and innovation? The answer to all of these things builds the foundation of your personal brand. Think about your personal brand as what people think when they think about you? When your name is mentioned in a room or sitting in a leaders head, what do they think, what is said? Your brand is present even when you aren’t. Build it, nurture it, embrace it and celebrate it while you sell it.
In summary, these are the areas I’ve come to learn through experience and my own studies that matter in regards to career growth and success in corporate America. I hope you enjoyed the post, please drop me a note and let me know what you think.