You’ve got the paper – now make the money: 7 lucky tips What you know is important – don’t let anyone ever tell you otherwise. But there’s also value in who you know. So the first thing you should consider doing when trying to pave your way to a successful career is: 1. Cultivate your networks: Yes it helps to connect with people online, but nothing beats face-to-face interaction. So whenever you can make sure to attend networking events. Even those not designed for networking could offer you the opportunity to do just that. 2. Research: You’ve probably heard it before but doing this is key to your success. If you don’t know anything about the company you’re interviewing for, or the potential employer you’re meeting you’ve already taken yourself off the shortlist. Find out as much as you can and you’ll sound prepared and like you should be taken seriously. 3. Double check: Whenever you get the chance to present yourself on paper make sure you make a great impression. An easy way to do this is to make sure there are no spelling mistakes in your CV, cover letter, business plan, or any other correspondence. * To help with this make sure to print it – it’s easier to spot mistakes on a hard copy than a computer screen * Read it out loud * Let it breathe – give it a day before going back to read it again with fresh eyes * Have a trusted friend look it overforbes/sites/work-in-progress/2013/05/09/how-to-get-and-keep-a-job-after-graduation-2/2/ 4. Be indispensible: Make yourself valuable to your boss by going the extra mile. Volunteer to take on additional work. Arrive early. Stay late. Contribute your best self to get noticed. 5. Be patient: The success you’re looking for, no matter which form it comes in, won’t happen overnight. You need to be motivated enough to put the hard work in and sometimes not expect rewards just because you think you’ve done something worthwhile. 6. Get a mentor: Experience is a great teacher. You’ve heard this before because it’s true. So why not add onto your own experience by relying on the knowledge someone more experience in your career has managed to get over the years? 7. Develop Plan A, B, and C: By now you may have already learnt the hard truth that life sometimes has different ideas to what you should be doing than you do. Just because what you want to do right now isn’t working out doesn’t mean there aren’t other doors open in front of you. Step through them. You may be happier for it. Finding work is hard but try the tips above to give yourself an advantage. What gives you an edge over your peers? What do you have to contribute to a new company?
Posted on: Fri, 13 Sep 2013 10:22:42 +0000