How to emerge professionally strengthened from periods of uncertainty? Answer these 5 questions

Dominion MesomaMarch 30, 2023

Periods of complexity, change or uncertainty can be a good opportunity not only to reevaluate the current direction of your career, but also to implement concrete actions to improve your skills.

Doing so will not only ensure that you are equipped with the necessary skills to make the most of any opportunity, but will allow you to take new steps in your career path.

With your long-term career goals in mind, we’re advising 5 questions to help you identify your top areas for career improvement:

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1. What am I interested in learning more about?

Getting started can be the hardest part of any journey, so it’s good to start with something you’ve always been interested in.

Maybe you’re an HR professional with a keen interest in programming, who never had a chance to learn it; Or you may be interested in public speaking even though your job doesn’t require you to do so.

List all the areas that interest you and do an online search to find resources that you can take advantage of.

Start with something that catches your attention: it can be a course, workshop, webinar or podcast.

Again, this doesn’t have to be directly related to your job; You never know when these additional professional skills will come in handy.

2. What would make me shine in my job?

Now that you’ve started, keep the wheel turning. For many, the best way to do this is to learn something directly relevant to their job, so that the immediate benefits of the effort to learn can be easily seen.

Identify the areas of your work in which you are already good, explore what can make you stand out even more and focus your efforts on improving in these areas.

For a content marketer, this might mean catching up on the latest trends in SEO and SEM to ensure their content is not only engaging, but also reaches the right audience.

While you may not become a specialist in a few months, these skills will broaden your perspective and allow you to consider broader aspects of your work.

3. What would make me feel less frustrated at my job?

Refinement or improvement does not have to be limited to learning new things; it can also consist of reviewing the most basic.

Tackle the aspects of your job where you struggle, taking time to reflect on what frustrates you the most each day. Is it your overflowing inbox or your growing to-do list?

Do you spend a lot of time on tedious administrative tasks or maybe you have trouble communicating effectively with others?

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Once you’ve identified the “weak spots” in your daily work, find ways to improve these areas.

This could include talking to a co-worker to find out how they complete their administrative tasks quickly (they might know a secret shortcut!) or reading recommended articles on how you can manage your time more effectively.

4. What would help me develop a competitive advantage in my profession and job market?

Even if you see yourself staying in your current role for the long term, your career goals shouldn’t be tied to your job and company.

In the long term, what do you see yourself doing and what are the skills you need to achieve your goals?

If you’re a developer but have plans to become a manager in the future, you’ll need more than just technical skills to land your desired position.

For example, you will need to possess leadership skills, the ability to communicate across teams and stakeholders, as well as manage multiple project schedules.

By developing these personal skills that many companies feel are lacking in technical professionals, you’ll eventually find yourself an advantage over your competitors;

whether it’s for a promotion to an internal role or a position with another company.

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5. Am I thinking holistically?

While it’s good to have specific areas to refine, make sure you also consider the bigger picture and don’t leave out any other opportunities for improvement.

Evaluate if you are too focused on soft skills and not enough on technical skills or vice versa.

Are you exploring all the resources that you could take advantage of or are you using a single method, such as webinars?

Are you pushing yourself enough or maybe too much that it will be unsustainable in the long run?

Professional improvement is a long and continuous journey, so you have to make sure that it is sustainable, that it is interesting on a personal level, that it provides growth in different aspects of life.

Dominion MesomaMarch 30, 2023