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You should go into any venture expecting great things and wanting to excel, but of course, optimism will only get you so far. The complicated areas of life, such as building a career that brings you happiness and fulfillment, require hard work. With so much competition for the best positions, there’s little room for a relaxed approach to this area of your life. It needs to be managed and worked on. Below, we take a look at a few tried and tested tips for excelling in your career.
Find Your Passion
There’s only so far you can get without passion. Even if you think you love your job, there’ll be tough times at one stage at another. When they arrive, it’ll be the passion that you have for what you do that will see you through. You’ll need to believe in the higher purpose of what you’re doing, something that’s bigger than just the financial benefits or social prestige you get from the job. It’s not realistic to go down the “do something you’d do for free” route, but if there’s no stirring in the heart when you think about your work, then it’ll probably be best to think of something else.
Long-Term Plans
Humans have been given a mighty gift, yet hardly anybody uses it. It’s the gift of foresight. Dogs live from one moment to the next; humans can plan ahead and build their future. When it comes to your career, it’s best to think of some long-term trajectory, including where you’d like to eventually end up. Of course, careers are long, and things change, but having that end goal will help to keep you on course when things seem to be going a little awry. It’ll be your buffer against collapse.
Further Education
The world is becoming ever more competitive, and for some jobs in particular, you could be facing a lot of highly talented individuals for the best positions. If you want to excel in your career, therefore, then it could be worth considering looking at furthering your education. While it doesn’t apply to all industries and positions, in some sectors, the difference between a Bachelor’s degree and a Master’s degree can be significant. Aside from giving you the education and skills you need for the more senior positions, it’ll also show a broader commitment to your industry.
Overcoming Hurdles
One of the issues that many people face is that when trying to excel in their career is that, while they may have the technical skills to do a job, they falter in other areas of the career progression field. Two of the biggest hurdles that people need to overcome is their ability to network with other people and ace job interviews. If you have these two skills in your locker, then you’ll find that many more jobs are open to you, and that career progression comes more easily. This is especially important for advanced industries, such as private equity, where competition for places can be tough. If you’re applying for jobs in this field, then check out this guide — it’ll give you the info you need to know to ace your interview. Networking with others is something that comes with time and experience, but you have to start somewhere. Put yourself in the right surroundings for networking, and you’ll find that eventually it begins to pay off.
Wider Industry Knowledge
One of the more difficult things about progressing in your career is that what your “career” entails isn’t static; it’s dynamic. It’s continually changing. Of course, this is truer in certain industries than others, but all are prone to adapt to changing conditions. As such, it’s always recommended to have a broader understanding of your industry and where it’s going. Aside from helping you to position yourself correctly, it will, again, show that you’re passionate about what you do.
Find a Mentor
It takes a lifetime to gain the experience needed to excel in a career. When you look back at the end, you’ll find that you took something of a jumbled route to get to where you ultimately ended up — and you’ll have made mistakes along the way. While errors will always happen, you can reduce their frequency by finding yourself a career mentor. They will have been there, done that, and will be full of wise words that you can incorporate into your career, and which you wouldn’t have known if you were just trying to figure out things on your own. Most people are happy to become mentors if they’re approached. Use their wisdom to your benefit.
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