You’re successful and ambitious, but you won’t feel satisfied until you reach the very top. The climb can be hard at times, but there are a few things you can do to make it easier.
If you want to increase your value in the job market, all of the efforts start outside of the workplace.
Deciding to take the initiative will help you improve your prospects while demonstrating to your employers (or future employers) that you have what it takes to be a real go-getter.
1. Take Some Online Courses
You may not have time to attend classes in person – especially if you’re already occupied with a full-time job. The good news is that most courses can be taken in your spare time. All kinds of management, finance, and HR courses can be taken online.
These courses will make it possible for you to achieve things that once seemed like a logistical nightmare. They could turn out to be a lifesaver for the career-oriented person who shoots for the stars.
2. Read Up On Qualifications
Use Gumtree to browse job postings for positions you’d like to see yourself working in, even if these positions are several levels above where you are now. Read what their upper-level qualifications are. Don’t look at the bare minimum – look at what they would prefer.
It may involve experience working in another field, a continuance of your education, or special skills. Start developing them early. You’ll master them by the time you’re ready to apply for such an ambitious position.
3. Take Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteer work seems like something that only benefits high school students seeking a scholarship or college students trying to build a resume. This couldn’t be further from the truth. A lot of companies incorporate charitable causes within their culture.
If you know what company you would like to work for, volunteer for their causes. Nothing will make you a better cultural fit for a company than getting hands-on experience with the things that matter the most to that company.
4. Learn a Language
Being bilingual will always make an employee more valuable. Business isn’t the way it used to be. It crosses borders all the time, and it spans the world. If you have the ability to communicate in two languages (at least to some extent), you’ll be able to help more customers or clients. The more bilingual people a company has on staff, the more barriers they’re eliminating.
You can play around with language learning apps to help you find a language that you’d like to learn and even use virtual tools to teach yourself.
5. Start a Blog
Starting a blog is more useful than you may think. In fact, a regularly updated blog can make it easy for all kinds of professionals to find you. By posting about trends or events relevant in your industry or even offering advice and tutorials, you’re establishing yourself as an authority in your niche. Your blog posts will also serve as a testament to your expertise.
Think of them as a portfolio that demonstrates your knowledge to potential employers. When they Google your name, they’re going to find this treasure trove of information that will help them recognize you as a competent professional.
If you want to become a more promising candidate, all it takes is a little determination.
Performing your best in the workplace counts, but it’s what you do outside of the workplace that really speaks volumes about your professional commitment.
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If you have ideas that you feel like sharing that might be helpful to readers, share them in the comments section below. Thanks!
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Thanks Ann,
Learning a second or probably a third and a fourth language will always pay off. I heard about someone who got promoted from a bank officer in Pakistan to a Regional Head in South America in CitiBank because he spoke Spanish when some VP visited his Pakistan.
The real challenge in learning a language is the amount of difficulty you have to deal with as your brain has to be streched in a very painful way but it eventually pays off as your whole IQ starts reacting to your upgraded brain.