Tweet

Owning Your Career

Guest post by: Telaireus Herrin

Article Overview: When it comes to career progression, you have to own your own career development and progression. This article gives practical advise on taking charge of your career.

Owning Your Career

As of September 2009, due to the recession, over 15.1 million jobs have been lost since the start of the recession in December 2007 and the unemployment rate is currently at 9.8% nationally. Many debate whether the real unemployment rate is closer to 15% or more once you include the underemployed (reluctantly working part-time because of limited positions) and those who are not being counted any longer because their unemployment insurance has ended.

Whether you continue to be employed or have become a part of the heart wrenching statistics by downsizing or rightsizing, you need to continue to “own your career”. What does it mean to “own your career”? It means you are ultimately the person who is responsible for making things happen when it comes to your career and you have to expect the unexpected and plan for it. There may be limited positions in your area, but there are things you should constantly being doing whether you are gainfully employed or looking. Consider the following:

1. Reassess your career map: You say you do not have a career map, sure you do (at least I hope so). A career map is simply your career goals and objectives with associated timeframes. You may have an “official” career map you created through a paid service or you may simply have your objectives listed in a journal. The important step is that you should have one and if you do not, it’s time to create one. You cannot get where you want to go without clear directions. Reassessing means evaluating whether you are where you want to be in your career and if you are not, are there other avenues or experiences you can seek to help you get there. One thing to remember as you reassess your career map, there is nothing wrong with taking a detour along the way as long as you know you are working toward your final destination.
2. Engage your network: I know many of you have said, “I have and I do engage my network.” My question to you is how often. Chances are that you have contacted people in your network periodically and say “I am looking for my next opportunity, please let me know if know or hear of anything.” That is a pleasant start, but engaging your network should go beyond the “hi and call me” platitude, you must ask specifically what you want. I suggest you say, “you may not be aware, but I am looking for my next opportunity in xyz, in this particular industry/company. Do you know of anyone I can contact or would you mind introducing me to xyz as I seek my next opportunity?” This is actively engaging your network.
3. Obtain mentors and coaches: Great mentors and coaches are invaluable resources throughout your career. Mentors and coaches are your sounding board and your advocates/cheerleaders. It is not always who you know, but who knows you. Not only should you have at least one mentor and/or coach, you should also be a mentor or coach to someone else. Karma is a great thing, which leads me to tip #4.
4. Contribute to your profession. Charles W. Eliot said, “Be unselfish. That is the first and final commandment for those who would be useful and happy in their usefulness. If you think of yourself only, you cannot develop because you are choking the source of development, which is spiritual expansion through thought for others.” The unspoken gift of service is that you receive so much in return when you give of yourself to a specific situation or cause. Contributing to your profession can take on many forms, volunteering at a conference, serving on a regional leadership board, mentoring, publishing case studies or teaching to name a few. When you give to your profession, you are connecting on so many levels, not to mention contributing to advancing the profession as a whole – how cool is that!
5. Continue to learn: Being a student of knowledge is essential in our technology-on-demand age. Knowledge is power and there is always something new to learn or relearn in order to stay current, effective and competitive. There are so many avenues to stay on top of new developments, best practices and innovation. If you are not signed up to receive industry newsletters, podcasts, webinars or webcasts, you are doing yourself and your career a disservice – the majority of these resources are free. I recommend you start today.
   
   

Related Articles
  Starting a Home Business or Work at Home Venture Has Great Benefits
  Give Your Career a Jolt- Own a Coffee Franchise
  Popular Franchise Companies
  Transition From Profession To Business - Exploring Your Career Alternatives
  Owning a franchise is a great way to become your own boss.
  What is a Franchise?
  Quitting Your Job To Join the Entrepreneurial Workforce
  What to Expect When Starting a Business
  Fast Food Restaurant Franchises: Good or Bad?
  Buy a Franchise or Get a Job?
  Why Franchises are Good Investments
  Online Home Business: Do You Have The Qualities To Succeed?
  The American Dream, Part I of II
  Making the Most of Your Franchise
  Should you take a Homographic Approach to your Career Planning?
  Execute Your Business Idea
  Were They Ready - Will You Be Ready?
  We Don’t Want to be Downers, but are your Career Prospects Evaporating?
  Resources and Help for your Franchise Business
  Are You a Change Seeker? Make Your Skills Work for You

Article Tags: 1 million, compatibility, downsizing, endif, gte, insurance, jobs, mso, part of the heart, part time, recession, span, statistics, style definitions, style name, unemployment insurance, unemployment rate, xml, zoom



Related Forum Posts
Re: Trying to buy own building - For that matter, what is best? Owning your own building, or renting office space?
Re: Require Info on CAD Fed/Prov Grants for Restaurant Start-up - I know the Ontario government is starting a "Second Career" campaign, full of internship opportunities for new chefs and catering staff. It may be worth your while to research the possibilities with that. It may work itself out to be cheap labor in the form of a grant. Good luck regardless!
Book: Comeback Moms - Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years Monica Samuels and J. C. Conklin 2006 Jacket: Millions of educated, professional women are quitting their jobs to stay home and raise their children. That would never be you, right? You worked hard for your degree and even harder to get to this point in your career. Quitting now, even for a few years, would kill your career, right? That's what Monica Samuels thought when she found out she was pregnant... Over 60 percent of professional women who leave work to raise children want to get back into the workforce someday. If you even think you might want to go back to work, be it in one year or twenty, you need to lay the groundwork now for a successful reentry or your options will be limited. 1. Quitting: When is the best time to cut the cord 2. Feathering the nest: How to financially prepare before you quit 3. Departure strategies: leaving the office 4. Money and Power: Constructing a new life on the home front 5. Backlash: handling family, friends and angry strangers 6. One foot in, one foot out: How can they miss you if you don't really go away? 7. Part time: It ain't perfect, but it's doable 8. Going back: the when and how of returning to work full time 9. Career counseling: When you need a change 10. Entrepreneurs: True Stories Resources Index
Books for Women Entrepreneurs - There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here. It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new. In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment! 1. The Old Girl's Network 2. Mother's Work 3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women 4. Pitch Like A Girl 5. Workplace Warrior 6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer 7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery 8. She Wins, You Win 9. Napoleon On Project Management 10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do 11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years 12. The One Minute Millionaire 13. Talking From 9 to 5 14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions 15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success 16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded 17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful 18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End 19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide 20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen 21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business 22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker 23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business 24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises 25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy 26. The Promotable Woman 27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it 28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home 29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Are You An Accidental Consultant?

Are You Too Good for Your Job?

Effective Leadership

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.