How to Enjoy a Better Career

Based on my experience observing thousands of job seekers over the past 10 years, here are three tips to help you set the goals and build the skills youll need to reach career nirvana.

By Kevin Donlin, Star Tribune Sales and Marketing

Last update: August 1, 2006 - 10:15 AM

You want to be a success at work, doing a job you love, right? Right.

But sometimes its hard to figure out how to get your career moving in the right direction -- whether youre 22 or 72.

So, based on my experience observing thousands of job seekers over the past 10 years, here are three tips to help you set the goals and build the skills youll need to reach career nirvana

Start Where You Are

Make every effort to build your skills in your current job, so that when you leave or try for a promotion, youll have the required expertise.

Try to make a little progress every day, rather than hope for a big promotion someday. In other words, if you exceed expectations today by doing just a little more than is expected of you, youll move up the ladder of success faster down the road.

Tip: Find a person in your company who rose through the ranks and offer to buy him/her lunch so you can ask their advice. Youll learn what traps to avoid and shortcuts to take. And youll likely gain a mentor who can show you the way to the top. All from a simple lunch!

Sharpen Your Computer Skills

Today, no matter what your job is, youll likely need a computer to do it well.

Learn everything you possibly can about the software needed in your field, and youll quickly make yourself more marketable. Example: sales executives must be fluent in PowerPoint, bookkeepers in Excel, administrative assistants in Word, etc.

For guidance, ask your boss to name all the software youll need to know to get ahead in your field, then get started mastering those skills.

Develop The Habit Of Lifelong Learning

If you commit yourself to a lifetime of workplace learning, it will pay off in bigger paychecks and greater job security for years to come.

Unfortunately, most folks think that education ends on graduation day. To prove it for yourself, ask any 10 friends to name the last three books they read about their industry. The resulting silence will demonstrate how easy it is for you to stand out in your field.

Its been said that if you spend just one hour a day reading the best books in your field, you can become a leading expert in five years. And leading experts are never wanting for the best jobs in America. So why not join the experts?

To get smarter and get ahead, turn off the radio and start listening to audio books in your car or on the train. Consider subscribing to a book summary service so you can get the gist of the leading business books in less than an hour. Two services I have used and recommend are Soundview Executive Book Summaries and Audio-Tech Business Book Summaries.

To sum up, stop waiting for your dream job to come and find you.

Instead, start where you are, exceed expectations, sharpen your skills, keep learning and soon youll be on your way to the top of your field.

See you there!

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