The best managers combine education, experience and the ability to enthuse and motivate other people to achieve goals. Degrees in business and continuing industry education are helpful. Management courses taken at your own expense are another step forward—in dedicating the time required to take them, you show uncommon initiative, and self-motivation. Night courses in community college offer numerous options for this
type of training. Ultimately, to be promoted, you need to have a track record of accomplishment, the drive to work harder than the people that you’re managing and, possibly most important, people must respect and like you enough in higher management to see you moving upwards.
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Raise Your Profile With Your Employer.
- Take on challenging projects with a degree of risk associated with them—it raises your profile in the company.
- Volunteer to train new people, orienting them to the company.
- Show personal initiative, and make your own supervisor or manager’s job easier.
- Excel in your work, and develop relationships within the company in other departments.
- Develop a reputation as a go-to person for problem solving.
- Offer to do extra work during the month-end or end of the quarter at reports preparation time—people remember that willingness to go the extra mile for the department.
- Work at the company’s trade shows, and attend industry events where your presence can be noticed by people in positions of authority—become a familiar face to them.
Gain The Cooperation Of Less Receptive Or Supportive Colleagues In A New Job.
What about working with people who are less receptive or difficult by nature but otherwise competent at what they do?
It’s easier relating to people whom you like; it’s more of a challenge for you to find common ground with people who may be indifferent, or even hostile. Fortunately, it isn’t usually hard to recognize these people in a company; their attitudes and behaviour identifies them immediately!
Ask them their opinion about a process or procedure. Giving them the respect that they feel that they deserve is one way of disarming prickly people. Acknowledge their experience and skills when seeking assistance from them; most people want to be recognized for what they know and what they’ve contributed.
Ask people with more seniority in the company and who are friendly and approachable in nature their advice on how best to approach the person. Ask your new boss how you can work successfully with this person so that the company benefits.
Put First Things First To Meet And Master New Challenges.
To meet any challenge, major or minor, put first things first.
You need to ask yourself: What is truly important in what I plan to do?
Are you bogged down with a lot of detail? Simplify your approach, and stick to the essentials.
A plan that has too much detail doesn’t allow for flexibility to accommodate changes in direction or events that are beyond your control.
10 Steps To Take To Meet Your Challenges
- Define the challenge, risks and rewards
- Establish how long it will take to achieve completion
- If the project is a big one, break it down into its component parts
- Establish the time required to complete each individual step
- Determine what resources you require, in terms of materials, research, or other support
- Commit your plan to paper, or otherwise externalize it so that you have a blueprint for action
- Track your progress, noting whatever adjustments are required along the way
- Devote a certain amount of time every day to building a pattern of consistent actions
- Streamline your planning and your efforts so that you stick to the essentials required
- Be flexible to accommodate changes in direction or unexpected events
Are You Are Undecided About Your Next Career Move?
We all experience times when we don’t know what to do. We find ourselves comparing one set of pros against one set of cons, sometimes confusing ourselves with the options, and ending up mixed up and indecisive.
When you arrive at that state of mind, put aside the decision that has to be made. Sleep on it.
Then, turn your attention and your energy toward something entirely different, implicitly trusting that the answer will come to you, or that the insight you need will be received exactly when you need it.
Doing this, you frequently find that the answer comes to you quietly after a good night’s sleep, or perhaps pops into your mind when you’re doing something other than thinking about the problem.
Are You Waiting For A Hiring Decision?
There’s a world of difference between an attitude of positive and patient perseverance, versus an attitude of grudging acceptance, or enforced restraint.
When you want something to happen, an inner agitation can build. This is especially noticeable when you’re waiting for other people to make up their minds about a hiring decision, and you have no control over their decision-making.
Your ego may suggest ways and means or shortcuts to influence the situation. Be careful when you find yourself trying to influence someone else’s decision.
People make up their minds in their own time, and for reasons that may have nothing to do with what you want to have happen.
Vacation schedules, changes in corporate direction, or other unknown internal shifts in policy can all affect the process.
It helps to philosophically accept that if this is the right opportunity for you, that will become evident in the fullness of time.
Have The Facts Of Your Achievements At Your Fingertips.
Write down key points of your contributions, achievements, ideas implemented and other items that illustrate your strengths and value to your employers.
- How was your performance measured?
- What did you achieve in new sales development?
- What percentage of growth of revenues was achieved?
- How did you win or keep those customers?
- What steps did you take to identify and solve key problems?
- What procedures did you need to create to achieve the goals?
- How did you create value for your past employer?
- What problems are you able to solve for this employer?
- How will you make this potential employer’s company/department better?
- What examples of leadership can you provide?
- How did you assist other colleagues in reaching their objectives?
- What recommendations that you made were adopted by the company?
- How did your efforts improve bottom-line profitability?
Create a compelling narrative that tells the story of your work history, focused on what you have done to create, improve, increase, resolve and enhance the company’s business and its standing in the eyes of its customers.
These key points create buyer interest and help you move forward in the selection process.
Your Voicemail Can Work Effectively For You When You’re Job Hunting.
Voice mail is very often overlooked as a useful tool. We have all experienced situations where you call somebody and there is a disorganized or unintelligible voice prompt, or kids screaming in the background, or dogs barking on the voicemail. This leaves a negative impression on a potential employer.
Ensure that your voicemail is clear, brief, and conveys the image that you want to have the potential employer receive:
“Thank you for calling, I am out at the moment, or away from the phone. I will be checking my voice mails shortly, please leave your name, telephone number, and the reason you called, and I will return your call at the earliest opportunity.”
You can include a specific time that you will be checking your messages, this indicates to the caller the general time frame that they might expect a return call from you. The key is to be clear and professional, and to eliminate background noise distractions, which only detract from the image that you want to project.
What Questions Can I Ask In A First Interview?
Preparation is key to a successful interview. It is a two-way discussion. At some point, usually at the invitation of the interviewer, you can ask questions to better understand the scope of the position, its requirements, the training provided and how your performance is assessed.
Ask questions to learn what their expectations are and what degree of support you will receive.
- What will I be doing on a typical workday?
Determine what your daily responsibilities are if this is unclear from the job description. - What training will I receive?
Establish how long you will receive training and what it consists of. - How will you evaluate my job performance?
Understand how they measure performance and what the expectations, priorities and challenges are. - Why do people like to work here and what is the company culture like?
Companies have personalities like people do, attracting individuals with shared values. - What will be the toughest part of my job?
The answer to this question zeros in on what the key challenges are - What qualities do you look for in the people you hire?
You need to identify with these attributes to fit the profile they have in mindThoughtful questions asked in an open-ended format to gather impressions and information help you decide if this company is a good fit for you.
How Do I Grow In The First Job I Get After Graduation?
Getting an entry-level job is an accomplishment; growing in the job you get requires different skills.
Within the corporate world it is vital to interact positively with people, be a team player, have a teachable attitude and concentrate on building working relationships both inside and outside of your employer. Technical competence is important but gaining the cooperation of other people leads to mutually rewarding achievements.
People with strong team attitudes who are always doing more than is required of them get noticed by management. They build alliances through their willingness to pitch in and help their colleagues and superiors accomplish goals. Always eager to learn, they stretch themselves, take extra courses, volunteer for important projects and earn the respect of their peers and managers.
The Insider's Guide to Job Search - Canada/USA 