How To Increase The Odds Of Career Success

by Duncan Brodie

When you are at the early stages of your career, the chances are that you will be ambitious and want to go as far as you possibly can. You may have the necessary qualifications to set yourself up for success but still find it a struggle to get moving forward in your career.

So what can you do to increase the chances of success in your career?

Tip 1: Make Some Decisions

Career success is much more like a marathon than a sprint. The reality is that it takes time to start reaping the rewards you might be hoping for. At the same time, you need to take some decisions about where you would like to get to long term. This will not just give you clarity of focus but facilitate your making choices.

Tip 2: Learn From Those Who Have Done It

Information from books, websites, blogs, audio and webinar interviews has never been as freely available as it is today. What this means is that you can learn about what it takes to achieve success from those who have already done that.

Tip 3: Keep Looking For Opportunities To Broaden Your Experience

Yes, you might want to get extra qualifications and certifications but what I have found is that paper qualifications without experience have limited worth. Keep looking for opportunities to broaden your experience whether it is through a secondment, involvement in a special project or even from work in your community.

Tip 4: Get A Reputation For Results

They often say that work and opportunities migrate to good people. If you want to be spotted and marked out for advancement, you need to show that you can deliver results. Start making a habit of recording your results.

Tip 5: Don’t Be Afraid To Ask

It costs the organisation a lot of money when someone leaves. Often people enjoy where they work but are frustrated about the lack of opportunity or development. It may be that you simply need to make a case for what you would like to do next and show how it will be of benefit to the business. The real reason why many people don’t do this is that they fear rejection. Being told “no” is probably the worst that could happen and the “no” might just mean “not right now”.

The Bottom Line: Career success does not come with a guarantee. On the other hand, there are plenty of things you can do to influence the level of success you achieve.

About the author

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and professional people to build successful careers http://goalsandachievements.com/career-success/