Importance Of Career Management In Wealth Creation

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Investing money wisely is important. Financial discipline and Expense control put money in your hands. But your career is the biggest contributor of money. Career Management and Wealth management go hand in hand. It is this which allows you to invest. So managing your career and growing it is by far the most important aspect if you plan on increasing your wealth. Again these are for people who are beginning their careers and from the perspective of long term wealth management. I am not touching on the nuances of HRM but putting down a few random thoughts for improving your career and life in general.The article is specific for readers from India though most of the ideas expressed are universal.

a. Appraisals

Take them seriously. Prepare early. Data is the key. Keep a tab of your key result areas [KRAs] and review monthly. It is a good idea to pin it up somewhere so that you can see it. Your boss is not going to remember conversations or verbal confirmations. So if any deviation is taking place remember to keep a record by shooting off an email. An argument is the last thing you need at the time of that appraisal meeting. If your KRAs for this financial year are being fixed or are already fixed please go through them in detail. Check if your performance is conditional on something. If yes, get it included or send a note in writing pointing this out.

b. Improve yourself -Learn new things

Try to read up on your area of expertise. This is not to apply theory but to understand and open your mind to new possibilities and ideas. There are many online courses that are on offer now. Take up something that will add value to what you are doing. If you improve your knowledge soon you will have people around you asking for your opinion. Become the local expert, it will do you a lot of good in your career development.

c. Job Hopping versus growing roots

A job change is a very personal decision. It is also a decision which should never be deferred if it is needed. The last thing you need is a frog in the well syndrome. If you are good at what you do, then there are companies out there looking for people like you. If you are unhappy with the company you are working in and if your contribution is not being recognized go ahead and quit. If you are a disgruntled employee it will show in your work output and attitude. It becomes a vicious cycle and you end up doing injustice to yourself and your employer. Sticking with an employer is ideal if your movement up the corporate ladder is guaranteed.

Reasons for job hopping can be numerous, the most common being higher pay. Do not hop jobs for frivolous reasons like a better designation or more take home pay. Do some analysis and ask around before you jump. See growth prospects, training and how the company views promotion from within for senior posts.If your current organization gives you ample opportunity to grow and learn diverse skills it is better to stay with the organization. Ask yourself if you are doing the same job that you were doing for the last several years, if the answer is yes then it could be time to quit and look for opportunities to widen your skill set. Hard work is recommended but don’t sacrifice yourself at the corporate altar. Take care of your health.

d. Office Politics

What goes around comes around. I guess in a very competitive the ubiquitous knife in the back is the most feared weapon. It is best to focus on your work and give results. If you get into office politics, soon a smarter guy will come around and you might end up being the victim. If you stay out you will be ignored and you have more time to show your mettle at work. If you are the target, relax, losing your cool is only going to make the situation worse. Take it in your stride and talk it out, resolve it. Then forget it. If you are at fault, an apology can do wonders. Do not meddle in fights of feuding colleagues. Do not take sides. Let them resolve it themselves.

e. Share Knowledge

Keeping knowledge to yourself will not make you a better person. If you think the best strategy is to become indispensable then you are in for a big surprise. Nobody is indispensable. Period. If you are a division or a project head ask yourself – if I leave tomorrow, will things run smoothly? If the answer is yes, then you are really successful. It shows you have put systems in place and you run your division/project well. If on the other hand you think there will be chaos then you are holding things too close to your chest. The best way to learn is to teach others what you know.

f. Time Management

Gadgets, office gossip, social networking, Internet, blogging, writing columns are all time killers. Keep all these from eating away your time at work. Keep your office life and social life separate. You will find that you are able to finish your work early. Sure, you should have some fun in office but be aware of the time you spend on it. Think twice before you commit a deadline for a task. Give notice in advance if there is a delay. If there is a problem, nip it in the bud; go to your boss with a solution. A little bit of honesty can save time and energy for all concerned. Do not think that the problem will get resolved by itself. Most often than not, Murphy’s Law will catch up and you will have a bigger fire to fight.

Your career is the fountain of your wealth. Manage it wisely. There are many more factors that go into making a successful and rewarding career. If you have any pointers, please feel free to contribute.

Top Tips to Climb the Corporate Ladder in Quick Time

Career management has become a topic of widespread discussion these days. The nature of work has changed quite dramatically in recent years, and also have the nature of careers. There is a wide choice offered for anyone looking to make it big in a profession these days. Proper planning and then implementation of the same has become vitally important for anyone looking for professional growth nowadays. With the competition getting tougher by the day, it is imperative that you do a thorough analysis about your strengths and weakness before you go along your chosen career path.

Career management demands that you have an entrepreneurial spirit and treat your career, just as you would treat a business. Accordingly, you should do a thorough analysis of your strengths and find out what is that you bring to the table. You should make an honest analysis of your knowledge, expertise and your skill sets. You should think of yourself as a brand that is on offer in an extremely competitive market. Once you have assessed yourself you can then go about promoting yourself as a brand.

Career management is all about promoting yourself in the right manner. Once you have identified and created your own niche, then you need to go about devising a campaign targeting potential employers, just as in the case of a brand. You should meet potential employers and tell them as to how you differ from others when it comes to experience, values, skills and knowledge. You must make a conscious effort to differentiate yourself from others.

Networking is the key to career management. It goes without saying that you need to constantly look for building relationships. You should go about connecting with people who can be of help to you in reaching your career goals. It is therefore important that you develop good interpersonal communication skills in order to do so. Once you take care of these key aspects, you are literally bound to go places in your career.

Being Proactive in Your Job to Reach Your Career Goals

Career management is vital if you want to go steps higher in your career. You’ve got to make things happen instead of just waiting for good things to come. But then, it’s always up to you to judge where you want to go with your career.

When You Need to Manage Your Career

Managing a career is ongoing. If you are just starting your career, career management would mean getting appropriate education and training in order to secure a job. It would entail not just acquiring skills though. Managing your career also means preparing yourself for the application process

Even if you are the most qualified applicant, you might not get the job if you do not know how to present yourself effectively. Remember that you should market yourself well if you want to stand out from the rest of the applicants.

Many times, it’s not really the most qualified applicant who gets the job. But it’s really the one who presents himself best to the company. While being qualified is the first and foremost requirement, showing your potential employer that you are who they need is also very important.

Career Management: Advancing Your Career

Even if you already have a job, you should not stop there. Proper career management involves being proactive on opportunities to advance your career both within your current company and in other companies. If you have been with your current company for 3 years already and you seem to be getting nowhere, it is time to consider other options. For instance, you can talk to your boss or the human resources department about your concern and ask about the options you may in the company. If your company would not be able to give you any hope within the next year, it might be time to find other opportunities from other companies.

If there are no job advancement opportunities at the moment, you can also take this time to take further trainings, seminars and even further education to prepare yourself for the next position you want to take in the company.

Career Management: How to Do It

You should never wait nor depend on other people for career progression. While your boss would approve your promotion, most of the time you have to apply for it to be considered for the position. Again, you should get it before a junior co-worker grabs it away from you.

Again, you should not wait for opportunities to knock on your door. You should be proactive in searching for them if you want to progress faster. And even if you have not moved since your first job, you should not feel so down and depressed. What you should do instead is plan how to move higher in your job or move to another company that offers a chance for advancement.

You can go back to school but you have to make sure it will help you in your current career. It must also be according to your plans within that time period. And from time to time, it’s important that you check if you are on track with your career plans to ensure better chances of getting your ultimate career dream.

Learn how to map out your path to success with comprehensive tools and guides to get your life back on track. Discover how to more effectively obtain personal, career or business goals and learn how to stay motivated right to the end.

Effective Career Management is the Key to Finding Success

Considering the times we live in-what with a declining economy and job-related woes proliferating across the globe-these days the topic of career management could not be more important. Career management, of course, is not something only to be recurred to in times of crisis; it’s a process (and a skill) which needs to be implemented throughout every stage of our adult lives, both when things are looking up and when they are looking down. At the moment, however, in the midst of the growing unemployment rates that are sweeping the developed and developing worlds, many people are looking with great hope and expectation to the potential benefits which effective career management may have for them.

Considering the widespread sensation of panic or nervousness that has come over the job market, it’s important to come to have a clear vision of precisely what career management is, and how to carry it out effectively and comprehensively. Not only is it important to remember to keep career management in mind when the going’s good, but furthermore it’s important to remember all the pertinent areas of career management-not to overlook crucial aspects, during good times or bad. So, to start, let’s take a look at the three fundamental aspects of career management:

Long-term goals and strategies. In career management, it is absolutely fundamental that you have a goal in mind for the long haul and that you have a notion of how you intend to get there. There’s really not much to “manage” if these two elements are lacking, after all! As far as setting a long-term goal is concerned, you will need to first of all consider where you stand in the course of your career at the moment, on the one hand, and what the probabilities of your service/product still being marketable in the long-term look like, on the other hand. With regards to the former point, remember that the earlier on in your career the more difficult it will be to think for the long-term and to set goals for the long-term that feel realistic or achievable. With regards to the latter point, remember to try to factor in advances in technology and possible issues of redundancy when determining how marketable your particular service or product will be way down the line. This is a hard bet, and doubtlessly several unknown variables will come into the mix at one point or another; nonetheless, in pursuing a career, it’s a bet that either has to be made, or the person in question needs to seriously consider switching to another line of work.
Networking. Managing a career is all about having personal and professional contacts-without (a lot of) them, you will not have the sources of support necessary to help you advance professionally. Working adults with a career in the works need to remember that it is wise to work on or elaborate absolutely every potential contact (if only to have the person on a list of names you’ll never end up calling), and furthermore that burning bridges will never help you get anywhere. Many contacts may not yield anything all that significant in terms of your career advancement, yet every once in a while there is that one-and you need to be able to open a dialogue there at the right moment, which is why networking is so important in the first place. Within the realm of networking, there are three areas of interest that need to be pursues separately yet with equal energy: the place where you currently work (both among colleagues and superiors); the professional associations which represent your activity; and the major recruiters and/or companies where you hope to perhaps work in the future. Lavish these three areas with loads of networking, and you will do your career an enormous solid.
Résumé polishing and updating. How marketable can you possibly be when your résumé is representative of your professional standing from over a year ago?! Maintaining an updated résumé on at least a yearly basis shows people (recruiters in particular) that you take the process of career management seriously and that you’re not just counting on luck and/or a good first impression. Remember that when you reach crucial turns in the road during your professional career, you may have to reinterpret the importance of previous work experiences and present them in a new light to justify your current direction. In this sense, remember to update your personal statement when appropriate to reflect any developments in terms of goals and principal strengths. Keep in mind that an updated résumé is a brilliant tool no matter what career path you are pursuing, as it enables you to seize opportunities as they arise without the need to stall (in order to bring your image up to speed). If you feel that your résumé is a little stale, you should think about enlisting the help of a career coach as this is just one of the specialist services that they offer.
These three branches or areas within career management combine-when properly fulfilled-to drastically improve the readiness of a working professional to take on bold new opportunities and to make the kinds of leaps forward that will afford them the stability they are looking for.

Finally, it is important for professionals to put together a contingency plan in case their original plan doesn’t work out just the way they wanted to: after all, successful career management isn’t so much about accomplishing exactly what you set out for yourself, but rather it’s about making the best of the opportunities which present themselves and overcoming the setbacks that inevitably arise. As mentioned at the beginning, there are unknown variables that may surface and alter the marketability of a given product or service in the mid- or long-term. In such cases, working professionals need to know how to harness their experience, skills and network and apply them to a new path (whether a slight change in direction within the same field or a complete jumping of ships has taken place).

In the end, success in the long run cannot be had without all of these factors being brought together under one master plan, diligently implemented from the very beginning of a professional career.