Whether you are upgrading your current position or making a complete career change in 2021, two useful skills can give you an advantage. Do you know what they are?
These skills are generally found in top performers regardless of their industry or the condition of the market. They are the edge that others look for but are rarely seen when others try to replicate the skills of these successful professionals. Still don’t know what these skills are? Just wait, we’ll get there.
The pandemic has caused many people to reevaluate their current jobs and their chosen career paths. In speaking with people considering either a change in their career or a move to a different company, I hear the following concerns:
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- They desire to work in an industry that can offer more stability when the economy is affected.
- They want a position that is more future-oriented. In particular, people cite the rapid changes in technology that create career paths with greater longevity.
- They feel frustrated about pursuing opportunities in areas where they lack experience or feel uncomfortable letting go of what they know to seek a new path.
For many, taking action represents a risk. The feeling of insecurity that accompanies a career shift stops individuals from taking action and moves their vision of taking action to their “someday list.”
However, the two skills that can give you an edge and help you make a transition are your ability to foster a competitive mindset and your ability to prepare. These are the two competencies that move your visions of success to reality:
1. Mindset – An awareness and commitment to improving the skills and behaviors needed to up your game for the coming year. This commitment includes the willingness to deal with the discomfort of change. Measurable skills that fall under mindset are:
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- Self-Knowledge – You know your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and limits. You gain insight from your past successes and learnings to set the foundation for change.
- Self-Development – You understand that different positions and career changes call for additional skills, approaches, and setting appropriate goals.
- Personal Learning — You pick-up on the need to change behaviors and improve skills by identifying and prioritizing a learning program.
- Dealing with Ambiguity – You expect change and understand the need to shift gears.
2. Preparation – The process of identifying skills enhancement and behavior changes needed to creatively take on new challenges and promote yourself as the best candidate for solving a company’s hiring needs. (Remember, companies hire to solve a problem they cannot solve with their existing personnel.) Measurable behaviors that fall under preparation are:
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- Planning – Candidates measure performance against goals and anticipate problems and roadblocks in the way of the pursuit of their chosen careers.
- Managing and Measuring Work – You monitor your process and results in meeting long and short-term career change goals.
- Interpersonally Savvy – You build constructive and effective relationships predicated on the premise, “I can’t be at my best until I help you be at your best.” Those relationships are the foundation for creating the support needed to make the desired change. Networking is about giving.
- Situationally Aware – You understand what is required to make the chosen change and can identify mid-course corrections as they become necessary. Circumstances and situations will change; situationally aware people are vigilant in looking for a change that will be to their advantage.
Having the above skills provides you with greater adaptability when operating in uncertain times, different conditions, or stepping away from pre-programmed responses to change. Career coaches can serve as catalysts to sharpen these skills to advance a person interested in finding work or changing careers. Coaching is designed to help those interested in making a change do so more effectively by considering various perspectives so they can make confident decisions on tactical issues aligned with their career change strategy.
If you’re interested in finding out more about Career Coaching, click here to schedule a free sample coaching session with John Bushee, ACC. In that session, you can experience the support coaching provides for your career search.