Almost every job provides some sort of leverage for getting you one step closer to your dream career. Even if it’s just ONE Thing, it can provide enough influence to make all the difference in the world for your professional life. It may not be obvious at first, but there are ways of discovering what that leverage is and how to make the most of it.
ONE Thing that everyone can leverage is experience.
Experience can’t be taught or bought. It has to be earned on the job. Answer the six questions below to identify ways your experience can be leveraged to catapult your career.
1. Where Do You Want to Go?
The most efficient way of figuring out what can be leveraged in your current job is knowing where you want to go. Know what your dream job entails and you’ll have a clearer picture of how you can leverage the position you have now to move you closer to your dream job. This will also help you determine if you can take the next step within your current company or if you’ll have to look for opportunities elsewhere.
2. What Skills Have You Learned from Your Current Job?
With experience come new skills that can be leveraged. Skills are what get people hired or promoted. Even if you already have the skills needed for your career of choice, the more you can use them the better. Take on additional projects that utilize these skills and begin building your resume. Also, look for new ways that you can use your skills to show that they can be leveraged in a variety of circumstances or to solve different types of problems.
3. Does Your Company Offer Education?
If your company offers educational opportunities, it’s part of your benefits package and should be utilized. Look for certifications and courses that can not only be used for your current role, but will make you even more qualified to get to the next level of your career. A residual leverage point of continuing education is that it shows you are committed to keeping your skill set sharp and open to learning new techniques, programs and processes.
4. What Responsibilities Do You Have in Your Current Position?
It’s not necessarily whom you’ve worked for in the past but what you did for them that really matters. No matter the role you are looking for now, it’s likely the hiring manager would prefer to hire a well-rounded individual. The less someone has to be supervised or micromanaged, the more appealing they are as an employee.
Whenever possible, take on new responsibilities, especially those that directly relate to your dream career. If you are looking to promote to a management or supervisory role, these responsibilities can be leveraged in a big way to get one step higher up the ladder.
5. Whom Do You Work With That Can Help You Progress?
Co-workers, managers, colleagues and clients can all be very influential in your job search. From making introductions to providing references, the people you know can make landing your dream job a reality. Leverage your current position by making connections wherever possible and strengthen the network you’ve already created.
6. What Accomplishments Have You Made in Your Current Position?
Accomplishments can’t be overstated. This is what skills and responsibilities translate into when you do your job well. It’s that mindset of “if I did this for these guys, imagine what I could do for you if given the opportunity.” Use the accomplishments of your current position to quantify your skill set and the value it can bring to your dream job.
The goal is to always keep growing in every job position. By knowing where you want to go you can leverage your current job to get where you ultimately want to be.
Original Source: http://www.the1thing.com/applying-the-one-thing/whats-the-one-thing-you-can-leverage-in-your-job/