How to get ahead in your career after-hours
If you really want to get ahead in your career, you should be putting in the time after-hours as well. To be the best you have to become the “go-to” person for your field – put in the extra effort and you’ll soon accelerate your career.Working for one company your entire life is no longer considered to be the best option toaccelerate your career. In fact, moving to a different company, every 2-5, but staying in the same field, is now seen as one of the better options to further your career. Your status is also now determined by the unique or specialised skills you managed to obtain while working at the various companies – both during and out of office hours.
You should aim for more than just working for the sake of working. What is your ambition? Are you passionate about what you do? Are you driven to become a leader in your field? These are all important you need to ask yourself before mapping out your career success.
Are you passionate about your job?
This may seem a bit cliché, but it holds weight and relevance for career acceleration. If your only motivation is leaving at the end of the day, you’re in the wrong job. You have to be passionate and motivated to do what you do, especially if you were to put in the effort after hours. Think aboutlearning new skills that will be beneficial to your career – essentially, what you’re looking to do is outshine others who are on the same level as you are.
If you’re a traditional print writer for example, but you would really like to get into digital writing you need to be willing to start your own blog, do a course in SEO, research ways to make your content appealing etc., and to put in all this effort you’ll need to love what you do or it’ll just get you nowhere slowly. Think about which skills could get you further and make you invaluable to your company and others too. A great skill to complement your writing for example would be marketing.
Work towards becoming a leader/the person who has the last word
To become a leader in your field, think about starting a blog that contains information that other professionals in your business can learn from. Discuss things like new skills, what you need to know to get ahead, why you think it’s important in your field, trends and news – there are so many topics so don’t limit yourself.
To reap the rewards you’ll have to put in the time and effort, but once you do, your next interviewer will see you as a step above the rest of the candidates.
Start your own projects
Think of your next career move when you decide which skills to start developing. Some of the skills you could develop in your current job, but others you’ll have to initiate yourself. Once you’ve taken the relevant courses to advance your career, consider taking on a few freelance jobs to determine how well your courses are paying off. The more freelance work you get, the more you’ll see what the industry needs. Then, as soon as one project is finished, be sure to put it up on your blog and allow for insightful commentary. This will help you to start a community and give you the opportunity to make valuable connections for your network.
Remember to maintain a balance
You may think that the above steps to advance your career will take up a lot of your time, probably too much time. That said, don’t spread yourself too thin. It’s important to work out ahealthy work-life balance to ensure you don’t burn out before becoming an authority in your industry. Family and friends are also important so don’t neglect them or the road to success will be a very lonely one. Try to involve your friends and family where possible. But also learn when to take a step back from work and appreciate what you have.