Do you want to make the leap from job to career? Many working people get the nagging feeling that they’re stuck in a rut with their jobs and aim to build something more solid. Careers tend to offer stepping stones for advancement, better pay, enhanced benefits, and a sense of personal accomplishment. Jobs, on the other hand, can wear you out physically and mentally as you seemingly move from paycheck to paycheck.
What can you do to start building a career today? Everyone’s situation is different, but there are a few universal techniques that tend to bring positive results. Besides updating your resume, consider completing college, even if you have to do it while working. Plus, take the time to decide on a field or particular industry you want to enter. Many book a session or two with a vocational counselor to find their optimal career path. Two other tactics involve cleaning up all your social media accounts and building a professional network. You can start on both of those chores immediately. Here are a few ideas to get your job-to-career trajectory in full swing.
Get Serious About Your Resume
If you don’t have a resume, hire a professional writer to create one. If you already have one, make sure it’s polished, current, and compelling. Most resume writers offer significant discounts for rewrite services, so find an experienced expert to help brush off that old document and make it shine.
Finish College
There’s no better antidote to a dead-end job than a college degree. Consider working part-time, attending classes online, or working your current job while studying on weekends and weeknights. Get financing taken care of as soon as possible. The best way to do so is to work with Earnest private student loans and apply for a loan that covers all school-related costs. If you’re working full-time while attending school, speak with academic advisors and find out how you can schedule classes around your job duties. It’s important to pace the academic load properly to have enough time to study and earn excellent grades.
Plan Ahead by Choosing a Career Now
Book a session with a career or vocational professional to explore the kinds of careers that are a good match for your abilities and preferences. Choosing the ideal path is not easy, so expect to spend time and effort identifying two or three careers that are suited to your long-term goals. Additionally ask questions about employee progression opportunities within specific industries and companies you have identified as your top priority. Entry level jobs are great, but you should also be forward thinking and understand if there is room to grow within your chosen path.
Build a Professional Network
Too many people procrastinate when it comes to creating a professional network. Begin today by making a list of the names of people who fit the category. If you are young and just starting out, don’t be dismayed if your list has zero names. Consider adding any contact you have had in previous jobs, like supervisors, managers, even co-workers.
If you want a worthwhile career that involves helping people then think about becoming a broker. Brokers help their customers and clients get the very best care and deals, occasionally broker only deals apply. This means that the deals will not be available anywhere else. If you are thinking about becoming a broker then you will need to be good at networking and build up a pretty big following and network of people. If for example someone comes to you and wants you to do their health and care plan. You need to know what to include in it as well as knowing the right people to call for deals. It is quite common for people to use brokers for a great number of things.
Clean Up Your Social Media Accounts
Getting serious about long-term careers means cleaning up potential embarrassments on social media accounts. Scour your profiles, photo postings, public messages, and anything with your name on it. Engage in your own version of reputation management by deleting words or images that might pose a problem in the future.
