Over your lifetime, one of the places where you will spend the majority of your time is your workplace, and this means that you need to be happy and content within the career option that you choose. However, career success does not come easily to everyone, and if you are struggling to climb up the ladder, here is everything that you need to open doors within your industry:
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Soft Skills
Although you might believe that qualifications are the most important element of your resume, this is not always the case, and soft skills can help to broaden the opportunities that are available to you. These soft skills are especially important as you start to climb the ranks, with many different positions, even within the same industry, requiring different soft skills. The most common soft skills that employers look for include good oral and written communication, great organization and time-keeping, and excellent team-work and collaboration skills. At Kettering Global, they can help you to build the soft skills that are required to make a success of your career in engineering as well as to get the qualifications that you need. Click here to find out about the soft skills that are most important for those that want to be engineering managers.
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A Qualification
However, to support these soft skills and to prove your knowledge and experience to employers, you should try to complement these skills with an additional qualification, such as those provided by Kettering Global. Many employers will not even consider your application if you do not have a Bachelor’s or Master’s degree or another online certificate on your resume, and even if you can get an intern-level job, many people need a higher education qualification to enable themselves to get promoted or to take on more responsibility. Not only this, but online qualifications can give you the knowledge that you need to excel at in your career and hone your technical skills within the industry of your choice.
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Professional Connections
Once you have obtained the basics that you need to have a successful career, you then need to start to cultivate your professional connections within your field. Professional connections are now vital for those that are looking for long and exciting careers. This is because these connections can allow you to hear about job opportunities in your sector, including leadership opportunities, and to get advice about the best path to take. So, to develop these contacts, you should consider attending networking events that are specifically tailored toward your industry and creating an account on business social media websites, such as LinkedIn.
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Industry Experience
Most employers, though, are looking for professionals who have a high level of experience in their sector as this can prevent them from having to train individuals and will ensure that they can relax in the knowledge that their business is in good hands. However, this need for experience can act as a barrier to many career-minded individuals who are looking to progress or to achieve a promotion, especially if they have not worked within a certain job position before. Therefore, to get industry experience, you should consider taking on more projects alongside your work, develop your own projects and ideas, or consider going on work experience or a job exchange. If you are mid-career and want to find more experience opportunities in order to grow your leadership potential, you should ask for more responsibility at work, ask to lead projects, and even consider running a group outside of work, such as a youth group.
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A Smart Resume and Portfolio
However, whether you are looking to start out on your career path or to become a leader within your industry, the one document that will enable you to get through the door is your resume. Your resume must be able to represent you to employers and to show you in your best light, as you will only be able to obtain interviews on the strength of this. If you are struggling to write a great resume, you should consider using online templates or speaking to a professional careers advisor. When you are looking for leadership positions or to progress your career, you should also create a portfolio of your previous work that can showcase your experience and the type of work that you are willing to offer the companies that you are applying to work for. Not only this, but you should consider creating a website where you can present your personal brand and build an impressive archive that will allow you to stand out to employers.
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Confidence
The one characteristic that you need to succeed, though, is confidence. When you believe in your talents, everyone else will, too, regardless of your experience or your qualifications. Not only this but as you climb up the ladder, employers will be looking for strong leaders who can make decisions and who are comfortable in their own abilities. Then, to grow confidence in your abilities, you should create positive self-talk, focus on your achievements, and work on a plan to help you to overcome the challenges and barriers that you are facing.
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Career Goals
Career goals are essential to prevent your career from becoming stale and to stop you from getting stuck in the same job role for many years to come. Career goals give you something to aim for and can allow you to celebrate and reward yourself for passing certain milestones. As well as having career goals, you should create an overall vision of where you want to be in five and ten years, and this will allow you to get some perspective and ensure that you are always working toward your career goals and going in the right direction. Some of the best career goals that you can set for 2021 include gaining new skills, taking relevant courses, improving your work output, getting a promotion, and finding a job that fulfills you.
