COVID-19 has meant that our lives and our career development have likely to have been put on hold. However, with the coming months looking like they will continue to be more of the same. However, 2021 is a time to stop putting your life on hold and to work our how you can still grow and develop this year.
Career growth doesn’t have to mean a new job or a promotion. So even if the “new job” or “promotion” goals that you had originally set yourself are not available – you can still grow and develop by learning new skills and building your network.
01. Set Goals
It might have been tempting this year to not set goals, or to not set ambitious goals due to the pandemic. If you fear you may have dumbed down your goals this year unnecessarily this year – why not revisit them. Make sure that they work for you.
Once you have found your goals. Figure out the skills you need.
Further Reading: Setting Goals for 2021
02. Write a Skill Development Plan
Once you’ve clarified/confirmed your goals, figure out what skills you will need to learn or develop to help you reach your goals. If you are struggling to work out what skills or experience you might need, why not try having chats/informational interviews with people to find out more or ask your mentor or coach to help you.
Further Reading: L is for… Learning and Development Plan
03. Have a catch up with your manager to discuss your Career Development
You may already have your regular catch-ups with your manager as part of your appraisal progress. If you have a catch-up coming up, make sure you prepare for it, let them know you want to discuss your career development and have a frank and open (but realistic) conversation with your manager about your career and what you want.
If you don’t have an upcoming performance review or appraisal check-in don’t let that delay you having a conversation with your manager. Just set up a separate meeting.
Further Reading: Getting Started with the Appraisal Programme
04. Be Specific and identify opportunities
When having a conversation with your manager, be specific. As part of the preparation you will have hopefully identified what you want and opportunities or ways that might get you there. If you have identified these opportunities – use your check-in meeting as an opportunity to ask for them or to express an interest so that your manager can keep you in mind for when these opportunities arise.
Further Reading: Prompt: What opportunities do you want?
05. Ask for Feedback
Feedback is also an important part of the process. You should be asking for feedback regularly as this will help you learn and grow. It might be harder to get feedback at the moment due to remote working etc but do make sure that you ask for feedback particularly in relation to those skills that you have identified that you want or need to develop.
Further Reading: F is for… Feedback
06. Volunteer for Stretch Assignments
If your manager or senior leadership needs help on a new project related to your career goals, be the first to raise your hand. They will remember who has taken on or who has wanted to take on more responsibility, which will help you grow within your company. Different projects also usually offer a chance to develop new skills, practice skills you don’t use day to day or learn about a new part of the business etc.
Further Reading: How to get noticed…
07. Pitch New Ideas
If there are no projects that you can get involved in, why not pitch your own. Think about ways to innovate and improve your company or solve a problem or fill in a gap. Things that make a business more cost-effective or productive or save money are of particular value. But generally speaking, identifying problems and proposing solutions is an essential skill that not everyone has and it is a great way to show leadership potential.
Further Reading: Prompt: Ideas to Pitch
08. Build your network
It is important to keep building and strengthing your network (internally and externally). Having strong connections with the people you work with is a must for career growth. It can help position you for future promotion or win you a new project. Building strong connections with your immediate team and colleagues can also help you be seen as a team player and joining in with virtual activities can simply make you more visible.
Don’t ignore virtual networking events. While they are not the same as in-person events, they still are a way to meet new people, or learn a new skill or pick up some business-relevant knowledge. If there are no networking events that take your fancy – go a step further and host your own.
Further Reading: Networking Tips for Beginners
09. Find a Mentor
It is the perfect time to build your support network. If you don’t already have a mentor why not consider getting one now to help you focus on your career and professional development.
Professional mentors can provide unique insight and give great advice. If you don’t have a “formal” mentoring scheme to apply for and request a mentor through, you might have a role model that you admire who is in within your network (or wider network). Now is a great time to reach out and try to connect. There’s nothing to lose.
Once you find your mentor, set regular catchups and have them help you prepare yourself for future career growth.
Further Reading: Coaching & Mentoring
10. Strengthen Your Skills and Learn New Ones
You should have identified the skills that your wanted to developed and written your development plan. However, you will have got your manager on side to get them to help you with developing your skills. However, this is not the only way to develop them.
You can also do things yourself. For example, you can take online courses in your own time. You can read books and listen to podcasts etc.
Refer back to the list you made earlier of skills you want to grow and where you see your career going to make sure you identify classes, books and podcasts etc that will help you achieve your goals.
Additionally, these things can be done in bite-sized chunks if you don’t have a lot of time at the moment. For example, you might choose a book to help you develop particular skills and set a simple target of reading a chapter a day. Start consuming content.
Further Reading: Pocket Notebook – Skill Development Plan