Hello and welcome to Driving Your Career Success.
To start with, let's explore what career success actually means. The average number of jobs a person has over their professional career is 12, but that figure is going up. Young professionals will on average change their jobs four times in their first decade after higher education. We are all looking to navigate our way through the choppy and overcrowded waters of professional success, and in this video, you will learn how to ensure that your career remains on an even keel and heading in the right direction.
The process for career success is as follows. Step one, find and get the job that is right for you. Step two, be successful in that job. Then repeat the process until you decide to retire. Sounds easy, right? But of course it isn't quite that simple. The critical question is how do you achieve each of these steps? How do you work out what the right job actually means for you? And then what do you need to do to be more successful than everyone else once you are in that job? Research shows that by defining your career goals, you are much more likely to meet them. However, if your career plan is too rigid, you may miss opportunities to explore areas you never expected to be interested in or that would play to your perceived strengths, but that you subsequently find to be hugely rewarding. After all, thousands of people who study a particular subject at university end up in an entirely unrelated job.
More than ever, modern professionals are looking for the role that will tick all of their boxes, not just the salary one. It's worth remembering that money will only motivate you to turn up. Even if your salary is huge, it will have no influence over how you feel doing your job.
And remember, you will spend a lot of your time at work. For you to self-actualize in the workplace, which means to become everything that one is capable of becoming, your professional experience needs to include certain elements, such as opportunity for growth and development, a sense of purpose, and effective work-life balance, as well as financial security. If all your required elements are present, then you could find your professional sweet spot, which will then enable you to fulfill your potential and feel intellectually satisfied. To help you understand which job might allow you to find your sweet spot, consider these questions.
What are your personal strengths and development areas? Which activities and subjects are you passionate about? In what sort of environment do you want to work, with what kind of people and in what kind of organizational culture? Which values and principles are most important to you? What change do you want to see in the world? Another way of considering your professional sweet spot is to imagine you won the lottery and didn't actually have to work at all. What would you do with your time? Whatever it is, it is probably a strong indicator of your skills, passions and values.
