5 Ways To Grow Your Career Come 2018

By Evans Mutuma
2018 is fast approaching and 2017 falling behind us but let’s go back a few months ago when we were all happy about the new year 2017 and where I believe we all had ‘new year resolutions’.
This is the time you should start reviewing your career goals for 2018 to see where you are at. Did you meet your goals? If not, how far behind are you?
As 2018 nears and we are all preparing for it, this is the right time to start mapping out measures and plans in order to give you a career boost in.
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Here are some five action plans that will position you to have a more successful career in 2018:

1. Upgrade Your Wardrobe
I know you are wondering if dressing has anything to do with your career prospects.
I know you have heard CEOs and career coaches talk about personal branding. Haven’t you realized that they all state personal attire as a simple way to kick it rolling?
Well, it’s time to sit tight and take note because how you dress can literally affect your career prospects and opportunities.
A past survey showed that 80% of recruiters and executives alike say that how you dress can have an effect on whether you get promoted or not.
And on another note, dressing lifts your confidence as well as career opportunities; that is from experience.
If you want to be taken more seriously, and avoid your rightful career opportunities ‘robbed’ from you, it might be a good idea to upgrade your wardrobe.
2. Be Relevant Professionally
This is a bitter truth but most employers will want candidates with extra backing professional certificates even if you have the experience. For instance, Human resources professionals, are required to be a members of IHRM.
So next year make a point of registering with a professional body or plan for evening or weekend classes to have that professional certificate to boost your career.
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3. Update your CV/Online Profile
Funny enough, I was a victim of using a generic CV a few months back until I realized the power of a well structured and updated CV.
We tend to limit our career opportunities by having very little information about our skills, experience and trainings.
If you have a LinkedIn profile, ensure that you constantly update it to keep it relevant to the job market.
 
4. Attend Job Related Conferences
Attending relevant conferences in your profession will be a way to position yourself in 2018  for a career boost.
This is your chance to increade your network pool with people who will help you achive career growth.
5. Work on your people skills
As this year lapses and as we prepare to usher in 2018, ask yourself where you stand in terms of your relationship with your co-workers and superiors.
Do you have a good relationship going on with them, or do you believe it’s simply okay to focus on work and get things done and still move forward in corporate circles?
If you don’t have a good relationship with coworkers and superiors, it could and I say it might come back to bite you.
If you’ve not been getting along well with some of your peers at work, it might be a good idea to start fixing things now so that you will have a good 2018 career wise.
Finally a lot has been said, if you follow keenly those five key points and plan for the best because as its commonly said, failure to plan is planning to fail, am sure you will boost your career growth come the year 2018.
Evans Mutuma is a Recruitment Intern at Corporate Staffing Services with a great passion in Human resources and willingness to create value. For more information visit https://www.corporatestaffing.co.ke/