There are times when you need to take some risks when advancing your career. If you’re not vigilant of your industry, upskilling your skills from familiarity to mastery, or deepening your relationships with connections, you’re behind.
Job search is a part of your regular life in some way to prepare for the worse. As you know, this could happen anytime.
Maybe you’re doing the right things, but your career advancement and job search seem stagnant. Well, I got you. You may need to step out and take a few chances. No, you’re not exactly stepping out on a ledge, but a shake-up helps you to gain traction as much as it exposes your lack of comfort.
Here are a few ideas of risks to help you with taking the next steps in your career:
1. Use video to express thought leadership, teach, or recap new learning.
Not only will you capture more eyes on any social network (especially LinkedIn and Instagram), but also for potential business partners and employers to get to know you. It doesn’t matter if it’s a raw or unpolished presentation. Your viewers will be more impressed and riveted your willingness to “put yourself out there.” It also speaks to your courageousness more than anything else. You, too, can have a friend like Miss Fe Marie, who, outside of her Board of Education job, has a YouTube channel with nearly 21,000 subscribers in its five years. She had a video from 2018 with more than 800K views and making the most of the opportunities the exposure is bringing.
2. To start building your next career.
As you know, your journey starts with curiosity and wonder, but often it is the beginning of fulfillment and possibilities. Just having a job to pay the bills is alright for many, but more professionals want to have more options. Gary worked for the government as a forensic account for 32 years, yet his passion was electric. Before retiring, he trained and worked as an electrician and enjoyed working when and how he wants.
3. Start career-advancing collaborations online or offline.
Volunteering is an excellent way to partner with an organization and building on initiatives from the ground up. Since technology is a continually evolving possibility, those adept at learning new technology could leverage non-profit organizations to grow new skills and build partnerships. Most importantly, they can develop a reputation in new technology, process, or an in-demand talent. Collaborations also create a reason to network with people you know who do similar work. In the long-term, these connections can lead you to the right opportunities without scouring the Internet.
4. Negotiate better compensation
Although negotiation is an expected transaction to start a new job, most professionals don’t research diligently at the beginning of their job search. Even more, don’t strategize to create opportunities in the positions they hold. Money isn’t the only negotiable commodity as compensation. Working remotely also brings you opportunities to get compensated for equipment, software, flexible time, training, insurance, and more.
5. Be more visible for employers to find you.
I would want you to be mindful of what your employer may think without risking your current job. The more you show your value and that you’re valued, it will be the right anecdote to get noticed by employers, recruiters, and referrers. By emphasizing importance through accomplishments and results speaks loudly and attractively to those who desire those results. From posting awards for exceeding qualitative and quantitative benchmarks to showing photos of volunteering time to charitable causes could open more possibilities.
6. Enter competitive skill competitions (not necessarily a contest)
One way to stay on top of industry trends and the skills to remain relevant is to create content around it. Sometimes this means competing in industry contests or at least creating content where essential feedback is offered. It doesn’t have to be an official competition where prizes are provided to be considered competitive. When someone within an industry is recognized for their work, another person will eventually come along and do it better.
7. Becoming well-known
Most people will respond by saying, “I’m not trying to become famous,” when that’s not what I mean. Being well-known can mean you’re creating demand for your work outside your 9-5 job within your industry or local organization. Your visibility at times can make a demand contingent on the scarcity of your skills. It’s not a bad idea to appear on a podcast or two, or a video interview, radio or television news appearing as an expert. Peer-reviewed white papers increase your knowledge and credibility to become a resource for other professionals.
What I’ve discovered is the increase in possibilities as a result of contributions. You’ll likely experience demand for your work the more you are interested in serving or helping your peers. Everybody wants to find a job when they need to in the shortest amount of time. It helps to assure familiar relationships knowing the value you give will eventually provide an open the door to career advancement.
About Mark Anthony Dyson
My name is Mark Anthony Dyson, and I am the Founder of The Voice of Job Seekers. I am a career advice writer, but more importantly, I hack and re-imagine the job search process.. I've worked with hundreds of job seekers one-on-one helping them to construct a narrative and strategy that appeals to hiring managers and recruiters. I present at colleges and organizations, and facilitated many workshops including my volunteer effort through a Job Lab. I write and create useful job search content on this blog and write career and workplace advice for blogs such as Glassdoor, Payscale, Job-Hunt.org, Prezi and more. Media Feature highlights: Forbes, Business Insider, NBC News, Glassdoor, LinkedIn's #GetHired, and NPR Freelance writer and content contributor: Glassdoor, Payscale, job-hunt.org, The Financial Diet, RippleMatch.com and more. Contact me to contribute career, job search, or workplace advice for your site at markanthonydyson@gmail.com.
