Is Your Career Stalled? Take These Steps To Jump Start It

It’s perfectly normal to occasionally feel stuck in a rut at your job or feel like your career isn’t going according to plans.

While you might you know you need to do something to jump-start your career, taking steps toward doing so can feel very daunting. However, the steps most people need to take are simple and easy enough for anyone. You just need to start taking them.

Network, network, network

Networking is something you have to do in order to get ahead in your career. Like it or not, the idea of “who you know” being more important than “what you know” is very true.

If networking and self-promotion aren’t your strong suits, you can ease yourself into the process by taking a networking approach to your normal social gatherings. Be sure to tell friends and family at your usually get-togethers about your desire to jump-start your career. You never know when one of these conversations might bear fruit.

Once you’ve gotten used to the idea of talking about yourself and your career, start attending networking and professional events with the goal of making at least a handful of contacts. By setting networking goals, you sort of turn it into a game, making the process less scary and even fun.

Clean up your digital footprint

Social media is something a lot of people neglect when searching for new career opportunities. However, if your profiles aren’t properly handled, they can be career suicide, as it’s increasingly commonplace for companies to look at social media profiles before determining whether or not a person should be hired.

Start refining your online footprint by Googling yourself and seeing what everyone else sees on your profiles. Next, erase whatever may not make you look professional. Negative Facebook statuses, trolling tweets and Instagram posts featuring drunken antics are all good candidates for the delete button.

Ask others for feedback

Asking those who know you best for professional feedback may not sound like fun, but it is a great approach to understanding more about yourself. Seek out honest suggestions from a few trusted co-workers and friends. To get the most from this activity, ask open questions like, “What was my best contribution to that project?”

You just might be impressed and inspired at some of the comments people give you, and they may have seen some positive traits you hadn’t even been conscious of. You can’t find out these things if you don’t ask!

Take a targeted approach

When thinking about jump-starting your career, you might want to search for and apply to almost everything out there. However, this is often a counter-productive approach. Rather, use what you’ve figured out through networking conversations, honest feedback and any other kind of career research you do to take a focused approach. Then, set some targeted goals for the month, the year and upcoming five years.

Are you looking for a new career in the IT industry?

At Software Management Consultants, we jump-start careers every day. If you’re looking to partner with an experienced talent sourcing company or looking for a new job, please contact us today.