In Pursuit of Profession: The best career investments to make now – Part 2
In the first part of our two-part series on the best career investments to make this year, we talked with Steve Peglar, SPHR, SHRM-SCP, senior vice president of The WhitneySmith Company, a full-service human resources consulting firm in Fort Worth, about what I considered to be two of the top five career investments to make – more education and becoming a better speaker and negotiator. While Peglar provided critical insight on each of those two subjects, he also provided a directive under which each of these five investments should be made. That directive? Continual self-improvement. We will get into just how and why continual self-improvement should be the theme of our professional lives, but first let’s get Peglar’s thoughts on the remaining three career investments that we should all make right now:
3. Investing in relationships – “It’s a fact that most individuals have the most success in locating their next new career opportunity through networking. Networking is, on the most basic level, about your relationships. Those relationships acquired via networking may ultimately be close or superficial, brief or long-term, simple or complex, but they are all relationships, and they’re important. Whether you choose to expand your network via social media – which is easier than ever today – or consciously limit it – is up to you. But life, and work, is about relationships, and they need investment and nurturing in order to get the most out of both life and work!”
4. Giving back to one’s industry – “I strongly advise both employees and job seekers to become involved in their respective industry’s professional organizations. There are many ways to get involved, and it is often quite easy to do so. Most, if not all of these organizations – regardless of the field – rely on volunteers, and I can assure you that they will welcome your help! The payoff for you? An increased and expanded personal network, an increased ability to stay current in your chosen field, most likely the opportunity to improve your public speaking skills, and maybe even a job opportunity – basically, everything we have discussed here already!”
5. Conduct periodic self-performance reviews – “If we have goals, objectives, and standards in our personal and work lives, it only makes sense to check our own performance periodically to determine if we are meeting, or have met, those goals and objectives, and if we are living up to the standards we have set for ourselves. However, because it is often difficult to accurately assess our own performance – and in particular, our shortcomings – I suggest using an “accountability partner” to help use check up on ourselves. A trusted mentor would be ideal in this capacity.”
Be our best everyday
Beyond these five investments, Peglar had some other recommended steps to take in order to strengthen our skill sets:
Language skills – “Particularly, the ability to communicate in a second language – is an extremely valuable skill in today’s job market. In fact, fluency in a second language could, in many situations, be as valuable as an advanced degree or specialized certification, depending on the field, industry, or position. If you already have these skills, promote them! If you don’t, seriously consider learning a language. It’s never too late!”
Expand your personal network – “Vow to meet one new person every day. With conscious effort, it’s not as difficult as it may seem…..and imagine one year from today having added 365 new connections / friends / personal contacts!”
Take advantage of free resources – “YouTube instructional videos, books, and more are out there waiting for you to take advantage of the knowledge they have to share!”
These five investments, plus these other steps that Peglar recommend we take in 2016 should pay off well beyond this year. They are the building blocks for what Peglar referred to as, “continual self-improvement.” Basically, continual self-improvement is about our personal evolution. As workers, we must prepare ourselves today for tomorrow – tomorrow being next week, next month, next year and even five and ten years away. This concept is especially important now that job tenures are increasingly getting shorter and employers are always looking for job candidates with the strongest skill sets.
While continual self-improvement doesn’t sound very touchy-feely, I think I have a better way to describe it. I once heard NBC weatherman Al Roker talk about some simple advice his dad gave him when he got his first job: “Be the best you can be every day.” The idea of continual self-improvement is basically that same directive. In terms of our work, that means never stop learning about our jobs, giving back to others in the profession, always improving communication skills, creating new relationships, and checking in with ourselves every so often to make sure we’re headed in the right direction. We may not make deposits into these five investment accounts every day, but I bet on most days we can make at least one deposit into one of them. And that way, we will be on track to be the best we can be every day.
This story was originally published February 18, 2016 at 11:31 AM with the headline "In Pursuit of Profession: The best career investments to make now – Part 2."