3 ways to take charge of your career development

Employees certainly get motivated when they have a job that guarantees their career development and often time, they look forward to their employers to put them through career development programs.

A lot of employees have a high level of expectation from the organizations they work for; they want to learn, get mentored, get trained and grow their internal network.

And to achieve all these, employees rely on their employers to put some development programs in place. Of course, some organizations make this happen. They have a dedicated team to come up with development programs for their staff to improve their skills and make them better employees.

However, majority of companies don’t have such programs for their staff. This doesn’t make them bad companies to work for though, they probably don’t just have the resources to support such programs.

But rather than expecting your employers to serve you career development on a platter, there is often far more that you can do to develop yourself. Here are three ways you can take charge of your career development.

1. Develop a growth mindset

Your communication skills matter in your career progress. (madamenoire) Pulse Nigeria

Waiting for your organization to provide a program to improve your skills might limit your career development. What if the company doesn’t provide it?

When your job role changes for instance, it’s important you take steps on your own to adjust to the new role by making effort to skill up. This effort starts with you. Don’t wait till the employers retrain you before you step up to the new role.

Think about how you can add value to your new role. develop a growth mindset that’ll motivate to you identify and explore career possibilities that’ll help you grow.

2. Mentoring

Be a mentor to a couple of people in your community.(Sbeinc) Pulse Nigeria

One of the most effective ways to improve your skills is to dedicate some of your free time to learn from people who have been in your situation before. Talk to people who are always willing to share their experience and expertise and fuel your career development.

Having a mentor is one of the best ways to establish yourself in your career and you don’t need your company program to get one.

3. Personal branding

A change in your workplace could be an opportunity for you to step up. (lionessesofafrica) Pulse Nigeria

Every product becomes a brand when they give themselves a unique identity. As an employee, you also need to have something people can identify you with. You need to understand who you are and what you do best.

You can’t expect people to know this when you’re not telling or showing them anything about yourself. What do you want to be known for? If you haven’t thought about this, consider it now.

Just take a deep look at yourself; Check and weigh your strength against your weakness, project your strength both online and offline and trust me, you’ll surely find yourself growing with a new found identity in your career.