Top 10 Keys to Career Success
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
With another year fleeting by, December is a time for workers to look back and review their year-long work performance, celebrate the highs and regret the lows.
To help the assessment easier, career consultants at online recruiter Incruit outlined the top 10 practices for success that excelling professionals made as personal habits.
1. Make detailed plans.
Specific goals bring faster and maximized success. If two people with the same skill sets and potential are put on the starting line together, the one with precise plans will finish first.
Although many professionals understand this theoretically, an August survey shows that almost 30 percent of respondents said they don't have any specific career goals.
Incruit consultants advise that before doing anything, a well thought out plan is the fundamental bedrock to success.
2. Networking is not a choice, but a necessity.
The old definition of networking, encompassing backdoor employment and exchanges, has been completely transformed into a rising career strategy.
The range of social web now also goes beyond the traditional school, work and family connections, as more people are establishing new connections through various on and offline communities.
With the widespread use of online networking sites, personal homepages, e-mail and chatting, socializing has become easier, maybe even too easy, some say.
Experts say no matter how advanced cyber communication becomes, the best way to connect with another person is still face-to-face interaction.
3. Understand your efficiency.
It's not about how long you work, but how well you work, so find out what time of the day works best for you.
Survey results show that 90.6 percent of respondents agreed that they find themselves most efficient during a specific time, which was from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. for the majority.
4. Multitask, strategically.
Work always seems to come in piles, which calls for smart multitasking. Incruit advisers suggest grouping tasks into categories and completing similar businesses together, so that you don't have to jump back and forth between different jobs.
5. Try a feminine leadership.
One of this year's workplace keywords was leadership. If an aggressive type of leadership meant success in the past, a recent poll showed that more workers prefer a softer leader as they are starting to value communication and a flexible work atmosphere.
6. Keep meetings short.
More than 70 percent of working men and women are suffering from long and boring meetings. Meetings should be concise and to the point, working as a communication channel for all to speak up.
7. Be cooperative.
Don't just be a leader, but learn to also be a follower. More companies are crediting employees for their cooperative skills as an example of strong performance.
8. Don't show your emotions.
Honesty is good, but you can't always be true to your feelings at work. Even if you're not happy, you have to learn to smile and be polite. Remember that the world doesn't revolve around you.
9. Value your reputation.
Six out of 10 corporations do a reference check before hiring experienced workers. It's not only your resume that tells who you are, so be sure to keep your reputation in check.
10. Relieve your stress.
Regardless of how and why you get stressed, be sure to find ways to vent. Not only does stress hurt you, but it's also not fun having a stressed person around.