Career Development and “the XYZ”

Once you’ve set your sights on a long term career goal and established where your strengths lie, progression is as much about career development as it is putting in the hours. Career development requires planning and commitment - have you decided what you would like people to think about you? Are you working on assignments that move you closer to that? Are you participating in the right networking events, contributing in the relevant environments? All of these actions require you to take a long term view on your career - they may not result in immediate reward, but they do give a supportive halo above your day-to-day activities.

Perhaps the ideal way to think of your career is as a living organism: it needs to be cared for, nurtured and fed. If you leave it neglected and rely on it to just grow itself and ‘happen’, then you may find yourself being last on the invite list, side lined for promotions, and gazing out the same window for the next twenty years. Career development requires you to be proactive and to take positive actions to ensure that you end up where you would like to be. It needs you to guarantee others think of you for the latest roles, for speaker slots, and for boards.

The early years of career development, although hard work, effectively take place for you: you choose which subjects to focus on, select the university course that ticks the right boxes, and head into a graduate scheme or your first role… more often than not, your early contribution will be the legwork, and your reward will be average pay but hopefully relevant experience and the chance to learn. This stage should be relatively easy to handle - you work hard, you soak up information and you impress as many colleagues and clients as you can through your commitment.

What’s your XYZ?

From here on it gets more challenging. As you become more expensive, you need to carve out a ‘brand’ of your own. You move away from being another ambitious and enthusiastic young professional to “someone who XYZs”. It’s essential to take control of what other people perceive to be your “XYZ”, as it helps you get opportunities through word of mouth and it helps you to build a reputation in your sector outside the people you know.

One of the important aspects in developing any career is being able to illustrate that you’re great at what you do. And demonstrating is important - don’t expect that people acknowledge your brilliance outside of your immediate project groups or company. Raising the visibility of your added value through practical means such as industry panels and white papers, but also utilising online tools (such as Slideshare, Twitter or through blogging) is vital. What’s more, recognition in one area has a multiplier effect elsewhere - building a reputation amongst your audience as being the individual to talk to about a certain aspect of your business, heightens how you are looked upon across the board.

One of the most accessible and highly effective career development tools is Deskarma. Through developing your participation on Deskarma you can contribute your knowledge and your specialism’s with the wider world. Deskarma allows you to develop clear aspects of expertise and - assuming you do know your subject - your peers will recognise your knowledge and assign karma accordingly, thus making you and your opinion to be more visible, and giving you that all essential career development kudos.

In pursuit of my true potential within every aspect of life, currently focusing on my career development and professional reputation. Hoping to increase my karma through sharing my experience and expertise, in turn providing me a little luck along the way… :)

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Career Development in Bioengineering and Biotechnology (Series in .. - Paperback