The first thing people usually do when they complete their studies is, find a job. Some people enter professional life even before completing their studies, or some drop their studies and start a job. In professional life, everyone takes a different route to reach a specific place in their career where they feel financially and mentally content. This hustle can be termed a career path for an individual. Everyone is striving and making efforts to build a career. If you are a student and are worried about how to build a career, then this blog is for you.

Definitions of Career

The term career can be explained in two different ways. One definition of a career would be your profession or occupation or your job which you do to earn money for yourself.

The second definition of career may be explained as the work you have done and the breakthrough you have made through the years you were working. The promotions you got, the bonuses you got, or the resignations you gave can be termed as your career or career path.

 

In the 80s or 90s, summer holidays were an excellent time to find a small job for kids. Some of you used to find jobs hiring near you and worked during your summer holidays, like delivering newspapers or working in a 7/11 store and other small jobs of that sort. That was a building step in developing a sense in you about career and career path.

Parents should also follow that approach. Parents try to find jobs for your 15 years old during the summer holidays. This would help them to develop a sense of understanding about life and hard work. By doing these small jobs, they will get polished and will develop a strong feeling about professional life, and will work hard to make a career for themselves in the future. Prior job experience will also help them get more career opportunities. 

Different Forms of Career Paths

Every finger in your hand is not alike. Just like that career path of every individual is unique and different. When you started your career, there is a possibility your first job was as a cashier at wall-mart or a small store near you, but now you are MD of a renowned and reputable company. Everyone goes through a similar type of career progression in their life if they are committed and hardworking. Let’s look at some of the career paths you might take in your professional life are:

Multiple jobs with no co-relation:

Your career can be a culmination of different jobs with no relation among themselves. It is okay to do other jobs till you find the right job for yourself. This approach is applied by many people. People might start as sales executives and later might become professional You Tuber.

Advancing with one occupation

This approach would be to stay in one occupation and rise to the hierarchy of your workplace. An alternative approach would be to keep the same occupation, but you can join another workplace at a better designation. But the nature of the job will remain the same.

Strategies to build a successful Career

To be successful in your life, you have to be true to yourself and work hard. Set high standards for yourself. You have to be honest, keep your head down, and grind hard to reach a level you have set for yourself. Do what you love but be honest with yourself if you want to stand out in a crowd.

Do what you love, and success will follow. Passion is the fuel behind a successful career.                                                  

Following are some of the strategies that you should adopt to build a successful career:

You need a clear vision

The most important thing is to have a clear plan and vision before committing to anything. You should have an idea of where you want to see yourself in the next 3 to 5 years. You can’t set up goals if you don’t have a clear vision of your career. 

Don’t Follow trends and get into a profession if you have no clear vision to reach the level of excellence you desire. Build a road for yourself instead of walking on the road built by someone else. A clear vision will also help you from hitting the roadblock of career stagnation.

Set up Clear Goals

Goals are just a pit stop in your journey. You reach them and then gather yourself for the next pit stop, i.e., Goals. You have to set clear-cut goals for yourself and then work hard to achieve these goals. These goals should act as the catalyst for more goals. After achieving these targets, you should never get complacent. Hard work should never stop. This world is filled with people who have just lost sight of their goals. You should never be in that crowd.

Goals are the building blocks of your vision. Your goals and vision should align in order for you to achieve success and propel you to the stratosphere of your profession. 

Make a plan to achieve goals

If you want to achieve a goal, you have to do appropriate planning to accomplish that goal. Sometimes your present job is not providing you the environment to reach specific goals and is halting the plans you have set to achieve your goals, and you have hit a dead end. Then the best practice for you will be to leave that job and find another job. Adopt another route like freelancing if it allows you to evolve your skill set and get closer to your goals.

Your planning should be flexible because career paths can have unexpected events. It can be downsizing in the company you work. So keep a clear sight of your goals and if you face hurdles, do minor tweaks in your planning, but the key is to stay determined no matter what issues arise in your path to achieve the goals

Keep a positive outlook

Keep positive outlooks regarding your profession and career path. You will surely see progression in your skill set and get a promotion at your job. You have to work hard, but you have to stay positive all the time. Keeping your spirits up is very important to achieving the goals you have set for yourself.

Take the negativity out of your life and keep yourself motivated. Please talk with your parents or friends, discuss the situation with them and seek solutions from them. You will surely be able to find some answers. It will surely motivate you and boost you to work harder. 

Set up High standards for yourself

If you have achieved the goals you have set for yourself, and then set up new goals. Move the bar higher. I don’t think so little of you. Excellence should always be your mantra. There is no room for complacency if you want to make a name for yourself. You can’t just dream about your goals, do nothing and be content.

You have to keep the fire burning in you and work hard. The majority of the people who don’t achieve much in their life are those who become content after achieving a few goals. They don’t set new goals, and they face the issue of career stagnation.

Have a growth Centered mindset

You always have to keep a growth-centered mindset. Make yourself open to learn new things. You can’t be a master of everything. There will be some situations where your skill set is not adequate. There is no need to be worried about it. Learn what you are lacking and become an expert on it. The main problem with career stagnation is people don’t test new waters. If you want to be great, you have to be a great learner and then adapt what you have learned to your job.

 

Conclusion

Hard work should be your only friend if you want to build your career. Keep well-defined goals for yourself, be determined, and work hard to achieve your goals. Do not get complacent. Keep setting up new plans and test yourself. Be true to yourself, and always you should be open to learning more and growing more. Your vision should be clear, and your goals should be aligned with your vision. If you want to become elite, you are your competition. Test yourself every day and be great.