{"id":12913,"date":"2012-11-17T06:38:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-17T13:38:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.web-strategist.com\/blog\/?p=12913"},"modified":"2012-11-17T07:04:51","modified_gmt":"2012-11-17T14:04:51","slug":"the-four-elements-of-career-management-in-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/2012\/11\/17\/the-four-elements-of-career-management-in-business\/","title":{"rendered":"The Four Elements of Career Management in Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

Successful career professionals manage four strategic elements in their career, I invite your comments to add to the discussion.<\/p>\n

Like managing your own money, business, or family, careers need a strategic approach. \u00a0 Many business folk get over focused in their current job, unable to see the areas of defencieny in the other areas of their career, and some over-focus on education and are unable to convince employers they have the experience. \u00a0The savvy business person has balance across at least four elements.<\/p>\n

While I’m not a career coach, these observations are just mine from interacting with a broad set of executives, leaders, and up and comers. \u00a0I’ve found that they manage four elements: \u00a01) Education (which doesn’t just mean college degrees) 2) Capability (obtaining applicable current market skills), 3) Network (growing a community that opts in to help you) 4) Experience (proof that you’ve done it before, and can do it again). \u00a0Also, these elements are geared towards the market I serve: Business. \u00a0It may not be applicable to specific skilled positions, medicine, military careers, and areas I don’t have viewpoints on.<\/p>\n

First, an assumption: \u00a0Anyone who’s strategically investing in the four elements has already demonstrated career tablestakes of: seeking a market of opportunity, desire and personal motivation, ability to effectively communicate in person and online, and understand social dynamics of working with others. \u00a0If one doesn’t have those baseline skills it’s hard to glean benefits from the following four elements:<\/p>\n

The Four Elements of Career Management in Business<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Element<\/strong><\/td>\nDescription<\/strong><\/td>\nWhat No One Tells You<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
1) Education<\/td>\nThis includes both formal training (degree\/certs\/classes) as well as self-training (reading, ongoing classes, books, reading blogs).<\/td>\nSuccessful careers often start here. \u00a0Getting education to understand the broad concepts and overview of your industry is crucial. \u00a0However, don’t over-invest here without having experience. \u00a0While education is crucial, it’s a form of potential energy, and what you do with your education is more important than the paper itself. While a bachelor seems baseline in business now-a-days, education is often listed at the bottom of most resumes.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
2) Capability<\/td>\nThese are the raw skills to complete your career jobs. These can include data, developing strategies, project management, software management, programming, or a wide range of knowledge working.<\/td>\nAlthough most agree having both strategic and tactical skills are needed, it’s key to know the difference. Strategy are tasks typically done above the shoulders and tactics are done below. Core strategy skills on research, analysis, planning, communicating, management and measuring will each consist of several tactical skills to complete, use both in tandem.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
3) Network<\/td>\nThese are the people in your career that you can rely on that will help you when you ask, or will voluntarily help you without asking.<\/td>\nLike all relationships, your business network requires constant attention and grooming. Don’t be that person who just comes around when you need something, (self-preservation opportunities are painfully obvious) but be there to help others, and maintain an ongoing relationship. If you have this skill and none-others, you will be seen as only a social butterfly and may not get hired outside of social events.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
4) Experience<\/td>\nSolid careers may have a series of job positions that align around a common career theme (marketing, management, software, verticals, etc) and having a solid track record is key.<\/td>\nFor those getting started in their career this is a conundrum, as most entry level positions are seeking the experienced. Focus on volunteering, interning, and attending local events to get networked. In the end, this row becomes crucial as it’s the majority of one’s resume. \u00a0Depending on your industry, getting a wide variety of experiences from buyer vs vendor vs agency vs consulting may grow your vantage point.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Approach your Career Strategically, Investing in Each Element
\n<\/strong>Before investing in bolstering each of these four elements, develop a strategy and actionable approach, start with these three:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Savvy careers manage all four elements in balance.<\/strong> \u00a0The goal is to have balance and obtain effectiveness in all four of the elements, as being deficient in one will hinder one’s career. \u00a0Don’t over-invest in one area and neglect another, it will decrease your over all value to the market, and opportunity to monetize and grow. \u00a0I’ve met many a MBA grad who lacks experience, and becomes frustrated with obtaining an entry level job after spending thousands of dollars on a degree. \u00a0In the 2001 recession, I saw individuals remove their MBA from resume, as it over qualified them for positions.<\/li>\n
  2. The strategic will leverage one element to grow another. \u00a0<\/strong>Use one element to grow another, increasing your market value. \u00a0For example, using workshops or accredited training gets you new knowledge, but also applicable skills. \u00a0The savvy will network with classmates and teacher to build their network, increasing overall value. \u00a0 Or find networking opportunities where you can host events and glean knowledge from attendees, increasing your education. \u00a0 Or a trick that I deploy, actively share your knowledge that you gain in social tools (like this blog) so your network grows without ever leaving your desk.<\/li>\n
  3. Action: make a self-pact to invest X hours outside of your day job. \u00a0<\/strong>Make a promise to yourself, your current employer, your future employer, and your family: \u00a0Devote a certain amount of time to investing in these elements outside of your day job. \u00a0For example, I make it a point to read and maybe blog for up to two hours each morning before I check email. \u00a0I call this “paying yourself first<\/a>“, as soon as you open email, you’re paying someone else. \u00a0Or, attend events on a monthly basis related to your career, and be involved as a volunteer. \u00a0Make a pact, and invest in your own career.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    This is just my point of view, I’d like to kick off a discussion on what you see are critical career elements to manage. \u00a0What do you see as critical elements? \u00a0What could you add?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Successful career professionals manage four strategic elements in their career, I invite your comments to add to the discussion. Like managing your own money, business, or family, careers need a strategic approach.   Many business folk get over focused in their current job, unable to … Continue readingThe Four Elements of Career Management in Business<\/span><\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[100,156],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12913","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-career","category-matrix"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12913","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12913"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12913\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12913"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12913"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web-strategist.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12913"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}