How to make sure you’re focused on the right things in your career
I just realized I’ve been holding out on you a little bit.
So for that I apologize and I’m going to make it right today.
You might be wondering what I’m rambling about now but I need you read this because it’s important.
But before you do, I need you to keep one thing in mind.
What I’m about to tell you is purely based on if your goal is to accelerate your career as fast as possible…
It doesn’t take into account your tolerance for corporate politics…
Nor does it directly consider if you’re working in a toxic culture and need to make a move ASAP.
Here’s where I let you down. I recently wrote about focusing on the right things in your career but I kind of wrote that as if the “right thing” was this objective concept…
Unfortunately it’s not, because even if you’re focused on things that are high value, you always have to consider there’s a human other than yourself who is going to be deciding how valuable what you did or do actually is.
This directly implies to you trying to get promoted in your current company where you have access to those decision makers.
And it applies to a lesser degree when you’re in a job search situation.
So how do you find out if you’re focused on the right things?
Well… you ask your boss. You don’t ask if you’re working on the right things though. You ask, “what are your top priorities” and then you do things that align to those.
You might be wondering how you do that if you’re looking for a new job.
The answer is still making sure your resume aligns to what’s important…
But the way you get to that is by looking critically at the information you have. What does the job description really want? Or what kind of information can you get about company strategy plastered all over their website? That’s where you’ll find the gold.
How to quickly mine these golden messages is one of the modules you’ll get when you enroll in my resume writing course here and it’s worth more than it’s weight in gold.
If you’re looking for a job, or even worried that you might need to look for a job, now is the time to overprepare, and I can help you do it: