How to Build Your Career: [What to Do As Soon As You Land Your First Job?]

Whichever organization you choose to start your career with, the management of that organization always expects that you will use your knowledge and skills to arrive at the best possible solution to whatever problem you are trying to solve in the organization as a part of your job.

 

In today’s job scenario you should never wait for permission to do great work at your job. If you wait, the permission may never come your way.

 

When an individual joins an organization, what is expected of him by the organization?

 

Here are a few points to think over:

 

1. To take care of the customer’s / client’s problems that the organization is serving and provide a solution that is amicable to the customer as well as the organization in the long run.

 

2. If an employee is not directly involved in serving the customer then he should be able to solve a few of his department’s problems that come with his job profile.

 

3. Always be on the lookout and have an open mind to problem-solving. Whenever the opportunity presents itself he should be able to put forward a suggestion to the management that could save money in the long run for the organization. Ultimately the focus of every organization is on the bottom line profit. In the Corporate World, money saved is money earned how so ever small the amount is.

 

4. Develop a checklist or a process for the department the employee works for that will provide smoothness to the rough edges in the day-to-day company activities. Even if ten minutes are saved in the process of doing a task without hampering the efficiency of the task or reducing the quality of the task at hand, it is worth an addition to the department. This the organization will sit up and take notice.

 

Far from college life where the professors impress upon the students to complete their assignments, in the real world your boss may or may not put pressure on your performance. If you are not controlling the situation at work by making things happen but are rather waiting for things to happen and then reacting to it then ultimately you may have to bid adieu to your job at hand.

 

The world is moving at a quick pace in today’s market scenario where employees are expected to be proactive and take upon themselves to develop the skills to manage themselves in any given scenario that may arise in the process of doing their job.

 

Most organizations take the initiative to orient their new workforce. It’s the aim of many large corporations where they direct the attention and focus of the new team members towards a particular goal of the organization.  It’s the process of alignment of individuals towards the Purpose, Vision, and Mission of the organization. It’s a great initiative that guides the new team members to create a strong foothold in the organization and start building their careers.

 

In some case scenarios, there may not be any induction program for the new employees. What do the employees do in such situations?

 

Here is where the individual must take the onus on himself and go deep into understanding by asking some powerful questions like:

Why he has been hired by the organization? 

What is expected of him?

 

The employee needs to understand the importance of his contribution in the form of his capabilities, skills, and time that he spends in the organization in order to align himself with the Purpose of his organization.

 

Once the employee aligns himself with the Core Ideologies of his organization, he can be laser-focused and attempt to take initiatives in his day-to-day job. This way he can make sure that he is progressing in his job.

 

This self-initiative or being self enterprising on the part of the employee will go a long way in creating an outstanding outcome in his line of work, his department, and the company as a whole.

 

What the first-time employee has to understand is that a career is built over a period of time. It doesn’t happen in months or even in a couple of years. It takes a minimum of three to five years in one single organization working on a single domain to start feeling the impact that you are now reaching places in your career.

 

An interesting thing about building a career is that it is built based on the dedication with which we do our job on a daily basis at our organization. So, if an individual is sincere and serious about his career then he should start focusing on doing his job on a daily basis to the best of his capabilities.

 

Building a career is hard work and at the same time, it is no less than an adventure. Individuals who want to take things very lightly are bound to feel the tension that comes with career building and maybe in the long run gives up on their dreams or keep on hopping from one job to another.

 

But for those who love the fun and adventure of building something out of their life, let me assure you that as you progress over the years in your job, your work will become more and more exhilarating. The constructive impact of your actions will be felt not only by your colleagues but also by the management of your organization.

 

Another aspect of career-building is that in building a successful career learning is a continuous process. You cannot say that you have done your Master's or MBA and that's it, now you don’t need to touch any book ever again.

 

The textbooks will change and will be replaced by other books related to your domain but you can never give up on your learning if you are a self-driven, self-motivated individual who wants to make an impact in the organization for which you work.

 

If you continue with your learning, the constructive consequence will be felt in your growth that will be visible because you will be called upon to take a higher management position in your organization.

 

The ultimate aim of a professional or an employee must be to gain the reputation of someone in the organization who ‘gets things done!’ If he becomes the ‘go to’ person in an organization, automatically he will be the first choice to take additional, larger, and more significant responsibilities.

 

In the process, he will be reaping the benefits and rewards of his hard work for doing so.

 

In Conclusion

Whether today’s employees realize it or not, it’s a sort of unwritten rule in almost every organization - 

When the Management hires an employee and takes him on board, what they are looking at is a candidate who can take initiative at least at their junior level. No first-time employee is expected to take big initiatives in the organization for which he may not be qualified. It’s more about the attitude of the individual employee towards being a part of the team that solves problems.

So, if you want to be an asset in any organization in whatever domain you are working in then remember one thing -

 

‘It doesn’t matter how well trained you are, what capabilities and skills you possess, or what kind of training you have gone through if you are put into a work situation in your organization, can you stand up to it?’

 

If Yes, then you can be a lot more worth than you are at the beginning of your career.

 

 

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