How To Know
Which
Skills To Develop At
Each Stage Of Your
Career
By mid-career, the hard skills that got you the job won't
be the ones that get you promoted.
At the start of your career, chances are good that you'll be hired
primarily for your "hard skills"—the stuff you know that's relevant
for the job. When you’re fresh out of college or even a few years into your
career, things like what software you’ve mastered, the knowledge you've picked
up during internships and in school, and your other technical credentials
really matter.
But what no one quite tells you is that
while you might've been initially hired for those hard skills,
they gradually matter less. The further you get in your career, the less you'll
be evaluated on those same skills—and this is especially
important once you reach your mid-career point. Why? Because the hard skills
that got you the job won't be the ones that get you promoted.
Now that’s not to say that improving your technical skills isn’t
important. You should get better and faster at whatever your craft is over the
course of your career, whether that’s coding, designing, researching, or
something else. But if that’s the only area you improve in, you may find advancement
more elusive than you'd expected. Improving your technical skills may be enough
to get you promoted from level one to two, or coordinator to associate, but to
advance higher, you’ll have to show improvement in other areas as well.
So how do you do that? It starts with knowing what really counts
when it comes to advancement at each stage of your career. While every role is
different, the secret is to progressively invest more in your "soft
skills"—your ability to get things done, your leadership abilities, and
your likability at work (like it or not).
To get started—and no matter where you are in your present
career—take a minute to assess where you stand in each of these categories:
The further you climb, the more decisive these traits will become.
Maybe you have a few of them under your belt but could brush up on others. Now
that you know what you’re up against, it’s time to take action. Here’s a game
plan for growing your soft skills:
1. Self assess. Taking stock of
your recent work and workplace habits, which areas do you feel strongest in?
Weakest in? Which do you believe is most crucial to prioritize now, and why?
Knowing the answers to these questions will be important for framing your conversation
with your manager in the next step.
What if your manager says you still need to improve your technical
skills?
If you find that your manager is focusing on the technical skills
even while you're trying to bulk up on soft ones, this could mean two things:
Either you're still at junior level and need to grow in the basics (which is
normal at the beginning of your career), or, if you’re mid-career and still
getting this feedback, you may be at a company that values technical skills
over people skills when it comes to promotions.
If that’s the case, you might find that the higher you go in a
company like that, the less you enjoy the people who surround you. Consider
whether that view (and company!) is a good match for you. Perhaps you'd be
better off finding a different company that values your soft skills as much as
you do.
XIMENA VENGOECHEA 04.29.16 5:00 AM
http://www.fastcompany.com/3059358/your-most-productive-self/how-to-know-which-skills-to-develop-at-each-stage-of-your-career?utm_source=mailchimp&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=fast-company-weekly-newsletter&position=4&partner=newsletter&campaign_date=05062016
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