Peak Pathway Magazine's Blog : career development forum

  1)   BE CONFIDENT / BELIEVE IN YOURSELF You should be confident at a job interview simply because you got the interview. Someone saw something in your resume, your online presence or they heard something about you that made them invite you in for an interview. This means you at least have a shot at showing them why   you’re   the right fit for their needs. If you don’t walk in believing in   yourself , it’s going to be a   lot   tougher to make them believe in you. 2)   INTERVIEWING IS ABOUT THE EMPLOYER’S NEEDS Even though it might feel like the interview is all about you, it’s really about the employer’s needs. The employer has a role to fill at its organization. That role will perform specific tasks for the organization and will therefore require whomever fills it to bring certain skills, talents and abilities to the table. You want to remember to focus your conversation on learning their needs and explaining how you’ve got ...

  1. Assess Yourself Before you can   choose the right career, you must learn about yourself. Your   values,   interests,   soft skills, and   aptitudes, in combination with your personality type, make some occupations a good fit for you and others completely inappropriate. Use   self-assessment tools, often called   career tests, to gather information about your traits and, subsequently generate a list of occupations that are a good fit based on them. Some people choose to work with a career counselor or other career development professionals who can help them navigate this process.   2. Make a List Of Occupations To Explore You probably have multiple lists of occupations in front of you at this point—one generated by each of the self-assessment tools you used. To keep yourself organized, you should combine them into one master list. First, look for careers that appear on multiple lists and c...

    1. Be attentive. Attention is the electrical current that connects us. It’s unattractive to be distracted when others are speaking, leading a meeting or just   trying to have a conversation. The ability to notice when your mind wanders and redirect your thoughts back into the present moment is a leadership habit that takes constant practice. 2. Prioritize humanness before rank. Leaders who   prioritize the human connection   are perceived to be more trustworthy than those who believe their reputation should precede them. It doesn’t take long to look someone in the eye. I don’t mean the quick “ping” of eye contact. People know when you only glance and quickly look past them, absorbed in your own mental agenda. I mean the feeling that someone has taken a moment to “see who’s within.” 3. Draw people out. Charisma is measured by your ability to release others into a more enjoyable state of communicating. You do this by being curious, asking questi...

    1. They have a vision. According to Warren Bennis’s classic   On Becoming a Leader , leadership is “the capacity to translate vision into reality.” This means that success starts with answering a fundamental question,   What do I really want? Whether you call the answer to that question your mission statement, core values, brand identity or just your goals doesn’t really matter. Because “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.” Here’s how Bennis unpacks the idea: The leader has a clear idea of what he or she wants to do—professionally and personally—and the strength to persist in the face of setbacks, even failures. The key word is “clear.” And clarity means writing it down. In fact, as   SUCCESS.com’s infographic on the habits of the world’s wealthiest peoplepoints out, two of the most statistically significant factors that set the richest people apart from everyone else is that 81 percent of them maintain a to-do list and 80 percent f...

1. Start with the end in mind. Determine your goals   and ask yourself:   Where do I want to be next year? What do I need to do to accomplish these goals?   Your answers instantly become your learning agenda. 2. Assess the skills or knowledge you’ll need. Some goals won’t require new skills or knowledge, but others will. What specific skills are needed to   make your dream(s) come true? What skill that you already possess would you like to improve by 25 percent within the next year? 3. Explore the best sources. Is it going back to school? Enrolling in a training course offered by your employer?   Developing a relationship with mentors   and/or co-workers who can teach you skills or give you insights? Look for that optimal source for every skill you decide you need to learn. 4. Create your learning agenda. You now have the information, so start creating   your learning plan. It should lay out the skills and knowledge you need to acqui...

1. It molds authenticity. The moment you decide to give yourself a few minutes of the day, you’re also allowing yourself to be more authentic. It’s a way to   get to know yourself better. If you think you already do, think again. There is so much more in us than what we see on the surface. Try it for a month. Don’t wait for the weekends; put in a little extra effort and commit to doing something every day for yourself. It won’t take long before you see some parts of yourself you never thought existed. It allows you to determine which parts are authentically yours and which aren’t—we all have aspects in us that are copied from someone else: a celebrity idol, someone from the internet or a reality TV show, a friend we look up to. 2. It’s the only way we can take care of others. Keep in mind that you can only help others if you’re   helping yourself first, physically, mentally and spiritually. As much as we want to think desire and passion are enough, they’re not. You ...