How the letter E can help you along your journey to career success.
What happens when you type “career development” or “career strategy” into an Internet search field? I’ll bet that you find a lot of information! There are websites, articles, blogs, books, podcasts, and entire publications dedicated to this important topic. In addition to what you’ll find on the web, there are also many career development professionals ready to help including career counselors and staff at college and university career centers. The good news is that there is so much great information out there that can help you. However, how do you make sense of it all? I suggest that you follow the letter E to education, empowerment, and encouragement!
Let’s start at the beginning, with education. This is the first stop on your career journey! Education comes in the form of research, training, networking, hands-on experience, and formal instruction. Be a sponge and learn everything you can. The key? Jump in and learn about something that interests you, then take the next step from there. Before you know it you’ll be on a path that can lead to clarity in terms of your career goals and aspirations. And once you are on that path, don’t stop!
The next important E is empowerment. Once you have all that great information that you’ve gained through your various methods of education, you’ll need to figure out how to make it work for you. Empowerment is essentially finding ways to infuse yourself with power so you can make choices and decisions that will get you to where you want to go to in life. Confidence, knowledge, the ability to make decisions, and the willingness to take calculated risks are all a part of your empowerment process. Take action, you can do it!
Education and empowerment will work best when you add the last E, encouragement! A career can be a long journey fraught with detours, delays, and (what you may think are) wrong turns. Even the most successful professional needs a boost now and then. Find ways to encourage yourself that work for you, and surround yourself with others that can help along the way as well. We’re talking mentors, friends, co-workers, advisors, and family. The career journey is a lot more enjoyable and productive when you have personal and professional networks that will not only cheer your achievements, but also give you a lift when you are struggling and need some support.
Education, empowerment, and encouragement all have individual and shared elements. You can solicit support and guidance when you need it, but in the end it’s up to you to make career decisions that will lead you down your own unique path. It’s great to achieve success, but realize you may learn the most from your failures. Perhaps the best news of all is there are no wrong turns, because everything you do leads you to where you are supposed to be. Education, empowerment, and encouragement are the fuel for your career development engine!
