Develop Yourself

If you wait for your employer, you might be waiting a long time.

Recently, over glasses of wine, it came up that many of my friends felt like they weren’t being developed by their companies.

“They think we don’t care about career development because they think we don’t care about our careers because we’re millennials. Millennials…such an HR term,” complained one of my friends, who is a consultant.

“At least if they decided to develop you, you’d be getting applicable skills,” said another friend, who leads corporate training programs and is questioning her career. “I want to change my career and I’m not sure how.”

“The only kind of development we get is access to a series of boring webinars that we have to watch in the HR conference room,” said another friend in a tech company. “I fell asleep during the last one.”

Why are companies not developing their employees?

• Maybe they think you don’t care.
• Maybe they don’t care.
• Maybe they think they are developing you, but don’t know how.
• Maybe they’re too busy.
• Maybe they’re only focused on developing their favorite star employees, and don’t have time for everyone else.
• Maybe someone in the HR department or in management doesn’t like you.
• Maybe they only develop men, and not women (in which case, you might have a lawsuit on your hands, or need to look for a new job).

It sucks to stay at a job and not be developed. If you are at a job for a number of years, you should need to update resume every six months with new skills, projects, tasks, and reports. If you don’t find yourself doing that, well, you have an issue. I find myself regularly logging into LinkedIn to post my latest presentations, updated skills, and reports.

So you’re not being developed. Or maybe you want a new career, and don’t want to bother focusing on being developed in your current organization/role. Here are some tips on how you can develop yourself. Ultimately, you’re the one who cares most about your career, so you should be the one taking charge of it.

1. Look at your career in the long term. Where can you go? Where do you want to go? Where could you possibly go? If you really need help, contact a career counselor. Your alumni or career services office of your former university might be able to assist you with resume revision, career counseling, and networking opportunities.
2. Do you want to/Are you willing to live someplace else? This might open up or limit your options, depending. If you need to or want to move, voice this to your organization to see how this may change your career. Affiliate yourself with local professional organizations (even if it’s just online) to connect and network.
3. Don’t get bogged down by negativity. Yes, maybe you hate your job, or your career, or your boss, or your HR department. But stop complaining about them and wishing they would all just quit or go away won’t help you. Accept that things are the way they are. Try to change them – by looking for a new job, and until that happens, focus on developing yourself.
4. Are there any industry/professional associations you could be affiliated with? Join them. Even if opportunities are lacking in your organization, externally you could find mentors, training programs, networking opportunities, conferences, grants, and workshops crucial to developing your skills and career. See how you could be involved – volunteer for events, offer to give presentations, see how you can contribute and be a part of growing your skills and your career.
5. How can you further your education? Whether it’s getting a master’s degree, enrolling in a certificate program, or taking a weekend course that could develop your skills and career further, never stop learning. Check in with your HR department for reimbursement policies and any class recommendations they have.
6. Ask for more at work –from new people. Maybe you’re limited in how you can develop in your department. Talk to your colleagues from other departments, and see if you can help them with any projects, and develop new skills. Maybe HR has some ideas about how you can assist with staffing gaps. Offer to do presentations – public speaking skills are very important (even if you hate it!).
7. Improve your people management skills. Schedule one-on-ones with direct reports to check in and see how you can help them more. Ask if there are ways you can improve and help them. If you don’t have anyone to manage, ask if you can. If there are no opportunities, create an internship program to give you much-needed people management skills. When working across teams and when managing projects, show off your skills and leadership talent.
8. Work on general development skills. Maybe you’re a solo librarian at a large law firm, and they’re not interested in funding classes for you on improving search strategy or copyright updates. See if they will stand behind you as you take classes on managing staff, time management, productivity, budgeting, and career management. It’s always a good idea to have a few ideas of your own picked out, but check in to see if your managers and/or HR department have any ideas of your own.
9. Are there language skills you can develop?Learning a new language is always a great thing to do – it challenges your mind, it’s fun, it’s a great connect with people, it helps when you travel, and it’s a great thing to add to your resume. Check out if your job will pay for it, and/or if they will let you take classes on company time. I initially began studying Spanish because of my own personal interests, and have since read reports/articles in Spanish for work, answered information requests in Spanish, and fact-checked a report in Spanish. Check out reviews of local language schools, or your local colleges, and join Meetup groups as a way to practice further.
10. Start an Internship/Volunteer. If you really want a new career, don’t jump ship before experiencing it for yourself. I will never thank my mother enough for forcing me to be a candystriper when I was in high school after I said I wanted to be a physical therapist. Working at a hospital quickly made me realize that while I loved helping people, I didn’t want a career in the medical field. I volunteered another six years, and loved it, but knew it wasn’t a lifelong career for me. Bonus for internships: you might make some great connections for a future career.
11. Find mentors, inside and out. The most unlikely person in your organization can turn out to be a great mentor, and maybe even ultimately, a sponsor to help advance your career internally. Mentors can give you great advice on how to take your career going forward, which new skills to focus on, how to build new skills, organizations to join, opportunities to pursue, how to navigate career politics, and just serve as a sounding board. Can’t find a mentor? Be your own!
12. Don’t just find a mentor – be a mentor. Mentor someone just starting out their career, or even a student in the field. Former mentees of mine still email me for advice, years later. It makes me feel good that I’ve made a difference in their careers.
13. Update your resume and LinkedIn page all the time. Even if you’re not looking for a job, you should be always be regularly updating. A friend who unexpectedly lost her job when her company shut down their North American headquarters office told me, “The worst thing is that now I’m trying to remember everything I did for the last six years.” Also, should you suddenly decide to update everything on your LinkedIn profile at once, this could be a bit suspicious to your coworkers/managers. I use LinkedIn as a place to find and promote my speaking engagements and articles, so I constantly update my profile.
14. Actually use LinkedIn. A biologist friend recently confided in me, “I don’t really see the purpose of LinkedIn.” Use it to see if any of your friends have connections at your dream companies; use it to stay connected to former classmates and those in your field. Join relevant groups; they’re great for asking questions and getting a fresh outsider response.
15. Connect with recruiters. If you’re looking for work, connect with a recruiter. Make sure they know exactly what you are looking for so they can make the most of their time and your time. They should also be aware of your latest skills.
16. Even if you don’t want to leave, check out other jobs in your field. What are the required skills and experience? What can you work on? What should you focus on developing? Where are your gaps? During a check-in with your manager, ask to fill in some of those gaps.
17. Network with a purpose. Most of us find networking awkward – standing there, clumsily unsure of how to start conversations. Ahead of time, create goals: think about what you want to accomplish at a networking event. Create an elevator pitch. I like to go into networking events with some questions. “What’s new in your office?” “How do you handle stress with your job?” “What’s your favorite thing about your job?” You can talk about what you do, and mention what kind of opportunities you are seeking. I was offered a speaking engagement after updating an acquaintance about the speaking I had been doing.

Really, when it comes down to it, developing your career is your responsibility. It would be great if your employer would help you, and really, any good employer will, but if it’s not happening, you need to make it happen. Develop yourself: it’s the best thing you can do for your career.

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