11 Reflections From My Career Journey To Date

Over the last almost 9 years working full-time and pursuing fast career growth, industry and career changes at times, and always seeking the next career promotion I’ve learned a thing or two. Below I’ve extracted a few lessons and reflections from my career journey to date. These are the things that helped me grow, get promotions and salary increases, change jobs and ultimately careers, and most importantly, just feel good and confident in my skin at work. The latter is highly underrated I’d say but to me, it’s the most valuable part. Being your most confident self helps you on so many levels. It helps you be a great professional, it fuels your growth because – at least to me – confidence also comes from consistently growing and becoming better – it helps you be a great colleague who can support others and just feel great in your skin at work.

So with that, here are 11 reflections from my career journey to date.

✨ Take time to discover your professional self. Build up your skills and learn to feel your professional weight. Know that it takes time, but working on it day in and day out will get you there.

✨ Confidently grow in the direction of your ideal self. When the time to change comes – whether to step into a promotion, change jobs, companies, or even careers – know that you are worth it and you are not starting from scratch.

✨ Don’t settle for things if they don’t feel right and don’t be afraid of change. Or better said, you can be afraid of change but don’t let that stop you. Have the necessary confidence in your skills and your ability to pull it off because ultimately you have the ability to learn and grow.

✨ Take a calculated risk every now and then. You never know what‘s on the other side and how that can be a stepping stone for better things. Move into that new role, change companies, and just take that leap of faith.

✨ Don’t ask for permission, take what is yours. Don’t ask for permission to take what’s yours or just wait for things to happen to you. Create the circumstances for it and take it.

✨ At work, always underpromise and overdeliver. Learning to manage expectations properly is a key skill.

✨ Build your reputation. The saying goes something like “Work on your reputation, and your reputation will work for you”. Work hard and it will pay off. But also make sure you work smart. Make sure your work is seen and valued, and if that’s not the case, work on changing that. 

✨ Learn to play the office politics game on your own terms. In the end, the trick for me is to combine your hard work and expertise with building a network that will bring you the exposure you need.

✨ Relationships are the most effective currency in the workplace. Whatever you do, if you are good at building relationships, then your career growth is pretty much assured.

✨ Growth is uncomfortable. Know that it’s a temporary feeling and learn to be comfortable with it.

✨ Last but not least, always believe in your ability to succeed. Your ability to emerge victorious on the other side of anything. To reinvent yourself. To give yourself this opportunity every single day. And simply to be the best you can be.

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed reading through these reflections from my career journey to date. I’d be curious to know, what are some of your own career reflections you hold dear and near to your heart?

A little something before you go

Before you go, if you, like me are after career growth, I’ve got a little something that might interest you. I have poured all that I’ve learned over the past 9 years in the corporate and start-up worlds, and all my wisdom into an Interview Prep Guide, and I am ready to share it with the world. I’ve recently released a full 40+ page Interview Prep Guide. It’s focused on the key interview questions that pretty much anyone will get across industries and roles, as well as a bunch of pro tips to help you shake off those pre-interview nerves and fears and show up as your most confident self. Here’s an overview of the content:

• How to answer the dreaded “Tell me about yourself” question
• How to use the STAR method to answer interview questions 
• List of 20+ behavioral questions, how to answer them as well as answer examples
• List of 30+ questions to ask at the end of the interview
• 4 different worksheets to prep your answers and stories

I’d be extremely grateful if you would be able to support my newly launched guide and I am also happy to answer any questions via the contact box or directly at thecareeredit@gmail.com. Make sure to check out the link, there’s also a freebie worksheet in there!

Thank you for reading this far and I hope you liked it!