Archive for the ‘Career’ Category

What Accountants And Professional People Need To Move Forward In Their Career

As an accountant by profession and through working exclusively with professional people at Goals and Achievements, I see a lot of people who are fantastic within their area of professional expertise but really struggle to get ahead in their career.

It would be easy to say that it is simply a case of mastering the interview process and all will be different. The reality, from working with clients and having personally climbed the career ladder from £30 a week Payments Clerk to Finance Director of a major organisation, is very different.

So here is my list of what I see as key to moving forward in your career and achieving the results and success you desire:

Ability To Manage A Team

Many professional people get promoted on the basis of their technical competence. They then find themselves managing a team, projects, processes and systems and often find it a struggle. It is easy to dismiss this as the soft and fluffy stuff but in my experience being able to manage is not optional.

Ability To Lead

By that I mean the ability to drive things forward, get buy-in and support and contribute beyond your area of direct expertise.

Ability To Build Relationships

These days it is key to build relationships within your own area, across the wider organisation and even with people in client or partner organisations.

Ability To Make The Complex Simple

This is essentially about providing expert advice in plain and simple ways to the lay person.

Strong Communication Skills

Successful professional people can get their message across easily verbally and in writing. They also are great listeners too.

Ability To Work With People At All Levels

You need to be able to get your message across and create relationships with people at all levels across the organisation.

Be Able To Run and Lead Projects

These might be related to a new system implementation or integrating an acquisition.

Able To Influence

Quite often that means being able to adapt their style to fit the person or the situation they are dealing with.

Create and Deliver Change

Challenging economic times necessitates innovation from everyone, including professional people.

Build And Maintain A Network

A network is not just a source of job opportunities but a group you can call on for advice and support or simply to bounce ideas off.

Selling Skills

Vitally important if you are working in a professional services firm that makes its money selling services to clients.

IT Skills

How to utilise IT to facilitate efficiency, effectiveness and cost reduction.

Market Yourself

In particular, create a CV or résumé that gets you noticed.

Interview Skills

Whether people like it or not, a lot of the decision about recruiting comes down to how well people perform in interviews.

A Good Understanding Of Business

You don’t need to be an expert in every area of business, but you do need to have a good understanding of different areas of the business and the dependencies.

Confidence And Self-Belief

This is what will ultimately drive you forward even when the going gets tough.

The Bottom Line: Being highly competent in your professional field is no longer a guarantee of long term success in your career.

To learn more about getting ahead in your career check out my audio masterclass at www.goalsandachievements.co.uk

Sometimes as we climb the careeer ladder we get so involved in work that we forget about everything else.

In this short video I am sharing 10 tips designed to help you to maintain some balance as you progress your career.

If you have additional tips of your own, please add a comment.

And if you enjoyed the presentation I invite you to sign up for my free audio masterclass

If you are a professional person you know that you are pretty good at what you do. More than likely you will have gained some advanced level qualifications. So without doubt you will have the potential to be successful in your career. Yet in reality many professional people in my experience fail to fulfil their potential. Why is this and what can you do differently to realise your potential and the rewards you desire?

Problem 1: You Don’t Know What You Want

Sometimes when I ask people to define what they want or what would be their ideal, they tell me all the things they don’t want. Eventually we get to there but if you want success you need clarity about what you want.

Solution: Write down all the things you want from your career. Don’t just restrict it to the tangibles like salary and benefits. Consider intangibles too like the type of work, type of organisation, type of people, types of challenges to name just a few.

Problem 2: People Are Passive

If you are like many, it is easy to fall into the trap of believing that your boss or HR will take charge of your career for. If so, think again. A passive approach leads to progress in some cases but not optimal results.

Solution: Take control and be proactive with your career. Find out about more senior roles and what it takes to be successful. Read the biographies of successful people.

Problem 3: People Don’t Package Themselves Effectively

Maybe this is a British thing but we are not always the best at positively promoting what we have to offer. This is not just in interviews but also in CV’s, resumes and application forms.

Solution: Make time to discover what your best skills and qualities are and then make sure you promote them effectively.

Problem 4: They Give Up Too Quickly

People tell me that there are too many people chasing each opportunity. Without doubt there are more candidates chasing each opportunity at the moment so you are going to get a few rejections. Reality is too many will give up too quickly.

Solution: Ask for feedback on your applications and incorporate it into how you package yourself in the future.

Problem 5: People Don’t Focus On The Long Term

A career is for the long term. Despite this people often take poor short term decisions.

Solution: Take decisions about roles, applications and job moves with the long term goal or goals in mind.

The Bottom Line: Career success does not happen by chance. You need to take control if you want to get results.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements Ltd helps professionals realise their true career potential and maximise their earnings. Sign up for his free audio masterclass on climbing the career ladder.

Many professional people start off their career with high hopes and big aspirations. Perhaps they sail through their professional exams and look forward to a highly successful career. For some, things shape up as expected but many others get stuck in a rut and never fulfil their real potential.

So what are 8 secrets to accelerating your career and getting the results that you know you can?

Secret 1: Know Yourself

Before you can move anywhere it is vital to know where you are starting from. In my experience that involves investing some serious time in assessing what you excel at, what needs developing and what really fires you up, to name just a few.

Secret 2: Have A Career Strategy

Maybe the idea of a career strategy sounds grand, complex and really difficult to do. Yet it does not have to be any of these things. At its most basic level it is about getting clear about where you want to get to and then having a plan or route map to get there.

Secret 3: Start Becoming A Learning Machine

There is a saying that goes along the lines of ‘what got you here won’t get you there’. The essence of this statement is that you need to keep growing and developing. The more you learn, the more you can contribute and the more you can contribute the more likely it is that you stand out from the crowd.

Secret 4: Become An Expert Listener

Listening is often lost under the umbrella of communication. Yet in truth, if you become an expert listener you are always on the lookout for that opportunity to get that additional experience, training or whatever else it is that will get you to the next level.

Secret 5: Be Enthusiastic

Getting ahead in your career is not going to be a trouble free ride. There are going to be bumps and obstacles along the way. It is how you respond that matters.

Secret 6: Help The Boss And They Will Help You

Your boss wants to be successful just as much as you do. Sometimes people wrongly believe that trying to outsmart the boss is the best way forward. However, remember when your boss moves up he or she is going to be looking for their trusted people to work alongside them. Helping the boss succeed can actually be a huge win-win.

Secret 7: Become A Great Team Player

The more senior you become, the more important it is to become a great team player. Develop a habit of collaborating rather than competing. Work with and not against others.

Secret 8: Be Responsive

Don’t wait to be asked; be proactive and make things happen. Make sure that you deliver on the promises you make.

The Bottom Line: Moving forward in your career does take time but some simple changes can often yield big results.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to realise their true potential and maximise their earning. You can sign up for his free audio masterclass here www.goalsandachievements.co.uk

Some people are happy and content at the level they are at and have no aspirations to go further. On the other hand there are many who have a real desire to go further but are struggling to move forward. So why is this? Here are 10 reasons why you might be struggling.

Reason 1: You Don’t Really Want It Enough

Everyone wants the rewards that go with climbing the career ladder. At the same time, many don’t want to put in place the work to make it happen. Wishing is not enough; you have to have real desire.

Reason 2: You Don’t Invest The Time

If you were going to make a major purchase, I am pretty sure like most of us you would put in the time and energy to do your research before you bought. Deciding to hire someone is a major buying decision. If you are not willing to put the time in to find the right role, why should you be given a chance?

Reason 3: You Don’t Know Yourself

What I mean by this is that you don’t have at your fingertips real insights into what you do really well and what you need to develop to become even better. The truth is it is not difficult to do and is the way to unlock your hidden gems.

Reason 4: You Underestimate Your Achievements

People often in resumes and CVs fail to include achievements because they feel they are not big enough. If they are relevant, include them.

Reason 5: Your Written Materials Are Passive

When I was working in big organisations, and even today when working with my clients on their written materials, I often come across CVs and Resumes that are simply too passive and don’t grab my attention.

Reason 6: You Don’t Invest In Yourself

If you look at what differentiates successful from the less successful, the chances are that you will notice that those who get the best results invest in themselves. The challenges are just too big these days to make continued professional and personal development optional.

Reason 7: You Don’t Act On Feedback

If you have been interviewed for a role and you were unsuccessful, you can usually get feedback. Many people might go through the motions of getting feedback. Smart people will actively seek it out and act on it.

Reason 8: You Don’t Have A Strategy

A strategy is not something set in stone. Of course it needs to be flexible. At the same time, if you have something written down and actively monitor progress you are more likely to achieve it.

Reason 9: You Make Short Term Decisions

So often I see people lured by money or a quick gain into making choices that are great short term but detrimental to long term success.

Reason 10: You Don’t Bounce Back From Setbacks

We all get rejected from time to time. It’s not the rejection that is the issue, it is how you respond to it that matters. Learn to see setbacks as being part and parcel of being more successful.

The Bottom Line: Climbing the career ladder is a marathon, not a sprint, so make sure you set yourself up for success.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professional people to realise their professional potential and maximise their earnings. He invites you to sign up for his free audio masterclass at http://goalsandachievements.co.uk/careerladder/

If you are like most people, you probably started on your career path full of hope and enthusiasm. The early signs were positive but then you got stuck. If you are stuck in your career, what can you do to move forward?

Set aside time to take stock

You probably have done lots of things in your career but, if you are like most of us, it is all too easy to lose sight of everything you have done or achieved. Set aside a couple of hours to list all of the things you have done and achieved. You might just surprise yourself at what you uncover.

Ask yourself what’s stopping you

You probably have been applying for, and maybe even been interviewed for, more senior positions but not landing the role at the next level. Think about some of the feedback that you are getting. Is there a common theme or themes emerging? Once you know this, you can take action to do something about it.

Give your CV or résumé a makeover

Take out your CV or résumé and look at it as if you were a recruiter. In the 30 second scan, what does it say about you and is it saying what you want it to? In other words, is it selling what you have to offer?

Hire A Coach or Mentor

It may not be the first thing that comes into your head but often even a short period with a coach or mentor can accelerate your move forward. The one to one personal support can make the difference.

At the end of the day, there could be many things that are keeping you stuck. The trick is to identify these and take action to do something to address them.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps professionals to achieve success, realize their professional potential and maximise their earnings. You can sign up for his free audio masterclass here

Most people see their career as important yet many get stuck. So what steps can you take immediately to accelerate your progress?

1. Take some time to self assess what you do well and what needs developing.
2. Get some feedback from others who you have worked with.
3. Make a file of your key career achievements.
4. Draw up a 90 day fast track personal development plan where you do one thing, no matter how small, each day to build your skills, knowledge or competency.
5. Stop making money your motivation for progressing your career. If you deliver, money will follow.
6. Step up and volunteer for special projects.

The truth is doing some simple things can make a huge difference. So when will you get started?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success, realize their professional potential and maximise their earnings.  If you are ready to climb the career ladder, sign up for his free audio masterclass here

Block 1
• Clinging on to the past and refusing to move forward.

Block 2

• Treating people differently and having favourites.

Block 3

• Not listening to the feedback that you are consistently getting.

Block 4

• Not investing in your personal development and growth.

Block 5

• Not being honest with yourself.

What else would you add to the list of 5?

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

Habit 1
• Not knowing what to stop doing.

Habit 2

• Not pushing yourself and simply cruising.

Habit 3

• Not giving recognition to others.

Habit 4

• Making excuses more than delivering results.

Habit 5

• Passing the buck and not taking responsibility.

A recent survey that I invited those on my mailing list to take identified that getting promoted was a key area of importance. So if you are in this group, what can you do to get promoted to the next level?

1. Find out what it takes to succeed at the next level.
2. Make a long list of all of your achievements to date in terms of your career.
3. Target your applications to roles that you have the greatest chance of getting.
4. Give your CV a makeover so that it really sells your achievements.
5. Get your interview skills honed so that you perform exceptionally well.
6. Get the support you need to get the result you want. A small investment now might just make a huge difference to the long term return that you get.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here