Amanda Rose advice: Avoid letting your career stagnate during the COVID-19 pandemic
Amanda Rose reveals why it’s critical to protect your career and how to do it, even if everything around you seems to be on hold.
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Amanda Rose is a business consultant, workplace trainer, LinkedIn influencer and founder of six organisations – and now she is tackling your career questions for SMART Daily every Monday.
Got a question? Send it to smartdaily@news.com.au
Workers who let their career stagnate can become pigeonholed in an industry or role, making it difficult for them to progress.
If you are an ambitious person you will permanently feel as though you are stagnating but I typically recommend three to five years in a role.
Right now, people are just worried about keeping their job, but in difficult times, it’s a perfect time to prepare or prove yourself and show you are ready for promotion when things take off.
Don’t be complacent, people are watching.
Instead, say to yourself ‘There is no potential for promotion in the next six months but I will take on extra work and maybe take on a project to increase my skillset and prepare myself’.
While everyone is treading water, you can be the one moving forward.
If there are no opportunities to take on extra responsibilities at work, another option is to use this time to gain new qualifications.
This can be a university degree such as an MBA, or a TAFE certificate or a short course.
It depends on the person but even a one-week course or certificate will be useful.
Don’t be overwhelmed by higher education because even if you don’t have a degree you can do masters with enough experience.
Look where you need to get and the skill gaps that need to be filled to get there, because usually there will be a gap education wise.
Depending on the sector, you may want to focus on technology skills, such as digital marketing, or do a course such as finance for non-finance managers, or a company director’s course.
It shows ‘I am keen and still interested in growing’.
If you have been in your role for a long time, you need to show on your CV and LinkedIn profile that your role has evolved in that time.
Show the different projects you have worked on and how you have progressed.
Show that you have taken on more each year.
A lot of people are not strategic enough about their career, they just float along and hope for the best.
You should be in total control of where you are headed in life – and especially in your career.
READ THE SMART DAILY SECTION IN MONDAY’S THE DAILY TELEGRAPH, THE HERALD SUN, THE COURIER-MAIL AND THE ADVERTISER FOR MORE CAREER ADVICE FROM AMANDA ROSE.
Originally published as Amanda Rose advice: Avoid letting your career stagnate during the COVID-19 pandemic