How many things do you think you can learn in a year?
The more you learn, the more amazing you become at your job. Growth is what helps you stay amazing — even if you’re pretty amazing where you are right now, that amazing shine can’t last forever if you don’t find new ways to be even better.
So this week, we quizzed our team on the biggest career lesson they’ve learned so far in 2015. Get inspired to make the rest of 2015 a huge leap forward for your career!
The biggest career lesson of 2015 so far? I’ve learned how to become a more effective presenter of work to clients, etc. It’s still a work in progress of course, but practice, practice, practice, is the name of the game here.
Kate M. also had some great advice that has helped me quite a bit. She said to make a note of the 3 ideas that I want to convey, and speak towards those in the meeting. In the middle, embellish upon those and do some freewheeling, then check back to my notes at the end. It’s okay to check your notes! Clients, more often than not, will appreciate the fact that notes were taken, and not look down on you for taking them.
Network, Network, Network.
It’s crucial finding a job and handy once you’ve got one. LinkedIn is super useful for staying connected to colleagues, clients, and acquaintances. Activity is measurable, which has a snowball effect; as you reach out more, you become more professionally credible and desirable. Augment your online networking with a little face-to-face networking at events like MeetUps. All these contacts are not only great for producing job leads but also great for problem solving once you’ve landed your new job
The biggest lesson I learned was not to be satisfied with settling with where I’m at if I’m feeling unchallenged or unhappy. This year I made the decision to leave a job that had burnt me out and left me unfulfilled. I took a risk, aimed high, and managed to get a spot in the branding field which I’m loving so far.
As a developer, I’ve found the moment I am comfortable is the moment I stopped learning anything meaningful.
I’d say the biggest lesson I’ve learned this year has been communication and honesty – I have tried to be overly communicative and very honest about hours, how fast something can be done, and how long we have on something.
Moving fast is great, but we DO need to allow ourselves the correct amount of time so ideas can be explored thoroughly, and better decisions made. I feel like this has really helped in keeping our hours accurate to our estimates, and has produced some really great work.
This year I’ve learned not to get too attached to anything. A first draft always needs improvement, and a plan always changes somewhere along the way. You have to work with that in mind, and not get personally attached to anything you do, because it’s more important that you be able to accept feedback, make the necessary changes, and go with the flow in order to do the best work possible. Great work rarely ends up looking at the end like what you thought it would look like in the beginning.
