that offer great advice on career, entrepreneurship, and more. 30 Second MBA ( Fastcompany.com/mba ) is one of the best (the CEOs of Time magazine and Nintendo are there, so is Mark Zuckerberg from Facebook). Score.org offers free, confidential mentoring from industry experts via e-mail. This is an especially good resource if youâre thinking about starting your own business one day.
⢠Books . Earning your degree is great. But getting your diploma doesnât mean you can stop learning. And while a lot of knowledge is being acquired through digital means, books still play an important role in learning (and yes, Kindle and iPad versions still count as books).
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Â
Becoming the Subject Matter Expert
Once youâve identified the hard skills you need to do the job you aspire to, and youâve figured out the best ways to acquire them (whether thatâs on your companyâs time and dime or your own), the only thing left to do is start putting those skills to work. In todayâs job market, simply meeting the skill requirements in your job description isnât enough. Not even close. If youâre going to have any hope of getting promoted and moving up in your organization, youâll need to think beyond the job title on your business card (thatâs assuming your company even gives you business cards) and start adding real value to your department or company. The most effective way to do this is to make yourself the go-to expert on a specific topic or skill, the first name that pops into your coworkersâ or supervisorsâ minds when they need help, the one they have on speed dial for special projects. In other words, you want to be just like David Trahan, a consultant at Interbrand. âIâm known as âone of the digital guys,ââ he says. âBut more specifically as the âsocial media guy.â Iâm part of a small cross-functional task force thatâs developing our digital capabilities, training different departments on how to integrate digital into our business. I get called in a lot for brainstorms, client calls, and special projects related to digital and social media.â
The Web site Talentdrive.com , which has a proprietary sourcing tool that helps recruiters find résumés online, did a report recently and found that 71 percent of hiring managers are trying to fill specialized positions, but 67 percent of job seekers consider themselves to have âbroad skill sets.â In other words, theyâre trying to be generalists, to satisfy everyone. Big mistake!
The most successful brandsâwhether theyâre individuals or huge corporationsâtry to be known for one very specific thing. And thatâs exactly what you need to do. The bottom line is that if youâre too much of a generalist, you wonât be known for anything. When projects come up, thereâll be no reason for whoever it is thatâs staffing it to call you instead of someone else. So if you want to get ahead, you need to be a specialist, a subject matter expert. Specialists generate value and attention. When youâre the expert and people know it, managers will seek you out. Youâll become an invaluable asset to the company.
Now, just to be clear, Iâm not saying that you shouldnât be good at a wide variety of things. You definitely want to protect yourself by having skills in a number of important business functions. Thatâll help you better adapt to change. But you canât be a superstar at everything. You can, however, excel at one thing. And thatâs especially important early in your career when you need the most visibility.
If youâre working for someone like Mike Proulx, Senior Vice President and Director of Digital Strategy at Hill Holliday, one of the top ad agencies in the U.S., and youâre not a specialist, your career will stall pretty early on. âWe absolutely need specialists,â says Proulx.
⢠Books . Earning your degree is great. But getting your diploma doesnât mean you can stop learning. And while a lot of knowledge is being acquired through digital means, books still play an important role in learning (and yes, Kindle and iPad versions still count as books).
----
Â
Becoming the Subject Matter Expert
Once youâve identified the hard skills you need to do the job you aspire to, and youâve figured out the best ways to acquire them (whether thatâs on your companyâs time and dime or your own), the only thing left to do is start putting those skills to work. In todayâs job market, simply meeting the skill requirements in your job description isnât enough. Not even close. If youâre going to have any hope of getting promoted and moving up in your organization, youâll need to think beyond the job title on your business card (thatâs assuming your company even gives you business cards) and start adding real value to your department or company. The most effective way to do this is to make yourself the go-to expert on a specific topic or skill, the first name that pops into your coworkersâ or supervisorsâ minds when they need help, the one they have on speed dial for special projects. In other words, you want to be just like David Trahan, a consultant at Interbrand. âIâm known as âone of the digital guys,ââ he says. âBut more specifically as the âsocial media guy.â Iâm part of a small cross-functional task force thatâs developing our digital capabilities, training different departments on how to integrate digital into our business. I get called in a lot for brainstorms, client calls, and special projects related to digital and social media.â
The Web site Talentdrive.com , which has a proprietary sourcing tool that helps recruiters find résumés online, did a report recently and found that 71 percent of hiring managers are trying to fill specialized positions, but 67 percent of job seekers consider themselves to have âbroad skill sets.â In other words, theyâre trying to be generalists, to satisfy everyone. Big mistake!
The most successful brandsâwhether theyâre individuals or huge corporationsâtry to be known for one very specific thing. And thatâs exactly what you need to do. The bottom line is that if youâre too much of a generalist, you wonât be known for anything. When projects come up, thereâll be no reason for whoever it is thatâs staffing it to call you instead of someone else. So if you want to get ahead, you need to be a specialist, a subject matter expert. Specialists generate value and attention. When youâre the expert and people know it, managers will seek you out. Youâll become an invaluable asset to the company.
Now, just to be clear, Iâm not saying that you shouldnât be good at a wide variety of things. You definitely want to protect yourself by having skills in a number of important business functions. Thatâll help you better adapt to change. But you canât be a superstar at everything. You can, however, excel at one thing. And thatâs especially important early in your career when you need the most visibility.
If youâre working for someone like Mike Proulx, Senior Vice President and Director of Digital Strategy at Hill Holliday, one of the top ad agencies in the U.S., and youâre not a specialist, your career will stall pretty early on. âWe absolutely need specialists,â says Proulx.
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