Read Online Promote Yourself by Dan Schawbel - Free Book Online Page A

“While my team is responsible for social media, it’s simply not possible for everyone to have deep and intimate knowledge with every social platform, policy, and best practice. We want everyone to specialize in areas that they are most passionate about and we rely on each other to share across the team, with our clients, and on our company blog.”
    Bottom line: Being a specialist helps you add value to whatever you do. But because the job landscape is constantly changing, you may have to change your specialization once in a while to ensure that you’re always adding value. Plus, you’ll have an easier time adapting if you’ve got a good understanding of the big picture as well.
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    Your Career Plan
    The world is changing so quickly, and there’s so much uncertainty out there that it’s really hard to keep up with what’s going on—especially what’s changing in the workplace environment. For that reason, if you’re going to succeed, you’ll need to be able to adapt quickly to the constantly shifting landscape.
    To do that, you’ll need to create a plan and identify a goal—something concrete and measurable. Interbrand’s David Trahan is a firm believer in having a concrete plan. “I know where I want to go in my life, but I also have a plan for my current company,” he says. “I have a one-year plan in place, and an idea of what the next year would be if I attained my goals. I know what I need to do to accomplish my goals. I have developed an understanding of internal politics, egos, and goals, so that I can extend and tailor myself to have maximum impact in all my projects.”
    Start with setting your short-, medium-, and long-term goals—you should absolutely have some of each. I’ve found that the most successful plans start with the end goal in mind and work backward from there, outlining in as much detail as possible the specific steps you’ll need to take to reach that goal. For example, “Within the next three years, I’m going to be in a new position as Assistant VP of X. In order to do that, I’ll get certified in Y and master Z skills. I’ll make time to take one of the company-offered courses throughout the year. I’ll also attend two industry conferences per year, go to monthly meetings of the Z networking group, and every week I’ll have lunch with an industry colleague.” For people in your parents’ generation, a long-term plan might go out as far as ten years, while short-term might be a year or two. But for today’s young workers, long-term is probably no more than three years, and short-term could be as little as six months. Of course, you’ll also want to build some flexibility into your plan: Your company could go out of business, you might have to quit your job to care for a sick relative, or a technological advance might come along that could make your goal obsolete before it happens. In cases like those, you’ll need to adjust your plan on the fly, set new goals, and plot a new course.
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    Y ou should let your interests, passions, and maybe even a little luck drive your plans too. Mary Pilon, a sports reporter for The New York Times , figured out what she wanted to do based on her experiences and shared some great advice with me that you can also benefit from. “I’ve been fortunate to work at places with people who are passionate about what they do and their enthusiasm has proven contagious,” she says. “I don’t think there’s any secret to making it in a career. Work hard, see ‘No’ as a starting-off point, and do what you love. And be open-minded. I don’t think a younger version of me ever saw myself as a financial reporter or a sports reporter. But by giving these things a try, I realized I loved these different areas of storytelling. I love that journalism can help people in direct and indirect