10 tips for future proofing your career
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Below are ten tips to help you future proof your career, so no matter what your work and life circumstances, you can be confident that you will always have options to pursue.
1. Know what you want and what you have to offer
The key to future proofing your career is knowing where to look for opportunities and connecting these to what meets your needs and aligns with your motivators
and values.
Conduct an audit of your skills, your work values and your interests:
- What do you do well? What do you have a track record in?
- How could these skills be applied elsewhere?
- What makes you want to get up and go to work each day?
- How well are these preferences being met in your current job?
2. Connect to opportunities
There are multiple ways to identify job opportunities including through contacts and networks, online job boards, social media, professional associations, recruitment agencies, directories, journals and newspapers. Knowledge of the current job market combined with clarity about what you want puts you in a strong position to develop your career.
3. Maintain strong networks
Contacts and networks are highly important in identifying industry trends and opportunities because many jobs aren’t advertised. Aim to be well connected through a variety of networks and be active in keeping healthy and diverse professional relationships beyond your immediate workplace.
4. Commit to ongoing learning
Whether it’s through formal education and courses, on-the-job training or learning from a mentor, continue to update and extend your skills. This is a requirement for success in modern workplaces to ensure you are competent in required skills and knowledge.
5. Develop a career strategy
Think about your options and map your career ideas for the next two-to-three years. Try to think as laterally as possible. Combine some big ideas within a healthy touch of realism to set smart goals for yourself. Be open to opportunities and avoid the trap of staying in a job for too long.
6. Strive for a healthy work-life balance
Decide what is most important in your life and organise your priorities accordingly. Remember that everything doesn’t have to be accomplished at once. Balance activities that nurture mind, body and soul. This requires commitment and discipline, and a willingness to give some things up or rearrange priorities.
7. Aim for a fulfilling career
No matter what your age or stage, pursuing a fulfilling career leads to increased performance and wellbeing in the workplace. This is good for employers as much as it is for individuals. People who pursue healthy careers will also have more opportunities open to them as they are typically more energetic, achieve at a higher level and are much more attractive to employers.
8. Keep your resume up-to-date
There are many ways to format a resume and lots of varying advice out there about the best approach. The key things are to keep it relatively short (two to three pages in most cases), showcase key skills and experience on the first page and ensure it’s well presented and current. A qualified career consultant can provide great advice about contemporary and effective approaches to preparing job applications and succeeding
in interviews.
9. Always have a backup plan
No matter how happy you are with your current job or career, there are plenty of instances where people haven’t been resilient in the face of unexpected changes such as funding cuts, a change of management or a restructure. Ask yourself, if your job ended today or things turned bad at work, what would you do?
10. Invest in the services of a qualified career professional
Professionally qualified career professionals bring experience, expertise and qualifications to an area that most people only have a small amount of knowledge. If you engage the right practitioner you will achieve progress much more efficiently and avoid falling into traps that can impede your success.
Menchie Khairuddin is a writer Deputy Content Manager at Akolade and content producer for Third Sector News. She is passionate about social affairs specifically in mixed, multicultural heritage and not-for-profit organisations.
