No matter what industry you work in or what type of job you have, there is always more that you can do to increase your value and get a more positive response from the people around you. When you’re just starting out in your career, it can be challenging to know where to begin. What kind of activities will give you the most immediate return on your time? And, how can you make sure that those activities are sustainable so they continue to benefit you long-term? Rather than focusing on what you don’t have, spend time thinking about what you do have and how it can be used to improve your value and get a more favorable response from those around you.
Build a strong portfolio
Build a strong portfolio by talking about your accomplishments, demonstrating your expertise, and using social media to share your work. Start a blog, write articles for publications you are involved with, and create a professional LinkedIn or Facebook account where you can share your work and connect with potential employers. When you are building your portfolio, emphasize your strengths, what you’re good at, and how that can help solve problems for others. Avoid spending time on activities that don’t directly contribute to your value or don’t demonstrate your expertise.
Educate yourself
If you want to improve your value, you have to learn more. You can’t expect to increase your value if you don’t understand your industry better, have a better grasp of current issues and trends affecting your field, and have a better understanding of your own skills and areas of weakness. It’s important to have a regular study schedule, to make sure you are consistently learning new things. This will help you identify the areas you need to develop and provide you with a framework for how to do it. One way to make sure you are consistently studying is to create a study schedule for yourself. This will keep you accountable and focused on what you are trying to accomplish.
Take classes or certification exams
Take classes, audit existing ones from online courses, and attend conferences. This will help you improve your value and give you a better understanding of the things that you don’t know. Classes can help you identify your strengths and weaknesses, understand the lingo and business models that are unique to your field, and identify skills that you can apply in new ways. Certification exams can provide a way to demonstrate specific skills, validate what you have learned while in class, and help you identify areas where you need to develop new skills.
Be a problem solver
As part of your portfolio and as a way to increase your value, get into a problem-solving role. This doesn’t have to be immediately related to your career, but it should have some connection to your field. In other words, it shouldn’t be just a random problem that someone has. You should be able to find a way to help people solve a problem and it should be relevant to your career field. When you are trying to come up with ways to increase your value, look for ways to solve problems that other people have. Work with nonprofits, social impact startups, companies, and other organizations to help them solve a problem. This will demonstrate that you are a problem solver in addition to an improvement catalyst.
Provide frequent and useful feedback
Provide feedback on what you are working on, on other people’s work, and on your own. This is a great way to demonstrate your expertise and increase your value. When you are providing feedback, make sure you are providing specific, actionable feedback that helps people improve their work and demonstrate their value. Also, make sure that the feedback that you are providing is valuable to you. Don’t constantly provide feedback on other people’s work. Make sure that your own work is constantly receiving feedback from others.
Demonstrate your dedication to your career growth
Demonstrate your dedication to your career growth by following recent graduates, people who have been in your industry for a while, and people who are further along in their careers than you are. Make it a point to keep up with what is happening in your field, what other professionals are doing, and what is happening in the broader business world. You can follow people on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, or other social media channels. Also, make sure you are staying in touch with professional organizations, associations, and schools that are relevant to your field.
Stay flexible and be willing to change lanes
Stay flexible and be willing to change lanes by identifying opportunities that could lead to new and exciting career opportunities. Also, be willing to change roles or industries if you identify an opportunity that could be beneficial to you and your career growth. When you are staying flexible and willing to change lanes, don’t be afraid to identify opportunities that could lead to a new opportunity. Identify opportunities that could be a better fit for you and your career growth. It is better to identify an opportunity early and find a way to make it work for you than to miss out on an opportunity that is really a better fit for you because you were afraid to change lanes because you thought it would lead to a different opportunity than what it really turned out to be.
Don’t be afraid to ask for a promotion or new role
Don’t be afraid to ask for a promotion or a new role if you feel that it would further your career and increase your value. When you are comfortable with the level of responsibility you are holding and feel like it is making an impact on your value and your career, don’t be afraid to ask for a promotion or a new role. It is better to ask for something than to let it sit there and be a source of annoyance and frustration for you.
Bottom line
As you can see, there are many ways that you can increase your value and demonstrate your expertise. Start thinking about what you can do to further your value and what you can do to increase your value the most. If you are just starting out in your career, it can be challenging to know where to begin. What kind of activities will give you the most immediate return on your time? And, how can you make sure that those activities are sustainable so they continue to benefit you long-term? Build a strong portfolio by talking about your accomplishments, demonstrating your expertise, and using social media to share your work.
