What is the best piece of career advice you’d give someone as we head into 2023?
Believe it or not, the next year is almost upon us. It’s good to get ahead and make a plan of attack as one year ends and the new one begins, well before the New Years’ Resolution Rush takes hold. To better establish yourself professionally and in your career, take the advice of these 15 career professionals with you into the next year and beyond.
- Choose Your Manager, Not the Company
- Accept Criticism
- If You Can’t Find a Great Career, Make Your Own
- Upskill and Reskill Yourself
- Find a Company That Works for You
- Follow Industry Trends
- Live Your Life, Not Someone Else’s
- Engage with Your Curiosity
- Infuse Passion Into Your Career
- Focus On Your Soft Skills
- Build a Personal Brand
- Never Doubt Your Abilities
- Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
- Stay Flexible and Prepare for Change
- Establish a Global Network
Choose Your Manager, Not the Company
The kind of person you report to and the relationship you’re able to build with them is infinitely more important to your mental health, growth, and career goals than landing at a company with a big name or well-known reputation. The right manager can propel you forward into places you never knew possible; a popular company has the power to do the same, but without that manager connection, you may find it difficult to remain at said company and likely won’t see the same level of opportunities thrown your way.
Michael Fischer, Founder, Elite Hat
Accept Criticism
Always accept criticism regardless of how rude or mean it may be. We might think that is degrading you, but most of the time, this is to point out some flaws that we might not be aware of. Learn to handle it professionally, no matter how hard it can be. Turn deaf to comments that do nothing but bring you down and accept comments that help you build yourself. There is no need to react to everything. Instead, constantly be reminded that constructive criticism can help you improve your career growth and development.
You must understand why you give such feedback, and perhaps you can ask the question but not in the sense of being defensive. Keep in mind the benefits of getting feedback and understanding the perspective of your criticizer, whether your boss or colleagues. Always extend your gratitude for sharing feedback with us. The criticism we often hear, especially in our workplace, is always the only way we learn about our weaknesses–without it, we can’t improve and grow.
Peter Bryla, ResumeLab
If You Can’t Find a Great Career, Make Your Own
After college, I worked a wide range of jobs, from bartending to restaurant management to sales and marketing. Nothing ever felt like the perfect fit. I struggled to fit into a role that someone else had made for me. But once I started freelancing in 2016, everything in my career seemed to fall into place effortlessly. I didn’t have to struggle to make my job work.
Six years later, my career and satisfaction are stronger than ever. I can work my own schedule, choose my salary, and partner with the clients I want. My advice: if you don’t feel like you belong at your job, you probably don’t. And that’s okay—you are meant for something better. Keep trying.
Alli Hill, Founder and Director, Fleurish Freelance
Upskill and Reskill Yourself
Upskilling and reskilling represent the search for knowledge acquisition in organizations. Technology and others are accessible to most companies, from SMBs to big corporations. Thus, individual knowledge will make a difference in 2023.
With upskilling and reskilling being the trends for companies to keep up competitive in the market, they tend to give the best opportunities for people who look to improve their knowledge base. In other words, to build your career getting the best chances, it’s crucial to bring and contribute new knowledge to the business. Upskilling and reskilling play a vital role in career growth and development.
Ricardo von Groll, Manager, Talentify
Find a Company That Works for You
Just like people, companies have their own unique personalities, and just like with people not all personalities mesh perfectly with one another. Finding the type of company culture that best fits you is critical to setting yourself up for future success. Company culture is a combination of company behaviors and company beliefs. Research is the first step to finding out more about a company’s culture, but there are areas that hold more weight than others.
Interpersonal communication, or who you will be working with most, decides aspects of work life like working on teams versus individually or working with clients more often than colleagues and vice versa. Autonomy, or how much control you have over your day-to-day tasks, is another area to consider which also includes areas of flexibility and supervisor structure. Professionals that take the time to find the companies and cultures that best fit their professional needs and wants set themselves up for success regardless of the role.
Bryor Mosley, Career Coach, Southern New Hampshire University
Follow Industry Trends
It never hurts to pay attention to trends in your industry and look out for changes. Read the news, follow market forecasts, and analyze how they can influence your industry and your job. Stay alert to layoffs as well as hiring. If you notice anything alarming that has the potential to negatively impact your position, react. Take some courses, take an interest in new technologies, and learn how to use extra tools, apps, or programs.
Do everything to stay current and not fall out of the market. If a recession hits your industry, don’t change jobs, as new hires are the first to get laid off. Do everything to show your employer that you are an indispensable employee. Remember, how your career will develop in 2023 is up to you, but following trends, constant development, and reacting will contribute to your success.
Nina Paczka, Community Manager, Resume Now
Live Your Life, Not Someone Else’s
Stay true to your values, wants, and needs. Your journey to success will not be the same as someone else’s, and that’s totally fine. It’s good to have role models to look up to and emulate, but continue to embrace what makes you unique. This will help distinguish you from your peers and make you more memorable. Stay true to your core values, perspectives, and ambitions.
Natalia Morozova, Partner, Cohen, Tucker & Ades P.C.
Engage with Your Curiosity
One of the biggest differences I think you can make in your working life is to stay curious about the sector you’re working in or focusing on. This might look like reading (fiction and non-) subjects directly related to your work, attending digital or in-person events, and generally reading up on relevant news. Pocket can be a fantastic tool for this. By staying curious, even if you aren’t actively ‘in love’ with your career or sector, you’ll still be learning and mentally engaged which can help tackle feelings of anxiety, imposter syndrome, or all round burnout.
Jessica Higham, Marketing Manager, Onoco
Infuse Passion Into Your Career
Find your passion and be persistent in pursuing it. For example, finding a career you can be passionate about is only the beginning. You need to follow that passion up by putting in the work. Expand your skill set and always look to improve even as you’re pursuing the next step in our career. Give yourself goals to pursue and grow your talent, by putting your passion into your career, you can find success.
Brianna Bitton, Co-Founder, O Positiv
Focus On Your Soft Skills
In today’s world, hard skills can be taught relatively easily and rapidly. However, it’s the soft skills that will set you apart from your peers and make you more successful in your career. Soft skills focus on who you are as a person and include abilities such as effective communication, problem-solving, and time management. To be more successful in your career, focus on developing your soft skills.
Burak Özdemir, Founder, Online Alarm Clock
Build a Personal Brand
Being known in the industry you work is a key element of your career. Invest in building relationships with coworkers and in the industry you are working. It sounds complicated, but the key element is to start sharing with other people what you’re doing, how you can help and what areas you enjoy working in. Use LinkedIn to connect with other people, invest time to take part in the podcast or write columns. These investments will help you to find your next job opportunity or start a business yourself one day. Start small and find your voice.
Irina Serdyukovskaya, SEO Consultant, Irina Kudres
Never Doubt Your Abilities
Finding and working with decent people should be a priority for everyone, but it’s especially important for women. To get ahead, it’s important to locate a mentor who can help lift you up and connect you with influential people who can help you succeed. Women have to fight harder to join these groups, so if you find yourself excluded, create your own.
Develop your self-assurance now so that you’ll be ready to sit down at those tables and in those places when the time is right. Also, while you’re doing it, try not to be too hard on yourself. You deserve the highest possible wage, benefits, justice, and esteem. You should get it.
Daniel Carter, Founder, SEO-AUDITS.IO
Improve Your Emotional Intelligence
With the business world comfortably settling into hybrid remote and in-person workplaces, it’s more important than ever that you are able to adequately prevent and resolve conflicts when some parties may not even be in the same room as one another.
Train your emotional intelligence and empathy as more and more of our interactions happen across screens. Without the benefit of being able to notice all of their subtle expressions and details face to face, this can be a difficult task, though not impossible. Keeping an open mind during your interactions and reminding yourself that people do not usually say things in bad faith can help avoid unnecessary conflicts within the workplace.
Jonathan Krieger, VP of Sales, Fabuwood
Stay Flexible and Prepare for Change
The best piece of career advice I’d give someone as we head into 2023 is to stay flexible and be prepared for change. The world of work is constantly evolving, so it’s important to both be open to new opportunities and willing to take on new challenges. Keep learning and keep growing—that’s the key to success in any field. Additionally, make sure you’re always putting your best foot forward by maintaining a positive attitude, actively participating in professional development opportunities, and networking with other professionals in your field.
Nuria Requena, Talent Acquisition Manager, Spacelift
Establish a Global Network
With the idea of a global workforce that works for organizations across the world sans the challenges of geographical boundaries and time zones, opportunities are now limitless. And for you to be able to open these doors, you will need to build a network that makes your own outreach infinite too. As a driven career professional, I’m sure you’ve never undermined the advantages of networking. Keep up the consistency, and remember that heading into 2023, you’ll also need to expand your network globally.Ashley DeJesus, Marketing Manager, AIS Network