10 things to improve your career in 2020

Cognizant fired some 200 senior employees and planning to fire 7000+ employees further. Infosys is also planning to lay off more workforce by the end of 2019. Anxiousness prevails in people's minds and worried about what might go wrong. Organizations do what is best for their survival in the market. Are you doing what is best for you to keep abreast of the industry as it is continuously evolving? What can you do? Below are the 10 things that you need to do to stay ahead in this competitive world. I suggest you take them as your bucket list for 2020. 

1. What do you want?

Set a goal for yourself. It should be about where you want to go or about what you want. It could be anything. Like, "Becoming a Project Manager/Scrum Master/ Full Stack Developer or a Project Manager." It could be about getting a new skillset or even starting a company. The next set of things unfolds based on what you are finalizing here. 

2. Time for your self-improvement

The first and foremost thing is time. Are you spending time on your self-improvement every day? 

1. Take a pen and paper
2. List out all that you do in a day
3. Figure out how much time you are spending on your self-improvement.
4. If you are not spending enough, then adjust things accordingly to get you some time for your improvement. 

If you are not allocating time for yourself, then stop reading further. Allocate and then continue.

 

3. Reading

Everyone reads, but what you are reading is very much important. Some read news, fiction, novels, comics, stories, articles, and even memes. Make a list of books/white papers/articles/blogs that you want to read toward your goal. Make it a plan and make sure you measure it. Reading as a habit will help you in the longer run. Choose your comfortable format for reading. It could be books or kindle or audible. Find what works for you and stick to it. Also, find a suitable place and time for you to read. 

 

4. Attend training/workshops

Learning never stops. Select courses that will help you with your profession or your goals. Keep studying. The moment you stop studying or upgrading yourself, you will become outdated. Make sure you learn at least one course every six months. It could be with or without certification, but keep learning. 

 

5. Attend Conferences

Conferences are a great place to meet practitioners from the industry and learn new things from them. Speakers in the conference talk about their experiences and the learnings they have gained so far. It helps to keep us updated about how different organizations follow different practices. There will be a lot of takeaways. Make a list of conferences that are happening next year, which is related to you. Finalize and register for them so that you can attend and also get super early bird prizes (easy on pocket)

 

6. Attend meetups

Meetup is one thing where you can meet new people and learn/share. Multiple meetups are happening in and around every city in different areas. It includes management, technical, tools, personal interests, travel, therapy, and so on. Make some time on weekends for you to find and attend meetups. Leanpitch conducts meetups in various cities in India and abroad. Our communities are PlayScrum, Product Thinking, and Startup Gears. 

 

7. Professional Networking/Social Connections

How active are you on professional social media platforms like LinkedIn? It is a must to be socially active on these platforms. You can follow people whom you like in the industry, find inspirers in your area of the profession, find your friends using mobile contacts, and much more. These platforms help you build connections. These days, recruiters and HR people are checking profiles on LinkedIn. You can increase your chances of being hired. Get recommended by colleagues and friends, add your professional certificates and achievements and keep the profile updated always. 

 

While LinkedIn helps, it's not the only platform. Conferences and Meetups are also great platforms to meet like-minded people and get connected. Building your professional network is a must these days. 

 

8. Blogging

Writing blogs is one of the ways to share your learnings with others. Start writing your learnings, opinions, stories, and experiences in the form of blogs. Get constant feedback from people who can read and provide feedback. Blogs are like online journals. Learn more and write more. 

 

9. Apply learnings

Learning isn't enough. It needs to be continuously validated. The best way to do that is to apply it in your workplace. If you do not have the opportunity to use it in the workplace, you can find different ways to apply the same. You can work for free NGO projects, social services, open-source communities, and other forums/arenas to apply your learning.

 

10. Have a Coach

You need someone who can observe you and provide you with feedback. Feedback helps you grow from where you are to where you want to be. Find someone who can critique you for your actions. You can hire a coach for yourself or have someone who can critique you. That way, you can continuously improve and be a better version of yourself every day moving forward. 

  

Do these ten things, and you never have to worry about layoffs or getting fired. Why? Because you are more focused on improving yourself and every day when you do something towards what you want, you never need any extrinsic motivation. Your skills and connections will help you get well-placed in a better job anytime.     

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