Business careers -3

1. Play BIG, Not Small, To Get That Dream Career

"A musician must make music; an artist must paint; a poet must write, if he be at peace with himself. What a man can be, he must be." Abraham Maslow

Many people play too small in their careers.

What do I mean by that?

I mean that, in terms of a career, they think of themselves as 'just doing their job.'
I've worked with thousands of people in career transition and that comment is the one I heard most often - from the accomplished executive to the skilled metal worker in a stamping plant.

Just doing your job???

Any day of the week, unless you are warming a chair and nothing else, you are contributing to a company's or organization's success. And unless you identify and name all those accomplishments, you may not develop the self-esteem and confidence you need to reach for that meaningful work you've always wanted. You have to know your value!

How can you begin to acknowledge your work value?

The first step is to look at your accomplishments.

Accomplishments are NOT the same as job descriptions. Job descriptions are only statements of tasks that need to be done. Accomplishments name the value-add you bring to your work purpose.

Here are some questions that will help you begin to identify your accomplishments:

1 - In what ways have I improved this job since I have had it?
2 - What processes, procedures or tasks did I initiate that have made things better?
3 - What suggestions have I made that have added to saving money, making money or making processes smoother?
4 - What projects have I volunteered for?
5 - How have I made my boss' work easier?
6 - How have I assisted my colleagues?
7 - How have I expanded my work load since I undertook this job? What new tasks and responsibilities have I undertaken?
8 - What additional assignments was I given?
9 - If I left this job tomorrow, what legacy would my colleagues say I left?
10 - What qualities do my co-workers regularly say I have?

There are many more questions that you could ask yourself to tease out those all-important accomplishments, but those are a start.

There are two more steps to take to fully own those accomplishments.

Starting from your initial list of accomplishments, do this: write down the talents and qualities you exhibited in EACH accomplishment. If you streamlined the purchasing process for office products, your talents might be: Organization; Detail-orientation, Systems-thinking, etc. Your qualities might be: Initiative; Cost-savings orientation; Efficiency and so forth.

Once you have a list of talents and qualities, you'll notice something interesting.

Many talents and qualities will repeat themselves in the accomplishments. This becomes your KEY TALENT and QUALITIES list. In other words, these attributes are what you bring to the table.

You can now claim them as your unique Value-Add.

And you MUST know your value in order to feel confident about the kind of contribution you wish to make in your career. BUT, if you hide your light by not claiming what you do well, by not letting people know about you, you may be missing the very opportunity that may lead to you being considered for that great position.

In my experience, most people don't suffer from too much self-aggrandizement; they suffer from too little self-acceptance and recognition of the fullness and reality of what they have to offer and what they have accomplished. In other words, they play too small, not too big.

So, if you are not used to owning your talent and level of contribution, you may never have the self-confidence it takes to move forward boldly in the direction of a meaningful career, whether in the context of something you are doing right now, or by creating something you've always wanted to create in order to experience your life purpose and work purpose being one.

There are many problems to be solved in the world. That's the opportunity. And if you have the interest, the passion AND the talent and qualities needed to solve those problems, why don't you?

By identifying and owning what you bring to the party, and how those gifts can address the needs you see, you will have taken a giant step forward in moving toward that Dream Career.

So don't play small. Don't pretend you're less than you are.

Stand up. Let your light shine. You'll be amazed at how easily your dream career, along with profound career satisfaction, will enter your life.

As the quotation above says, "Be what you must be." And I would add, be it fully.

2.Sales and Marketing Jobs: The Fastest Path to Corporate Success

The founder and CEO of a successful group of companies believe that the key rule in sales and marketing success is education. That is why you go through the long years in school, work your hardest to earn your sales and marketing degree and prepare yourself to head out to the competitive sales and marketing "real" world.

Many people have the impression that sales and marketing are one and the same. While the there is a direct, significant correlation between the two, they are also significantly different. Marketing is about reaching and persuading prospective customers to avail of your products and services. Sales, on the other hand, is the process of sealing the deal through a signed contract or an availed product or service. Without marketing, you would not have prospective customers what it is you are selling. Yet, without sales, your daily closing income would be depressing. To put it simply, marketing only matters if it is, at the end of the day, converted into sales. There is a continuous cycle between marketing and sales, and you must be able to understand it in order to be successful in the field.

It is but natural for new graduates to want to land a job that would hasten their way up to success. Many of them believe it is the graduate marketing and sales job they are aspiring for that could bring them to that desired disposition. Graduate jobs in sales and marketing are the fastest path for college graduates to corporate success. The reason for this is simply because both sales and marketing jobs are people-orientated.

Marketing plans are important to a business' success. The weight of this responsibility is typically carried on the shoulders of college graduates who occupy marketing positions. Most fresh graduates start out as marketing agents in various firms. But because the job responsibilities challenge you to produce results, which come in the form of sales, you are trained and continue to develop the skills necessary for you to understand your customers and prospects. Those skill will keep the company moving in the direction that would meet the needs of your target market.

On the sales front, you should learn how to treat every customer like royalty. Relieve the customer of any obstacle in order to make things easier for him or her. Remember that a single obstacle might cause him or her doing business with you. Because of today's highly competitive markets, it is very difficult to acquire and retain loyal customers. You have to keep giving them what they want and, at the same time, do so in the most pleasing and professional manner. Sales professionals continuously learn how to read their customers in order to provide better service. They develop some kind of passion for winning their customers and understand how they think and why they buy.

It is important to note, however, how imperative it is for sales and marketing professionals to allow their target clientèle to take the lead. Instead of offering new products and services that are not necessary to the prospects and customers, they should offer instead things that will provide genuine solutions. Knowing your target market needs will get you a long, long way.

Those who are able to come up with intelligent marketing strategies as well as those who are able to significantly raise the company's closing rate will definitely be recognized. This success does not come without the individual's constant willingness to learn new things and continuously develop the skills they already possess. Those attributes are the things that companies are looking for in every employee. Having those capabilities will definitely get you recognized and promoted in the long run.

Many people believe that the motivation that drives sales and marketing individuals has to do with the commissions companies usually offer when reaching a specific quota. While this is partly true, the more significant motivation has to do with the fact that these individuals are simply dealing and committing to other people. As already stated above, sales and marketing is all about people. Sales and marketing jobs require the individual to deal with people everyday. With the training that you gained from school and the company you work for, the skills you learn everyday and the passion you develop for your job, is what makes a real difference to your clients and to your overall success.

Being successful in sales and marketing may come relatively faster than other careers, but it still requires time and practice. If you commit yourself, keep an open mind, learn from your mistakes and be patient, your success will follow shortly.