New Media - How to succeed and get ahead
You’ve got the job you always wanted and you have done it for a year or two. Now you are ready to take the next step and progress your career.
Try these ten tips for the best way forward:
Be innovative. New Media is one of the most creative and exciting sectors in the world. Working in New Media will require good ideas as well as sound business sense. Whatever tasks you do at work, always ask yourself could I do this better, could I do it differently. Use your imagination to come up with new ideas. But don’t be impulsive. Once you have an idea, test it out, reality-check it. Then bring it to the attention of your bosses.
Get noticed. Does your immediate boss or the leader of the team you would really like to work for know that you have aspirations? Many people stay in the same job simply because they don’t tell anyone that they want promotion. Rise to challenges and discuss your career prospects when you get a chance.
Recognise your skills and talents. Doing what you are good at, and what you enjoy is the key to making things work for you. Sit down at the end of the week and make a list of all the things you did that you enjoyed, and all the things you hated. Think about what you can do to make the negative tasks more enjoyable, and how to increase the number of positive tasks that you perform.
Be positive. Being filled with enthusiasm is going to get you further than slagging everyone off and complaining. Praise colleagues often, and count to ten before you grumble about something.
Be interested. Talk to others about what they do, show that you are interested. Participate in discussions whenever you can. Try to solve problems, suggest ideas, present different scenarios. If you are unable to participate, listen. The more you are seen to be involved in, the more your company will want to give you greater responsibility.
Show leadership. Put yourself forward when difficult things need to be done. When working in a team, be the one who provides the facts and makes the decisions. Don’t be put off by “yes, but” people. When you believe you are right highlight the reasoning behind your recommendations and encourage others to follow your lead. Be the person that others can contact to brainstorm ideas and recommendations.
Know your field. Keep up to speed with what is going on in the market that your company operates in. Check out competitors’ sites, when you go to trade fairs or conferences, get talking to people who work for other companies. Show your bosses that you too live and breathe the business you are in.
Be sensible. New media was hit very badly during the dot.com crash. Companies are looking for people with good business sense, as well as creativity. Don’t make a fool of yourself by appearing too enthusiastic about every new suggestion; show that you have your feet on the ground and are driven by commercial imperatives.
Stay involved. We all work too many hours and it’s easy to head off exhausted at the end of a long day. But the end of the day is often when the best working relationships are easily formed, when the shirkers have gone and the committed ones stay behind. Be available for a drink after work, or to hang around and help a colleague sort out that problem which is winding them up, and stopping them from going home themselves.
Put yourself forward. There are always things that nobody wants to do. Within reason, make yourself available to do them. But be careful. You don’t want to be the one who is always there to be dumped on. If you feel you should say no, don’t give an excuse. Make sure it is because you are doing something even more important.
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Career Energy is the leading careers consultancy in the UK. We work with individuals seeking to manage their careers more effectively and aspire to greater things. Tel: 0845 226 1616 email: info@careerenergy.co.uk