How Counterintuitive Thinking Can Help Your Career
Many employees are interested in taking their career to another level, but simply use the wrong tactics to make it happen. Here we look at how counterintuitive thinking can help.
Focus on specific skills
There’s a belief in needing to be a ‘jack of all trades’. Whilst having a huge range of skills can certainly be beneficial, in reality, staff are far more likely to advance their careers by excelling at a smaller number of tasks.
You need to highlight to your employer the unique element you bring to the team. Staff are worth more when they have a monopoly on a particular skill. Focus on this and become indispensable.
Move on
It’s a good idea not to stay in the same place for too long. It’s still believed that loyalty will be rewarded - and in general, it will, but bigger and better opportunities may be found further afield.
According to human resources experts Chapple, moving not only allows you to climb the career ladder faster, it can also net you 50% more in terms of salary increase.
Take your annual leave entitlement
Some workers feel that they can make a good impression by working every single day that they can. While this may impress some managers, it’s not a long-term success strategy.
Put in too many hours and you can find yourself stressed and less productive. Taking your holiday entitlement is key to you functioning at a good level.
This is just as applicable for those who work remotely. Jon Baggot, Director of Numeric Accounting clears this up: “Remote working – either at the request of employers or on personal preference – does not affect holiday pay. You still accrue and are entitled to the same level of holiday when you work remotely”
Don’t be the perfect team player
Being a great team player is seen as a strong positive, but it can quite often pay to only be a team player when you need to be. Being selfish isn’t a positive trait but placing emphasis on self-promotion also has a part to play in your career path.
“Contrary to popular belief, being promoted at work doesn’t just depend on how well you perform,” says Laura Izquierdo, writing for Medium “whether or not you receive a promotion is influenced by your supervisor’s subjective perception of your ‘promotability.’ Their perception is heavily influenced by how you behave, specifically, on how well you self-promote yourself.”
Ask a lot of questions
Regularly asking colleagues for clarity or assistance makes you look like you don’t know as much as everyone else, right? Wrong. It’s far better to ask questions at work when you need to understand something, rather than looking smart but not actually knowing the answer.
Even at a high level there is always more to learn - and it will be better for your career if you can learn proactively.