Basic Career Development Tools

In any sort of career, advancement through developing your skill set and knowledge will not only help you, but the overall company and business as well. Developing your skills and knowledge will increase your competence and credibility, all the while creating new opportunities for you to continue moving up the corporate ladder!

There are some basic career development tools that you can add to your professional development plan at any time that will greatly benefit you and your career path. We’ll discuss some of these pieces that you can add to your professional development plan right away!

Career Development Plan

Your career development plan can be different from your professional development plan. Your career plan might be for your current, specific job, while your professional development plan might be for your entire, overall career path. Either way, make sure you have at least one or the other to help give you some direction and ideas about your future career goals.

Emotional Management

Emotions affect nearly everything we do, whether we recognize it or not. With that in mind, it is important to recognize your own emotions and how they can affect your work. Noticing your emotions, emotional responses and things that trigger your emotions will help you navigate your workplace much better. Being aware of your emotions and certain situations that trigger them can help you plan around those situations.

Team Communication

Communication overall is always one of the best tools for your professional development plan. Furthermore, team communication can improve any workplace environment. Find out the best way to communicate with your own team by asking them. Do they respond best to emails or direct messages? Do they prefer sit down meetings or recorded messages? If any part of your team works remotely, take that into consideration as well to devise the best communication for your professional development plan.

Personality Tests

If you find yourself more in the planning stage of your professional development plan, a personality test might help give you some insight into parts about yourself you might not recognize or acknowledge. If you find yourself disliking the work you do, it may be worth taking a moment to take a personality test to understand yourself and your goals much better.

Career Testing

If you’re still curious and unsure about which industry or job you would ideally like to pursue, look for some career testing offered by some companies. Different companies offer these tests for you to take and find out which areas you like and would excel at. Not every company offers these tests, so keep an eye out for those that do. Even if you don’t plan to apply with a company that offers a test, it can still give you plenty of insight for your professional development plan.

Classes and Certifications

There are several classes and certifications available online that can further advance your professional development plan. These classes and certifications will add to your resume and experience to boost your credibility so that you are much more appealing to any position you might apply for.

More Tips from VOC Associates!

VOC Associates has a collection of resources and information to help you in the workplace! We have articles on different ways to advance your career and create new work opportunities for yourself.

Everyone wants to progress and move forward in their career. Creating new opportunities for yourself can be fun and exciting, especially if they lead to a better job or pay! Make sure you take advantage of everything you can do!

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