5 Ways To Improve Your Career Prospects

By Carol Trehearn

According to a national survey, 85% of American workers are unhappy in their jobs. While many people might have started out with passion and enthusiasm for a role, the associated mundane tasks, limited opportunities, or an unpleasant working environment could have caused them to fall out of love with a career.

If this sounds similar to your circumstances, you should stop accepting a poor working life. As your job will take up a large percentage of your day, you must work hard to embrace a more rewarding role. If you're ready to do so, read these five ways to improve your career prospects.

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1. Gain the Right Degree

Grab a hiring manager's attention by taking the time to secure a superb degree, which will provide you with the skills and tools you need to flourish in almost any business. For example, you could create an impressive resumé by embarking on a business management course. Plus, if you pick business management courses distance learning, you'll be able to gain the accreditation 100% online and it can fit around your personal and professional life.

2. Improve Your Communication Skills

Strong communication skills are essential in every business and could help you land your desired career. It doesn't matter if you're sending an email, making a call, or talking face-to-face with a colleague or customer, you must be clear, confident, and friendly. You should also ask for feedback from your loved ones or co-workers regarding your communication skills, as you could appear pushy, passive, or too formal.

You also could review your past emails to gain an insight into your style. For example, are you clear and direct? Do your co-workers or clients seem to respond positively to your messages? Would you be happy to receive a similar email from a co-worker? Identifying your communication strengths and weaknesses could improve others' perception of you, which can help you to build stronger relationships and develop a positive reputation.

3. Volunteer

Volunteering can be an effective way to break into a new industry and grow your skillset. Plus, the experience could beef up your resumé and help you to stand out from the crowd of job applicants vying for a role.

What's more, volunteering at a non-profit or charitable cause will prove to an employer that you're a dependable, driven, and helpful individual, which are qualities they will likely look for in a candidate. If the above reasons aren't enough, you might find volunteering boosts your confidence and provides an opportunity to meet new people.

4. Beat Procrastination

Nothing can thwart your career quite like procrastination. If you're browsing social media over responding to important emails, or you're chatting to a co-worker over tackling a looming deadline, you could be hindering your performance at work.

If you don't want to look back on the year filled with regret, you must stop wasting your time and start focus on reaching your goals. Beat procrastination by:

• Writing a daily to-do list
• Logging out of all social media accounts on your device
• Turning off notifications on your phone
• Rewarding yourself after each task (for example, grab a coffee or eat your lunch)
• Eliminating distractions

Committing to your daily task list and setting times for completion will help you to overcome procrastination and improve your performance at work. You'll be more likely to impress your employer, who could consider you for a senior position at the company.

5. Learn a Language

Learning another language could improve your employability. As many companies will deal with international customers and clients, they will be more than happy to welcome a bilingual professional onto their team. Plus, learning another tongue will prove to a prospective employer that you are hard-working, have great attention to detail, and are committed to every task or challenge you undertake.

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A University of Chicago study also found that people who speak various languages are often more confident when making decisions, as they will think over a choice in a second language to see if they arrive at their initial conclusion.

Conclusion

There are various ways to improve your career prospects, such as gaining attractive accreditations, working on your communication skills, and learning another language. You also must commit to every task in the workplace, as well as your career goals, which means finding ways to overcome procrastination. If you follow the above tips, you can boost your performance, grow your skills, and become a more attractive candidate to a prospective employer.