Own your career: NOTHS career panel insights

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While there are so many positives to working remotely (#nocommute), one of the big negatives that comes with the work-from-home lifestyle is certainly the lack of ‘learning through osmosis’. Many of us can say without question that we’ve developed in our own careers by watching how people interact in the office, approach challenges with work, talk about their day or even hark back to a valuable piece of advice they were once given by a brilliant boss or colleague.

So in a bid to recreate that while teamNOTHS continues to work remotely, we’ve implemented bi-monthly career panels — that give everyone the chance to hear from people across the business, and pick up some valuable nuggets of advice that will help them to think about what they want from their own careers.

This week, we heard from our wonderful Customer Service Manager, David Doherty, and our brilliant CEO, Claire Davenport — and in the spirit of giving, we thought we’d share some of the insights from the discussion our team found most helpful.

Here are some of the top things that came out of yesterday’s discussion, we hope some of them will help you too!

Bring yourself to your job interviews … and then to your job: Both Claire and David told stories about how approaching job interviews as themselves — answering authentically or bringing their sense of humour to the conversations — helped them land at least one of their key roles. Sometimes, if everyone answers questions in a plain vanilla way, it’s your personality that makes you memorable or likeable. Prepare, but be yourself. Because then you know that the person they hired and expect is the person they want and feel can add value

Everyone plans their careers differently: You don’t have to have your whole life mapped out to get to where you want. While both Claire and David had very different approaches starting out — both have developed fulfilling careers.

A job can turn into a career: Even if you don’t know what you want to do, a job can teach you just where your interests lie, and show you just how your character fits in the world of work, so you’re better able to figure out where your career lies.

• If you have a ‘dream’ future job look carefully at the skills you need to get you there. Take different roles to help you broaden your skill set — or find opportunities to take on extra responsibilities in your current role.
• Taking calculated risks is important, but if you make a misstep you don’t need to stay stuck — anyone can make a move they regret, but those moments are just as valuable as finding your perfect job. Be objective in figuring out why it’s not right for you, and take time to spot the transferable skills you’ve picked up that could help you win the perfect job next time around.
• While it’s not always immediately obvious ‘what’s next’ you can find career inspiration everywhere you look. Observe friends and family, leaders and colleagues in your business, attend courses or events.

You have a right to speak up — in the way that works best for you (AKA, imposter syndrome is in your mind alone!): While there are plenty of times when listening and learning is the right thing to do, there will inevitably be moments when you find yourself thinking ‘I know this’, or ‘why haven’t they thought of this?’ — and in those moments know you have as much right as anyone else to speak up, regardless of where you are in your career.

For many people, the thought of speaking up in a meeting or conversation will fill them with horror — so find other ways to make yourself heard, whether that’s pulling someone to one-side as a meeting ends, sending an email to them, or chatting to your manager. You have as much right to put your ideas forward as anyone.

There might be times when what you say isn’t quite right, but you’ll be remembered for caring enough to make a suggestion or a comment — and you could learn more about a project or way of working too, all things that can help you progress in your career.

Your background does not dictate how successful you will be in your career: What you studied and where you studied, or where you grew up doesn’t dictate where you will end up. Both Claire and David faced prejudice from people who said that they didn’t expect them to do a certain career or job with their background. Obviously this didn’t turn out to be true. In some cases this just spurred them on. Don’t listen to the doubters who might, for their own reasons, want to put you off trying a career you feel you would like to pursue. And when you succeed, make sure you bring others up behind you — eg do a career panel and pass on your tips!