How does professional skills help to succeed in career
Professionalism is the quality that differentiates a professional from the rest in the crowd. This article explains how a professional attitude helps in career development and a list of top professional skills essential for helping career reach new heights.
Who is a professional?
There are professionals in every profession in every sector. There are also numerous people working in every field. What differentiates professionals from others? Every employee cannot be called a professional. Qualifying for the job itself will not be enough for that employee to be called a professional. Professionals are the ones who possess a skillset that help them in behaving like professionals. What is professionalism?
Professionalism is the quality that a professional possesses. It is not just restricted to finishing the assigned work without missing deadlines, but also, doing it with perfection. It is carrying out everything everywhere with excellence. A professional always owns up everything, i.e., he feels that he is responsible and accountable for his work and thereby comes perfection. He outshines others because of the accountability he owns rather than playing blame games with others. Professionalism does not only means working with perfection but also means behaving and interacting effectively. When a professional speaks, behaves or works, there is only one thing in the mind, and that is to remain productive. This attitude prevents wastage of time, resources and energy.How does it affect career development?
If a person wishes to secure the highest position early in life, professionalism is the most important requirement. There may be numerous employees working in the organization on the assigned work. Everyone might be doing their best in completing the tasks given to them. However, the ones equipped with professionalism can handle the work more efficiently irrespective of the type of work pressure they experience. They lend their 100% support to everyone. Their behaviour itself makes them stand out from the rest of the crowd.
Not only at the workplace, even during the recruitment process, the recruiters always prefer the candidates with soft skills and the ones who behave strictly professionals instead of them who show a casual attitude. The professional attitude of the candidate shows that he/she is serious about the job. It shows their interest to put in their 100% if the job is given to them. Thus, whether the aim is to secure a job or reach the highest position in the organization at the earliest, a person has to learn professional skills.The behaviour of professionals in an office environment
Every candidate who would like to succeed in a career should be able to be moldable enough to adjust to the working environment. Young students after finishing their colleges while enrolling in a job do find it difficult to adapt. Even those candidates with enough work experience after switching their jobs find it difficult to adjust to the new working environment. Every job has its requirement, and those candidates who cannot mould themselves as per the requirement and adapt to it are at loss. Being adaptable is one of the top professional skills required in an individual. It means that he is ready to mould himself and learn whatever the job offers. Those who are not open to change are always are at a loss as they miss out on the learning process. A professional will never complain and will never have such issues. He is always ready to blend in every work environment he is employed to. He listens to different perspectives of others in the company. He does not experience the work pressure and does not complain about it as he can change the workflow. Therefore, he contributes in the way that is demanded and expected from him.Why are they good at organizing?
Professionals are good at organizing because they know how to supervise and lead their team as well as they know how to plan everything well without wasting any time.
In any organization or workplace, togetherness is a necessity. Despite competitive spirit and urge to succeed, working together as a team can help the organization to flourish. Those who cannot adjust with others are not preferred in a team. Professionals know what is best for the organization and thus, knows how to work along with others. Apart from that, they know how to lead others. Leadership qualities are rare. Not every person can lead others. Those who have it do not even know that they possess it. Leadership quality is present in professionals, and they know how to use it to manage and supervise the team. They use their quality to motivate others to overcome hurdles and offer advice wherever necessary. Also, this kind of captaincy is liked by everyone. Thus, the team respects such professionals in contrast to a person who is a dictator and only knows how to criticize and judge on every step. Employers in today's modern world prefer such professionals who can motivate and guide the team.
Professionals know what is coming in their way, and thus, they can plan everything well ahead. They do prevent the severity of the issue by planning. Unlike other individuals, they believe in working in an organized manner. They value time and know-how to manage it. They stick to the timetable, and that is the reason they never miss on deadlines. They prioritize the things, and thus, they can complete every task within the required time with perfection. Those who rush to complete their work at the last moments miss out on deadlines. Even if they do complete it, the work will not meet the required standards. A professional therefore learn to differentiate most important works from least important ones. The ones which have to be completed early get completed first and those less important will be dealt with later. Ranking the tasks, and working in an organized manner are the unique skills that professionals possess which help them to advance in their career. Also, in today's multitasking world, these skills help a lot.Professional skills valued in the work environment
Not every employee can make a choice when the problem arrives. Most of them get confused and seek guidance from others. It is usually professionals who do not run away from the problems and know when to make a verdict. They have that power, and that is why they can easily solve the conflicts. It is the reason that in every organization or company, professionals who have such enormous understandings are needed. A professional with judging ability knows the options available in front of him. All he does is brings out all the options and choose the best out of them after careful evaluation. What distinguishes professionals from other candidates working in the same environment is that professional looks for options and solutions, whereas others only concentrate on the problems. Since the attention of a professional is towards finding solutions, he will surely find one. Whereas others will not be able to decide as their focus is on the problem. They do not use their critical thinking ability in such situations.
Every professional thinks, and analyze before presenting the answer. Usually, employees working in the same office or sector offer solutions randomly. Their answers are neither logical nor are of any benefit in solving the problem. If their ideas are implemented, the company can suffer huge losses due to the implementation of non researched ideas. On the other hand, a professional employee will never give solutions which are illogical and irrelevant. He will take his time and research the possibilities present, and after analyzing everything, he will come up with a presentation. If a candidate aims to excel in the work field, he should learn this quality of conducting researches and analyzing the way professionals do. When supervisors or a company head sees this kind of ability in candidates, they prefer such professionals in the work area because of their ability of assessment. Therefore, they promote them to higher positions with greater responsibilities.How do good social skills affect a career?
Every professional should be good at dialogue. It does not only mean that he should be able to interact and mingle well with others with good command over the language, but it also means that he should be good at listening and writing too. When an individual is a good speaker, listener and writer, only then it can be told that he is good at social skills. After shortlisting resumes, when candidates are called for interviews, it is the first thing interviewers will notice before employing. The way he interacts and writes and listens are evaluated from the beginning. Not only cover letters but an email of a professional and that of a layman will be very different from each other. The one which is sent by a professional will have the touch of professionalism in it. The employees who excel in such skills are promoted way earlier than those who lack these skills. If social skills are not good, no matter how good the idea is, it cannot be sold. Of what good the idea will be if it cannot be brought to reality? A professional who excels in it is valued and respected by everyone in the organization. It is the reason that in most of the organizations, these professionals are being preferred as representatives of the organizations or firms.
A good article from the author. Professional skills are really important for a person to be successful in his career. Simply working for many years will never make you a professional in the area of your work. To become a professional an in-depth knowledge, logical thinking and adapting to the situation are very important. Many of us will try to express ourselves before others so that we will get recognized as a professional. But a good professional should hear what others say. He should not hear to differ but he should hear to understand. Understanding the point of view of others and evaluating the various options available with a good solution would make you a professional. Thinking always that our views are correct and forcing them on others will never be called professionalism. A true professional should be able to drive his point to others without showing his supremacy but highlighting the merits of his points. A professional should be a good leader. He should lead from the front and set an example to others. Showing our position and power and asking others to obey our orders will never be good for a professional. A professional will be a guide to the juniors and properly guide them without affecting their egos and making them understand the merits of his points.