Lifelong learning is a vital ingredient for success

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SAGE ADVICE: Mosima Selekisho says it is crucial that graduates keep learning after landing jobs to acquire relevant experience to stand better chances of rising up the ranks.

Mosima Selekisho

You’re young, ambitious and have just started your first job after nailing the interview.

Your educational qualifications seemed to help and you were smart to make yourself presentable and prepare for obvious questions from your employer.

This is where the hard work begins. If you thought getting a job was tough, try keeping it and using the position as a springboard to promotion and meaningful career development.

Before going to work on your first day, look in the mirror.

Check that your head is on right because your attitude and way of thinking will determine whether you grow your career or blow it.

Learn one employment statistic off by heart before you even start: by the end of 2010 in the aftermath of the global financial crisis our economy had shed more than one million jobs.

There were graduates among those casualties.

Many of the newly unemployed had qualifications as good as yours, some even better.

They all had more on-the-job experience than you do.

Market volatility may return. Your challenge is to identify yourself as an asset to be retained and further developed.

There are no guarantees, but some behaviour is helpful while some is not.

Here are some tips to help you “behave yourself” all the way to the top (based on feedback from successful executives who shared information on their development):

You’re there to learn as well as earn – Don’t think that because you’ve finished university or high school you’ve finished learning. To earn big you must learn big. Start in learning mode from Day One.

Ask questions and indicate to colleagues and your superiors that you are eager to learn. Show you are fascinated by the workings of your company and department (even if you see it merely as a stepping stone to other things).

Train more to gain more – check on training and development opportunities. Find out the criteria for programme inclusion.

Your immediate superior or human resources department may provide the information.

But things change. New modules may be introduced. Make sure you stay in the know.

Lifelong learning is vital for those yearning for success – in addition to formal training and participation in development courses it is advisable to absorb further knowledge.

Read widely.

Also read about your industry, new trends and technology.

Mentors are great helpers – many companies have formal mentoring processes to ensure knowledge is passed from experienced personnel to newcomers. Participation can fast-track you to greater responsibility or speed up your rotation into other parts of the business.

If no formal mentoring programme exists you can identify your own informal mentor – a knowledgeable individual who gets things done.

Try to learn from skilled practitioners. Polite questions will encourage this role model to share how-to information.

Humility highlights your suitability – arrogance is career-limiting. You may be a graduate. You may have won prizes at school. Your family and friends may look up to you.

But don’t make the mistake of thinking this qualifies you for advancement. Practising humility is a better way of demonstrating your suitability for greater responsibility. Listen to peers and superiors.

Don’t be in a hurry to give your opinion. Express an opinion when it is requested or necessary, but don’t speak at length, you will deny others a chance to contribute.

Conduct yourself in a respectful manner at all times.

Do more to stand out more – going the extra mile is essential if you wish to impress those in a position to help you.

Volunteer for some assignments, and not just the ones that bestow prestige.

Try to widen your experience by working in other areas of the business when you can.

Volunteering for a task outside your area of responsibility is a good way of doing this.

Qualifications hardly qualify you – lifelong learning, development programmes, further degrees and post-graduate diplomas are wonderful, but experience is still king.

Build a track record little by little, year after year. You can’t buy experience. You live it. Don’t imagine you will reach a senior position in a few months. It takes years. Commit to the long haul.

You’re only best by test – you may think your experience and qualifications are good. You may even be earmarked for promotion, but you don’t have a divine right to advancement.

Many companies measure an insider’s suitability for promotion by pitting him/her against an external candidate.

The insider has to be at least as good as the outsider.

So remember, there are lots of good people out there. Make sure you are best by test against the rest. One way of doing this is by applying all of the above.

l Mosima Selekisho is a director of Talent Africa, a provider of integrated talent solutions and leadership development.