Career Resolutions You Can Live With

By: Susan Finco, President, Leonard & Finco Public Relations

2013. It’s here. So is the time for New Year’s resolutions. But resolutions aren’t just for your personal life; it’s always good to have a few for your professional life as well. Coming up short on ideas? Let me suggest a few: 

• Continue your education. Don’t get so complacent in your work that you aren’t interested in seminars, presentations or classes that offer an opportunity to expand your horizons and learn new skills.  
• Learn/understand new technology and media platforms. I cringe when I hear someone in our business state:  “I don’t really know much about (insert social media platform here) and since it will probably be out of date in no time, why learn about it?” Yes, I’ve actually heard people utter similar statements. Even if you don’t use the particular new technology or new media platform in question you SHOULD, in the very least, know about them. 
• Network. It pays to network. Networking can be a huge boost to your career and profile. In the PR biz, networking is essential for professional growth and it comes in handy for your clients as well. It’s fun to pair up two clients who need each other’s services or talents. 
• Be personable: Smile and say thank you. We’re all rushed these days, but these two things are easy to do and take very little time. When you’re smiling, it puts people at ease. My husband, who’s an engineer/educator, started to deliberately smile when students looked up from their lab work. He says it has made a world of difference in students being willing to ask for help or ask questions. Makes sense. You’d rather interact with someone who’s friendly than someone who just stares at you or looks grumpy.  As for saying thank you; it’s something we don’t do enough. It’s kind of like smiling……it makes people feel good and makes them know they’re appreciated.

So what are your professional resolutions this year? What resolutions in the past turned out to be really helpful to your career. Love to hear what you think.