Once you land your first job after college, your next immediate concern is how to become successful in your career. The world has become so competitive, and doing well in your job and moving forward with your career is of the essence. Career advancement and recognition are among the goals of most professionals, but what makes a professional exceptional? The simple answer is a willingness and a strong passion for performing well. Once you have the desire and the right mindset, you can start climbing the ladder.

Learn from these ten secrets to career success and how to excel at work.

Take initiative

Career requirements nowadays are highly refined and require someone willing to take risks. The career landscape is highly competitive nowadays, and employers are looking for people who can bring fresh ideas to the table and take the initiative, launch new projects, pitch new ideas, and generate new opportunities for the business.

Be your own critic

Continuously assessing yourself is one of the best ways to achieve career success. So don’t wait for your annual appraisal to evaluate your performance – go ahead and do it yourself by identifying quantifiable goals and setting a timeline for when you want to achieve them.

When you’re new to a job, start by setting short-term goals, and come up with a comprehensive plan on how to achieve these goals. Break the tasks down into weekly or even daily tasks. At the end of the week, assess where you’re headed and if your strategy is working.

You may want to show your own performance report to your managers at some point for them to see how you’ve progressed. By doing this, you are letting your managers know that you value the importance of constant self-appraisal and improvement.

Be ready to learn

Connect to recruiters
A willingness to learn is vital to succeeding in any career. Even if you graduated from a good university or had excellent grades, know professional life is very different from college. Be prepared to deal with the million questions that will pop up every day regarding what you’re doing.

It might take you days to get accustomed to your duties at your new post, so show the management that you are willing to be coached, and that you pay attention and are always ready to learn new things.

Anticipate needs

To gain success in your new job and your career, be well aware of your manager’s needs. Be a step ahead by putting yourself in his or her shoes and think about what to do next. By efficiently getting things done in time and taking the initiative to do them, you will be showing the management that you have that positive, go-getter attitude.

Communicate well

Communication is crucial to the success of every employee and organization. If your manager needs to ask you for a status report, it can show that you’re not doing everything you could be doing. Proactively communicate with them, letting them know when a task is done, and informing them of what needs to be done next.

Set goals to achieve

Managers don’t pay employees for working hard or staying busy. What your employer cares about is how you’re contributing to the fulfillment of the company’s missions and short term and long term goals.

Therefore, always remember that you’re being paid to deliver on clearly defined goals that have a significant positive impact on the company’s performance and overall mission and vision. Having this kind of goal-oriented mindset will help you achieve success in your career, no matter where you are on the corporate ladder.

Show, don’t tell

In all aspects, action is far greater valued than mere words. Use this as a principle in all your transactions at the office. Instead of bragging about all the things you can do but never actually delivering, put it into action and show the management the things you are capable of accomplishing.

Gain trust

Widen your skillset
Gaining your management’s trust is one essential tip to ensuring success when you start a new job. When you earn your boss’s trust, they’ll have less to worry about and more time to spend on other pressing matters.

If your boss sees that you are trustworthy, they’ll be at ease with giving you responsibilities. Make sure to meet your deadlines and keep your words. Gaining your boss’ trust is crucial, especially early on in your relationship, so do your best to fulfill every commitment you make, no matter how difficult it may seem.

Create solutions

Many employees tend to turn their issues into their manager’s problems. Be the solution provider instead of a problem creator. The best employees are those who can solve problems. If you don’t have the final say on an issue related to your work or department, then make sure to offer solutions and insights to your boss and try to help as much as you can with utmost sincerity.

Be compassionate

Being an exceptional employee entails being compassionate and understanding towards your manager and fellow employees, and believing that they all are doing their best. An outburst of temper is not going to do anyone any good, and neither will constantly complaining about your workload. At the end of the day, all of you are doing your fair share of work that you’re getting paid for.

In many ways, achieving career success is less about what you are doing, and more about how you are doing it. The tips above are easy to apply no matter what field or industry you belong to. Keeping these ten career success secrets in mind will help you excel in your career, regardless of your career path, and no matter where you are on the corporate ladder.

If you are looking to jumpstart a successful new career, Watkins and Associates can help you! We are a highly-recognized executive placement firm in Texas that specializes in providing career opportunities in industries like Commercial and Investment Banking, Accounting, Energy Services, Engineering, and Financial Services.

Give us a call at 713.334.4342 or send us an email at [email protected] to snag that dream post and achieve career success in no time.