Do you have what it takes to MOVE your career to the next level?

About Jitendra Jain Jitendra Jain is the creator of The Talent Jungle, an informal hotel, hospitality and tourism school alumni network started in 2003. He is a Business Graduate (specialized in Tourism & Hospitality) from HTW Switzerland and also holds Swiss Higher, Indian and American Diplomas in Hotel Management, with specializations in Rooms Division Management, Food & Beverage Management and Human Resources Management. He is currently engaged with a Global Hotel company as an E-Commerce Manager.

CONTACTJitendra JainEmail: jj@thetalentjungle.com
ORGANIZATIONThe Talent Junglewww.thetalentjungle.com

This article found at:http://www.hospitalitynet.org/news/154000392/4028738.html
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Do you have what it takes to MOVE your career to the next level?
Jitendra Jain

Work – a word much used and abused, like the very act itself. A definition of the word “Work” offered by the dictionary – “Physical or mental effort or activity directed toward the production or accomplishment of something.” The thesaurus offers other alternatives…labor, employment, job, vocation, occupation, effort, labor, toil, drudgery…the list goes on…and so does the meaning of the word and the work we do.

Even the most passing scrutiny of the workplace will reveal a variety of workers and attitudes towards the work they do. What makes certain employees and workers stand out from the herd? What keeps them climbing the career ladder? What does it take to MOVE your career to the next level? From discussions with professionals and elementary observations, one will find these techniques common to most successful workers:

Market yourself
Open yourself up to change
Variety, variety, variety – Dare to be different
Extend your network

Market yourself – This is crucial to your career. Too often good workers get overlooked because they just didn’t market their abilities and achievements well enough, be it due to modesty, personality or cultural reasons. In today’s cutthroat and fast-paced business environment, it pays to make an impression, even if you have to facilitate the process yourself…gently, of course. Marketing yourself does not mean you have to turn into the office “strutter” or “the guy/gal with the big mouth” who everyone loves to hate…gentle observations to the right people about great results and accomplishments should do well enough.

Open yourself up to change – Another important factor to give you that edge you need. With the rapidly changing marketplace, business models, processes and technology, it is vital that you develop a can-do attitude and are open to change and learning. If you’re looking for that comfort zone in today’s business world, you simply won’t find it...not if you want to move ahead…and in the long run, even keep the same job. A short, mid and long-term plan for your personal development works superbly to complement your professional ambitions and growth as well as generating the required level of confidence to compete effectively.


Variety, variety, variety – Dare to be different - Ralph Waldo Emerson said “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” This doesn’t apply to products and services alone…but to you as well. Lack of confidence, knowledge or even fear tends to paralyze workers (even great ones) from being creative and standing out from the crowd. These creative and innovative differences can be as simple as the way you handle routine operations and make them more effective…to coming up with radical ideas and approaches to handle new and existing problems. It may not always be possible to be as ‘different’ as you’d like or do things you want to do differently, due to policies, management or just because the approach or time is not right…but having tried and being persistent in a positive manner will definitely turn some heads. If your vocation is something you love to do and you constantly build on your knowledge and skills, standing out and coming up with creative, different approaches and ideas becomes second-nature.

Extend your network – Technology may have made invaded the world and the boardroom, but the world is still run on decisions humans make. Therefore relationships and social networking warrant an appropriate amount of attention and care, to give you that added helping hand in moving your career forward. Building on healthy workplace relations and keeping in touch with your contacts and acquaintances goes a long way in cultivating that valuable network. Don’t commit the faux pas of only getting in touch with the people you know when you need something… and do be open to helping others when they need it. Online professional networking sites (e.g. LinkedIN, Ryze, Tribe.net, OpenBC, etc), e-tools and even your Outlook contacts database can keep you up-to-date on important dates and contact information you need to nurture your network. “Six degrees of separation” (anyone on Earth can be connected to any other person on the planet through a chain of acquaintances with no more than five intermediaries) may be just a hypothesis, but it’s a useful and plausible one, especially if it helps you improve the quality of your social and professional life.

Hope you enjoyed these observations and find some of them useful. Wishing you lots of luck and enjoyment taking control of your career and putting into effect the next MOVE that’ll see you where you want to be professionally!