4 Early Career Keys to Success

Upon graduating, I thought I knew it all. I thought my Bachelors in Marketing and MBA had provided me with the necessary tools to be successful. While those degrees allowed me to establish credibility in the industry, I have quickly realized that it takes more than just a degree to be successful. The experience and insight I have already gained has taught me invaluable lessons that I think all Millennials could benefit from when they first enter the workforce. Here are my 4 Early Career Keys to Success:

1. Find a Side Hustle

For those who may not know, a side hustle is something extra that you do outside of your everyday job. It may be taking up a new language, working part time, or starting your own business. Why side hustle? I believe it presents an opportunity to invest in your future and to follow your passions.

A side hustle is ideal at the early stages of your career when you have the most time to pursue your goals. It allows you to take that passion and hard work you have invested, and hopefully turn it into your full-time career. A side hustle will ultimately allow you to try new things, force you to move you out of your comfort zone, and keep you from becoming complacent. The more skills you can obtain at the early stages of our career, the more valuable you become in the future.

2. Continuously Work On Your Personal Brand

Who are you? What makes you who you are? Why should you be hired? Just as companies strive to build strong brands, we as individuals must be doing the same thing. Without realizing it, you have been working on your own personal brand for years.

Start by asking your parents, your best friends, or your co-workers to describe you and that should give you a good idea of how you are perceived. Ask yourself, “What am I doing to promote that brand?” because it is all about making a conscious effort to develop your brand. You want to strive for genuine ways to demonstrate to others why they should think highly of you or even go as far as to recommend you.

Things that you value and are passionate about should be prevalent in your personal brand because those are the things that make you stand out amongst others. Your brand will follow you everywhere you go, and the sooner you identify your brand the sooner you will be on your way of achieving your personal goals.

3. Be Hungry to Learn

If you believe that graduating means that you are done learning, you must change that mentality! You have only hit the tip of the iceberg when it comes to knowledge. There are so many opportunities available to learn new things and the more skills that you possess, the more valuable you will become. In the past 4 months, I have never found myself reading and learning more than I am now.

Whenever I can, I read articles and books about social media, listen to podcasts, and have even found myself learning to code. I have become hungry for knowledge because the opportunities are limitless. Knowledge can be a powerful tool and everybody is willing to offer it, we just must be willing to listen and learn from it.

4. Follow Your Passions

I believe this is one of the most important Keys to Success. I have quickly seen that people who are following their passions get more out of their work experiences. If you love what you do, you won’t work a day in your life. So many people have been able to follow their passions and turn it into a successful career (hint, hint…side hustle). Just because you have a specific degree does not mean you have to sit behind a desk all day and do exactly what that degree says.

A degree was meant to give you a direction, provide exposure, and a framework into what you think you may be interested in. Following your passion also allows for a healthier work life because you will be able to avoid all the negativity that comes with disliking your job. In the end, YOU are the one who determines how far you go. And if you are truly passionate for what you do, the sky’s the limit.

So what can you do from here? It starts with identifying that these keys allow for the opportunity to move forward in your career. Creating an action plan on how you plan to achieve each one of these keys would be a great start.

For example, a schedule of how much time you will devote to your side hustle or learning something new. As these keys become integrated into your everyday life, you will soon find them becoming a part of your daily ritual. Every single morning I remind myself that my ultimate goal is to be successful, and striving to make these keys a part of my daily life is going to help me get there.