1. Are you Successfully Managing Your Career? www.icatt.net page 1
Are you Successfully Managing Your Career?
Answers to Most of your Career Questions
By Linda Campbell, Caitlin Chase, Luise Smith, and Gabe Hamda
ICATT Consultants
Executive Summary
Are you successfully managing your career? Your career is simply a fancy word for your
work-life. You spend most of your life doing, thinking about, talking about, worried about,
bragging about or excited about your work-life. In this article, we will answer some
pressing questions about your career (or your work-life). Key actions you may take to
successfully manage your career include: reflecting on your values, articulating your
career goal, ensuring you select your employer who matches your goals and values,
positioning yourself to be selected as a top choice job candidate, securing an equitable
compensation, turning your boss and your colleagues into your fans, positioning yourself
for advancement and becoming a thought leader to make a difference to your world.
Upon contemplating our questions and answers, we are certain you will develop your
own blue print for your career success.
Whether you are looking for your first professional career or you are in between jobs or you are
looking to advance from your current job or you are at the height of your career, managing your
career success takes a good portion of your energy. As you deliberately manage your career, here
are questions you are likely to ask yourself and responses for your consideration.
1. Who really needs to manage their career?
YOU really need to manage your career regardless of your accomplishments. Career management is
for people at entry-level, mid-career level, as well as for those at an advanced career stage. Of
course, career management needs vary at the three aforementioned stages. Those at entry-level
require basic skills in resume writing and interviewing to secure career entry positions. Those at mid-
level require skills that help them get promoted such as work ethic, workplace savvy and networking.
Those in advanced stages need skills in career fulfillment and thought leadership.
2. What are your life values?
Managing your career makes more sense when you know what you value in life. You discover your
values by connecting the dots as you answer the following questions: What do you treasure in life?
What are you proud of accomplishing? What are your likes? What are you mostly concerned about?
What fascinates you the most? What makes you happy? Some examples of personal values include:
social justice, sustainable environment, artistic beauty, athletic expressions, ministering to people in
need, creating jobs, making lots of money, inventing new products. By discovering your values, your
career decisions and actions become much smoother to navigate.

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3. What is your career goal?
Which of these fit your career goal? A top researcher in health sciences? An award winning
comedian? An acclaimed photo journalist? A leading economist? A motivational speaker? A notable
bridge builder? A prolific computer programmer? A winning campaign manager? A respected public
safety officer? A distinguished public servant? A breakthrough astrophysicist. What else? We
encourage you to discover your career goal and articulate it.
4. What are some of the things you value in an employer?
There is no such thing as a perfect employer. Yet, employers whose values, organizational culture
and philosophy that match your own would come close to ideal. Thus, as you explore different
employers, look for their written value statement as well as their values in action. Some ways you
learn about an employer’s values are asking specific questions during job interviews or during
informational interviews. You may also learn values of an employer by talking to their employees and
customers. Above all, employers should value their employees. “Offering me opportunities to grow
keeps me interested in the job and shows that the organization is willing to invest in my
development,” states Linda Campbell, DD, CPBA, CPVA.
5. Why would an employer hire you?
Employers have several needs of their own. An employer’s general hiring need is to secure talent.
Specific needs for looking for talent include: hiring for creativity to solve unique problems, hiring for
fast learning ability to get in and help with workload, hiring for a team player to fit an existing high
performing team, hiring for specialist skills to work on special projects. “A prospective employer needs
to know that I can work effectively with a team and that I am capable of leading as well as following,”
testifies Luise Smith, MHR. Not all employers are alike or created equal. Thus, investigate unique
needs of potential employers. How do you learn the unique needs of the employer you are targeting?:
visit the employer’s web site, search news releases, talk to current employees, listen for clues during
interviews, ask recruiters and hiring managers.
6. What is a winning resume?
A resume is one of the most critical self-marketing tools and the right one is sure to land you your
dream career. Some elements of a winning resume include:
• Career goal or objective – What do you want to be?
• Key words – summary of your expertise
• Language Accuracy – Ensure your resume is free of grammatical, typographical and
formatting errors
• Length of resume- must reflect the extent of your experience, yet be short and to the point
7. How does an interview contribute to landing a job of your choice?
An interview gives you the chance to display your qualifications to a potential employer. The employer
is looking for what you can offer the company and this encounter could certainly contribute to landing
a job of your choice. A successful interview would mean presenting your strengths and talents, being
knowledgeable about the company and its people, and dressing/acting professionally.
8. How does informational interview contribute to your success?
Remember, an informational interview is not the same as a job interview. In a job interview, the
recruiter/hiring manager drives the process. In an informational interview, you drive the process and it
is done at your request. An informational interview must focus on the following items:
• Culture of the organization
• Growth potential of the organization
• Hiring potential of the organization

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9. How do you secure an equitable compensation?
Discussion of compensation is the most sensitive part of the hiring process. Timing is very important
and it must come after you and the employer are in agreement about the match between your skills
and their needs. You are advised to handle this discussion with your utmost diplomacy. Here are
some discussion points to secure an equitable compensation:
• What is the budgeted range of the position?
• What does the total compensation constitute?
• What is the incentive process, if any?
• What is the growth potential, if any?
10. How does your online profile contribute to your personal brand?
Having a presence within social media and building your personal brand online have become key
elements of today's corporate world. If you’re not online, you may as well be invisible. “My online
profile (i.e. LinkedIn) contributes to my personal brand by listing my job titles, education and
competencies. Any potential employer that was to view it would get a comprehensive idea about my
professional vision and purpose, passions, and core strengths,” asserts Caitlin Chase, MA.
11. How do you position yourself for promotion?
Here are attributes that contribute to your promotion:
• Maintain a professional work ethic
• Work on your ability to solve problems
• Contribute beyond the call of duty
• Make several friends at work
• Help your boss succeed
• Do the best job you can, even when no one is looking!
12. How do you turn your colleagues into your fans?
• Know your colleagues (professionally, personally, values, priorities)
• Be helpful to your colleagues
• Look out for their interests
• Make your colleagues look good
• Compliment your colleagues when appropriate
13. How do you enlist your boss to be your ally?
• Know your boss (professionally, personally, values, priorities)
• Work on boss’s priorities
• Present issues coupled with potential solutions
• Help your colleagues. Remember, your boss is responsible for the entire team’s performance
14. How does mastering networking contribute to your career success?
Through the course of your life, you will come across thousands of people. Some may possess your
similar interests and goals, and be willing to help you pursue them. You must be able to leverage
these relationships to get those people to assist you. Though everyone possesses this skill (called
“networking”) to some degree, it is important to become proficient at it. The beauty of networking is
that it could contribute to your career success. It only takes one of the aforementioned relationships to
blossom and suddenly you are in a position you had sought. Remember:
• Always network, even when you are not looking for work
• Networking is a two-way street – help first before seeking help
• Networking is deepening and widening your friendships

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15. How do you turn career challenges into triumphant success stories?
Career challenges include: losing a job, conflict with co-workers, conflict with your boss, being
demoted. Yet, career challenges may really just be an opportunity to shine. Here is how you handle
career challenges:
• Embrace career challenges – do not fight them
• Be reflective of career challenges
• Articulate lessons learned from career and life challenges
• Share success stories
16. Are you ready to make a difference in your world?
Your world may be defined as your geographically based community, your community of practice,
your country, the universe and the world. Depending on your values and your career goal, you may
make a difference as a volunteer, a thought leader or by leading a movement or by inventing a new
solution that improves human qualify of life. Your volunteer activities my include offering your talents
in your community of practice, your district political party, your local place of worship, running for
political office, or helping with a homeless shelter. Volunteering is certainly an activity that makes a
big difference in your defined world. You may also make a difference by becoming a thought leader,
which includes writing/presenting professional papers featuring new ideas and new approaches in
your world. Leading a movement is tackling major societal issues by raising awareness, petition
drives, enlisting popular support, advocating change of laws of the land for societal benefit than for
self-interest.
Closing Remarks
An early stage of successfully managing your career may include learning how to successfully land a
good paying job to support your family. At mid-level career stage, managing your career is more
about positioning yourself for promotional opportunities through networking and enlisting the support
of your boss and colleagues. In an advanced stage, managing your career may take the form of
launching a campaign to become president of your national community of practice. At any stage,
career management is a worthy matter to become skillful in, regardless of where you choose to make
a difference,
Linda Campbell is Jacksonville Regional Vice President with ICATT Consulting, Caitlin Chase is
Orlando Regional Manager, Luise Smith is Executive Director Staffing, and Gabe Hamda is
President & CEO.
ICATT improves organizational performance through customized training, contract staffing and
system security. For more information about ICATT Consulting, please visit: www.icatt.net. For more
information about support you require, please contact us at training@icatt.net or call 888-501-6062.