Amp It Up

17Amp Up Your Career

You Are a Product

Are you happy with your upward progress in your career? Could you go faster? Probably. Most people manage their careers in a haphazard fashion, jumping from role to role as new opportunities pop up. Being more purposeful about your career can amp up your forward momentum. As a CEO who has hired thousands of people into very successful companies, I've seen plenty of careers take off but also a fair number of them go sideways. The most common reasons for career stagnation (or worse, self‐destruction) can be instructive.

As professional people, we are products. So try to product‐manage yourself. Develop your product through education, training, and experience. Your resume is your shingle. Buff and polish it. Make sure it carries some punch.

In this marketplace, the question isn't whether you're qualified; it's whether you're better qualified than other candidates. What makes for a desirable, compelling product? Or better yet, a mind‐blowing one? Here are my observations on the things you can do that will have the biggest impact on your career trajectory.

Education Matters Some …

A rigorous academic education is necessary to develop literacy, numeracy, and general capacities to learn, observe, and analyze. Employers need that foundation and typically require a four‐year degree. It's hard to enter the professional workplace without one, although some have and do fine. But this degree usually doesn't need to be from an elite, Ivy League, or ...