How do you know if you’re ready- is something we all need to think about. It might be as simple as being ready to leave the house each day, with your keys, handbag and phone. The type of ready that I want you to think about is being ready for your career.
When we are starting out, or old pros, we will still be having new experiences and making new connections. Being as ready as we possibly can, will make the difference between a success or failure of an event, piece of work, or even your mental state.
In film (my day job is a production manager) if I haven’t prepared and got everything ready before every one descends onto the set, it affects not just me, but an entire film crew. I want you to image that your actions also have an affect on the people around you.
So what do we need to do?
You may be a solo-entrepreneur, or freelancing and carrying your work around to new clients, or trying to make the first steps up the creative career ladder. You are not alone. Each interaction that you have to move your career forward has an impact on how people work with you, remember you, and whether they want to hire you again.
Now I’m not trying to get you to panic so that you over analyse each action you make! What I want you to do is to remember to also look at the small stuff. It is the small stuff like ordering business cards, getting our newsletter out, working out the best route to our interview, or whether you have left enough time to complete the work, that we tend to leave till last. These things can actually have a huge effect.
In the podcast below I explain why it is important to sort the small stuff, and why you need to be ready for your creative career, and how to do it.
If you don’t have a career plan, it makes it hard to you know where you are going. Where do you want your career to be in three years time? Tell me your vision in the comments below, and let’s see if we can help you on your journey.
If you need a bit of help to get a plan or talk through your goals, you can find out about CWI mentoring here: MENTORING