A New Look at Your Career in the New Year
The New Year gives us new motivation to take a fresh look at our lives. One of the biggest areas ripe for improvement may be our careers. Are you ready to advance your career with CCA? A few of our leaders shared the following tips on how to gain professional traction at CCA.
1. Ask the right questions.
“Ask yourself, ‘What do I want to do?’ says Brian Collins, CCA executive vice president and chief human resources officer. "Once you figure out what your interest is, get focused on it and start learning. Create your own self-development process.”
“Ask a lot of questions and explore opportunities with other divisions and departments," recommends Tony Grande, CCA executive vice president and chief development officer. "This will give you a wealth of experience that will only make you more valuable to the company.”
“If you are not selected for a particular position, ask yourself, ‘Why was I not selected? Are there skills that I don’t have? What kind of improvements should I make?’” advises Ron Thompson, vice president, Operations (Business Unit I).
2. Bloom where you are planted.
“Approach your job as if it’s the only job you’re going to have for the rest of your life, and do it to the best of your ability.” says Harley Lappin, executive vice president and chief corrections officer.
“Stay focused on what you want to get done," instructs Collins. "Don’t get sidetracked by naysayers or people who continue to tell you negative things about your career prospects.”
“You need to take responsibility for your own career,” says Karen Sharpe, manager, Staffing. “Those who are doing an excellent job are the people who get promoted. It’s your responsibility to be ready for the next level. It’s not up to your warden or supervisor.”
3. Proactively improve yourself.
“Focus on getting better rather than being good," says Thompson. "Whatever position you’re in and however long you’ve held it, you can always do better.”
“Show up. Gain exposure to as many people in the company as you possibly can,” says Grande. “By showing up and being present, outside of the mandatory requirements of your job, you’re invariably getting additional exposure to the people who might one day want to work with you.”
4. Be conscious of your attitude.
“People who have a positive outlook – where you can see that they enjoy what they do – always stand out," says Lappin. "I think people just like working with people like that.”
“I don’t like 'yes' people,” says Collins. “If I get someone who is respectfully vocal and someone who is always agreeable, I’m going to pick the person who is respectfully vocal, because I know what I’m getting.”
5. Increase your value.
“It starts with always doing the right thing,” explains Thompson. “Be a trusted employee, with integrity that is never in question. Then, become valued through your knowledge. Become the expert so that your supervisors rely on you, and you become more highly valued than others.”
“I value self-directed people,” says Grande. “Ultimately, I like for someone to come to me and say, ‘Here’s the situation, here’s what we’ve done in the past, here are the conditions and circumstances, and here’s what I suggest we do.'”
“Get involved in things outside of your job description," suggests Sharpe. "Participate in a mentoring program or help cut down overtime, suggest cost-saving ideas, take leadership classes, become ACA certified."
6. Avoid common pitfalls.
“I dislike when employees try to sell themselves by trying to one-up their peers; trying to control the meetings; trying to prove their knowledge. If they’re really good, their performance will stand out. They don’t have to sell themselves,” says Collins.
“I’ve found that the most difficult people to work with are those who thought that they could never make a mistake," explains Lappin. "They couldn’t accept criticism on any level.”
“Rather than providing a high level of performance, many people sabotage their careers with a feeling of entitlement," says Sharpe. "The reality is that CCA's goal is to select the most qualified candidate based on performance, experience, interviews and supervisors’ recommendations.”
January 23, 2012