It’s hard to put a value on good content.
Sometimes one of the most relaxing things you can do is set aside some time to consume information about things that you’re passionate about, or you want to learn more about.
It’s not only important to remain curious and committed to lifelong learning just in terms of general happiness, but it’s even more important when we’re talking about career success and happiness.
At multiple points in your career, you may find that a simple piece of content can make a huge impact. Here are just a few examples of how this could happen.
Content Guides The Job Search
I know I probably sound like a broken record sometimes, but you can’t just start a job search by applying blindly for every open position and just waiting to hear back. A job search needs to be strategic, and the best way to be strategic is to take some time to learn about the process.
Consider yourself a student and your assignment is to create a job search strategy. To complete the assignment you have to review content from multiple sources, decide what’s credible, draw conclusions from that research, and put together a job search strategy that works for you.
As a career coach, and business owner, content is kind of my lifeline to my clients, and potential clients. I can’t meet consistently with every client, but I can provide them with the content they need to get on track.
At my company, Work It Daily, we use content in the form of courses, live events, resume and cover letter templates, and advice blogs.
Outside of Work It Daily, I use this very newsletter, along with my TikTok, and other columns, to provide the most relevant career advice. All it takes is one piece of content to get someone’s attention, and maybe make a positive impact on their job search, or career.
Content Helps You Grow
If you’ve chosen a career that you’re passionate about, then you should continuously have a thirst to learn about it. Take the time to consume content about your industry, listen to experts, and learn about what direction it’s going.
This will allow you to keep up with, and anticipate, industry trends, while giving you more ideas to bring to the table, and grow professionally.
Sometimes when a professional has been with an industry for a while they have a general idea of how they want their career to advance, but it’s not always that obvious for others. It’s the things we learn along the way, and the problems we learn how to solve that often help us decide how to move our careers forward.
Some content will inspire you, and there will also be content that you disagree with, and that can be a good thing. It’s important to take a critical eye to everything you consume. This allows you to start using your own experience to challenge industry norms, and make important changes.
Content Allows You To Share Your Expertise
As you grow and advance in your career, you gain valuable experience, and suddenly you have important knowledge to share that not only benefits your industry, but can help others that are just starting out in the field.
Most importantly, creating content is your opportunity to establish a personal brand that shapes how you want others to view you as a professional, and really carve out a specialty in your field.
If you’ve ever thought about creating content but are afraid that you don’t have the time, or are not sure where to start, then consider starting small.
Content can be something in-depth like an article or column, or could be something simple like a short video or social media post. As long as you stick to what you know and have something of value to offer, the content is relevant to someone.
Once you start getting into a consistent habit of creating content, you’ll be able to develop a more robust content strategy.
Even if you decide to change careers, content will continue to play a role as you make important decisions, learn a new industry, and redefine your personal brand.
Speaking of redefining your personal brand have you heard the story of former pro football player Chris Gronkowski?
Injury forced Gronkowski to retire early and pursue a new career path. Gronkowski used social media to leverage his status as a former NFL player, to slowly establish his personal brand as a businessman, and eventually introduce his followers to Ice Shaker, his signature beverage holder.
On Thursday, Feb. 4 at 12 p.m. EST (9 a.m. PST), I’ll be hosting a “JT Talks Jobs” livestream How Professionals Can Use Their Personal Brand To Elevate Their Success! I’ll be joined by Gronkowski and will discuss how he used his story to transition his career, and become the founder and CEO of Ice Shaker.
Looking For More Career Advice
Consider a content-only membership to Work It Daily for only $9.99 a month.
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If you’re looking for 1-on-1 coaching, check out our more advanced levels of memberships.
If you’re not ready for a monthly membership, feel free to check out some of our free resources.