Be the CEO of Your Food & Beverage Career

July 16, 2018 in Career and Job Search Tips

 

 

Here’s a fun career fact from the Bureau of Labor Statistics which you may find interesting:

The average person will hold 11.7 jobs between age 18 and 48.

That’s an average of one new job every three years! Every time you change jobs, you have an opportunity to increase your level of responsibility, broaden your skill set, work in new environments, and earn more money.

You have an opportunity to do these things – but they’re certainly not “givens.”

To continually level up in your food & beverage career, you must be intentional. Proactive. Strategic. So, here’s today’s big question:

Are you running your career – or letting it run you?

Your food & beverage career is your business – so manage it like one! If you want to become more than “just an employee” and achieve your long-term professional objectives, appoint yourself as CEO of your career:

  1. Take stock of where you are. Before setting your course, establish your current location. Here are a few questions for self-reflection:
    • How happy am I in my current role and with my current employer? (Consider pay, performance, level of authority, and opportunities for growth.)
    • Who is impacted by my career choices (i.e., do your choices affect you alone, or do you have a family to consider)?
    • How well do my strengths align with my current position?
  2. Establish short- and long-term food & beverage career goals. Once you know where you are, determine where you want to be. Use these questions to guide your goal-setting:
    • How would I define my dream job?
    • What is most important to me in my career?
    • Within the food & beverage industry, where do the biggest opportunities lie in my target field or job function?
    • What are the biggest threats to my long-term success in my food & beverage career?
  3. Create a strategic career plan. Once you’ve established where you are and want to be, it’s time to plot your course. By breaking your ultimate career goal into smaller, interim ones, you can create a clear path to success. Follow these steps:
    • Clearly define your overarching career goal (using the questions in step 2).
    • Define objectives to support that goal. For example, you may need a specialized degree or certification to achieve your goal.
    • Create specific action steps for achieving each objective.
    • Attach timelines to achieving each interim objective, so you can gauge your progress along the way.
  4. Adopt an independent mindset. Yes, you are an employee who must work in support of your organization’s objectives. But don’t let your loyalty to an employer completely derail your progress toward your career objectives. Running your career like a business requires you to strike a balance between doing what’s right for your company and what’s right for you.
  5. Build your personal brand. Successful CEOs build strong brands for their products and services; you should do the same for your career. In this post, we share specific tips for creating a compelling brand that: aligns with your career goals; sets you apart from other professionals; and clearly conveys the value you offer a food & beverage employer.
  6. Read. Among other things, Bill Gates, Mark Cuban and Mark Zuckerberg credit their entrepreneurial success to reading dozens of books per year. Whether you want to manage a stellar business or a stellar career, knowledge is power! Find out what top professionals in your target position are reading – and take a page from their book.
  7. Build powerful partnerships. With over 25 years in food & beverage recruiting, Kinsa has the drive, experience and contacts to match you with your ideal jobs in the food and beverage industry. Get started with Kinsa today or search food & beverage executive and professional jobs here.