At the entry-level of any industry, we look up to towering figureheads considered successful. But is there any practical benefit to comparing career paths? Read on and discover how to define success for yourself, then use it as a tool for career growth.
What is success?
Success is subjective. For some, it's hitting that personal best at the gym. For others, it's starting a family, or overcoming a major personal setback. At work, performance-based success is generally more measurable. There are criteria to hit, and rating scales abound.
But how can you develop a successful career? Defining what success means to you can be a valuable tool in career planning and creating a strategy for personal achievement.
How can I define success?
Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington suggests going beyond traditional metrics of success like money and power.
"To live the lives we truly want and deserve, and not just the lives we settle for, we need a Third Metric," she says, "a third measure of success that goes beyond the two metrics of money and power, and consists of four pillars: well-being, wisdom, wonder, and giving."
John Wooden, legendary basketball coach, believes that success is a matter of satisfaction. He says,
"Success is peace of mind, which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best you are capable of becoming."
Author and poet laureate Maya Angelou believed success is about enjoyment of your work and life. Her famous take on this topic is as follows:
"Success is liking yourself, liking what you do, and liking how you do it."
The structured approach to defining success
In terms of career success, a great starting point is to create a development plan. Here's how we suggest doing this:
- Analyse your current role and experience.
- Define goals by looking at people you consider successful. They could be in your own company, or someone you know of.
- Reverse engineer what they did to get where they are. What do you admire about their approach? Were they opportunistic? Did they get lucky a few times?
- Make a roadmap - a great way to do this is draft your 'CV in 10 years' time'.
- Get mentored! Do you have a senior colleague or industry connection you want to learn from? Reach out. Members of the BCS get access to a unique mentorship programme.
- Put check ins in the calendar
- Review goals
The unstructured approach to defining success
A development plan can be a great way to define what future success looks like to you. But you might find that reality doesn't meet your expectations.
Careers in technology are rarely linear; that is - they don’t progress upward in a straight, predictable line. Most of the time, the senior leaders you see in tech today have taken wiggly, zig-zag paths to be where they are.
What if you want to do the same? Read Helen's story and see how this could play out.
Helen’s Journey – Early Career Steps into Business Analysis > Progression to Programme Director
I wasn't sure what I wanted from a career, so I did a very practical Business Information Technology course at Staffordshire Uni. It covered everything employers wanted for hybrid managers; Computing, Business, and PMing.
After Uni, I got my first job as a consultant at a small firm, which quickly grew. This helped me step into more senior roles.
I decided to move to London, and in all honesty probably took a step sideways. I interviewed for and took a job as a developer - the main motivation was consistency: I wanted to work in the same place every day.
Development was certainly consistent! But I missed the daily interaction with others. I asked if I could move into a BA role but was initially told "no", as it would be a promotion... I wasn't in the running yet.
Instead I took matters into my own hands and developed a strong professional relationship with a senior BA at the company. She was drowning in work, so I offered my support in return for being allowed to shadow her.
As this volunteering progressed, I started taking on more ownership of work she sent my way. I began to show real strides in performance.
One thing to note - everytime someone said "Helen, that was really good!", I didn't let it go unnoticed. I'd get them to email or phone the BA manager. I made myself an option.
I managed to persuade my company to let me do BA qualifications, so not only did I have the paper trail but also the education to back it up.
One key bit of advice: Be tenacious, consistent, and think outside of the box. My company did a lottery one day where the first person to complete a piece of work would win a drink with the CEO to chat career ambitions. I got my drink!
Not only that, but I made him aware of my career ambitions and made him promise that if a position came up I was interested in, he'd recommend me. He kept his word.
When a BA position came up, I was the first person they thought of. With persistence and consistency, I got to where I wanted to be at that stage in my career! The same similar principles were applied as my career progressed.
Is success a mindset?
In some respects, success can be more about your mindset than how much money you make, or the seniority of your job title.
Once you know what success means to you, you should remember that there is success in the journey itself, not just the destination.
Be open to opportunities, look for ways to get closer to your goals, and be tenacious - there will be many knock-backs, but you will be defined by how you tackled them.
How can I make strides towards success outcomes?
- Be vocal – draw the attention of others to what you want.
- Make the ask – Very likely that those you gain inspiration from can mentor, help, or recommend you.
- Blend the two approaches - use structured tools and templates to define your goals but be open to other unexpected opportunities.
- Get feedback on your CV – It is important to continually review and update your CV – this will secure your next career step.
Where can I learn more like this?
As part of our focus on encouraging Early Entry into tech and demystifying alternative routes into the industry, we've partnered with Jag Sohal. Jag is on a mission to help those in their early careers make a positive start in the IT profession. She's a myth buster keen to let people know that there’s many entry paths into IT and the profession offers a whole host of opportunity, impacting all sectors.
Watch: Real IT Bites Early Career Professionals - Success stories - #bethechange | BCS Birmingham Branch
Connect: Find Jag on LinkedIn
Who is Helen Winter?
Helen Winter is a Management Consultant and CEO of Business Bullet with a mission to help organisations implement large complex change. Helen has worked in change management for over 20 years having worked as an business analyst, project manager, programme director and management consultant. She advises on defining and planning complex portfolios, execution and implementation; embedding change and benefits realisation. Helen is also a global author with publisher Kogan Page, where her best-selling book “The Business Analysis Handbook” was a finalist for 2 major industry awards.
Connect: Find Helen on LinkedIn
