Career Cultivation

“Don’t go looking for hope — look for action, and hope will come” -Greta Thunberg

A farmer who depends on a crop for his livelihood does not plant a single seed and hope for the best. He plants lots and lots of seeds, and he tends to them, helping them grow. This is how you should think about your career. Do not depend on a single seed. Plant lots and lots of seeds, and tend to them. If you do this correctly, you can reap a great harvest of high income and job satisfaction.

One thing I like about comparing your career to agriculture is that it reminds us that growth requires constant attention. I think our tendency is to take a job, then complain that it’s not really what we want. We finally get so fed up that we look for another job and take a position that also is not really what we want, and the whole process makes us feel powerless. 

I think if we thought of our careers as crops, and took on the personal responsibility of planting various career ‘crops,’ we would remember that we have more control than we think we do. We would be more intentional about our careers and realize that there are other steps in growing careers besides just applying for jobs - we have to perfect the art of career cultivation. 

Fun fact, the word ‘cultivation’ comes from the Latin verb cultivare, derived from cultus, which means "care," "tending," or "worship." I think it’s important to remember those root words of ‘care’ and ‘tending.’ If you want something to grow, you tend to it. And I think we can all improve the way we tend to our professional development. 

If our professional development was a garden, how would it look? Did we prepare the soil, plant seeds, provide water, and pull out weeds? Or did we just throw a few seeds at the ground, and complain when they didn’t grow? 

Let’s work together to be intentional about the way we are developing ourselves, and cultivating our careers. 

Examples of seeds to plant:

-Staying Connected through networking, check-ins and get-to-knows.

Networking: This is an over-used and confusing term. When I say ‘networking’ I mean, being intentionally friendly with people that you know professionally. Whether this is coffee chats with people whom you know casually, or quick virtual meetings with people you know well. Here is the question you should be asking yourself: if I was job-hunting, would this person put in a good word for me? If not, can I change that? 

Check-Ins: A check-in is a meeting with someone you know, with a stated purpose. Perhaps you want to learn more about their company or their role, or perhaps you want to pick their brain about your job hunt, or next professional steps. Either way, a purposeful check in is a good way to keep someone in your network. 

Get-to-Knows: 

-Improving yourself through further education and certifications. 

Certifications: You should always be thinking about your next professional certification. Why? Because it’s an easy thing to achieve that will show a future employer that you are serious about work, and eager to do well in the field.

Education: This can be more expensive and more time-consuming than a certification, but if you are looking to fill your two hours per week of professional development, getting a masters degree is a great way to do it. 

-Learning to self-promote by keeping your resume and linkedin up to date.

Resume: Remember, your resume should be a living document that you update frequently. Can you quantify your current work? If so, how do your numbers look? Can you improve them? 

LinkedIn: Staying active on LinkedIn has a few benefits - the first is that you can start to get a feeling of the kinds of things that people in your dream role care about. 

-Staying Current in the Market by scouring openings.

This is unavoidable. While your job search shouldn’t rely solely on looking at job postings, they are invaluable to help you understand which companies are hiring, what the pay ranges look like, and what skills and qualifications are required for the jobs you are looking for.

I challenge you to spend two hours per week on career cultivation. Two hours that are devoted solely to making and building connection, self-promoting, furthering your education, or staying current in your field. Use the Career Cultivation Guide to be purposeful about those two hours per week.