One sure way to achieve any goal in whatever endeavour is to clearly define it and know what is required to accomplish it.
In 2020, our advice at Media Career Development Network in this piece by Executive Director, Lekan Otufodunrin, is that you decide what you want to achieve in your media career and stop procrastinating about what you need to do.
Here are five main things you should do:
Review your career
Review your career and be honest about how well you are doing compared with your contemporaries. If you are lagging behind, you need to know what the problem is and what you need to do not only to catch up but do better.
You may not be at the same level as some of your colleagues for reasons beyond your control, but you should not be too far behind. If need be, ask for an assessment from people who are in a position to do so and offer you the necessary advice.
READ ALSO: ONE YEAR OUTSIDE THE NEWSROOM: WHAT I LEARNT- OTUFODUNRIN
Be specific about what you want to achieve this year
Instead of having many undefined goals for the year, it’s better to have a few major ones that will give you a sense of accomplishment at the end of 2020.
The specific goals should be the urgent achievable steps you need to take to make the necessary progress in your career.
If your goal, for example, is to get additional qualifications, the earlier you start making enquiries about how to enrol for the required course the better.
You must also have timelines for achieving whatever you want to. Without a timeline, the year may end before realizing you are not close to achieving your goals for the year.
Learn new skills
More than ever before, there are new skills journalists and other media professionals need to learn to remain relevant in their work.
Stop pretending to know what you don’t know and get trained before it’s too late to compete favourably for new opportunities.
The digital disruption of the way journalism used to be practised makes it imperative for anyone who cares about his or her career to be new media compliant.
One of the tasks of the new Editor-in-Chief of Daily Trust according to the management of the company is to ensure that the editorial staff are ‘digitally attuned’.
Those who can be re-trained will be trained and those who can’t cope don’t have a future in the company.
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Maximize opportunities
Notwithstanding the worrisome state of the media industry, there are existing and emerging opportunities which every professional should be abreast of.
In the same industry where many are losing jobs or don’t know what to do, new jobs and opportunities are coming up and those who have what it takes to take advantage of them are doing so.
There are startups, expansion in existing organizations, grants for media projects, fellowships, awards and other opportunities to look out for and be one of the beneficiaries.
Become a better professional
Every new year is an opportunity to improve our professional practices. If your organization conducts annual job assessment, don’t ignore suggestions for improvement. Your goal should be to have a better rating this year.
Where there is no official assessment, know what you need to do better and let it reflect in the high quality of your work this year. You need to know global best practices in whatever you do and make it your standard.
READ ALSO: KEY THINGS NIGERIA MEDIA MUST DO TO SURVIVE