How to Make Your Own Career Luck

I spent too many years thinking my boss was responsible for my career. Or the company. Or a magical fairy godmother. I thought it was everyone else’s job to advocate for me. To push me. To help me advance and grow. And I completely missed the fact that it was me. It was always ME. Our job is to be the biggest advocate for our careers. We are in the driver’s seat. And we can’t take a back seat and expect someone else to do the driving. Here are ten ways to start advocating for your career not tomorrow, TODAY: 1️⃣ Take a seat at front of the table, not at the back of the room. Be visible. Log onto that Zoom early, make sure people know you are there. Don’t shrink to the corner of the screen or room. 2️⃣ Raise your hand 🙋🏾♀️ Ask that question. Show you’re engaged and thoughtful and there to contribute. I always ask a question early on in the meeting to build my confidence to contribute more later. 3️⃣ Ask to be put on that assignment Make sure you are working on assignments that are priorities for the company. Especially in this market. 4️⃣ Coach your peers on their work You don’t have to have direct reports to have influence. Guide peers who ask for your help: position yourself for the next level by acting like you are at the next level. 5️⃣ Build a career development plan If your boss won’t help you do this, ask a colleague to be a sounding boarding or a friend outside of work. Understand what your goals are this year and what you want your next two roles to be. 6️⃣ Focus on one new skill you want to build What’s one new skill you want to learn that can help with your career growth? Pick it and commit to it. Block 30 minutes on your calendar daily to work on it. Make this time non negotiable. 7️⃣ Take credit for your work Even if they won’t let you in that meeting, share what you are working on with others. Whether that’s it in 1:1 conversations or in team meetings, make sure you let others know the impact you are making. 8️⃣ Get meaningful feedback If your boss keeps saying you’re killing it or avoids giving your feedback, ask others. Show up with what you think your strengths are and areas of opportunity to get their reactions. 9️⃣ Keep a track of your wins Start a Google doc or grab a notebook, and down all of your wins and the end of every month. This makes it easier to do your self evaluation during performance review time and update your resume. 🔟 Always have your resume ready Whether you are looking for internal or external, always have your resume ready. And make sure it’s not saved on your work lap, especially in this market where layoffs are happening every day. How do you advocate for yourself at work? #leadership #culture #inclusion #MitaMallick

It's easy freak out about the job market right now. But, there is a silver lining in all of this uncertainty. The smart move? Use this time to invest in yourself. I learned this the hard way, wasting too much time trying to make a move during the Great Recession and getting no results. At first, I panicked. Then I realized the job market was completely out of my control and decided to focus on something that wasn't: Expanding my skillset and getting a new certification. ⭐Within 10 months, I was promoted from recruiting to leading PR and external affairs. ⭐Within 4 years, I was recruited to a dream job Bottom line: This isn't the time to just sit back and relax. And panicking won't help. When the job market turns (and it will!) you want to be ready to go. Here's what to do now to set yourself up for success: 1️⃣ Create Your Own Opportunities ↳ Volunteer for high-visibility projects ↳ Solve problems nobody owns yet ↳ Document your wins meticulously 2️⃣ Build Strategic Relationships ↳ Network across departments and externally ↳ Find mentors who challenge your thinking ↳ Be the go-to person others count on for something specific 3️⃣ Learn In-Demand Skills ↳ Master data analysis and visualization ↳ Build AI savvy and experience ↳ Pick up tools to manage complex projects 4️⃣ Develop As A Thought Leader ↳ Share insights from your daily work ↳ Write internal newsletters or reports ↳ Present at team meetings consistently 5️⃣ Volunteer in Your Community ↳ Search for organizations aligned with your values ↳ Find out what help they need most ↳ Take on a leadership role to make connections or build skills 6️⃣ Teach Others ↳ Choose something you genuinely enjoy ↳ Take a deep dive into it so you can teach it to others ↳ Check out community centers, and local colleges for adjunct roles 7️⃣ Start a Side Gig ↳ What can you do that others can't or won't? ↳ Let friends, family and neighbors know what you're doing ↳ Ask people to refer you and share testimonials on social media 💡Career growth isn't just about changing jobs. It's about owning your own professional development. ♻️ Share to help others grow professionally. 🔔 Follow Sarah Baker Andrus for more career insights. 📌 Need help with your growth strategy? DM me to chat.

I see it time and again, humble, hardworking leaders are often overlooked for the opportunities they want. They hoped their work would speak for themselves, but it didn't. It bears repeating that we have to stop waiting to be picked and advocate for our goals and desires. But your leader should "just know" right? I know it's tempting to think that other people are thinking of us and what we want, but they aren't. As it's famously said, "people are too busy worrying about themselves." Stop waiting to be picked and invest in yourself! Here are three simple ways you can take charge of your own career so you can be a key player in the talent pipeline: 1️⃣ Own your talents and experience. As a former HR leader, I can attest to the fact that men will apply to jobs that excite them (whether they were qualified or not), while women will talk themselves out of it, citing doubt, imposter feelings or “not feeling qualified yet.” ➡️ Try this: Update your resume and use this as an opportunity to own your wins. Use this evidence to give you a little confidence boost, but remember, you can apply and interview for your next-level job while also feeling doubtful. 2️⃣ Share your goals. People are horrible guessers and if they don't know what your goals are they can't help you, advocate for you or choose you. ➡️ Try this: Add a “professional goals and progress” section to your regular check in with your leader. 3️⃣ Ask for support. It used to be that the majority of coaching in the business world was for senior executives (read: male c-suite leaders). But now, as coaching and training programs have become more accessible to leaders of all levels, what are you doing to invest in and ready yourself to grow professionally? ➡️ Try this: Find a professional development program that excites you and ask your leader to cover some or all of the cost. In this ask, you can state the program goals and at least three ways the employer will benefit from your learnings and growth! Remember, at the end of the day your career is too important to leave it up others, hoping they'll notice your hard work and good intentions. Who have you shared your goals and aspirations with recently?

When I started my career back in the mid-1990s - what my daughter now affectionately refers to as the "olden days" - I always aspired to reach the "next level" and be in the rooms where the "real decisions" were made. Over the past three decades, I've achieved several promotions and reached those coveted higher-level positions. However, I've realized that there isn't a single, definitive place where all the important decisions happen. This realization was reinforced when I watched a video of former President Barack Obama explaining his own experience. Even when he finally got a seat at the table - whether at Harvard, in the Senate, or at the world leadership level - Obama said he was "a bit disappointed by the company because they ain't all that." Obama's perspective solidified a belief I've held for some time: Rather than fixating on obtaining a seat at the table, the true path to influence is to focus on continuously building yourself. Here's what that means to me: 1. Become competent at the core requirements of your role. Know "what" needs to be done and "how" to accomplish it. 2. Develop deep expertise in understanding the "why" behind your job responsibilities. Comprehending the larger context and rationale is key. But remember, knowing how to build an order processing system is less important than knowing why we build order processing systems in the way we do. 3. Cultivate your own luck by ensuring you're always prepared when opportunities arise. Luck is often a matter of being in the right place at the right time - but you have to put yourself in position to capitalize on those chances. By following this approach of ongoing self-improvement and strategic positioning, you'll find yourself increasingly involved in the discussions and decisions that truly matter, whether as a direct participant or as someone who helps shape the dialogue. The "real decisions" aren't made in a single, isolated room - they emerge from a complex, interconnected web. Stay focused on building yourself, and you'll be at the center of that web. Think about the core responsibilities of your current role. Identify one area where you could develop deeper expertise in understanding the "why" behind what you do. Commit to learning more about the bigger-picture rationale. Look around at the people in your network who you perceive as "lucky" - chances are, they've simply put themselves in position to capitalize on opportunities. Reflect on how you can cultivate your own luck through preparation and strategic thinking. This focused approach to self-improvement will put you in the best position to influence the discussions and decisions that truly matter, regardless of where they're happening.

Software Engineering and Creating Your Own Luck: This morning, I listened to John Crickett speak about "creating your own luck" on his Coding Chats podcast, and so much of it resonated with me (it's a 7 minute byte, check it out). In the pod, John referenced a simple formula for luck surface area which is: LUCK = DOING x TELLING What does this mean, and how have I personally seen this play out? Luck surface area can be thought of as "how likely you are to get lucky, or run into lucky circumstances". Okay, so why the formula? I've been in HPC for a bit over a decade now - I'm passionate about it, I love the layers of technology, the complexity, the challenges, and small optimizations that can equal millions of dollars. These things are fun for me as a guy who likes to solve puzzles. Over the years, I've learned more about separate parts of the stack as they were relevant to my roles -- from parallel filesystems, to high-speed networks, to CPU and GPU programming -- and how all these technologies coalesce to deliver the value needed to compute at massive scale. Taking that a step further, I'm particularly knowledgeable about how these technologies impact genomic data, software, and end-to-end systems. While developing a deep understanding of this stuff has been incredibly beneficial, I've seen the most success, opportunity for advancement, and career growth when I've gone out of my way to communicate this knowledge. At work, I started more frequently presenting on the work I was doing. I was engaging in conversations and helping people solve problems. I was communicating and collaborating. I became a "go to person" at my first job for questions related to running and developing genomics software on our internal HPC clusters. This created opportunities for interesting projects internally, which eventually led to promotions and further exposure. Then, a bit over a year ago, I began writing technical content on LinkedIn, specifically around HPC. I began communicating knowledge outside of my bubble. It was scary, and I screwed up often. But for the large part, people were incredibly supportive and engaging. And the result? My current role came from LinkedIn outreach. I've had the opportunity to present at GTC, I've been invited to speak on podcasts, and I still regularly get reached out to about job opportunities by some great companies. Am I good at what I do? I think so. Would I have the opportunities I have today if I didn't actively look for ways to communicate that with others? I think not. So how do you do this? Well, just start small. Look for local opportunities to present work, or simply attend a meetup and talk to somebody about your tech. As you build confidence, continue to expand. If you like my content, feel free to follow or connect! #softwareengineering #communication

Are you leaving your career growth in someone else's hands? For years, I thought hard work alone was the key to career success. --> Work hard. --> Keep my head down. --> Wait my turn. Then, a promotion or new opportunity would magically appear. Right? Wrong. I remember feeling stuck in my role, watching others move ahead while I kept doing “all the right things," yet getting nowhere. It was frustrating—until I finally realized: 💡 Career growth isn’t just about working hard. It’s about working strategically. Hard work makes you qualified, but visibility gets you chosen. Opportunities aren't given—they're created. If I could go back and give my younger self advice, I’d say: ✦ Speak up about your ambitions. Don’t assume people know what you want or will automatically reward your hard work. ✦ Build relationships with decision-makers and influencers. Turn them into vocal advocates to champion your growth. ✦ Stop waiting for permission to level up. Create opportunities to gain greater responsibility, and take control of your career path. If you’ve ever felt overlooked, stuck, or stagnant, know this: ✨ Your career growth isn’t in someone else’s hands. It’s in yours. Your turn to share: What’s one career lesson you learned the hard way? 👇Drop it in the comments to help someone who needs to hear it! #CareerDevelopment #CareerGrowth #Leadership #EmpoweredByAnne #CareerCoach