In your career there are different types of people you’ll meet, there are categories an individual will fit. Why are those important?
Creating your career team helps you grow and advance in your career.  But who is on your team?

Here are a few things to consider before diving into the the types of people for your career team. 

1. Who do you need that really can help you push forward in your career?
2. What type of help do I need now to advance my career?
3. What type of help will I need in the future to advance my career?
4. Where do I go to vent? 
5. Who will help me brainstorm new ideas and solutions?

Now you’re probably thinking, oh my gosh, I don’t know, I haven’t thought about this. Right? So I am going to start. Where we generally start with is our community, our friends, our classmates, um, our family, right? 

Let’s get into it!

1. Community

• Community sometimes doesn’t answer your career questions but they are always there cheering you on. That may include your social media communities, they may be able to cheer you up but can’t answer those questions about spots in your career path and help you through your struggles.

• Your friends, former classmates, former co-workers and family could be part of your community the one who always cheers you and always got your back, you laugh together, cry together and support you in your career journey every single way.

2. Mentor

• This particular person has been with you over time, not just a few months or a year that somebody is there for a long haul and you have build a relationship with this person. Definitely this person is there for you to answer your questions.

• It’s important to know that a mentor doesn’t only guides you but also brings you to their network. It is a gradual relationship that builds not only to help you with your career, but your mentor generally wants to know more than your career. Whatever resources and connections they may have, they will share it with you.

• Mentors are definitely not there for you only for a short period of time, but in multiple years being with you in your career not just one or two, so you will be able to build a relationship more than just being a friend or a community and in time your mentor get to know you outside of the professional arena and into the personal. They want to see you grow and do well.

3. Allies

• Allies may not have a power or authority within the organization, but they oftentimes get access to key information which could help you with your career.  
• Your allies don’t necessarily get to bring up behind closed doors, but they can bring you up to keep people who are decision makers in the organization. Your allies really do advocate for you within that work space, sometimes it’s in an industry and not just in your work space.                                                                                                                                                                                    
• Keep in mind when you go out and you’re cultivating relationships, people may end up being your allies. Some of the best allies are often being overlooked  by other people. Sometimes they are an Admin, receptionist, maintenance people or a custodian. People fail to respect them because of their job title.

• Don’t be surprised when some of your allies are looked down upon your organization, but because you look at them with respect and look at them for who they are and not for what they do, they will share with you information that others won’t.
• They will do things for you while others won’t, even though they don’t have power and authority within that organization. Don’t discount those people. You won’t believe the information that they have, they are just privy about it.

4. Sponsor

• You don’t select your sponsor, oftentimes, your sponsor selects you. Sponsor is the one who’s behind the closed door meetings, who brings your name up, gets you on the big projects, raise or promotion and better opportunities within the organization.

• What do you need to do to get a sponsor? Do not keep your head down at work, just work hard. You need to  be seen and hear in your workplace, find out who your boss is sending your work to and talk to them, it will become more clear on what your role is and why is it important to connect with people.
• The way to get a sponsor is not being quiet, it is being seen and heard in your workplace for other people to be talking about you and so forth.

5. Counselor

• Counselor could be your life coach or career coach. Unlike the mentor that you are with for a period of time, this is somebody who helps focus strictly on you for a small window of time. It could be 90 days, it could be a year, but they truly want to only focus on what you want to focus on and push you forward to where you want to be in your career.                                                                                                 
• This person is generally not gonna be free of course , they help you focus on where you wanted to be on your career and they do that because you are paying for them, so they won’t necessarily be your friend.
• They won’t be there to see where you go, but they would love to hear about how you progress with the plan, with the strategy, with the information and you share it with them.

We oftentimes think we aren’t doing enough when it comes to our career and we go out and look for answers and the answers that we’re looking for aren’t specific to us in our situation.

That’s why we are here leave your message below and connect with us!

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