How to focus on your development

New job, now what?

You may feel that you’re equipped professionally for your job, but you don’t know how to master social and personal competences. Competences you aren’t trained in or you haven’t needed before.

Perhaps you’re starting to feel insecure: “Am I good enough?” or “Am I the wrong match for this workplace? As opposed to student life, recognition and evaluation in working life are not formalised in the form of a grade.

Perhaps you’re starting to get bored. At university, you were in the fast lane academically, with each semester filling you with new knowledge and learning in concentrated doses.

Keep an eye on your development

Working life does not have the same rhythm with semesters, exams, assignments and curriculum, nor does it have systematic evaluation in the form of grades. The feeling of becoming professionally more skilled can disappear in working life.

You’re responsible for keeping an eye on your own development and for identifying the competences you would benefit from training or acquiring. For example, use feedback from your manager and your colleagues or think about where you want to go in your career.

Keep an eye on your professional development by writing down your tasks and results every three months. Most development takes place in everyday life when you are doing your job and learning from other colleagues.

Sanne Mattebjerg, IDA career counsellor, says that it’s a good idea to look closer at your personal and social competences. How do you experience your collaboration with your colleagues? Are there situations in which you feel insecure or neglected, or feel that others are keeping you at a distance?

Personal and social competences often cause the biggest challenges for new graduates in their first job. Therefore, training such competences is just as important as practicing professional competences.

What energises you?

Look at how you have developed and note all the new things you have learned. Are there tasks that give you energy and other that drain your energy? Think about what makes some tasks drain your energy – is it the task itself or is it the colleagues you’re working with on a task? What competences will you need to train or acquire to meet what’s expected of you in relation to your tasks or goals? These are the competences you need to focus on, and there are many ways to acquire them.

“For example, find a colleague or a friend who is good at what you need – this could be both professionally and personally. Ask if they’ll tell you how they do it – or observe what they do and try doing the same,” Sanne Mattebjerg explains.

If your development points need more time, have great influence on how you perform tasks or on your well-being, it’s a good idea to talk to your manager.

How to ask for continuing training

Most new graduates find it difficult to talk to their manager about continuing training – and they find it particularly difficult to talk about developing their personal competences such as collaboration, relationships and communication.

It’s important to remember that these are competences that need to be learned and trained, just like academic competences were trained at university. Therefore, it’s good to use the word “training” to describe your need.

It’s a good idea to start the positive and open dialogue with your manager early in your employment. Tell your manager about specific situations you think are difficult and where you feel inadequate. Use this as a basis to talk about your requests for continuing training.

Make it easier for your manager

Before you ask your manager for continuing training, it’s a good idea to examine the possibilities, so you can present a specific course with information about price and content. Be ready with information about a specific course or programme.

It’s easier to make a decision if your boss knows the content, price, duration and date of the course. Also, be ready with specific suggestions on how your tasks can be done or postponed while you’re undergoing training.

Do not promise too much while you are on your course and be careful not to suggest that you can put in the same amount of work at the same time, because then you risk overburdening yourself.

And it’s not only about your working life. How does continuing training fit into the rest of your life? Do you have time to study and write assignments outside normal working hours? Are social activities and relaxation more important when you’re off work? Do you have any family-related obligations you need to take into account?

Book kompetencerådgivning her (IDAs hovedside)

How to ask your boss for continuing training

When you can see what you need to improve professionally and personally, it’s time to talk to your boss. Sanne Mattebjerg has some tips for the talk:

1. Take outset in the company’s needs and opportunities

You’re given time and money for a course because it adds value to the company. You should therefore take outset in the company’s needs and opportunities to develop and grow.

This shows that you have business sense. It’s a good idea to talk about the link between your competence development and the department’s development.

2. Describe your request for competence development as a need for training

Perhaps you feel insecure talking about your lack of personal competences, e.g. communication skills, network, presentation techniques, because it can seem like there’s something wrong with you.

It’s important to remember that these are competences that need to be learned and trained, just like academic competences were trained at university. Therefore, it’s good to use the word “training” to describe your need.

3. Be honest about your need for challenges

If you feel that you’re not developing already during the first few years in the job and you need challenges, be honest about this with your manager. They know that you won’t thrive as an employee if you’re bored and that being “bored out” is just as harmful as being “burned out”.

4. Be ready with a specific plan

Be ready to present information on a specific course or programme. It’s easier to make a decision if your boss knows the content, price, duration and date of the course. Also, be ready with specific suggestions on how your tasks can be done or postponed while you’re undergoing training.

Do not promise too much while you are on your course and be careful not to suggest that you can put in the same amount of work at the same time, because then you risk overburdening yourself.

5. Be prepared for your boss to have plans for you

Before you talk to your manager, think through what you’ll do if your manager has another plan for your development than you do, and perhaps even proposes a specific course for you. Be open and ask questions about your manager’s plans, but think about what you want and perhaps ask for time to think about it and agree to talk again a week later.

For example, it’s OK to politely say no to continuing training as a project manager in the first couple of years of your working life and say that you’d be happy to talk about it again when you’re more experienced in the company.

Finally, Sanne Mattebjerg stresses that competence development should be an ongoing dialogue with your manager and not just one conversation where you hope to establish an agreement on continuing training. This dialogue is most important for your well-being and development in working life.