Career Resilience for Millennials

What is career resilience? Why is career resilience important for a millennial entering the workforce? Here is a guide on how you can nurture and develop what it takes to be a resilient professional in an ever changing world of work.

You need both hard and soft skills to navigate the professional world, as well as strength and resilience to cope with unpredictable changes and switches to different career paths along the way. Maintaining a positive mindset, identifying how you can contribute to the industry and organisation, and being ever receptive to learn new things are all part of developing career resilience.

Although young professionals usually have new skills to offer to the market even in a changing economic environment, there is no guarantee that your career jouney will always be smooth-sailing. Furthermore, transiting from school to the industry involves a big leap, calling for adaptability and self-awareness.

I am not afraid of failure and I see it as a learning opportunity. I embrace challenges and keep a positive attitude when faced with one. I am resourceful. I am inquisitive about how things work and enjoy learning about new perspectives. I am flexible with changes and adapt accordingly. I have good relationships with contacts in my industry.

Keeping up with change, be it macro-economic shifts or new events and manpower movements in your workplace, is key for any professional who wishes to remain flexible and positive. Change can be unsettling, but knowing that change is the only constant helps you to adjust your expectations whenever new situations arise, reminding yourself to stay afloat and fit in.

Maintaining a good network helps you to get industry insights and support from those who appreciate your work, personality and ethics. While trends can move and shake the industry, nurturing valuable professional relationships often means that someone can lend you a hand in a time of need.

Take charge of your own development by looking out for new courses to take, and be thirsty for new knowledge to gain. Other than asking your employer to offer you training, spend your afterwork hours wisely to keep abreast with industry news and developments.

Changes which crop up in the professional realm are often unpredictable, as with other changes in life. Do you view changes as crises or opportunities to be tapped on? Remember that change is where opportunity lives and new possibilities are there for you to grab hold of or to create.

In the face of failure, your ability to bounce back is crucial. In good times, set and crush your goals. Count your blessings and make sure your workload is manageable. Ask for help when you need it and remember to take care of yourself. When things go awry, take it one step at a time and stick to your guiding principles.

Working for a company whose mission aligns with your personal sense of purpose can be empowering. While the correlation between the working world and your personal goals might not be obvious at times, understand the value which you are delivering to others through your daily work. Your career is a form of service and knowing the impact which you are making leads to higher levels of job satisfaction.

Taking a step back from your emotions and impulse to pause and reflect helps you to rejuvenate and make wiser choices. Reflexivity is a mark of mental agility, processing your stress, and encouraging you to flex your brain muscles to think about what matters in your career output. Maintain an internal rhythm to reflect often so that you keep things in perspective constantly, in the face of changes and even when things are status quo.

It is impossible to rely on just one plan for the unforeseeable future. Cultivating a sense of vision and foresight to scan for future prospects, and forming a positive outlook are all part of how you can prepare yourself for the road ahead.

Chart your own path and maintain your own plan to adapt and succeed. You should understand emerging trends and be on the lookout for new knowledge to gain. Identify your advantages and risks in each possible scenario. If you have an idea of what could possibly happen, you can develop responses and action plans more swiftly.