Most people, at the beginning of their careers, set goals for the future. This could be a series of promotions, working towards a specific company or even starting your own business. The reality is you probably can’t achieve those goals by simply showing up and working the daily 9-5 grind.  You’ll need to put in a little extra effort to make them a reality.

Here are 3 ways you can invest in your career to ensure future development:

Take on more projects. There are many benefits to taking on extra work. First, it will impress your superiors. Taking on extra projects will demonstrate your commitment to the field and to the company. Second, it will give you more experience. More work means you are spending more time developing your skills and improving your professional potential. Additionally, consider freelance work, if possible, to gain both experience and new contacts.

Seek out development opportunities. This can come in many forms including  networking events, conferences relating to your field or internal training programs offered by your company. You can take courses that improve your professional development. Learn HTML to increase your marketable abilities or take online courses like the ones offered by Next Step Academy. Anything that can expand your knowledge and give you an edge in the field.

Request feedback. While initially asking for feedback can be uncomfortable, it can be one of the best ways to improve and invest in your professional development. Ask your boss how they think you are doing in your current position. Ask about your strengths and possible shortcomings. You may also want to inform them of your goals and ask what it would take for you to achieve them.

There are plenty of ways to develop your professional potential. Learn more with Next Step Academy’s course “Realizing Your Professional Potential“!

Speech pathologists work with patients to diagnose and treat communication disorders. These disorders can include stuttering, social communication disorders, auditory processing disorders and swallowing disorders. They do important work to treat disorders affecting people of all ages.

Education

A master’s degree in speech pathology is the minimum requirement to become a speech pathologist. An undergraduate degree in biological sciences, physical sciences or behavioral sciences is the best way to prepare yourself for a master’s degree in speech pathology. A master’s degree will typically take you an additional two years to complete after your undergraduate degree.

Over the course of your master’s, you can expect to take classes in speech science, audiology and communication disorders. You will also be required to complete a certain number of clinical hours.

If you wish to become a speech pathology professor or researcher in the future, then you should consider completing a doctorate. A doctorate in speech pathology takes most people another four years to complete after graduate school. Your doctorate will comprise mostly of independent research and a dissertation.

Career

A speech pathologist diagnoses speech disorders and provides treatment. This often involves ongoing therapy with patients. Speech pathologists also need to be able to teach patients’ family members therapeutic techniques to be used at home in order to further help the patient. For patients with severe disorders, a speech pathologist can provide the patient with alternative communication systems. Some speech pathologists will also work with people without a diagnosed speech disorder, but who want to enhance their communication skills.

Salary and Job Outlook

On average, speech pathologists earn $69,870 per year, or $33.59 per hour as of 2012 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The field is expected to grow by 19 percent over the next decade.

For more information on this career path, take Next Step Academy’s “Careers in Speech Pathology” course!

It’s not news that millennials have become the most influential generation when it comes to evolving the workplace. In fact, it is estimated that they will make up 75 percent of the workforce in less than a decade. Millennials bring a whole new set of attitudes and expectations for employers and this is affecting massive change in the workplace.

Millennials are the first generation to grow up with technology playing an integral role in their lives, with most having no memory of life before the Internet. As a result, 93 percent of millennials expect up-to-date technology in the workplace and believe it is one of the most important aspects of an office.

What millennials expect from their employers is also much different than previous generations. They want flexible work environments with employers that care about their professional and personal needs. Employers are beginning to cater to these needs with voluntary benefits and benefits package education.

Voluntary benefits such as pet insurance, extended leave and financial counseling are becoming more common. The way benefits are presented to employees is also changing to get millennials more involved. Digital communication and offering engagement is key to millennial involvement. This means that benefits are often communicated via email or text message rather than a paper on a bulletin board. Additionally, employers are engaging millennials with surveys or offering them positions on committees so they work with HR and communicate what is most important to them.

Employers are also starting to be more flexible when it comes to where and when millennials work. Giving employees the option to customize their work schedule boosts productivity and satisfaction in a position. An employee can choose to take a nap after lunch to replenish their energy or take a break to spend time with their children after school. In fact, it is predicted that the 9-5 schedule will disappear by 2030.

Next Step Academy already operates on a flex schedule, with many of our employees working remotely rather than from an office. The flexibility of when and where we work allows our employees to work around college classes and busy family schedules.  

As the younger end of the millennial generation hits the workforce, more changes and adaptations to benefits policies and workplace culture can be expected. The ability to appeal to this generation is going to be crucial to control costs and increase the utilization and engagement of millennial employees.

Are you losing focus during the day and finding it hard to stay on task? All you need is 18 minutes set aside throughout the day to get back on track according to Peter Bregman, the CEO of Bregman Partners and author of 18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction, and Get the Right Things Done.

Here’s how to use this technique and get things done:

Take 5 minutes in the morning to get organized. This is your time to sit down and think about what you need to get done during the day. The key is to be realistic about what you can accomplish and what will make the day successful. Make a to-do list, then put those into a calendar or daily schedule you can follow.

Check in once an hour for a whole minute. Set an alarm every hour throughout the work day and take a minute to refocus. Have you been productive throughout the past hour? Are you on track to finish your daily to-do list? Taking a moment to breathe and evaluate the time you’ve worked so far can help you get back on track and prevents you from getting lost in the eight-hour work day.

Take 5 minutes in the evening to evaluate. Turn off your computer and put your work away, then review how the day went. Reflect on how you feel, what you learned and whether you finished everything that needed to get done. This reflection period can be helpful the next morning to be more realistic about can and cannot get done in a single day.

Need a little more help managing the work day? Next Step Academy has you covered with our “Time Management” course.

In less than a week, the people of the United States will choose a new commander in chief. Whether you’ve already decided who to vote for or if you’re still undecided, it’s important to utilize your critical thinking skills during this election. Here are some tips for exercising those skills before you decide who to vote for on Tuesday.

Decide what issues matter most to you. It may be helpful to make a list of issues and rank them from most important to least important. Next, research each candidate’s position on those issues. This should help you objectively see which candidate is more closely aligned with the issues that matter most to you, regardless of party.

Fact check and evaluate sources. You shouldn’t take everything you hear or read about a candidate at face value. If you find a piece of information that could influence your vote, make sure you perform your own fact check. This also means you need to evaluate the credibility of your source. Consider whether the source comes from a reputable organization and whether the author is biased one way or the other.

Investigate the past. Candidates make a lot of promises during a campaign. If you want to know the likelihood that the candidate will follow through on their promises, look at the candidate’s past. Has the candidate maintained their position on issues or do they flip-flop? How has the candidate voted in the past? Who has the candidate supported or endorsed?

Check your emotions. There’s nothing wrong with being passionate or having a gut feeling, but make sure you don’t rely solely on your emotions. Election campaigns use emotional appeals to make you like one candidate and mistrust another. However, you shouldn’t base your vote on candidate likeability. Don’t become susceptible to confirmation bias. Seek out information from both sides and make sure you are informed before making your final decision.

For more ways to develop your critical thinking skills, take Next Step Academy’s NEW “Introduction to Critical Thinking” course!

For many reasons, the career you have now may not be the best place for you in the future. Facing a career change can be scary when you consider starting over, but they can be necessary for personal growth and fulfillment. If you’re still not sure whether or not you need to rethink the future, here are four signs that it’s time for a change.

You are often tired or bored. If you are constantly tired or bored at the office, it could mean the work is no longer challenging for you. What was hard and rewarding when you first began has become an easy and passive task. This is a pretty good indicator that it’s time to find your passion again and look for a new position, or seek out a similar position that allows for more growth and challenge.

The future doesn’t excite you. When you first started working in your current position, you were probably excited about the work you were doing and where it could take you. If your future at the company no longer excites you or you no longer see a future, finding a new career could be the right move. This may mean you just need to find a different employer, but this could also mean that you need to change industries. Figure out what excites you now and move in that direction.

Your health is suffering. A job that overworks you, is physically demanding or is especially stressful can wreak havoc on your body. Physical and mental stress can weaken your immune system and cause headaches, ulcers and prevent you from concentrating. If a job is putting a physical strain on your body, then it’s definitely time for a change.

You dread going to work. There’s a difference between enjoying your weekend and living for the weekend. There are many reasons you could be dreading work, like you may not like your coworkers or your boss, you dislike the work you do, you don’t agree with the company’s ethics or you may not like the workplace culture. If your work makes you miserable, regardless of the reason, it’s time to move on.

Considering a career change? Brush up your resume and sharpen your Interviewing Skills.

Crime Scene Decontamination. Shows like “CSI” or “Bones” give us a glimpse into the horrors of crime scenes. What they don’t show you are the people who clean up when the investigation is done. A crime scene decontamination technician specializes in removing splatter and hazardous material after accidents and crimes. If you have the stomach for it, this can be a stable career choice.

Forensic Entomologist. Nothing creeps or crawls more than insects. A forensic entomologist studies all things slimy and crawly, looking at life cycles, morphology, population size and genetics to gather evidence in murder cases. Get ready to carve up cadavers and spend a lot of time around maggots.

Mortuary Science and Embalming. A mortician is in charge of preparing bodies for burial, which starts with embalming and can also involve facial reconstruction so the deceased appears the way they did in life. This spooky career also involves the most compassion. A mortician is also responsible for comforting the grieving family and making the funeral process as easy as possible.

Forensic Psychiatry. This is one of the spookier careers on this list. The concept of “Silence of the Lambs” comes to mind, where there is no ghoul or monster, just a man. A forensic psychiatrist is tasked with exploring the criminal mind and understanding why some people do horrific things. They evaluate criminals and provide treatment to those who need it.

Mining. If you’re claustrophobic or afraid of the dark, stay away from this career. There are few worse places to be for someone scared of tight, dark spaces than a narrow mine shaft. That combined with reminders that you could potentially be trapped (remember the 33 miners in Chile?) definitely qualifies this career to be on the spooky list.  

Bomb Squad Technician. While police departments are using robots for bomb disposal at an increasing rate, there are still plenty of instances where a bomb squad technician is needed. This career requires courage, a steady hand and the ability to overcome thanatophobia (the fear of death itself) — a fear shared by just about everyone. This can be a very noble profession, but definitely a scary one.

Field Epidemiologist. In my opinion, this is the creepiest job on the list. Epidemiologist study microorganisms, bacteria and viruses. Field epidemiologists are often employed by the CDC to go to “hot zones” to study outbreaks and prevent them from becoming a full-blown pandemic. Wearing little more than a hazmat suit, an epidemiologist gets close to bodily fluids, germs and dead bodies on a regular basis. Nothing is scarier than being attacked by something you can’t see and the threat of a biological apocalypse.  

Happy Halloween!

Interested in one of these creepy careers? Here are some courses that can help you get started:

Careers in Criminal Justice

Careers in Social Work

Careers in Psychology

U.S. Military

In 2014, the White House hosted the first Maker Faire, a festival dedicated to creativity and invention. The festival sparked an interest in hands-on learning, creating the makerspace movement which has since spread to schools and libraries around the country.

The basic principle of a makerspace is to put learning in the hands of the student. It gives teachers a new way to inspire students and help them develop their critical thinking skills.

There is no specific plan in a makerspace, the main focus is on hands-on experimentation, exploration, building and collaboration. Any amount of technology can be provided, the only criteria is students are involved and interested. Activities can range from building robots out of boxes, 3D printing circuit boards or using virtual reality (VR) technology to explore the globe.

Makerspaces get kids interested in exploring STEM fields. They incorporate technology into a school’s curriculum in a way that helps kids develop their critical thinking skills. A makerspace is flexible and teaches students using project-based learning which is proving to be more effective at motivating students to learn than any other system. The flexibility of a makerspace gives students the time to think critically and understand what they are learning. Students can take apart computers and put them back together like puzzle pieces and learn to code in a way that makes sense to them.

Letting kids work in makerspaces seems to be the best thing schools can do to teach them invaluable skills for jobs that likely don’t exist yet. By changing the way kids learn today and turning them into “makers,” makerspaces potentially will change the way they’ll live and work in the future.

Want to brush up on your critical thinking skills? Next Step Academy just released a NEW course! “Introduction to Critical Thinking“

A career devoted to hospitality can take you all over the world, literally. With lodging and food establishments being the pillar of communities and tourist locations all around the world, you will always be able to find a job. If you enjoy being a leader and want to spend your career helping people, then this might be the career path for you.

Education

A career in hospitality management starts with an associate’s degree, which typically takes about two years to complete. An associate’s degree provides a strong understanding of the business and managerial aspects of running a restaurant or a hotel. Over the course of this degree you will learn management, safety and sanitation, event planning and accounting.

You may want to consider going for additional education and completing a bachelor’s degree to help you with future job growth, however this isn’t necessary to have a successful career in hospitality.

A certification is not required to become a hotel or restaurant manager, but employers look favorably upon those who complete one. The American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) offers certifications in multiple fields of hospitality and completing a certification will demonstrate your knowledge and commitment to service.

Career

Hospitality management comes in a spectrum of work environments. From restaurants and hotels, to bars, catering services, resorts, theme parks and more. Day-to-day tasks will vary based on the industry you choose to work in, but typically include accounting, hiring and managing staff, planning events and providing excellent customer service. Overall, your job is to provide a positive experience for guests and patrons to ensure they have the best time possible at your establishment.

Salary and Job Outlook

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the average salary of hotel managers as $49,720 in 2015 and the average salary of food service managers as $48,690.

Growth in the hospitality field is average at 5 percent growth over the next decade. While the field isn’t growing rapidly there continues to be a high demand for professionals in the industry.

Want some more information on careers in hospitality? Take Next Step Academy’s “Careers in Hospitality: Restaurant & Hotel Management” course!

There will be many times over the course of your professional development where it is respectful and useful to send a thank you letter to show gratitude. This could be to a potential employer after an interview, at the completion of an internship, to a teacher who has been a significant role model or to someone who has agreed to write you a reference. There is no downside when it comes to taking the time to be thankful for opportunities and guidance.

The value of saying thanks. Sending a thank you letter, first and foremost, will make you stand out. If you’re trying to gain employment, an interviewer will look more favorably upon the candidates that chose to reach out and say thanks over those who didn’t. Thank you notes can also help build and maintain strong connections. Upon leaving an internship, a thank note could ensure you are asked back as a permanent employee in the future. Regardless of the circumstances, people respond well to being thanked and are more likely to give you opportunities if they know you are grateful for their help.

Make it personal. This starts by addressing the letter appropriately, especially if you are writing a post-interview thank you note. Don’t just address the note “To whom it may concern,” learn the name of who interviewed you and address them specifically, “Dear Mr/Mrs last name.” You should also avoid generic phrases. Give specific details highlighting what you’re thankful for, why you are thankful and how their time will help you grow in the future.

Choose the right medium. A handwritten letter is more personal and shows that you put a lot of thought into the process of saying thank you. In most cases, this should be your first choice. However, there are exceptions. If you have exceptionally bad handwriting, a word processed letter may be a better option. Sometimes you may not have a physical address, especially with a professor, in which case email is an acceptable choice. Email is also acceptable if most of your prior communication has occurred via email.

Proofread. This cannot be stressed enough. Even if you are typing your thank you letter or emailing it, proofread it several times before you send your final draft. Autocorrect doesn’t catch everything and one small mistake could ruin the effect of the letter. It always helps to have a second pair of eyes, so consider asking a friend or colleague to proofread your letter as well.

Send a gift. While inappropriate in certain situations, such as a post-interview thank you, a gift can be a little something extra to show how much you appreciate the time someone spent helping you. It doesn’t have to be huge, just something small to show the person you value them. For example, a gift card to the campus coffee shop for a professor, or offering to take a business reference out to dinner. A small gesture to accompany your letter can show your genuine appreciation.

Need some help proofreading? Next Step Academy’s “Basic Grammar/Writing Toolkit” for useful tips and editing advice.