沒背景沒資源沒機會的職場人，就沒有出路了嗎？

01-31

你的老闆很好；你的公司會給你提供很多培訓；你會得到很多讓你學習和成長的機會。總的來說，你的職業發展前景很不錯。

但是，如果你沒有以上這些條件呢？如果你的老闆不關心你的職業發展呢？如果你的公司並沒有提供任何培訓呢？如果你的公司文化保守，業務發展又很慢，在這些情況下你要如何培養自己的能力呢？

當我們一無所有的時候可以這麼做

情況是這樣的，當你沒有以上這些很好的條件的時候，你就要適應一個"Poor Man"的職業發展方式，或者，從本質上說，採取一個自我培養的方式來發展你的職業。

當然，也不是說你非得處在一個沒有任何幫助或者環境很糟糕的平台，才可以用這個方法。我把它叫做"Poor Man"的職業發展方式，因為這個方法對於一個不能給你帶來任何幫助的工作環境很適用。在這裡，你沒有良師益友，沒有資源，也沒有好機會。

所以，你應該怎麼做呢？你要自我培養，做到以下幾點：

對自己的職業發展負責
了解自己的發展需求
為自己創造發展機會
接觸讓你受益的人和資源
充分利用現有的優勢

在逆境中尋找前進的方法

我幾年前認識了一個人，她就用了自我培養的方式來加速自己的職業發展。我認識她的時候，她已經是一個全球頂尖公關公司的高管。她本來是在一家本土的酒店當管培生，為了進入公關行業，她進了一家公關公司，從辦公室助理做起。所以，剛開始的時候，公司管理層並不認為她是一顆明日之星。

我曾經問過她，你是如何做到高管的，又是怎麼超過那些背景比你強很多的人的？她告訴我：「如果你不是一流學校畢業的，或者從一流公司出來的，那你就要看清楚自己的現實。首先，最大的現實就是，你想成功，你要成功。那你就要想盡一切讓你成功的辦法。」

"對我來說, 我很早就意識到一件事，沒有人會覺得我是可造之材。沒有人對我的未來感興趣, 也沒有人會給我想要的機會。所以, 我從來不等。相反, 我必須自己對自己的未來和發展負責，我必須自己創造機會從而獲得更多資源。

她給了我幾個她是怎麼做的具體事例。比如說，為了能夠接近自己感興趣的事情，她會志願去做一些事情。作為一名資歷尚淺的員工，她的工作職責是什麼並不重要。可能是做筆記，收集信息，做研究，或者打電話。對她來說, 這些都是她發展自己的機會，也是她可以和值得學習的人一起做項目的機會。

她也會主動和公司的很多人接觸和交流。「實際上, 如果你只是一個低級的辦公室助理, 主動詢問老闆或管理有什麼你能幫忙的地方，這絕對會引起他們的注意。」

她說:「主動要求幫忙有一個什麼好處呢？你可以向你管理層和你的老闆展示，他們在你的職稱中看不到的一面：你是一個自我激勵, 雄心勃勃, 渴望學習的人。說明你是值得他們關注和扶持的。」

知道自己想要什麼，世界都會為你鋪路

在我的職業初期，當我想從工程師轉行到做市場時，我知道對於我當時求職的公司來說，我並不是最合適的人選。我早就意識到了這一點，所以我很清楚我必須自己想辦法進入一個可以幫助我的職業發展的平台。

我做了什麼呢？首先, 我自己一個人完成了一項研究，一個非營利組織的營銷項目 (要做一些你沒做過的事，非盈利組織會是一個還不錯的開始)。接下來，我在一家女性保健品公司做了一份市場部的實習工作。然後在我的老東家美泰玩具公司的市場部做了另一份市場實習。這些機會沒有一個是主動送上門來的，全都是我自己想辦法找到並且努力拿到的。

最終，除了你自己，沒有人會關心你事業的成功和未來。你的事業是你的責任。特別是，當你無法獲得很多資源、人力和機會來幫助你更快地發展的時候, 你就需要採取積極主動的、自我培養的方式來拓展你的事業。退一步說，即使你是處在一個還不錯的平台，一個自我培養，或者說"Poor Man"的職業發展方式，也能幫你更快地學習和發展自己。

在我的下一篇關於自我培養的文章中, 我會聊一聊有哪些習慣可以幫助你在任何環境中都收穫更多。

你有沒有曾經處在某個工作狀態中讓你開始時覺得它並沒有什麼可以教給你的，但你最終找到了方法從而自我提高？我非常願意聽聽你的經歷，以及你是如何從那樣的困境中成長的！

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The Poor Mans Career Development Approach

Youve got a great boss. You work for a company that provides lots of training. Opportunities for you to learn and grow are provided to you. Overall, youre in a good career development situation.

But what if youre not? What if your boss doesnt care about or pay much attention to your development? What if your company doesnt offer much training? Or your companys culture and business are slow and conservative. How do you develop yourself in these situations?

What people who have less do

Well, heres how. When facing such situations, you need to adopt a poor mans career development approach, or essentially, a self-development approach to your career development.

Okay, you dont necessarily have to be in a poor or bad job situation to apply this approach. But I call it a poor mans career development approach because it especially applies to job situations where not much is being provided to you to support your learning and development. You have no mentors guiding you. No resources being directed at you. No good opportunities coming your way.

So what you need to do instead is to apply a self-development approach. This approach involves . . .

Being accountable for your own career development
Figuring out your own development needs
Creating your own development opportunities
Approaching people and resources that can benefit you
Taking advantage of whats already available to you

Your ability to get more out of less

One person I met a few years ago was a great example of someone who used a self-development approach to develop herself faster. At the time, she was a senior executive in a top, global PR agency. However, she began her career as a management trainee in a local hotel. To get into the PR industry, she joined a PR firm as an office assistant. So she didnt exactly begin her career as a high potential or rising star in the eyes of her companys management.

I asked her how she managed to reach her senior management level and surpass many others with much better backgrounds. She told me, 「If you dont come from a top school or start out in a top-tier company, you have to be realistic about your situation. And the biggest reality to face is that if you want to be successful, you have to figure out ways to make things happen for yourself.

「For me, I recognized very early that nobody was viewing me as a top talent. Nobody was going to really take an interest in my future, or give me the opportunities I wanted. So I never waited around for things to happen to me. Instead, I needed to make them happen for myself, by looking after my own self-improvement and development.

She gave a few examples of how she did this. For instance, shed volunteer for things just to get closer to situations that were interesting to her. As a junior employee, it didnt matter to her what she was asked to do. It could be to take notes, collect information, do research, or make calls. To her, these were all chances for her to develop herself and work on projects with people that she could learn and grow from.

She would also approach and speak with many people in her company. 「Actually, when youre a lowly office assistant and you take the initiative to ask your boss or management what more you can do to help the department or company, it really catches their attention,」 she said. 「It shows them a side of you that they dont see from your title. And thats that youre someone who is self-motivated, ambitious, and eager to learn. It shows them that youre someone who is worth paying attention to and supporting.」

Finding ways to get what you need

In my own early days transitioning from an engineering to a business career, I also wasnt an obvious choice for the marketing opportunities I sought. I also realized this early on, and knew I had to find ways to get myself into the situations that could help my career.

For instance, first, I did an independent study, marketing project for a non-profit organization (NGOs are great starting points to do something youve never done before). Next, I did a marketing internship in a womens healthcare products company. Then another one in the marketing department of the toy company I used to work for. None of these opportunities approached me or were recommended to me. I identified and pursued each one of them myself.

At the end of the day, nobody is going to care about your career success and future more than you. Its your career, your responsibility. Especially when you dont have access to many resources, people, and opportunities that can help you develop faster, you need to take a proactive, self-development approach to your career development. But even if youre someone whos in a good job situation, a self-development, or poor mans career development approach, will help you to learn and develop yourself much faster.

In my next article on self-development, Ill talk about some key self-development habits that will help you get more out of any situation youre in.

Ever been in a job situation that at first didnt seem to have much to offer you, but you found ways to develop key skills and experience from it? Id love to hear about it, and what you did to benefit from this situation!