Competence + Commitment

A lot of people put their best foot forward trying to land a job. After getting that much coveted job, they lie low and lose a great opportunity to achieve career success. The reason, getting the job means being assured of the salary. And if you don't mess up or  mess things up too much you get to keep getting that salary. If you stay long enough, you might get more due to seniority.

Career success does not end in landing the job, neither does it start there. If you are still studying or just fresh out of college, this is the perfect time to read this article. If you've been in the corporate world a long time and not making any progress, this may be the best time to reflect and move onward to success.

Competence + Commitment are two important elements of career success. 

Wikepedia refers to competence as "the ability of an individual to perform a job properly." I'd like to emphasize that last word; properly. I believe successful professionals are those who make it a point to grow their knowledge and ability so that they become very good at what they do and then work towards getting better at what they want to do in the future. In short, they grow in competence. The rule is fairly simple really. If you want better package, get better at what you do. Wasn't it Einstein who said "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results?" If you are a student now and preparing for the world of work. The time for building competence is now and not later. Study your chosen career path carefully and thoroughly. Develop the passion for it and it will pay off later.

Commitment is a promise, a pledge, an engagement, an obligation. Successful professionals are reliable. They honor their commitments and they are consistent. They come on agreed time, they deliver on time and on quality. They say what they say they will do. They are trusted because of all these. Commitment is a personal decision, whether we do commit or not, it's almost always a personal decision. Some people know the weight of commitment that they'd rather not make any. They think it wise to under-promise and over-deliver. I don't know about that, but I like people who promise and then deliver. Those who don't deliver on their promise are tagged as unreliable and get stuck when it's time to choose the best person for the next bigger job.

Competence is a work in progress. It grows and should grow everyday. Commitment is a decision you can make now.