The Other 16

So you show up to work, do a great job, do as your told, and meet all your requirements. Yet, come review time you just get your cost of living adjustment and no real raise. But you busted your ass at work, worked some late nights here and there, and got all your work done. Congratulations, you have completed the bare minimum and show no reason that you deserve any more pay that you were getting the year before. Look you work 8 hours a day. What are you doing the other 16 hours of the day?

I know that part of that is sleep, and it better be. But what are you doing outside of work to help your case for a real raise? Are you leaving work and going to play video games? Or are you going home and sharpening your skills in development, networking, or whatever field you want to go into in your career? I am going to go over a few ways you can improve your skills so that come review time, you can show off.

Step one is figuring out if you have a job, or have a career? I know that is a silly question to some, but think about that. What are you doing right now? Is this the field that you want to be in? Or does this just pay the bills? If you said this is where you want to be, then it is your career. Your focus should be improving your skills to get that raise come time for your review. Is this just to pay the bills? Then this sounds like a job to me. Your other 16 should be trying to get the abilities needed to get to that career you want.

The next step is to figure out what skills you need to improve. I am in the IT industry so I had a few choices; development, management, sales, or networking. (And by networking I mean meeting people and creating your brand.) So do you know what to do to improve some or all of these skills? Let's go over some simple steps first.

Development is the easiest to figure out how to gain abilities, but the hardest to stick to. Some steps when picking what to learn, is find a language or method to learn that will help your career. Whether that be python, puppet, or some JS library, you just need to learn it. This seems easy at first, you pick something and find a book or a website. There are tons, http://learnxinyminutes.com/ or http://learncodethehardway.org/ are just two of many sites you can grow your development chops. The hard part is sticking to this learning process. You have to be willing to change to get that raise or get a better career.

Management is the hardest to really prove that you are gaining these skills. Some tricks are take on outside projects, moonlight, or start building tools at work and record your efforts. These things show that you can lead, even if it is just leading yourself. You're able to budget, if you're moonlighting, and listen to customers needs to meet them. These are just a few of the skills of a manager, but a lot of people don't understand all that is needed. And being able to show you know the ins and outs of management will be a huge leg up.

Sales and networking go hand in hand. Networking is all about selling yourself. Networking is a great asset because you never know who you're going to meet and how they might help you. Or even more so, how you might be able to help them. There are always networking events in your city. No matter how big or small, there is an event. Whether it be going to your local chamber of commerce, mixer at a bar, or even a fraternal group meeting. These places and events will have people from all walks of life. I have been to a Kansas City Chamber of Commerce meeting where I was talking with an unemployed guy looking for work, and then turned around to discuss my career with the VP of IT at Garmin. You never know who you will run into.

PROTIP: Be sure that if you are moonlighting and/or networking, that your managers and bosses know. The last thing you want is to do is something that goes against your contract and you lose your current job. This leads us to your review.

So next year when you are going up to get your review, are you going to be ready? Have you done all or some of the above? Who knows that you have done any of this? If you say just you, then you are doing it wrong. When you are improving your skills, don't keep it a secret. Let your peers know, let your managers know, let your bosses know. If they don't know, they will only judge you based on the 8 hours a day that they see you. The key is that they need to know you are doing something to help the company and yourself in the other 16. If you don't do anything outside of your 9-5, then expect to be just doing that until you retire, doesn't that sound like fun....