35 Things to Do for Your Career

by 35 By The Daily Muse Editor

We’re all for flexibility. Going your own way. Paving your own

path. Doing what works for you (and not doing what doesn’t).

We’re also big fans of not putting a timeline on things. We’ve

even said that there are plenty of things you don’t have to

have by 30 (or 40, or 50, or ever...).

But when it comes to your career, there are some things that

we do recommend getting started on sooner rather than later.

Not because some all-knowing career god out there says you

have to, but because you’ll make your professional future—not

to mention day-to-day work life—a whole lot easier.

So, do you need to check every box off this list by the time

you’re 35? Definitely not. But, consider it a list of suggestions

that, if taken, can have a really big impact on your career.

1. Really Refine Your Elevator

Pitch While it will obviously change from time to time, you should

never have a hard time answering, “What do you do?” In fact,

you should be so good at it that people will never forget. So,

really spend some time figuring out what message you want to

get across when people ask about your career. Communication

expert Alexandra Franzen has an exercise to help.

2. Know Your Superpower Or, in other words, know the one thing that you’re truly

amazing at. Serial entrepreneur Tina Roth Eisenberg says that

all the most successful people she’s met know exactly what

they’re best at: John Maeda, who led the MIT Media Lab and

Rhode Island School of Design, responded with “curiosity.”

Maria Popova, who curates the popular Brain Pickings blog,

said “doggedness.” Eisenberg’s own superpower is enthusiasm.

See how to find your own super power, here.

3. Know Your Weakness On the other end of the spectrum, it’s key to know what you’re

not so great at. Not to make you feel bad—not in the least!—

but to help you know who you should hire and work with to

complement your skill set and what tasks you should delegate

(so you can spend more time on what you’re great at). On that

note:

4. Learn How to Delegate No one can do it all, and especially as you climb the career

ladder, you’re going to need to know the difference between

the things you should be spending your time on and the

things you shouldn’t. And, perhaps more importantly, be able

to effectively and comfortably delegate to others—interns,

staff members, your partner, your childcare provider, you get

the picture. These 10 rules of successful delegation will help

you do it right.

5. Know Your Career Non-

Negotiables You’re going to have a lot of opportunities come your way in

life, and you don’t want to waste energy agreeing to things

that really don’t line up with what you want to be doing. So,

really be honest about what you want and need out of your

career, and then come up with a list of non-negotiables that

you can use as a guide next time you’re making a career

decision. Writer Andrea Shields Nunez has some tips on

creating them—and then actually enforcing them.

6. Do Something You’re Really,

Really Proud Of Whether or not it’s something you’ll be known for forever,

something you get paid for doing, or even something you

really want to do with your life, make sure you have something

on your resume that, deep down, you’re really proud of.

7. Learn From Something You’re

Not So Proud Of We were going to add “fail at something” to this list, but that’s

silly. Because, let’s face it, we’ve all failed miserably at one

point or another. What’s more important? Learning from that

blunder and taking that lesson with you productively into the

next stage of your career.

8. Stretch Your Limits You know you can manage a 30-person meeting, but a 100-

person multi-day travel conference? That might be stretching

the limits of your skills. Actually—this is exactly the type of

stuff that you should try once in a while. After all, you’ll never

really know how good you are until you step a bit outside of

what you know.

9. Do Something That Really

Scares You This takes stretching your limits a bit further—we’re talking

going way out of your comfort zone here. Whether it’s

speaking at a conference, going for a (big) promotion, or

finally writing that memoir, why not try something that terrifies

you at least once in the early stages of your career? As they

say, big risks can lead to big-time rewards.

10. Get Comfortable With

Getting Feedback Hillary Clinton once said that her biggest piece of advice to

young professionals is: “It’s important to take criticism

seriously—not personally.” Meaning: Knowing where you’re

not meeting expectations is the only way you’ll learn and grow

as a professional, but taking every harsh word to heart is a fast

way to make your confidence crumble. So, take it from Hillz,

and start taking feedback like a pro. Here are a few tips that’ll

help.

11. Get Comfortable With Giving

Feedback Whether it’s telling your boss that his hourly drop-bys are

really killing the team’s mojo or letting your direct report know

that arriving to meetings on time is, in fact, required, giving

feedback is a necessary part of getting what you need and

being a happy professional. Learn how to give it well, ideally

sooner rather than later. Career expert Jennifer Winter offers

some pointers.

12. Get Comfortable With Saying

No For just being two measly letters long, “no” seems to be one of

the hardest words in the English language for many of us to

say. But it’s actually incredibly important for our careers (and

our sanity!) that we learn to use it and stand behind it. Here’s

how to say it to your boss, a friend, and everyone else.

13. Have a Broad Network of

People You Can Trust We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again (probably at least

twice a week for as long as we’re in business), the greatest

asset you have in your career is your network. And building

relationships takes time, so start now. Our free, seven-day

email class is here to help.

14. Have a Couple of Specific

Career Advisors We’re not saying mentor here—because finding the right

mentor shouldn’t have a timeline on it and because there are

plenty of ways to succeed without one—but having a couple of

people in your corner who can advise you on everything from

a terrible boss to a career 180 is incredibly valuable. And yes,

this group of people can include your mom.

15. Scrub Your Online Presence Increasingly, what shows up in Google and on your social

media profiles is the first impression someone has of you. So,

take some time to clean ’em up! Change the privacy on any old

or questionable photos. Use SimpleWash to delete any

Facebook or Twitter posts that could be incriminating. Game

your Google results to make sure the things you want showing

up at the top do.

16. Perfect Your LinkedIn Profile Speaking of those things you want showing up at the top, your

LinkedIn profile is perhaps your most prime piece of online real

estate. When a client, future employer, vendor, or professional

contact is looking for you, guess where he or she will turn?

Yup, LinkedIn. So make sure your profile tells the story you

want it to tell (our complete guide to a perfect LinkedIn profile

walks you through the process).

17. Have a Portfolio of Your Best

Work Whether it’s a printed collection of articles, marketing

campaigns, or annual reports you’ve worked on or a personal

website showcasing your skills, having a portfolio ready to go

will make it easy for you to show your boss (or future boss)

what you’ve got. Here’s more on why you need one, plus some

easy ways to get started today.

18. Know How to Sell (Yourself

or Something Else) Yes, even if you never envision a career in cold calling. The

truth is, whether you’re pitching an idea to your boss or writing

a cover letter about why you’re the perfect candidate, you’re

going to be selling something to someone at some point. Get

started on your own personal sales education with these tips.

19. Know How to Negotiate Because, in most cases, it’s the only way you’re going to get

what you want and deserve. If you’ve never done it before, we

recommend starting small (asking your boss to, say, pay for a

pricey upcoming conference), and checking out this hour-long

webinar that’s jam-packed with actionable advice (and

motivation).

20. Know How to Manage Up It’s a common misconception that you have to grin and bear it

through a superior’s assignments, working style, or way of

doing things, paying no regard to whether his or her demands

are reasonable. In fact, being able to manage up—or,

communicate with your boss and advocate for what you need

to do your job best—is a crucial job skill. Molly Donovan offers

some tips for doing it well.

21. Know How to Send a Killer

Email You should never send an email that you’re not proud of (or

wouldn’t be proud of if your boss saw) again. So make sure

you’re really putting care into the professional messages you

send! Erin Greenawald has some tips from an editor’s

perspective on how to write ones that are flawless. It may

sound like a lot of effort, but we promise it’s worth it (and will

get easier the more you do it).

22. Master Your Handshake This sounds small, but a handshake is the quickest way to

make (or break) an impression. (Fact: A Fortune 500 CEO once

said that when he had to choose between two candidates with

similar qualifications, he gave the position to the candidate

with the better handshake.) Learn how to do it right from an

expert.

23. Find a To-Do List System

That Works for You

Whether you need your list synced across all of your devices or

you’re more of a pen-and-paper kind of guy or gal, commit to

finding a to-do list that helps you manage your workflow in

the best way possible. Yes, you might change methods as you

switch jobs or new apps are launched over time, but knowing

what works, what doesn’t, and what you like and don’t will

make sure that you always have what you need to be your

most productive self.

24. Know Your Energy Levels—

and Use Them There’s nothing worse (or less productive) than trying to work

when you’re not at your best. You shouldn’t spend any more

time wasting your peak mental hours—or forcing yourself to

work when you’re in an energy slump. So, really understand

and accept when you work best, and then use productivity

expert Alex Cavoulacos’ advice to map out your ideal day.

25. Know How Much Sleep You

Need—and Commit to Getting It We hope you learned this lesson in college, but if not: Sleep is

important. Whether you need seven or nine hours, know your

number, and get it regularly. Your health and career depend on

it—take it from Arianna Huffington.

26. Know How to Manage Stress Stress can really rule and ruin your life, something you don’t

want to let it do for long. If stress is an issue for you, nip it in

the bud as early as possible. Career coach Lea McLeod has

some advice for how to start mitigating your stress, but if it’s

really becoming overwhelming, consider talking to a

professional who can give you strategies.

27. Stop Over-Apologizing You may think you’re being polite or strengthening your

reputation, but apologizing too much, especially for small

things or things out of your control, could inadvertently instill

doubt in your abilities and undercut your professionalism.

Make sure you’re saving your apologies for when you really

messed up—not when your co-worker asks you to go back a

slide in your presentation. Check out Lily Herman’s tips for

making sure you’re saying what you really mean.

28. Get Over Impostor Syndrome Whether you’re just getting started in a new field or you’ve

been climbing the promotion ladder at your company since

graduation, impostor syndrome can plague any professional.

But the truth is, it’s hurting your career (not to mention your

self-esteem). Here’s why—and here are a few ways to get over

feeling like a fraud and start feeling like the badass you are.

29. Have a Career Emergency

Plan What would you do if you got laid off tomorrow? If you don’t

have an answer (or your answer is “Freak out! Panic!”), it’s time

to come up with a career emergency plan. A crisis, like being

let go or having your company go under, isn’t something you

ever want to think about, but if it happened, wouldn’t you

rather have a ready-to-go action plan than be running around

like a crazy person trying to get anyone to hire you? Here’s

how to get yours started ASAP.

30. Pick Up a Side Project Ever wondered how you’d do at consulting? Thought about

opening up an Etsy store or restoring and selling old cars? Try

it out. At best, you’ll find a new career or source of income,

and at the very least you’ll have some variety in your day to

day.

31. Invest in Your Retirement We know: In the early stages of your career, it can be hard to

fork over any of that precious paycheck. But savings

compounds over time, so starting early means you’ll have

exponentially more in your later years (to, you know, live it up

on a boat sipping mai tais all day). Here’s everything you need

to know to get started.

32. Invest in Yourself Today’s working world is changing faster than ever, and to stay

on top of your professional game, it’s important to continue to

grow your skills. Oh, and this doesn’t have to mean going to

grad school. Here are 50 totally cheap and doable ways to add

some professional development into your routine.

33. Invest in the World Whether it’s volunteering your skills to a nonprofit in need or

mentoring a junior employee, little feels better than giving

back to the world. Here are a few ideas you may not have

considered.

34. Know What You Don’t Want You don’t have to know what you want to be when you grow

up by 35 (or, hey, 95). But, assuming you want to have a job

and career you love, it’s important to at least keep thinking

about it—if not actively chasing it. And, often, the first step to

knowing what you do want is ruling out what you don’t want.

Don’t want a dictator for a boss? A sales role? A management

position? Great. Whittle away some options, and you’re at least

getting closer.

35. Give Yourself Permission to

Go After What You Do Oh, and if you do know what you want? Start taking steps to

go after it. Yes, careers are long, but why spend one more day

than you have to not doing what you want? You have our

permission. We hope you have yours, too.