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YOU can easily learn how to ride a bicycle, but how well you ride in the following months and years depends entirely on your riding technique.

Managing your career is a lot like riding a bicycle because the cautions that apply to cyclists apply to career professionals as well. And once you have learnt how to manage your career, like riding a bicycle, you will never forget.

Photo/ AP

Have you been eyeing a particular type of job all along, or did you take one offered by a family friend or relative?

There is nothing wrong with getting a leg up the career ladder, especially when you are just starting out, but do keep your eye on the prize job you have always wanted and keep working towards it.

Learn how to ride

Everyone needs to learn how to ride before taking off the training wheels and going solo. Learning how to manage your career helps you to avoid many pitfalls, and sharpens your ability to spot opportunities.

This is where the experiences of others are useful. Talking to mentors can help you to minimise wrong turns and make sensible choices instead. Identify the sources of mentorship in your professional and social circles who can guide you.

This is like stopping to ask for directions. You know this is not something you like to do, but ask yourself how often you can afford to get lost on something as important as your career journey. Other people cannot ride your bike for you. And, of course, you will have your share of bumps and scrapes.

Choose your goal

You can look at a job in two ways: as a way to earn money to pay the bills, or as a carefully thought out step in your big career picture.

What does your job mean to you? Ask yourself whether you want to just cycle from here to there, going nowhere in particular, or take part in the Tour de France of all career rides. You need a destination, a goal to work towards and a prize to celebrate in your golden years. Work out what this prize looks like to you.

Once you have worked out the final destination, give yourself interim goals to achieve — places you need to be by a certain time in your life.

You will find that with somewhere specific to go, and with the stress of uncertainty reduced, your ride becomes more relaxed, the scenery more enjoyable and your efforts rewarded by the journey. What makes it even more exciting is that this journey will not follow a set itinerary — everything can and will change.

Highway code

Remember your Highway Code test when you were learning how to drive? For their own safety, road users have to keep their eyes open for one another and be considerate. The “career highway code” is based on precepts you are taught at an early age, for example, upholding certain moral standards, respecting other people and the work that they do, being grateful for the hand that feeds you and doing an honest day’s work in return. Live by the rules and be a decent person.

Common sense

Common sense rules on the road as well as in life. However, as you are often reminded, common sense is not so common, so here are some bike rules that can help you manage your career:

• Be alert. This is basic, yet many people fail to be present in their own skins, let alone in their careers. Do not bury yourself in work to the exclusion of everyone and everything else — you will not know what you are missing. Pay conscious attention to your life and needs and make purposeful decisions.
• Signal. Signalling is useful for letting other people know your intentions early. If you do not tell your manager where you want to go with your career, it is unlikely that he can read your mind.
  You also need to communicate clearly with colleagues so that they know when to ride alongside, when to fall back and when to get out of the way.
• Make eye contact. Signalling with your hands is not enough. You need to get personal with the people you work with so that you become more visible.
  This means that they will treat you with greater consideration whenever there is a chance that your paths might cross professionally. So network effectively with colleagues, customers and service providers.
• Ring your bell. What good is a bell if you do not ring it once in a while? Ring it to tell people you are coming through, to celebrate your success — or even someone else’s!
• Use your mirrors. Mirrors are for checking what is coming up behind you so that you can prepare accordingly. Reviewing past actions, failures and successes helps you to plan better for the future.
• Wear protective gear. Helmets, bright clothing and reflectors are some other ways to ensure your safety on the road.

In professional life, you need a thick skin to help you rebound quickly from failures. Maintain a high, but humble, profile so that people know your work and your worth. At the same time, let your work be a guide for those following in your footsteps.

Article by Anna Murphy, an editorial consultant at Worklife Asia, a career development management consulting firm which is conducting a career coaching certification programme from Nov 22 to 24. For details, visit www.worklifeasia.com or e-mail coach@worklifeasia.com.