Bayt.com recently ran an extensive poll series on Career Advancement in the MENA and the results were an overwhelming tribute to the importance and merits of lifelong learning! To any who like to wish they read their last book the day before college graduation, it may be time to relocate some of the bling and bauble collections that have taken prize of place on your bookshelves, even acquire a new bookshelf or two, and better still, invest in a fine mélange of some of the priceless classics and latest gems published in your professional field of interest.
Why? Below are just some of the findings of the related Bayt.com poll.
1. The overwhelming majority of respondents maintained when asked ‘’What is needed to succeed in one’s career’’ that ‘’willingness to learn’’ was the singular most important factor, receiving 30.5% of the votes. This was followed by ‘’a good attitude’’ at 22.5% of the votes, and then at 16.5% of the votes by ‘’advanced technical skills’’ which in themselves practically by definition require constant rigorous learning for updating purposes.
Next came ‘’energy and enthusiasm’’ at 12.3% of the votes. And only then with 9.5% of the votes do we see ‘’a good education’’ being cited as the principle cause for career success. A loud reminder call from career professionals in the field that a college degree can potentially only take you so far and lifelong learning is key!
2. To reiterate the above, when asked ‘’What do you attribute your own career success to?’’ the most popular singular answer was ‘’willingness to learn’’ followed by ‘’a good attitude’’ followed by ‘’energy and enthusiasm’’ and then ‘’a good education’’ only very marginally slipping ahead of ‘’advanced technical skills’’.
3. When asked ‘’What is the biggest impediment MENA professionals face in career advancement’’ a very significant 12.4% cited that ‘’professionals are not adequately trained for their roles.’’ Well in these post-recessionary days of cost-controls and slashed HR budgets in an environment abundant with unemployed and under-employed top caliber talent, the onus is more than ever on the professional to independently and proactively identify areas of weakness and take remedial actions through self-sourced trainings, readings and independent research.
4. When asked ‘’Do you think reading relevant literature regularly is important for advancing careers’’ an overwhelming 70% of respondents said ‘’extremely important’’ followed by 27% who maintained it was ‘’somewhat important’’. In fact only 3% claimed it was ‘’not important’’!
5. To bring it all home, when asked ’’Do you read your industry related literature regularly’’, a whopping 78% responded in the affirmative and 22% said no! That’s some seriously stiff competition for those of us who thought we could rest on our laurels and adopt a passive approach to further learning.
6. Finally, we asked ‘’What is the biggest mistake people can make in climbing the career ladder’’ and you guessed it; the overwhelming majority of respondents at 29% indicated it was ‘’not improving and updating existing skills’’.
This took precedence over other factors including ‘’not being nice to others’’ which came a close tie to ‘’not learning new skills regularly’’ at 17%; and also superseded ‘’not networking regularly’’ which received 10% of the votes; ‘’changing jobs too frequently’’ which received 9% of the votes. ‘’not communicating achievements’’ which received 7% of the votes and ‘’being too nice to others’’ which very interestingly also received 7% of the votes. If you’re stuck in a career rut this poll may give you just the right insights you need to get out of it masterfully and make yourself infinitely more capable, competitive and marketable at the same time.
Not to mention more interesting and conversant at all these learning industry events you may now wish to attend more regularly! The best news of all is that regardless of your current situation, the majority of the poll’s respondents, at 44% of the vote, say it is never too late to make a career success and a further 24.8% say ‘’it really depends’’. It depends on how quickly you can jump on that further learning bandwagon with grace, energy and aplomb seems to be the bayt.com poll’s insight of the day!
