3 reasons you should be awarded career success

Posted by Sarah Hobbs

When it comes to driving your career forward you may wonder whether it is worth investing some time in going for awards. Well – yes, it is! Awards are great recognition that your area of work is leading edge and significant. Awards can help your career in three different ways:

1. It forces you to measure, process, improve and capture. If we’re really honest with ourselves, in our day-to-day work we don’t capture data unless there’s a system in place or it’s really easy. Awards are great because metrics are often a key part of the judging process, which means you’re forced to measure your results. Whilst the measurement doesn’t have to be 100% perfect, that information can be really useful as you can also use that data internally to promote your work and boost your career.
   
   
2. Going through the awards process is a really great experience. When you decide to put yourself forward for an award there are often a number of stages you need to go through. For example you often need to present information to people who are well known or significant in your industry. Not only does this let you benchmark your work and compare it against what other people are doing, it helps you get your name and your company’s name out there in front of key people too. Also, if you’re shortlisted, you get chance to attend the awards ceremony which is fantastic from a networking point of view.
   
   
3. The effects of being shortlisted or winning are career making. Whether you win or just make the shortlist, the publicity machine that surround awards processes is really helpful. Not only will you be featured in the award’s marketing, which helps you build your reputation. You can use award success on LinkedIn, in your email signature, on presentation materials, with new starters – and that’s just scratching the surface! Think about how you can showcase it inside the company too – for example in newsletters, in the company magazine or in presentations to the executive team. Winning or being shortlisted is a great achievement and you’ll find countless ways to use it to promote your career.

TAKEAWAY
Take the opportunity today to look at what awards are available in your area of work, find the next available one and apply for it.