What’s the best way to find challenging work?
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Taking on challenging work is a great way to both develop yourself and your career, however it can sometimes be tough to find the right opportunities or get permission to tackle the challenge. Here’s five ideas which will help you find these opportunities and help you to establish the credibility you need to be given the go ahead to tackle them.
Is there an issue your manager is facing or a problem your company needs to address that you can impact in some way? Is there an issue within your team which people constantly say they will “deal with later”? If there is, volunteer to take it on.
- Don’t wait for the “perfect” challenge. If you’re looking for challenging work there will be a lot of opportunities on your doorstep which you may not have recognised. The question is, are you willing to take them on in their raw form? If you avoid the trap of waiting for the “perfect” challenge, you’ll find that the problem isn’t that there is a lack of challenges – it’s that there is a lack of people willing to take on the hassle.
- Pick the right manager to work with. If you’re the kind of person who is motivated by challenges, finding the right manager is as important as finding the right job. If you can work with a manager who trusts you, isn’t a micromanager and takes risks with people, you’re more likely to get those challenges rather than the manager feeling like they should take them on themselves.
- Show that you’re resilient and can handle difficult situations. Are you the type of person who tackles challenging situations head on and isn’t afraid to have challenging conversations with people? If you build the skills and a reputation for being someone who is known for taking tough decisions when they need to be taken, people will consider you capable of tackling challenging work.
- Demonstrate you have the capacity. If you look like you’re busy and everyone thinks you’re overworked and stressed they won’t let you take on these challenges as they’ll be worried about the impact on you and your work. If you can constantly find ways to show you have spare capacity, even if it’s just 5-10%, people will be more likely to pass you more difficult work.
- Ask for the challenge. And lastly, whilst it sounds obvious, the truth is that volunteering for these challenges is the key to being given them. So don’t wait for an opportunity to be offered to you – if you’ve found a challenge you’d like to tackle be sure to ask for the chance!
Is there an issue your manager is facing or a problem your company needs to address that you can impact in some way? Is there an issue within your team which people constantly say they will “deal with later”? If there is, volunteer to take it on.