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Before they were famous
By Helen Beckett
Celebrity careers rarely happen overnight. But if you study the formative years of superstars, the signs are often there. The knack of creating a successful career is to know your strengths and what direction you are heading in.
Dick Francis
The crime writer who enthrals readers with stories of the racing world got his first job riding ponies for a circus owner at the age of 13. Two years later, he left school to make his debut as an amateur jockey and he went on to ride race horses for the Queen Mother.
Ozzy Osbourne
Ozzy Osbourne’s early life of aimlessness, petty crime, imprisonment, alcohol and drugs was a good launch pad for a career as a rock and roll star. His early jobs at least gave him some skills to fall back on in hard times - mortician’s assistant, plumber’s apprentice, and car-horn tuner.
Alfred Hitchcock
The master of suspense spent his early life in Leytonstone above a greengrocer’s shop and later in the East End neighbourhoods of Poplar and Stepney. He left school at 14 and worked as a clerk at the Henley Telegraph Company. In the evenings, he took lessons in draughtsmanship and drawing at the University of London. In 1919, these skills enabled him to get a job as a title card designer with the American production company Famous Players-Lasky when it began making films in Islington.
Bill Gates
The super-nerd and software magnate started in middle school creating programs on a crude terminal in the teletype room with friends. An instinctive entrepreneur, the 13-year-old Gates sold their scheduling programs and troubleshooting manuals to local schools and companies.
If you want to make sure you’re on the right road, follow these simple steps:
Separate who you are from what you do
You will never be able to explore options beyond your current sector or role if you define yourself by your present job. This exercise will also help you to identify your transferable skills. For example, “I can manage people and budgets, and have excellent time management and administration skills”, rather than “I’m an office manager”.
Do your research
Always have a plan. Find out about the industry, profession or job you’re interested in and assess your chances of success. Is there a glut of these roles in the market; is the industry growing or contracting?
Know what you don’t want
Think about what you want from a job and why. It’s important to know your likes and dislikes as well as your limits and capabilities. Is it the type of work you do, or the office environment, that drives you nuts?
Create career scenarios
Based on your career criteria, look at the kinds of roles you could be performing in five or ten years’ time and picture yourself in these jobs. This helps you to anticipate the motivations and pressures.
Break your ambition down into steps
If you have a very defined goal – for example, “I want to be a managing director in five years’ time”– work out the steps to get there. You’ll need experience of different business disciplines, including finance, people management and business development, so always volunteer when opportunities to improve or expand your skills arise.
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