Unlocking your professional potential: how career consultants can navigate you to success in it-economics Bulgaria

Imagine your career path as driving a car. You want to get from place A to place B. Because you have never been to B, you open up Google Maps, and it helps you find the best route. If there is a place where you want to take a stop along the way, Maps adjusts its route accordingly. Consider your destination as the career goal you would like to achieve, and the additional stops as the skills you would like to acquire along the way. You may want to have a fulfilling job, a stable income, and flexible working hours. That is your point B. And while working, you might want to deepen your knowledge, get certified, or stay up-to-date with the most cutting-edge technology. These are your stops along the way.

For us at it-economics, it is important to see employees as more than just professionals. They are also individuals with their own traits, values, and aspirations. People want to grow and expand their knowledge. And for many, the number of progression opportunities can be overwhelming. It could also happen that people outgrow their roles and need fresh motivation. More often than not, it is not completely clear which burning ambitions one should pursue. While motivation, ambition, and drive are critical to success, without a concrete action plan, one can feel confused and directionless.

Here at it-economics, we have career advisors who act as Google Maps. They show a possible path to reach a destination at it-economics and help plan a new one. 😊 They offer guidance that is personally tailored to the needs and aspirations of our colleagues.

In short, career advisors at it-economics are experienced mentors who can provide assistance and support based on their own knowledge and experiences. Whether someone is just starting out or has been in the workforce for many years, at it-economics, we take the time to understand each individual’s unique needs and aspirations. Our career advisors work closely with their advisees to align their values and life goals with a suitable career path. Through planning and collaboration, we strive to create a win-win situation for both the career advisors and advisees.

How does it work?

You could also describe it as a regular check-up to ensure the well-being of the advisee within the company and their position. It’s important to emphasize that this is a two-way system, measured from a 360-degree angle. On one hand, the career advisor provides guidance and outlines potential career paths. On the other hand, the advisee expresses a desire to grow and actively engages in achieving their desired outcomes. Both parties provide 360-degree feedback on what has been successful.

To provide further insight into the roles of advisors and advisees, we gathered valuable input from some of our team members.

Kalin Dimitrov

Hristo Iliev

Anita Veskova

In your role as a career advisor:

What is it like giving guidance to others?

Kalin: Guiding others on their professional path is something that should be an integral part of everyone’s job. Personally, I gladly take on this role with a smile on my face. The ability to enhance someone else’s career is always something I strive for, whether it is an official role or not.

Anita: Giving guidance to others is challenging, as it requires responsibility, work, and the ability to build relationships. It involves setting aside personal preferences and opinions to remain objective. It is a desire to help and being able to actively listen to others’ needs and communicate openly.

What do you like most about being a career advisor?

Hristo: The most rewarding aspect of being a career advisor is the opportunity to inspire people to envision a better version of themselves. Helping individuals recognize their strengths while identifying areas for improvement allows me to contribute to their personal and professional growth.

Anita: I believe this role is selfless and has the power to positively influence individuals.

Kalin: Being a career advisor gives me the ability to foster trust and build a cohesive team that supports each other through a highly personal process. Assisting others in advancing their careers often leads to the formation of such a team. Additionally, being part of the career advisor community allows me to impact other processes and contribute my best to serve our team.

What does being a career advisor mean to you?

Kalin: Being a career advisor is one of the most significant aspects of my work. It means helping others become better versions of themselves while growing alongside them. It involves fostering trust, instilling confidence, promoting camaraderie, and embracing leadership.

Why do you think people should have a career advisor, or should they even at all have one?

Hristo: I am convinced that one could see further and more clearly if one gets guidance and perspective, and develops more self-awareness. If a career advisor could foster that process, then it is always worth the try!

Anita: Yes, I think this is important and that is one of the things I love most about the culture of it-economics, keeping it personal, keeping this role as a way of helping each other, as a way to thrive together, to lean on each other, to learn from each other, to exchange experience or just to complain from time to time about something and to have someone listening. To have a hand from the first day you start at a new place of work is also important.

Kalin: My humble opinion is that a career advisor is a presence everybody should have in their work environment. Especially more junior members, that are in the beginning of their professional life. Having a mentor figure, because a career advisor is just that, is crucial for not having to reinvent the wheel yourself and being able to learn in a safe environment from other people’s experiences. On the other hand, being a career advisor benefits the advisor themself, in helping them become better leaders which they can then leverage in other fields of work.

How should people imagine what a typical meeting looks like?

Anita: I think there is no such thing as a typical meeting. I think this should be kept as casual and as informal as possible because we are trying to talk in a friendly and easy environment, this is not another work meeting in your calendar. This is sometimes a spontaneous talk where you share insights and career paths, training, wishes, and uncertainties. It is not supposed to be regulated or formalized and to be an obligation.

Kalin: My take on a meeting between an advisor and an advisee is that it foremost needs to be safe, relaxed, and quite friendly. The topics themselves don’t matter that much and are very specific, depending on the people talking.

In you opinion, what is the most useful skill one can develop to advance in their career?

Anita: Listening, taking other’s opinions into consideration, not denying every idea the moment you hear it, just because you think you are the only one right in the room, also taking critics and considering ways you can improve yourself from the Feedback of others.

Kalin: There isn’t one skill, that would make or break a career. The human condition is far too complex for it to be so. I would go, however, with empathy. Caring for others is a skill, like anything else. Some a naturally better at it, and some need training, but it’s teachable. Having empathy and behaving accordingly not only benefits the team as a whole in creating trust and the feeling of safety but benefits the individual on a number of different levels.

In your role as a career advisee:

What is the best advice you have ever received from your advisor?

Hristo: To give it a try. Whether it goes for facing a new challenge, trying out a new approach, implementing a different strategy, or just breaking a habit, this is to this day one of the best pieces of advice my advisor has given me!

Anita: Do not work overtime or in your holiday, it is meant to rest.

Kalin: “Don’t rush into it”. We discussed a potential promotion and what was needed to make it happen, and this sentence came up. It was one of the best pieces of advice I have ever received, yet it was so simple. I decided to follow it, allowing things to unfold more naturally, rather than forcing myself onto them. The result came and it was better than expected. Now I use this in most aspects of my life.

How did the career advising system help you develop your career?

Hristo: The career advisor process puts the advisee in the spotlight. The fact that the meetups happen casually and on a regular basis has allowed me to turn activities such as self-reflection, progress tracking, and goal setting into a routine.

How did it help you grow personally?

Anita: Helped me to be more confident, to see what my work brings to the company, to the project, to feel appreciated.

Do you have an example of an obstacle that your career advisor has helped you overcome?

Anita: When I had a tough situation in one team, I got the advice and the help I needed to calm the team down, and avoid burn-out of the Team members, to communicate the situation clearly so that measures could be taken also on a higher level.

Kalin: After some reshuffling of people and projects I was left as the last man standing on a legacy project, which was scary at first. My career advisor helped me get through this period and then facilitated my joining another project, as the first one was getting static and boring. That way I managed to continue learning and developing myself, avoiding getting stuck.

We are grateful to everyone contributing to each other’s growth and the mutual support of our employees. Both advisor and advisee play vital roles in making the most out of the relationship. Just like it always takes two people to create a meaningful relationship, we, at it-economics believe in mutual trust and encouragement in a safe and supporting environment facilitate purposeful relations.