Issue #3: Build a 'career team' with purpose
How to elevate work friends and mentors into career champions
Welcome to the third installment of On Work, a monthly newsletter from Remote to help professionals thrive in their careers.
Are you constantly hopping opportunities, seeking education, and switching industries in the hope that you’ll make your big break?
Through every experience, you’ve likely met people who’ve inspired, mentored, coached, and provoked you - and maybe you still keep in contact with them. Think of these people as your career team: there to provide support and guidance as you navigate your professional journey.
Building my career team with purpose helped accelerate my career - so I’m sharing my tips to help you do the same.
Here’s to progress,
Ryan
P.S. Help us out and spread the word - will you share On Work with your network?
Coffee Chat: Build your career team with purpose
For a decade, I hopped from one opportunity to another, switching industries, and taking formal education in the pursuit of “getting there”. I was constantly networking and building connections and relationships through different experiences.
After grad school I encounted a remarkable manager - someone who mentored, provoked, and inspired me like no one else had. They transformed my perspective on what it means to have a ‘career’, and I felt like I had finally found the right guide.
But, as fate would have it, we parted ways, and our relationship evolved. This, coupled with the realization that my diverse experiences were part of a portfolio career, helped me understand the importance of curating relationships that would support me in my career. I could proactively build a career team.
So, what is a career team?
You probably already have a group of people who provide support and guidance as you navigate your professional journey. They might be formal mentors and coaches, or friends, colleagues and other professionals you can lean on for expertise, knowledge, or emotional support.
Building a career team involves identifying your needs, mapping out the kind of support you require, and seeking new connections and opportunities for growth. Regular contact, reciprocal support, and consciously adjusting your career team can help you achieve your professional goals.
And they can add value throughout the highs and lows of your career, like:
Providing emotional support during difficult times, such as job loss or a difficult project.
Offering a fresh perspective and brainstorming ideas for your career.
Helping you identify your strengths and weaknesses and develop a plan to improve.
Introducing you to new opportunities or networks that can help you achieve your goals.
Serving as a sounding board for important decisions, such as whether to accept a new job offer or change careers.
Your team should not be ‘advisors’ with a one-way consultative approach — they should act as a support system, helping you navigate the ups and downs throughout the mental and emotional journey we call a career.
Whether you already have a career team in place or you’re looking to build one, here are some tips to help you get the most from it.
Map out the support you need. Knowing where you want to go next in your career helps you figure out who should be part of your team now (e.g., people who are in roles that you’d like to move to) and in the future (e.g., a mentor). Focus more on the skills, experiences or characteristics you need in a teammate, instead of going with specific people that might seem obvious. You’ll be able to cast a wider net to recruit and see opportunities for relationships that might not yet exist this way.
This isn’t a one-and-done process. Plan where you’re headed, but don’t focus solely on the destination: you’ll need support throughout the journey. Focus on defining the direction and how you want to feel, and find team members who will serve you well at every stage. Keeping true to a core vision and the principles that matter to you will help you adjust to the inevitable change that comes your way in an ever-evolving world.
Get comfortable with making adjustments to your team often. Leaders and colleagues move into different roles. What you want from your career might change. And sometimes relationships just evolve. It’s okay to tweak — or completely redesign — your career team depending on where you are and what your current needs are. It’s easy to center all your attention around one inspirational person in your life, but if a job change or re-org means they aren’t as present it’s easy to flounder and feel lost. Do regular check-ins with yourself to identify your needs, and whether your current career team is performing for you.
Over To You
In this edition, we’re hearing from Ana Catarina Miranda, remote work ambassador and sales operations associate.
What inspired you to choose your career path, and how did you get started?
I believe there are some fundamental cultural differences in how we plan for our careers. I first realized this when I dated a Brit, who pointed out a striking difference between Portugal and the UK on this topic: in Portugal we often prioritize paying the bills over strategically laying the foundations for our professional future. This is just an opinion and not a statistical study of the country, of course, but it was quite an eye-opener for me. I haven’t really been educated to build a career. My focus has always been to become an adult that pays her bills. Combine this with my ultimate goal after finishing my psychology degree — to never go back to living with my parents! — and suddenly I was a technical advisor at an Apple call-center in my first paid job.
From the customer service industry, jumping into sales was an easy step. That’s not to say there wasn’t a lot of experimentation in between: being a cat-sitter and a dog walker, starting a business selling homemade low-cost vegan meals delivered to your home/office, creating a DIY publishing label and selling books door-to-door, becoming a transcriber and a translator, going back to school to learn about couples therapy and clinical sexology… It’s been a ride, and I’ve learnt that inspiration comes from experimentation.
When I started experimenting, I discovered a world of possibilities. I learn new tools, I absorb new information, I meet new people who teach me a lot along the way, and that helps me map the path I want to take. This is exactly the process that led me to discover and fall in love with the Sales Operations field, where I am now.
What have you changed in the last 6 months that has made a positive impact on your work life?
I had to go back to my Bullet Journals to understand what was I thinking and planning 6 months ago! I was investing in my own learning about sales operations processes, tools, and day-to-day knowledge. I was already sure this was the path I wanted to pursue, and I was dedicating my free time (including weekends) to courses, certifications and reading materials that would help me prepare for when the opportunity arose. And it did, for which I’m very grateful.
What has been the most rewarding experience in your career so far?
Working at Remote has been incredibly rewarding for me, both professionally and personally. My life changed so much since I joined the company that I often feel a second life started for me at that point. With a bump in salary, everything else changed. I could finally start travelling and experience the world. Even without all the travelling, just being part of such an international team is one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had in my career. Having the chance to interact with people with such diverse backgrounds forces you to get out of your bubble, and that is a life-changing experience, both professionally and personally.
What’s a challenge you’ve faced in your work life, and how did you overcome it?
I made the bad decision to mix friendships with business, and allowed my life to depend solely on the project and the people I was working with. It’s a very slippery slope when you have to manage close relationships, money, different egos and ambitions, and power struggles. It’s especially hard when your whole social network has disappeared because you were never available, and you find yourself with no support. My mom was my biggest ally in overcoming this situation. Therapy, a supportive partner, and loving friends are part of the healing process that is still ongoing.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received?
The company you work for is not your family. Learning this distinction has empowered me to set boundaries between my life and my work, and be better prepared to protect my mental health.
How are you maintaining a healthy work-life balance?
This is such a hot topic, and also such a hard one. Balancing life with work when you want to be competent in both, while growing professionally in the tough SaaS sales industry, is challenging. However, having the flexibility to choose your own schedule and your work location, counting on your team to support you, and working in a company that promotes self-care and async work most definitely helps. You can let go of those guilty feelings when you take an hour over lunch to go to the gym, refuse to attend a meeting that could have just been a shared document, or logoff completely outside working hours to be with your loved ones.
Being able to design your work around your life, and not the other way around, is a gift. It’s a gift I strongly believe every company should offer their employees.
Want to be featured in the next issue of On Work? Get in touch!
The Rundown
Five interesting things we thought you should know
1. Support remote job seekers affected by the Turkey earthquake
Remote has teamed up with Flatworld and Happy Work Studio to provide victims of the Turkey earthquakes with remote job opportunities - enabling them to earn a sustainable income while rebuilding their lives. Check out the platform that matches remote job providers with job seekers to support them in rebuilding their lives.
2. Enticing remote workers - does it work?
Tulsa Remote offers remote workers a $10,000 sum to move to the city. How's it working? This article found that 90 percent of participants have remained in Tulsa beyond the one-year commitment.
3. Younger workers prefer remote work: here’s why
‘I don’t think I would go for a job that is full-time in the office again,’ said one respondent to a new survey about remote work.
4. Not you too, Martha Stewart!
America’s favorite homemaker has chimed in on the effectiveness of hybrid work - are business leaders out of touch?
5. Removing remote work leads women to quit
India’s largest IT firm scrapped remote work - and quickly discovered more female employees left the business. What impact will similar policies have on diversity across industries?
This was On Work, a monthly newsletter to help professionals thrive in their careers.