November 13, 2015

How to Recognize a Good Opportunity

How to Recognize a Good Opportunity
Flickr CC via European Parliament

You might not recognize opportunity when you find it: there are no sirens or flashing lights. No one is going to take you by the hand and lead you to it. As an adult engaged in your career, you’re responsible for finding and accepting any and all of the opportunities that you encounter.

Recognizing opportunity isn’t a magical talent that requires an expensive education—you can build the necessary skills, though it will take effort and education. You must commit to learning about your company, your industry, and how business and the world at large interact and create situations filled with possibility.

Prepare for Opportunity

Get the best information available to you about where you want your career to go. This will be your roadmap. Equip yourself with the skills, supplies, and crew required to reach your destination. Opportunities are uncharted but, with careful preparation and an eye on the horizon, you’ll be ready when they come into view.

Never Give Up

Opportunity has an expiration date. It’s like a sale at the store—available for a limited time only. When you find an opportunity, be ready to act on it. If you’re not successful in your first attempts, learn from your experience and then try again. Failure is an important teacher.

Identify Your Goals

Opportunity is an undiscovered country, but it borders known lands. Your ability to recognize opportunity when it appears is connected to the destination you’ve identified. Establish your goals and use them as a map towards advancement. Identify issues in your job, company, or industry that need improvement or expansion. Keep learning about your job, industry, and current events The more you know the easier it will be to recognize how opportunity connects to your experience.

Looking to help on developing an entrepreneurial spirit? Cydcor has you covered! Check out this blog from October 2015: https://cydcor.wordpress.com/2015/10/23/developing-an-entrepreneurial-spirit/

Opportunity Is Hidden Under Hard Work

As in any career, hard work and persistence are often your key to career advancement and recognition. The hard work you put into your job every day has a special result. It delivers the experience required to find opportunity that can lead to even greater opportunity. Imagine you’re a prospector looking for gold. Over time, you’ve studied rock formations and learned how to spot potential gold bearing sites. Diligence delivers opportunity.

Develop an Opportunity Network

Great discoveries are often attributed to one person but they’re never only made by one person. In order to identify an opportunity you’ll have to talk to people in your office and in your profession to learn what opportunities look like to them. You’ll discover opportunity through interaction with others. As you develop relationships with your team, colleagues, and network connections, you’ll enter into conversations that lead to professional relationships. Offer assistance, expertise, and information to others and they will reward with the access to unlimited opportunity.

You have the map. You’ve assembled all of the tools and supplies required. You’ve alerted your crew about your voyage and the goals you’re focused upon. Don’t wait any longer. Follow theses strategies and you’ll soon land your first opportunity.

How do you recognize an opportunity when you find one? Do you work with others to find opportunity? Please share a story about opportunity’s impact on your life so others can benefit from your experience. Comment below and tell your story on Twitter. Follow us @Cydcor and please share this article with your friends and ask for their thoughts.

We are Cydcor, the recognized leader in outsourced sales services. From our humble beginnings as an independent sales company based in Canada, to garnering a reputation as the global leader in outsourced sales, Cydcor has come a long way. We’ve done this by having exceptional sales professionals and providing our clients with proven sales and marketing strategies that get results.