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: 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.

Networking events can be a bit overwhelming, and if you don’t know what you're doing, they can feel like a waste of time. Follow these 5 tips in order to get the best return on investment at a networking event.

Be Prepared

Look over the list of attendees if possible. If a name strikes your eye, Cydcor recommends checking out their LinkedIn profile, or other social media or website and find out a little more about him or her. It’s easier to strike up a conversation with someone you’ve never met if you come prepared and can ask them specific questions about their time working at Apple or if they enjoy being a sales manager.

Make sure you have several business cards on you to hand out when you meet people that you’d like to chat with again. You can even go higher-tech and use apps like Bump to share contact information. Also remember to bring pens and a small notebook or tablet; they can be helpful if you need to take notes or jot down a piece of advice.

Come Prepared with Goals

What are you hoping to get out of the event and learn from the people you meet? Whatever it is, make sure you figure this out before you attend the event – that way you’ll know what to bring up and the type of people to talk to. Since some networking events cost money, only attend the ones that will help you reach your goal.

Show Up On Time

Unless the event is a “come as you please” event, don’t be the one that shows up late. Chances are that if you are going to an event at a place you have never been before, it is going to take longer than Google Maps estimates. Look at the route beforehand, and give yourself an extra 10-15 minutes to find the place—and parking.

Check out our job openings on Cydcor's LinkedIn for more information on joining our company.

Don’t Throw Yourself at Everyone

No one likes the person who talks with everyone in the room for two minutes, gives them their contact information, and heads to the next person. Networking is about making real connections; it’s not a contest to see who can pass out the most business cards. If you don’t think someone will be a good connection, you don’t have to give him or her your card. On the other hand, take your time talking and getting to know people that could become valuable connections. You don’t need to spend a half hour chatting with someone, but learn a little more about the people you talk to than just his or her job title.

Follow Up

This is by far the most important tip for networking. Who cares if you dressed well and came prepared – if you don’t follow up, that relationship means nothing. Connect on LinkedIn or send a quick coffee invite.  Relationships take time to cultivate so make the most out of what you started.

Garage Sale Funds Two More Surgeries!

A big thank-you to our team members who volunteered to come out last Saturday for our MEGA Garage sale to raise money for Operation Smile.  We raised over $600, which is enough to help two children have a better life by restoring their smile.

The sale took place on Saturday, September 7th from 8 a.m. to 12 p.m. at Earth Elementary School’s basketball courts.  Gently used items were donated by Cydcor team members just days before the sale.

Team members that donated items were also eligible for raffle tickets to win a lunch with our CEO, Gary Polson.  Volunteers who helped us set up and take down the sale got five tickets!  Congratulations to our winner, Miriam Caballero, who also received recognition this week from our Joy Germ Club for spreading the most smiles around the office.

The Cydcor home office has now reached our overall goal of raising $30,000 for Operation Smile.  In addition to the sale, we organized a snack bar, wine tasting, movie nights, a karaoke event and more.  The $30,000 is part of an overall company goal to fund a $150,000 medical trip overseas.  This is the second year in a row that Cydcor has been able to raise over $150,000 for Operation Smile.