This week, during the hangout session I hosted on the HL Discord server, we discussed primarily "The Role of Visibility in Career Success" which there was a few questions set down to initiate the discussion. For people who were not able to attend the session, I would be writing my thoughts on these few questions.

---

---

---

---

Before answering the questions, I also discussed on the topic treated last week in a post title: The Means Justify the End: Why the Process Matters More Than the Result. The post is vast and educative, it discusses on the need of placing importance on the process as you look towards your goal.

So let's begin!!!

---

𝖧𝗈𝗐 𝖽𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝖽𝖾𝖿𝗂𝗇𝖾 𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗑𝗍 𝗈𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎𝗋 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗋?

---

Visibility in my career path means people know me for my set of skills, and when they hear my name, the first thing that comes to their mind is what I do, the service I offer. This is generall what visibility means.

A typical example is this, what do you think when you hear the name "Lionel Messi"?

Now you get it 🤗

I am sure the name does not sound strange to you, and what came to your mind wasn't an engineer, marketer, or software developer, but definitely a footballer.

This is what visibility in a career path means: being known and respected for exactly what you do, and when the need for that certain type of job comes up, your name should be the first thing that comes up in the mind of the individual.

---

𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖽𝗈 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗄 𝗂𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗈𝗇 𝗉𝖾𝗈𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖺𝗍𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗂𝗆𝗉𝗈𝗋𝗍𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝗈𝖿 𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇 𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗋𝖾𝗆𝖺𝗋𝗄𝖺𝖻𝗅𝖾 𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝖺𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌?

---

Many people have the thoughts that with their skills, their work alone would do the marketing for them, they fail to see need to socialize, go out their and advertize themselves. I have met people who have the thought that if the work is for them, it would find them right in their corners but "NO", life doesn't work like that.

Many are not even aware of the benefits of visibility and how well it can help them promote their work, the opportunities they can be open to, and the growth that comes with it. Some might be because they have not learned enough; they lack the knowledge of how to go about this, and this is why it is common to see people who die with their remarkable set of skills.

This is why a wise man once told me:

"At the cemetery, you would find a lot of Gold that has been kept away from the world"

These are the people who died without letting the world realise what set of skills can contribute to solving the problems of people today.

---

𝖧𝗈𝗐 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗂𝗇𝖽𝗂𝗏𝗂𝖽𝗎𝖺𝗅𝗌 𝖻𝗎𝗂𝗅𝖽 𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝖼𝖺𝗋𝖾𝖾𝗋𝗌? 𝖧𝗈𝗐 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗒 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝗂𝗄𝖾 𝖺 𝖻𝖺𝗅𝖺𝗇𝖼𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝖻𝗎𝗂𝗅𝖽𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗌𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅𝗌?

---

To build visibility in your career, one of the first things that comes to mind is to:
"Network with Others".

You should never underestimate the power of networking; it is the gateway of opportunities. You never know the one person that would direct you to the path of your dreams. You dont know the person that would link you to the one business opportunity that can increase the level of your career. This is why networking with others should be the first action to take to build visibility in your career.

Don't wait for Opportunities to come to you, go out to seek them by:
"Volunteering for new opportunities"

Since you are not known or attained visibility for your set of skills, volunteering to work for people or companies for free would help you out to do that. You absolutely have nothing to lose likewise them.

Your primary goal is to get people to be known for your set of skills and if you are not totally confident about your skills or not sure you have known all you need to know, volunteering to work for free would give you the opportunity to learn on the job.

This way, you get exposed to real life work setting, get to network with others if you are volunteering in a company and also have something to add in your work portfolio. This way you are building visibility in you career.

The easiest way to get people to know you is by:
"Being Visible Online"

At this age we are in, a lot of people are active online, and a lot of jobs are being given to people who have created a well-reputable online presence, who have shared their works online, and hence built visibility for themselves.

We have social media like Facebook, WhatsApp, and most especially, LinkedIn. These places are where you should share your work, talk about your skills, network with people, and build visibility for your career. In the process, you would become open to a lot of job opportunities before you knew it.

---

---

We all know all this is easier said than done. It is very difficult for someone who is just honing his or her skills to be out there seeking visibility. This is why it is very necessary to:

"Plan your time well"

As you create time for when you learn and build your skills, it is also necessary to create time for when you would socialise with individuals, attend career programmes, share what you have learned on your social media, and also post your work. The goal is to try to balance learning with visibility.

---

---

When searching for opportunities to volunteer to, it is very easy to get lost and want to apply to all. This is why it is necessary to:

"Be selective in your opportunities"

You will need to know what set of skills you are trying to build before you go out there to volunteer to work for projects or companies. You need to make sure that the project or company you are volunteering for goes in line with the set of skills you are trying to build. It needs to be in line with your overall goal.

---

𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗌 𝗉𝖾𝗈𝗉𝗅𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗒 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒?

---

The most common challenge people face when they seek visibility is: "Imposter Syndrome".

This is normal, especially for people who are just learning a skill or for people who are new to a particular field. They have self-doubt about their abilities, which can be a setback in wanting to promote themselves. Not only does this happen to newbies in a field, but professionals can sometimes be affected by it. It is a natural tendency that everyone must try to overcome.

Accompanied by Imposter Syndrome, the "Fear of Failure" is another challenge people may face when seeking visibility.

It is one thing to seek visibility; it is another thing to find an opportunity and then failing. This is what scares a lot of people who seek out visibility in their careers. They forget that it is only in the dictionary that failure means lack of success or being unsuccessful, but in real life, failure is the pathway to success. Most successful people, you know, have failed more times than they have won.

---

𝖥𝖾𝖺𝗋 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝗁𝗒𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝗈𝗇 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗀𝖾𝗌.
𝖧𝗈𝗐 𝖼𝖺𝗇 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝗏𝖾𝗋𝖼𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗇𝗀𝖾?

---

One of the common causes of fear is negative thoughts, and it is very important to remain positive and optimistic. If your thoughts are always on the negative side of your actions, you would not want to make the move. You would always find a reason not to do what is needed.

To tackle shyness, you need to learn to talk to people, try as much as possible to be yourself, and also set goals for how you would go about meeting and networking with people. This would go a long way towards building your self-confidence.

---

𝖶𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖻𝖾𝗇𝖾𝖿𝗂𝗍𝗌 𝗈𝖿 𝗌𝖾𝖾𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗏𝗂𝗌𝗂𝖻𝗂𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗒?

---

The benefit of having visibility in your career is that you are always open to new opportunities, considered for promotions, and even have the advantage of being able to switch careers without much hassle.

For someone like Ronaldo, if he chooses to switch careers, would you tell me he would not be successful at it? Think about it.

Yeah, it may not be certain, but most likely, he would turn out to be successful because of the visibility and connections he has built. This is why it is very beneficial to always seek visibility.

---

𝙰𝙱𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙰𝚄𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚁

---