Have you ever wondered,
why some people always manage to get better job positions with higher pay,
while others remain stuck in the same dead-end job or in the unemployment pool
for years? Well, many people in Tanzania will conclude that successful people
simply ‘have the right connections’. And while indeed, ‘personal networks’ and
to put it frankly, ‘nepotism’, does play a major role in who gets hired in some
industries. For most people, your talent and not your last name is what greatly
influences our career path.
Simply put, there is no
secret shortcut to achieving professional success. You have to consistently
make the effort to continue seeking knowledge, grow your professional networks,
and develop habits that ultimately get you noticed by decision-makers in your
industry. And luckily, you don’t have to spend
hundreds of thousands TZS shillings on workshops overseas to do so.
In fact, the key to
unlocking your career success literally lies in the palm of your hand. You see,
with over 2.2 million mobile apps on Google Play Store and 2 million apps on
Apple App Store, there is an app for virtually everything, including
professional development. However, given the saturation of apps in the market,
it can be difficult to pinpoint the best ones.
So, we did some homework and found 10 apps that will help you achieve
career growth.
SoundCloud:
Learning on the go
Beyond being a source
of indie and alternative music, SoundCloud,
free on Apple App Store and Google Play Store, is an incredibly popular
publishing platform for podcasts; digital audio shows (like radio shows) that
you can listen to at your convenience. And why does this matter?
Well, there are many
podcasts like Profit. Power. Pursuit and The School Of
Greatness With Lewis Howes that are dedicated to teaching you
lessons from successful people, specific skills relevant to your profession,
and keep you motivated and inspired to achieve your goals. Moreover, the
biggest benefit of podcasts is that you can listen to them on the bus, as you
drive to work, as you exercise, or run errands - they enable you to keep
learning throughout the day.
Forest:
Stay focused and succeed
One of the biggest
hurdles to productivity is the ridiculous amount of time we spend on our phones
during the day. Well, it’s ironic that there is an app that helps you use your
phone even less. With the Forest app, you can basically plant a seed that will
gradually grow into a tree the longer you stay on the app. However, if you
leave the app to do things like respond to a Whatsapp message or go on
Instagram, the tree dies and you have to start growing it all over again.
So, let’s say you want
to spend an hour working on something, turning on the Forest app will help keep
you away from your phone, as you will keep killing your tree every time you use
it. Moreover, you will feel a great sense of accomplishment if you manage to
stay away from your phone for the entire time, and will be rewarded with a
beautiful blossoming tree. It’s a great psychological game that helps cultivate
discipline and commitment in the long run. Forest is available for free on
Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Slideshare:
Present your ideas effectively
Slideshare enables you
to create, save, and share ideas and information using Powerpoint slides either
publicly or privately. It is a great resource to get the latest business
insights as it’s incredibly popular amongst well-established
top-level professionals who like to share what they know.
If you are committed to
growing your career than Slideshare will help you keep up with the latest
trends in your industry, while also giving you an opportunity to share your
learnings with other professionals.
Slideshare is free to
download and also allows you to see how your content is performing online. It
is available for use on Android and iOS.
iBooks:
We can never have too much education
A popular African
proverb is, “a wise man never knows all, only a fool knows everything”. No
matter how many degrees you may have, there’s always something new for you to
learn that can help you advance your career. One of the most important
practices that you should develop if you intend to be successful is to be a
self-learner, and there’s no better way of doing it than through reading.
The iBooks app allows
you to search and download books in almost any field and topic imaginable, so
that you can always have something to read. It is available for free on Apple
devices only.
Audible:
Listen to books anywhere you are
If you don’t have time
to sit down and read a book but are committed to enhancing your knowledge base,
then Audible is the app for you. Audible allows you to download and listen to
an unlimited number of audiobooks for a monthly fee of $15. They have the
biggest collection of audiobooks in the world, so you will surely find any book
you want to listen to.
Like with SoundCloud
app, Audible is a great way to ensure that you are always learning while
conducting daily activities like driving, riding the bus, exercising, grocery
shopping, and more. So, if you want to stay ahead of the game by expanding your
mind, get the app for free on Android and iOS, and start listening to books
that will help you develop your career.
TedTalk
app: Be inspired by the ideas of others
This app, available for
free on Android and iOS, allows you to watch and save the incredibly popular
TedTalks. TedTalks gained popularity on YouTube, and are essentially ideas
presented by some of the world’s most innovative minds. This includes academics,
famous actors, and even a Malawian man who used junk to build a windmill his village.
During the journey to
career success, you may experience some challenges that will bring down your
morale. The TedTalk app gives you quick
access to some incredibly inspiring and motivating presentations that will keep
you going. Moreover, it doesn’t hurt to learn some lessons from thought leaders
in your industry and apply them to your work. After all, there is nothing new
under the sun.
EverNote:
Capture your ideas wherever you are
You are in traffic or
in a brainstorming meeting and an idea pops up in your head or someone raises
an important point that you do not want to forget. Storing it in your brain can
be futile as you are likely to forget and writing it down in your diary may not
always be possible. With EverNote, you can now jot down your ideas conveniently
and then look at them later.
Moreover, this app can
be synced with other devices like your laptop and iPad, so that you can find
your ideas anywhere, anytime, at your convenience. EverNote is available on
Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
Asana:
The team collaboration app
Whether you are a
freelancer who works mostly alone or a small business owner, often you have to
collaborate with other people to complete projects on time and do them well.
Asana ensures that
everyone knows what they have to do and when they are expected to complete
tasks. The app allows you to create detailed descriptions of tasks, and
document the progress you've made.
At the end of the day,
working well with people will help you get to the top, and Asana will surely
make team collaboration so much easier. It's available for iOS and Android and
it is free to download.
WhatsApp:
The team communication app
It’s safe to say that
we are all part of WhatsApp groups, most of which are strictly for
entertainment purposes. Well, why not rethink how you use your Whatsapp and
start using it to share ideas, consult on projects, and work together remotely
with your professional team? While it’s important to have a balance between
your professional and personal life, ideas can strike you at any time, and it’s
vital to have a quick line of communication with your team in these moments.
However, if you find
WhatsApp too tempting, as you have other chats easily available, then you
should use other team communication apps such as Slack and Skype.
BrighterMonday:
Faster and better quality job search
BrighterMonday has
recently launched an app that will enable job seekers to find and apply for
available jobs as soon as they are posted on the site. This app’s features include;
●
Create your job seeker profile
● Anonymous use: allows you to search
for jobs without signing into your account
●
Search and apply for jobs on the go
●
Create alerts for the types of jobs
that interest you
●
Receive push notifications as soon
as a matching job is posted
At the end of the day,
along with working on improving your professional skills and practices, you
also have to keep searching for jobs that challenge you and let you shine. So
staying aware of the jobs available in your market will enable you to pinpoint
opportunities for career growth. This
app is free to download and use for Android users.
The
time for change is now
For many of us, our
mobile phones contribute negatively to our career growth by being our source of
distraction and procrastination during work. However, you can change this by
using these 10 mobile apps to organise your time better, coordinate team activities
efficiently, connect with quality people, and learn new skills. Changing your
habits will transform your life, and it’s never been easier to do so than with
our existing technology[1] .
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