6 ways to advance your career
In the context of immense global challenges, for many, progressing with their career has never been so difficult. Employment opportunities are limited in many industries at the moment which can make career advancement difficult.
This means that if you are serious about your career, you need to get creative and make the extra effort to achieve career progression. Here are 6 things you can do to advance your career.
1. Set Career Goals
If you want to be successful in growing your career, it is important to treat it like a project. And, like, any project, you need to be clear about your goals and objectives. Knowing your career goals is imperative to being able to follow the best path that will take you where you want to go.
This means defining what success means to you. Remember that your definition of career success might not be the same as someone else’s: this is a very individual thing. For some people, success may be a job title or a certain salary, whereas for others success may mean having a certain level of autonomy in their work or allowing freedom in their lifestyle.
Set short and long-term goals that encompass what is important to you in your career at the moment, as well as where you want your career to go in the future. Picture yourself five, ten and twenty years from now: where do you want to be? Then, you can work out the steps you need to take to get there.
2. Additional Education and Training
Education is important, and it should be seen as a continual process, not just something that you do in your youth. We should all be continuously learning, building on our existing skills and learning new ones. There is an almost limitless number of things we can learn. Even if you are expert in your area, the landscape is constantly changing and you need to be up to date with the latest info.
18th edition training, for example, is important for all electricians working in the UK in order to understand how official standards apply to any job they carry out. Medical professionals are required to regularly refresh their skills and IT experts need to keep on top of the latest developments in their sector. Undertaking education and training, whether a university-level course, a seminar, webinar or online series, helps you to be on top of your game and can open up a range of new career opportunities.
3. Talk to your Manager
Advancing your career is not, and indeed should not be something that you do alone. Your manager can be one of your greatest assets and allies in this regards, and you should absolutely discuss your career ambitions with them. They will be able to identify opportunities to advance within your workplace that you may not be aware of. They can also support you to develop your skills and experience in a way that will help your accent.
Asking your manager for feedback about your current job performance is also critical. This feedback will allow you to check that you’re on the right track to achieve your goals. Most companies have formal reviews between staff and management twice a year. Make sure you make good use of these review and ask for additional meetings to get feedback on your performance in between these formal reviews. You should also ask for feedback from others, such as your peers and colleagues.
4. Develop Soft Skills
As well as gaining “hard” skills through formal training, it is also important to nurture your soft skills through both training and experience. Soft skills are things like the ability to communicate, negotiate, collaborate or resolve conflict. All of these are invaluable skills to advance your career, and will make you stand out from other candidates.
As you advance through your career, you will inevitably encounter conflict, whether between yourself and others, or between your direct reports or colleagues. Conflict resolution skills are essential to be able to diffuse these situations and secure a positive outcome.
5. Leverage your Network
Your network is one of the greatest tools at your disposal when it comes to advancing your career. Developing a large and diverse network allows you many useful connections and presents countless opportunities.
Building your network is important, but it is even more critical that you know how to leverage you network in order to achieve your career goals. You should be using the resources of your network at every stage of your career, from the earliest stages and for years down the track. Colleagues, suppliers, mentors and even competitors can be useful in advancing your career, so take every opportunity to build and use your connections.
6. Become a Leader
The best way to demonstrate your ability to lead is to act like a leader. Management looks for employees who show that they can be a leader, and these are the people who get greater career opportunities. In most companies and organisations, advancing up the career ladder means supervising more people, and so leadership skills are key.
Even if you do not have any direct reports or supervisory responsibilities in your current position, this doesn’t mean you can’t act like a leader. You can take the lead in team projects, take on voluntary leadership roles (such as on the company sports team or charity club) or simply display the qualities of leadership in your day to day work.
