Everyone should think about career growth, regardless of how inexperienced they are in any profession. Different people have different meanings for advancing themselves professionally. Having a target to strive for whether it be promotion or transferring team is quite motivating (Nelson, 2017). The following actions will help you prioritise your career advancement.
The straightforward definition of career advancement is that of moving oneself forward in one’s career (Shaw & Chase, 1995). Some people may refer to this as ‘climbing the ladder’ at work although moving up your career path does not always entail receiving a raise or landing into higher paying job position. Career development can take many forms including responsibilities within ones existing employment greater than what they already had, going to a new industry or organisation, taking new challenges and improving skill sets through training and development initiatives.
Career development is valued by employees and their employers in whichever way they look at it. Offering chances for employees to participate in their day-to-day duties has been found to satisfy ones career and retain staff.
Moving ahead in your career, either through promotion or sideways movement within an organisation shows how well you can adapt to changes in workload as well as how you deal with increased responsibilities which are considered desirable qualities for any employee.
Even if your progression does not result into promotions in your careers, it becomes important that you keep on gaining knowledge and skills if you want to continue growing professionally. Growing within one position also puts one at an excellent place of success when moving into different teams or organisations incase promotion is what one really wants.
Some employers urge their workers to come up with personal career development plans for two, five or ten years down the line. They ask you to consider both the abilities that are already available that will enable you pursue this goal together with the areas where there need improvement.
It is a good idea to think about your career development in this way even if your employer does not encourage you to work on such plans. Instead of saying “I want to be a deputy director in my organisation,” you can start with smaller steps and smaller goals before moving towards a more ambitious target for your own growth.
You don’t have to be as meticulous as formal career development plans within the organisation when setting objectives and achieving them but it’s worth taking some time finding out where you want to get, why do you want that, what could help you reach it (Nelson, 2017).
While considering how one can improve their jobs practical implications, it is important for one to know the opportunities that are accessible. This involves looking for job openings within their company and seeking employment elsewhere. It will enable one determine if they can grow internally in their current position or whether they must begin searching for other advancement possibilities externally.
Note down any skills you lack in the job description and may need to build if you find some that are needed by the position you want. For example, do any of the positions you are thinking about require previous experience in customer communication? You might be allowed to sit in on a client meeting or participate in correspondence with them. You don't have to be a customer's main point of contact, but watching it happen will give you a good idea of what is involved in customer interaction that can be discussed later during job applications or interviews. And demonstrate to your employer that you want further learning which will be for your own long term benefit.
Don't shy away from discussing career progression with your line manager since this is part of their role. They are well placed to help you grow professionally because they work closely with you, know what your strengths are and could even have been previously employed as staff members at a similar level.
Propose one-on-one meetings with your supervisor if you haven’t had them before. These provide an ideal opportunity to assess progress on an ongoing basis and should take place at least monthly or fortnightly at best weekly basis. The more often these meetings occur, the more comfortable you should eventually become outlining what you expect from your time working for this organisation as well as where there needs improvement and perhaps some sensitive matters affecting negatively on performance.
Companies often send employees who undergo training programs aimed at assisting staff learn new things, fill knowledge gaps among their workforce. Have a look through your company’s intranet, talk with your line manager or get hold of HR to find out about available courses and whether they can put through.
Unless there is a good reason not to, accept any offer of training that comes up; at worst it could teach something new while at best it might strengthen chances for promotion!
Another thing that will assist in career progression is keeping a log of your achievements. Secondly, write it down in a place you can find later and add onto it whenever you make progress in your career such as completing a course, getting positive feedback on an assignment, or giving a presentation.
This document will serve you well when it comes to performance reviews and appraisals, or when negotiating promotions or salary increase if you have documented all personal achievements.
If you have made up your mind that your future lies outside of the organisation, then having a list with all your professional accomplishments is going to make filling in application forms or writing cover letters take much less time.
Showing desire to progress in your job is made possible by accepting challenging situations that may force you to dwell outside of your comfort zone. Why not try engaging in a conversation during an upcoming meeting if you are shy about talking or asking questions in meetings? Volunteering to help out when someone needs assistance, whether you are comfortable doing it or not. You could even volunteer to take the lead on a project or present a unique solution to a challenge, if that is possible.
The more you engage in self-promotion, less anxious you will feel about it and more people would begin to take notice of you and associate with your positive outlook.