Career progression – Career progression now-a-days is harder than it was previously. In the decades that followed the Second World War, several opportunities were available as a result of steady economic growth. In today’s world people are divided between the aftermath of the recession of 2007-2009 and the incredible opportunities which have been described in the book “Abundance: The Future is Better than You Think” by Steven Kotler and P.H. Diamandis. Distress as well as economic problems exist in the world today and you can choose whatever you desire to keep your focus on.
In your work life you will come across times when you might get the feeling that things are progressing very slowly. It may due to the reason that you might have outgrown your job and are in need of new challenges or you might have been asked to move at the rate at which your slower colleagues are moving. Such feelings can turn out to be frustrating and can stall your mobility in the upward direction. However, these are things that you can take control of by means of your own actions. What is needed is the recognition that you wish to speed up the process of career progression along with the commitment to do what is needed to make that happen. Given below are a few ways in which this can be done.
Tips for Speeding up Your Career Progression
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Work on Goals that are Important
When you do not care about your day to day work, it is not easy to move ahead. Therefore, pursuing goals that are exciting is essential. In the context of your career, there will be a probability of receiving annual goals from either your client or your employer. In case such goals do not excite you, then you should at least set the goal of advancing your career like learning skills that are new in the ongoing year. In the absence of goals that are stimulating, it will be very difficult to gather the enthusiasm that is required for moving ahead.
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Use a Personal Organisation System that is reliable
For moving ahead, an essential skill that is needed is personal organisation. Even though assistance is provided by technology, being effective in this field depends ultimately on the use of right systems and the habits. For instance, professionals who are successful have the knowledge regarding running a meeting. Besides this, you should possess the capability of thriving in a world that is changing rapidly which means that there should not be any complaints related to the pace of change.
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Learning to Develop your Skills and Earn More
Being able to deliver more value in your career is a vital skill that is needed to move ahead. After spending ten to twelve months in a particular role, several people tend to become comfortable with the daily work that they are expected to finish. This is the reason why you cannot consider that your knowledge as well as skills will keep growing at you day job. You need to expand your horizons and this can be done with the use of various training resources. To begin with you can use the resources that are available freely on the internet but the attention and the effort is more likely to be committed by you when you pay which is your own for the purpose of training. You can make decision regarding the best ways of learning. You can even experiment with various approaches like traditional classes, self-study such as reading books and hiring somebody for the purpose of giving you career progression advice and individual training.
“There is no replacement for getting a head start with great education.”
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Your Focus should be on results and not on the Time
Several people begin their careers earning money in terms of hourly wages. This unfortunately signifies that you are equating “time worked with value created”. However, this is very far from the truth. If you are just sitting in your chair and staring out of the window, for the entire day, the company will lose money and your reputation will be put at stake.
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Exploit all the benefits that you have
If you are working in a large organisation, you might be having a number of benefits at your disposal. You will probably think regarding the benefits related to retirement and health at the first glance. They are very crucial and worth the effort that you put in. In case there is paperwork along with complicated forms that need completion, this is a small price that you may be paying. You might have to sacrifice a few lunch hours for sorting out the benefits but it will be worth the effort. Making use of all the benefits that you have will result in career progression as this practice will remind you of the value that you possess. On the other level, you are training yourself for working your way through the corporate bureaucracy for the purpose of achieving your goal.
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You should give attention and time to your Network
Networking can be done inside as well as outside the organisation. Inside the organisation you can set up brief discussions with the person who are working in the functional areas or at those levels which are of interest to you which include your senior colleagues and also you peer. Prior to the meeting you can develop a set of certain insightful questions for asking them. You can also take down notes.
You can also derive benefits by continuing to work externally while you already have a job in hand. You may take the help of your connections and friends on LinkedIn for connecting you to the people whose backgrounds you may find intriguing. You can create a list of questions that you may ask every person whom you meet. You can exchange emails or phone calls if it is not possible to meet in person.
Other opportunities that can be utilised are social as well as professional events which help in drawing together people related to the kind of career you have interest in. Meetings that take place in person allow you in engaging with them on levels that are distinct as compared to the technological means which are impersonal in nature. This way it is possible to develop relationships that are long lasting and more meaningful. Clicking with that person could also mean a referral for a job in future.
For getting ahead in your career, particularly at the senior levels, your networking makes a difference. Most of the best roles do not have online postings or application forms rather the people who are a part of your network. Some of the people like to respond to the desperate pleas related to the assistance for job hunting. You need to begin by giving value to the network of which you are a part. You can remember birthdays by sending a gift or a card; introduce people through the use of emails or by any other means and just stay in touch with everyone in the network.
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Promote Yourself
Managers usually lack the time as well as the inclination to be your advocate and it is rare that you will find a boss who does that. You should not wait for other people to praise you. Your good work can be promoted by you in a manner that is nonabrasive. This can be done by setting up meetings with your boss that are check-in. This will help you in reviewing your work in a detailed manner and discuss the things that you should be doing to make it to the next level. In case your boss is not showing an interest to engage with you, you can speak to the HR and find out what steps can be adopted for moving the process ahead.
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Find a Mentor
Most of the people have the assumption that there should be a formal relationship between the mentor and the peer but that is not the case. There can be more than one mentor also. For the purpose of garnering a number of perspectives, you can find one mentor within the company and one outside the company where you are working currently. These can be the professionals whose work is admired by you or whose opinion is respected by you. In case you are not sure of the way in which you can identify mentors, you can either take help from your peers or from the organisation’s human resource representatives. They will introduce you to various other people. Several cities have professional mentoring groups. You can also join any one of them.
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Do Good Work
This is very essential irrespective of the fact how much you have the feeling that your work is below your level or the level of education that you possess. Your attitude of putting in hard work as well as your ethics will be remembered if you perform well even if you feel that the job is below your level or you are overqualified for the job. This is exactly what is required when a future employer calls on the previous employer to check your performance. You should have the willingness for taking up additional duties and helping a colleague who is overstretched at times. This will show your teamwork and dedication, a skill which is required as per majority of the job descriptions.
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Make a Plan
Several people have the tendency to bounce through their career as a pinball does in a game of pinball. However, for achieving you full potential, a career progression plan is required by you. A plan is a sort of a blueprint or a roadmap. Every smart person should have a long term career progression plan, that needs to focus on where they want to reach at their career’s pinnacle and the interim steps that they will take so as to reach that pinnacle. You may make adjustments as you move along but you need to implement this plan in the initial parts of your career.
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Be Indispensable
You need to put your boss in a position wherein he cannot afford to lose you. This can be achieved through the invention of new programs which will save money for the organization or becoming the go-to person of the client. You should document your successes. You have to be visible by means of racing out as you are vocal while talking to the client over the phone or go out with him on a lunch. You need to make people reach the conclusion that you have been successful but this has to be done without any bragging.
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Develop Skills of Conflict Management
In the world of career progression, conflicts will have to be faced by you. It is a known fact that different people will have interests and goals that are different. There are many types of conflicts, Such differences often give rise to conflicts. People who are not successful have a tendency to struggle with such conflicts. Rather, you need to recognize that you can utilize the techniques of conflict resolution for working through these issues. A hall mark of people who are highly successful is the ability to handle the conflicts with confidence.
The above strategies can also be employed for the purpose of securing a strong foothold in an economy that is shaky. When the opportunities for obtaining promotion begin to solidify, these tips will put you among the first people in the line to advance upwards. There is also no need of your career progression to slow down only because you find yourself in a position that is not challenging enough. Action can be taken by you for making sure that you are learning something new continuously and achieving growth as a professional. This will result in the opening of new doors for you both in your current organisation as well as in other organisations.
