6 Ways to Advance Your Career
Posted August 8th, 2019
Most professionals have aspirations beyond their current role. However, career advancement is never a guarantee. You might night have a chance to move up without some effort. Essentially, advancing your career is something you need to pursue, not just wait for it to happen.
Luckily, certain steps can significantly increase your chances of moving forward. With that in mind, here are six ways to advance your career.
1. Find a Mentor
By working with a mentor, you can have a guide that can help you navigate your career. Many higher-level professionals are happy to discuss their experience and offer insights that can help you thrive.
As you look for a mentor, identify other professionals who are further along on your desired career path. Then, work to create a strong professional relationship to see if it might be a match. Finally, approach them about being your mentor after the connection is there.
2. Add Responsibilities
If you want to move up, you need to show that you are capable of excelling. One of the easiest ways to start is to genuinely give each of your current tasks your all, working to exceed expectations at every step.
Once that happens, ask your manager for new responsibilities. This can include the ability to work on an exciting project or take tasks off of their plate, allowing you to delve into new areas. By doing so, you can enhance your experience and skill set as well as show that you are a valuable employee with talents beyond your current position.
3. Be a Problem-Solver
Problems exist in every organization. They can come in the form of skill gaps, difficult projects, or needed innovations that have yet to come to fruition. If you can become a go-to person when an issue rears its head, you can increase your value. As a result, you may have access to more resources and opportunities, making it easier to advance.
4. Embrace Self-Promotion
Promoting yourself doesn’t have to involve blatant bragging. Instead, it is about highlighting what you have to offer. By using the right approach, you can be viewed as an asset. For example, volunteer to handle a task that plays to your skillset. Engage everyone in small talk, making sure to introduce yourself to everyone you haven’t met before by sharing your name, job title, department, and an overview of how you fit into the big picture.
Even short interactions or small tasks can help you increase awareness about what you bring to the table. As a result, they are worth the effort if you want to move up.
5. Be Helpful
When you can make someone else’s day easier, offer to help. This shows that you want to make sure that others are able to thrive.
Don’t limit yourself to just those that work above you. While assisting a manager is a good idea, lending a hand to junior employees is also beneficial.
6. Never Stop Learning
Consider what skills are necessary for the next role on your career path, then pursue it with passion. Whether this involves training through your employer or learning on your own time, by enhancing your skills, you make yourself more relevant. Plus, by monitoring current trends in your field, you can also ensure that you are ahead of the curve.
By following the tips above, you can advance your career. If you’d like to find out more, the team at Bayside Solutions can help. Contact us to speak with one of our talented staff members today and see how our career planning expertise can benefit you.
