Five tips to guarantee career progression

You are in your position long enough that you think it is time to move up the career ladder, but it seems like your management is still not considering it. You feel worried since you believe you are losing time in this position.

We have all been (or might be in a) situation where you starve for career progression. But how do you guarantee you get one? Is there a recipe for it? Maybe not a recipe, but there are some tips you can follow to guarantee your career goes your way!

• Rely on a PLAN, not luck!

Knowing where you want to end up, starts with understanding where you are and what roadmap you could follow. So, start with setting goals for your career. Your goals are most effective when concise and have a time limit. For example, an SMM specialist who has been working in this position for more than a year could set a goal of becoming an SMM expert or manager in 2 years in the same company. Your goals can have some flexibility as well. For example, the previous person could focus not only on the current employer but rather on similar companies who might be looking for an SMM manager.

Once your goal is clear, PLAN. You know your destination, now it is time to plan possible routes to your destination. Remember, there can be multiple roads to your destination, so do not limit yourself to only one plan.

Without a plan, you will be relying on stars lining up for you, but that rarely happens. Draw your plans so you understand what to do and where to go regardless of your luck.

• Get Help

Ok, the first tip might have made you ask, “But how do I do that?”. And this is when the second tip comes to play. Asking for help from your HR department or superiors to work on the skills you need, or even identifying the required skills for your career progression is a must. They are the people who see you from a more experienced position and can tell you what you might be lacking to progress in your career. Moreover, they have been in your shoes once, so your situation is familiar to them and they know at least one way of moving forward.

It does not have to be one specific person either. Some companies have programs to help their employees develop their careers. Some even organize training that helps get skills needed for career progression. This could be training on new software or improving soft skills.

Your aim is to clearly tell them what you want in your career and show enthusiasm to pursue it.

• Be responsible

Now that we have touched on the topic of soft skills, nothing can be as important for career progression as being responsible in whatever you do. Whether you are a front-line worker in the service industry or an entry-level marketing apprentice, you being responsible for what you do will be noticed by your superiors. They will also notice if you are not being responsible.

At this time and age, taking the blame for your actions in a workplace is a sign of the maturity of a person. This also includes taking credit for your accomplishments. By doing so, you will be recognised as a professional who can do the job responsibilities, see where mistakes were made and work towards ensuring these mistakes never happen.

In contrast, an irresponsible person is simply unreliable from the perspective of fellow employees as well as management. And when a position opens, irresponsible employees will be at the end of the list even if they have years of experience.

• Know your industry

Keeping up to date with your industry is also another sign of professionalism. This not only helps you do your work more efficiently, or implement new tactics, it will also show your current or future employees that you are dedicated to this industry and your work.

You can regularly read industry reports or journals, attend conferences (if available), or simply talk to an industry professional. All this makes you a go-to-person for information and people will start valuing your opinion.

• Network!

Final, but perhaps the most important tip in this list is NETWORK! For a person trying to climb a career ladder, networking is essential. You can find new job opportunities, solve problems of your company, help others connect etc. By connecting to people from your industry, you can share with them your knowledge in this industry and potentially get hired through those connections.

To network effectively, set up a proper LinkedIn account. LinkedIn is the platform meant for networking. Create a professional-looking account, add your qualifications and previous and current jobs, and your achievements. Firstly, connect with your colleagues, then, try finding professionals in the industry you are working in. You could also connect with people who do similar work to yours but further at the career ladder. Some creative industry positions might benefit from professional websites where a portfolio of their work is presented.

Overall, networking is your best tool in increasing the chances of finding promotion elsewhere.