If you’re career-driven and looking for your next opportunity, you might be thinking about ways to speed up your progress. While a lot of career opportunities are down to chance, that doesn’t mean you can’t take some things into your own hands. The choices you make, both at work and at home, can impact your career progression. There are things that might help you to advance, while other things could slow you down.
Focusing on a career isn’t for everyone, but if this is something you want to do and you’re ready to advance, here are some top tips to help you along.
1. Be Strategic with Your Time
You don’t always have to spend months and months on something in order to see results. Being more strategic with your time could help you to advance your career faster and get to the place you want to be. Getting a promotion at work might not require years of hard work – it might be more valuable to spend time trying to showcase your current work to the right people with the power to make decisions about your job role. Outside of work, spending a little bit of time each day to develop a new and valuable skill might be more worthwhile than spending extra hours on existing projects.
2. Cultivate Your Networks
People can connect other people to new opportunities and challenges. This is why it’s so important to build your networks and maintain good working relationships with colleagues and partners. Whether you’re self-employed and trying to build your own business, or you’re looking for the next step of your career in the same organization, growing and cultivating your networks can pay dividends in the long term. Make sure that your professional relationships work both ways – don’t take advantage of people and ensure they’re not doing the same either.
3. Stay Organized
Disorganized and flustered employees will often struggle to get promoted or advance their careers. When they do, they may find that their lack of organizational skills prevents them from rising to the challenge and showcasing their finest work. Developing and working on your organizational skills can help you to stay more focused and give yourself a greater chance at advancing your career. It can also help you to develop stronger relationships with colleagues who might otherwise avoid working with disorganized people.
4. Gain New Qualifications
In some circumstances, you might find that gaining new qualifications can help you to get a more senior job or a pay raise in your current role. More qualifications could also bring new opportunities, allowing you to apply for jobs you wouldn’t otherwise be academically qualified to do. For example, if you want to progress in the field of healthcare, you might want to explore studying nursing leadership courses online at Baylor University. Leadership courses and other advanced courses can help you to improve your professional skills while learning new things that can make you more valuable as an employee.
5. Look After Your Health
It can be very beneficial to learn new skills and build networks to help you advance in the workplace, but it can all go to waste if you don’t have good health and wellbeing. One of the best things you can do to look after yourself and help to advance your career is to take care of your health. This should include looking after your physical health as well as your mental health. Your health should never be sacrificed for a job, and it’s important to find a healthy work-life balance that suits you. Advancing your career doesn’t mean you should avoid taking breaks from work.
6. Know What You Want to Do
When you have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and where you want to go, it’s easier to plan your strategy to get there. If you don’t know this yet, try to figure it out before taking any big steps or making any big changes. Speak to other people and discuss your options to help discover the right path for you. In the meantime, you can work on developing general all-round skills such as good organization and clear communication skills which will be valuable in any career.
7. Work with a Mentor
You don’t have to do things alone when trying to advance your career. You can work with a mentor or career coach who could help you to gain valuable advice and perspectives on your future direction. It can be costly to work with a mentor in a professional capacity, but there are other options to explore. For example, ask a senior colleague whether they would be willing to give you some advice over a coffee once a month or so. Many people will be happy to do this, especially if they think the other person is willing to learn from them.
8. Pay Attention to Constructive Criticism
You might not always agree with other people’s criticism of you but paying attention to it could be useful for developing your own career. Listening to what other people are saying about you doesn’t mean you have to take all their feedback on board. However, it can help you to work better with colleagues and deepen the relationships with your teammates. It can also help you to discover new things about yourself and different ways of doing things. People who are able to pay attention to the feedback and criticism they receive are often able to advance their careers faster.
Moving ahead in your career isn’t always easy or fast, but there are certain things that could help you to advance and find new opportunities. It will differ depending on the sector you are in and the people you’re working with, and you should take time to consider exactly what you want in your job too. Taking steps to develop yourself and your skills in a professional capacity can go a long way in helping you to move forward.
Last Updated on 3 years by George Morgan
