Being able to advance your career is something that you might be extremely interested in and keen to do. Often, this thought inspires us and keeps us motivated, and helps us make the right decisions when we need to, knowing that we are heading in the right direction.
The problem is that sometimes it can be hard to see a way to advance your career. You might feel stuck where you are, and you’re not sure what to do next or how to do it. With this in mind, here are some of the best ways you can advance your career; read on, and you should find something that will work for you, or at least give you some ideas about how to take the next step (and even what that next step should be).
Know What You Want
Some people can get stuck when it comes to moving forward and advancing in their careers because they’re not entirely sure what it is they want. They know they want more than they currently have, but they have no exact plans in place, and their final destination is not yet decided. This vagueness means that it can be hard to see a way forward because, even if there are opportunities that can be taken, there is no way of knowing what the right ones might be.
This is why it is crucial to take some time to ensure you have a plan in place and you know exactly what you want when it comes to your future career. Some ideas you might have could include:
- Starting your own business
- Relocating to a new country
- Changing careers to work in a specific industry
- Changing jobs to work in a company you have always wanted to be a part of
Once you have an end result in mind, you will be able to work backward from there, mapping out the route until you are back in your current position. Then you can break down the route you’ll need to take into small, achievable goals and reach your desired result more easily and effectively.
Keep Learning
No matter what kind of work you do, the more you learn, the more opportunities will present themselves. If you only ever learn the basics of what you need to do, you shouldn’t be surprised if you can’t move forward because you need more knowledge or additional qualifications to do it. Without learning as much as you can, you’ll always be in the same spot you are now, and that’s true of anything in life but perhaps especially true of your career.
Therefore, if you can see a way of learning more, you should do it. This could be in-house training that your employer offers, for example. Taking this training not only means you can learn more things, but it also means you can show your employer that you are interested and willing to do what it takes to move forward, giving you yet another advantage.
You might also take the initiative and choose to go back to school to learn more by yourself. Whether this is because you want to move forward in the career you’re currently working in, or you want to try something different, you will always be able to find a course and a qualification to suit you. Choose an online course like this one in engineering, and you don’t even have to attend a physical school; you can work at home at a time that suits you, honing your skills and learning new ones to help you move forward and advance your career in whatever way works for you.
Network
If you want to move forward in your career, sometimes the idea of who you know will help you a lot, although you’ll still have to have the right level of knowledge to get the job done. This is where networking can be the answer. When you network, you shouldn’t expect to just be given the new job or opportunities you’re looking for just because you have spoken to someone with the power to do that – that’s not quite how networking works. However, if you do make these connections and you can show that you are good at what you do, you might be just the right person to fill a role or take a promotion, and many more opportunities will open up for you.
Networking can be done in a variety of different ways. Attending specific networking events will give you a good chance to speak to many different people, and you will often be able to give a pitch about who you are and what you do. You will be able to ‘match’ with the right people in this way and chat with them. Alternatively, you can network online through social media sites such as LinkedIn, which is specifically for business. Or perhaps you know someone you went to school with, or a friend of a friend is looking to hire someone with exactly your skill set. The more people you know and talk to, the more opportunities to advance your career will open up to you.
Take Risks
Not everyone is happy to take risks, but if you want to advance your career, this might be something you need to be willing to do, and the higher you want to rise in your industry, the more risks you’ll need to take. If you’re not content in the role you’re working in, and you want to do and be more, taking a risk and asking for a promotion, choosing to start your own business, or stepping away and trying something entirely new might be the very best thing you’ve ever done for yourself, and your overall career. Of course, the fact that it would be a risk, even a well-calculated one, would mean that there was a chance that it wouldn’t work out, but this is the point of risk-taking; if you don’t try, you’ll never know.
If you do intend to take a risk or risks when it comes to advancing your career, make sure you think things through first, and always have a ‘plan B’ just in case, your risk does not pay off. Imagine how much more positive things could be if they did work out, though; this is why risk-taking can be exactly what you need to do.
To read more on topics like this, check out the Business category
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