Progress Your Career with These Tips

Progressing your career is the best way forward in life. The paths you take can be unique and new, or they can be long-established. There is no right or wrong way to progress, so long as you are hitting the milestones you set out for yourself. You may not concretely set certain milestones, but after a point, we all reach a point in our lives where we realize we should be getting more. We have conquered one job role and are ready for the next, or perhaps the pay we are earning is no longer enough to warrant our expertise. 

Moving up can be easy for some or feel like some insurmountable feat for others. It depends on the business and field that you are in. In large companies that prioritize internal promotions, you may have naturally found a way to win over your  

Prepare Yourself for a Managerial Role 

You can be at the top of your field in a very specific role and still find you have hit the ceiling. This ceiling is a natural plateau. In order to progress further, you cannot continue to solely do work in your specialization; you need to become a leader. However, being a top engineer does not automatically make you the right fit to lead a team of engineers, especially not a global scale. 

That is where earning an MBA comes into play. Not only can it be instrumental in progressing your career into higher and higher roles, but there are many reasons as to why now is the best time to get an online MBA? There have been massive shifts in the economy and with how businesses operate. The last few years have seen a massive upheaval and changes in the professional world, meaning that businesses around the world are fragile. 

Earning an MBA can help give you the skills and knowledge you need to successfully lead a business in the COVID-19 era and beyond. With top professionals on the faculty that have analyzed how businesses have adapted to the coronavirus era and the trends that are set to remain even after we move forward. 

Being professionally certified and knowledgeable in how to direct a business into a post-COVID world is a huge boon for anyone’s resume, and modern MBAs can be easily completed at your own pace online. This allows you to choose an accredited, highly recommended degree regardless of where you are located. 

Commit to Lifelong Learning 

Lifelong learning is how you can show your commitment and your dedication to your field. Imagine if an IT specialist never continued to learn and update their knowledge; they would only become less qualified as time went on. Updates, new trends, new tools – staying on top of this information alone takes a lifetime of commitment, and that’s just the start of how you can use what you learn to progress your career. 

Higher-level positions require smart thinkers. They need leaders. Having innovative ideas and just a general wealth of knowledge to draw from will help you stand out and shine to your employers. 

There are many ways that you can learn as well, and most are free to you. Stay up to date with the news, read all the industry reports, subscribe to journals and magazines, listen to podcasts. 

The good news is that business is intrinsically tied with society, which means you don’t need to solely focus on learning more in your field to continue to benefit from lifelong learning. You can source ideas from absolutely anywhere, so you can invest time in learning more about topics that interest you personally rather than professionally and still be able to put that knowledge to good use in your career. Attend Events, Workshops, and Conferences 

Talks, events, workshops, meet-and-greets, and conferences are all excellent places to learn and further your career. 

Benefits of Attending 

There are two main benefits of attending these events. The first is the ability to learn directly from big thought leaders in your field. You can also learn more about your competitors and where the industry as a whole is set to go. 

The second benefit is the ability to meet people. Meeting other attendees is great, but if you can, get in touch with hosts and panel speakers as well. There are often mixers and other opportunities to get in touch with these people directly, allowing you to expand your own network with some very important players in your industry. 

How to Get the Most Out of Your Attendance 

Networking is the big secret to career progression, and though these events often have plenty of opportunities to meet and network, it can be hard to make the benefits extend beyond that meet and greet. 

The best way to get the most out of attendance is to follow or connect with the people you meet. This can be done on social media, on sites like LinkedIn, or by saving their number directly. 

Social media is one of the better options, as it gives you the opportunity to become familiar with one another without actively reaching out. This offers you a more natural, organic way of building a connection that you can then use later on. 

How to Push for Promotions 

Being a great employee is just one step towards getting a promotion or other opportunity. The fact is that unless you actively make your intentions known, most hiring managers are not going to think of you. If you have a very clear goal to become marketing director, and you make that known, then your managers themselves will know that you are passionate, driven, and looking to prove yourself. 

Telling your managers your goal is not enough, however. You need to push for opportunities and be prepared to sell yourself as a prime candidate whenever a job you want comes available internally. 

If you know someone is leaving, retiring, or going on maternity or paternal leave, you can even get in touch with them directly. Ask to shadow them, learn from them, and make it known that you are interested in replacing them, even if it is just for a short while. 

There are so many internal opportunities. Asking to learn; asking for new responsibilities; asking for new roles – all of these show your dedication and your ability to take on the responsibilities a promotion would entail. 

Be Prepared to Job Hunt 

The days of loyalty are long over. The best time to negotiate better pay and better benefits is when you get hired. There are often caps on pay increases in-house, which means that companies have, in effect, created an environment that more or less requires professionals to leave and seek promotions or higher pay from competitors. 

If your employer does not do this, then you have a good one. Feeling like you are adequately compensated for your skillset and workload is huge. If you don’t feel either of those things, then looking at the job market is the best way to get what you are looking for. 

It is also how you can grow your professional network. By working with a wealth of people and showcasing your skills directly, you can be thought of during opportunities. The best jobs, after all, are rarely posted on job hunting sites. Those positions are key, and often times hiring managers know who they want for that role long before they go through the effort of posting it online. Being in the know can make you a prime candidate for these opportunities. 

Today, finding the right company to work for is similar to dating. You cannot just get a job and assume that it will offer you everything you need to feel fulfilled and help you with your own professional goals. Going from job to job can help you avoid this issue, giving you the biggest number of benefits and the best opportunities in the future. 

Interested in Starting Your Own Business? 

If you have a very interesting and unique idea, you will not find a job role for it. Instead, you’ll want to start your own business. You can work on a freelance or consultant basis and sell your unique set of skills, or you can start an agency or other business type. However, this is a big step, so learn what you can from your MBA and from your professional experience before you get started with a business plan. 

Finding Fulfillment 

It can be easy to get caught up in the race towards something better, but it is important to know that not every promotion is going to be worth it or well suited to you. Finding where you enjoy your work, you get paid well, and with an employer that you are passionate about it the goal. If this isn’t the CEO or another executive-level position, then that is fine. It is important to find a position that helps you feel fulfilled and happy and one that can support your lifestyle.

Wherever this role is, that should be your goal. It is only when you love what you do, it makes a difference you care about, and you get paid well for it that you can finally say that you made it.