If there’s one thing many of us strive for, it’s finding a job that we love. While some people get by with any old role, others are always looking for bigger and better things. Climbing the career ladder doesn’t have to be a minefield. As long as you know what strategies to take and paths to explore, you can soon be on the way to climbing up the ranks and working in a higher-paying role that aligns with your needs.
Whatever stage you’re at in your career and regardless of profession, there’s a good chance you’re looking to make the step up to the next level in the not-too-distant future. With more money, prestige, and responsibility ahead, here are things you should be doing now to get yourself out there and into a better role.
Be Specific About Your Goals
When you score a promotion and advance up through the business, you’ll get closer and closer to achieving your ultimate career goals. It’s a good idea to be as specific as possible about what your goals are. That way, you can reach them easier! Consider the short and long-term advantages of moving up. For instance, rather than setting a goal to become a regional manager, think about why you want to be in that position. There may be changes you’d like to see and instruct yourself.
It’s wise to write your goals down on paper. Try and be realistic with them too. There’s no point in putting down unattainable goals. If you do, you’ll never gain the sense of accomplishment you’re looking for. Writing SMART goals will help keep you on track and know what steps to take to move up the career ladder. You may have a goal to become a delivery driver or a truck driver. If this sounds like you, check out Adzuna who have job listings for these positions.
Keep Building Relationships
Regardless of where you are now in a career sense, building relationships and networking is key for moving up the ladder. As the saying goes, it’s not always what you know, but who you know. Building strong working relationships is critical for progression. When conversing with those higher up than you, always maintain professionalism and be polite. Your demeanor can be the difference between staying put in your current role and being considered for something else.
Strong working relationships lead to improved teamwork. This will help you feel more engaged with your work, feel happier in yourself and most importantly, boost productivity levels. Treat everyone in the business with the same respect and dignity, from the cleaners to the CEO. Your positive attitude will rub off on others and can help enormously in boosting your career prospects.
Monitor Your Accomplishments
If there is one thing too many professionals don’t do, it’s keeping track of their accomplishments. How many of us have come to update our resume or LinkedIn profile when applying for positions to find we struggle to recall all our past achievements? It’s your job to keep track of projects you’ve been involved in and any positive outcomes that followed.
When noting down your achievements, this will be an immense help when faced with tough interview questions. Because your accomplishments will be fresh in your mind, you’ll have all the information needed to give an excellent answer and make employers take you more seriously.
Take More On
In your current role, you want to show to your manager and those higher up that you’re willing to take on challenges and risks. This is what will set you apart from other colleagues and get you up the career ladder. Taking on more work exposes you to more projects, colleagues, teams, and skills. What’s more, it will show you’re a dependable team player who isn’t shy of hard work. These are traits management and those in leadership roles take notice of.
When your manager is analyzing the team and considering who they think would be perfect for a new role, the candidate who goes above and beyond is normally put at the forefront. As well as this, you’ll build more transferable skills, professional connections, and cement a mighty portfolio.
Maintain Your Integrity
Your professional reputation with colleagues and management isn’t just about putting your hand up when work comes in. Instead, it is all about working with integrity. There are certain things above all others that can rapidly damage your profile in the workplace. These are taking credit for someone else’s work and blaming others when things do not go to plan. Where credit is due, you shouldn’t be shy about accepting it. However, where work was done as part of a group, you need to not take credit away from those who deserve it.
Also, never be afraid to own up to your mistakes. It’s important to take responsibility for your actions where necessary. Those who are quick to point the blame on someone else are never going to make a good manager. To climb the career ladder, you need to know how to handle constructive criticism and admit when mistakes were made.
Undertake Training
It’s a good idea to continue improving your skill set if you have aspirations for climbing up the career ladder. One way to do this is by undertaking regular training. These programs are something all professionals should be taking on, even if you’re not looking for a promotion. There are several ways you can go about this. Firstly, look at the business to see whether they offer in-house training programs. If not, there are many you can study online in your own time. You will build confidence, skills, and experience that can set you apart from other employees.
Regardless of what your current occupation is, there is always something new to learn in your sector. This is because there’s new tech and software always coming onto the market. Being able to use these tools will show employers that you mean business!
Have Patience
Once you’ve decided your current role isn’t fulfilling you enough and you’re ready to take on a new challenge, you need to remember achieving this goal isn’t going to happen overnight. While we would all like to climb the career ladder within an instant, it very rarely works that way. This is because there may be vacancies already filled. You need to master the art of patience in these situations.
Should you keep asking and asking about progression opportunities, this can quickly become a nuisance for management. The last thing you want is to get on their nerves, so having patience and staying motivated is what will get you to the next level.
As you start out in your career, you may begin thinking about moving up in the business and earning higher pay. This requires ambition, determination, and commitment to follow through and move up the ranks. It always pays off to do your research about how best to prepare for moving into a more challenging career.
Whether your goal is to take on a leadership or managerial role within the business, there will be opportunities to get there. You just need to know what actions to take and retain a positive mindset to achieve your goals.
