Have you ever had an interview where you were asked what your 5-year plans were? This question can feel overwhelming because let’s be honest, who really knows what they will be doing in 5 years from now? For people with plans to advance their careers however, this question is often easy. In 3 years, they want to be in a supervisory role, and in 5-10 they want to get in the upper management level. There are plenty of things you can do to position yourself for career advancement. Use these tips to help you gain an edge no matter what industry you are in.
Network With People in Your Industry
Have you ever heard that it’s not what you know, it’s who you know? This is true in part. While it’s critical to have the skills necessary to do your job with excellence, it’s also vital that you know people. Networking connections can open up opportunities you may not otherwise have. For instance, having a colleague who can vouch for your integrity can put you on a short list of people to get an interview with a specific employer. While it may not take you all the way to getting the job, it can at least get you in front of the decision makers.
Improve Your Health
Higher level jobs have more demands. These demands can leave some people feeling stressed and overwhelmed to a breaking point. If your health is not already in a good place, then now is the time to give it some attention. Focus on eating nutritious foods, getting regular exercise, and prioritizing your sleep. You’ll take these healthy habits with you as you advance your career and learn ways to manage various stress levels. Additionally, being healthy means that you’ll take less time off from work which can be appealing to employers.
Take a Job With Upward Mobility
There is nothing harder than taking a job that’s going nowhere. While it might pay the bills for a season, it can leave people feeling frustrated and disappointed when there is no upward mobility. When you apply for positions, it’s important to assess many aspects of the potential employers to see if they are a good fit for you.
One of the most important questions to ask when you desire to move up in your career is to find out what the path looks like for upward mobility. You want to work for a company who promotes from within as much as possible. Additionally, it’s also important to look for companies that value professional development. One of the ways they demonstrate the fact that they value it is by providing work time to complete development goals or by providing resources to do it. A company that won’t pay for it or give you time for it is showing that they don’t value it.
Get Certified
Certifications in your field open up countless opportunities. This may require training classes in addition to passing certain tests. Project managers can become certified PM’s, computer coders can show off their skills using a certain language by getting a certification, and welders and other professionals can improve their options with advanced certificates as well.
By proving your skills through certifications, you’ll be able to demonstrate to your employer or future employers that you have the skills needed to do the job and that you’re willing to learn more to advance in future roles.
Take College Courses
Going to college while you’re also working full-time can present a challenge. It’s hard to manage when to study and how to get the most out of your courses. But the benefits of taking college courses to advance your career is tremendous. There are countless resources available to help you study, stay on track and succeed in school while you’re working. Students taking different STEM courses for instance can benefit from the preparation tools at Proprep.
Students taking computer courses can leverage think tanks to get feedback on their coding skills. Taking these courses can help you work toward an advanced degree which can improve your opportunities in some fields. In engineering for instance, some places will not hire upper management unless they have an advanced degree in the field.
