For most of us, the dream doesn’t end with getting a job that can pay the bills. The dream is to climb the corporate ladder to heights where we can enjoy freedom and retire at a young age. However, climbing the corporate ladder is a process that takes time. Some people get lucky and move up quickly, while others stay in the same position for years. Having said that, you can take a more active approach if you want to progress faster.
The steps below highlight what needs to be done to ensure that your climb to the top is fast:
1. Enroll in an advanced degree to upskill
If you want to fasttrack your way to the top, upskilling yourself via the education route may be your best bet. Working professionals have a big advantage when it comes to attaining education because they can pay for their programs themselves. A flashy new degree, that screams qualification, can put you and your resume a cut above the competition when applying for job promotions.
The option to enroll in a degree program becomes even more enticing when you consider the multitude of options available online. You can choose any degree program, like Nursing, Education, or MBA Online Program, and you’re bound to find plethora of online certified courses that can help you get the education of your dreams, all from the comfortable convenience of your living room.
2. Find a mentor
A mentor can be a valuable asset to have in a workplace. They can help you guide your career, adjust goals as you go, and offer advice. Apart from all that, you need someone to help you navigate the cutthroat corporate environment and overcome challenging situations.
Mentors can have a positive impact on your professional life, but do not just assume that a mentor will come find you on their own. You should actively seek out mentors, from among the people you admire professionally, at your workplace or in your life. Identify someone in a position to which you aspire, which could be within your company or in your industry, reach out to them and request them to meet with you.
Ask them relevant questions about their accomplishments, gather lessons, and learn from their insights and experiences, and when you get the opportunity you should apply their hard-earned wisdom to your own life and work problems.
A wise man learns from the mistakes of others. Study the mistakes of people around you, analyze where they went wrong, and, in learning from them, tell yourself how exactly would you go differently about it. Advance your career with an experienced person—someone who has seen it all—overseeing your goals and the way you work toward them.
3. Go an extra step to make yourself indispensable
If you are already doing a great job at your current position, but you feel it’s all merry-go-round work that is leading you nowhere in particular, then get proactive and find ways to add value to your company on your own.
Do something off the beaten track to help them with their growth and success. For example, you can learn a new skill and pitch to the management that you can take on extra responsibility, or you can create an entirely different role out of thin air because you feel that the business needs it.
Show the bosses that you are a self-starter and someone who can one day become an indispensable part of the team. You’ll get noticed eventually, and the bosses won’t waste a second in promoting you then.
4. Get involved in extra-curricular activities
Participating in extra-curricular activities is a great way to increase your engagement with the company culture and make connections with the other employees. Having a strong network can help you advance in your career faster because it gives you a chance to bounce your ideas off multiple people, showcase your skills to a wider audience in order to get them talking, and you get access to more resources.
It is also essential, however, to get involved in a local community or organization outside of your work, as this will mean not only having something outside of work but also help you meet even more people who may invite you to explore different professional avenues.
5. Show yourself as a team player
If you want to be successful at scaling those promotion opportunities that you’ve been eyeing then you’ll have to learn to be a team player. Companies want employees to put themselves into work, aligning their success and goals with the companies’. If you are working just to see the shifts through to their end, you’re sending employers the wrong signal that is telling them that you aren’t invested in their work. That you are not motivated.
Being unselfish in sharing credit, engaging with colleagues that you work with, and taking responsibility for the company’s success will pique your employers interest. This will give you a certain amount of influence within the company, even when you are not yet at the top. When people trust you and know that you will come through for them, they will want to work with you, which will open more doors for you down the road.
6. Stay positive
Being positive is an attitude that can help power your career. As an employee, you must have good energy about you. Having positive vibes will help you build great relationships with your co-workers and subordinates. It also gives you the perspective and confidence to take on challenges and find courage to step up to new opportunities. Even when you are not feeling like it, smile more often. Happy people are more approachable and seem charming, which are highly attractive social skills that will help you power through those interviews for promotions.
Conclusion
If you like a good challenge, then climbing the corporate ladder is all about making the right career moves. Stay positive, flexible in face of challenges and opportunities, proactive in your decisions and actions, and have an unquenchable curiosity for learning; these qualities will take you farther than you would have ever imagined yourself to go in your career.
