When we’re young, we generally imagine that career advancement will come naturally as the years pass by and as we gain more experience within our field. While this is true of some career paths, we must always be alert to those opportunities and take advantage of them when they present themselves.
So what is the best way to advance in your career? In this guide, we explain what career progression means, why it’s desirable, and what are the best job advancement strategies.
Table of Contents
- What is Career Advancement?
- Why is Career Advancement Important?
- What are the Benefits of Career Advancement?
- Set Clear Career Goals
- Goals for Career Advancement
- Top Tips to Achieve Career Advancement
- Achieving Career Advancement Can Be One Small Step Away
What is Career Advancement?
Each time you take a step forward in your career, that’s an advancement. However, this is different for everyone. One person’s idea of advancing their career might be different than your own idea or definition. Career advancement might be one of the following for you:
- Asking for a raise
- Getting a promotion
- Getting a qualification like a certificate or a degree
- Changing to a job that offers better long-term prospects
- Learning new skills applicable to your current career
Advancement is a career goal that you set out to achieve. It’s a goal that you set, rather than a long-term plan. Although the advancement itself can be part, or a means, of achieving a long-term plan. By definition, it has to benefit your career and meet your professional goals – this can manifest itself in any number of ways.
What’s the Difference Between Career Advancement and Career Development?
The fundamental differences between career advancement and career development are the following:
- To advance your career to take the necessary steps to achieve a specific objective. This objective could be any of the ones listed above.
- Developing your career is an ongoing process throughout your entire working life. Advancement opportunities form part of your continuing development.
Career development is more about vision and long-term goals. While it does require strategies, career development is more of a process than an action. Career advancement strategies, by contrast, are focused on a single action or goal, whether that’s getting a promotion or moving to a new role.
Why is Career Advancement Important?
Even roles that seem unassuming and humble involve career growth. For example, a librarian might earn their role through a combination of getting an advanced degree in library science and having prior experience as a library assistant. Each of these represents a successful step toward career advancement, which already shows why it’s important. However, it doesn’t stop there. Consider some of the following:
- Becoming a board member of a local authority might allow the librarian to leverage better funding.
- Networking might allow them access to better learning resources or help them arrange visits from well-known authors.
- Further study might allow them to become a director of libraries across a county or district.
It’s easier to see the importance of career growth in industries like finance or management, where remuneration and progression are synonymous with success. However, this example illustrates that whatever your profession, it’s important to consider which professional advancement opportunities can help you achieve and avoid thinking that there’s a natural “ceiling” to your profession.
What are the Benefits of Career Advancement?
The primary benefit of any job advancement is that it fulfills another step in your ongoing development. That is, it gets you closer to fulfilling that long-term career plan. Other benefits include:
- Having increased authority to achieve extra goals in your working life
- Earning more respect for your work (e.g. in an academic profession)
- Developing skills such as leadership that are useful outside the workplace
- Accessing learning opportunities and working with the best in your business
- Earning more money
Career progression also helps you feel like you’re moving forward in life rather than treading water. This has psychological benefits and helps you to continue redefining your goals as you learn more about your long-term career goals.
Set Clear Career Goals
Establishing specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) career goals is crucial for successful career advancement. By setting well-defined objectives, you can focus your efforts on what truly matters, track your progress, and stay motivated to reach your desired career milestones. To set effective career goals, follow these steps:
Assess your current situation and skills
Take stock of your present job, your strengths and weaknesses, and any areas where you need improvement. This self-assessment can help you identify the skills you need to develop or enhance to advance in your career.
Identify your interests and values
Reflect on your passions and what you find most meaningful in your work. This can help you set career goals aligned with your personal values and ultimately lead to a more fulfilling professional life.
Research potential career paths
Investigate different career trajectories within your industry or explore other sectors that may be a good fit for your skills and interests. This research can help you understand the requirements and potential benefits of various career paths, giving you a clear vision of where you want to go.
Create a career action plan
Develop a roadmap outlining the specific steps you need to take to reach your career goals. This plan should include acquiring new skills, gaining relevant experience, and networking with professionals in your target field.
Remember that career planning is an ongoing process, and periodically reviewing and adjusting your goals is essential. As your circumstances, priorities, and the job market evolve, adapt your career goals and action plan accordingly to stay on track towards achieving the professional success you desire.
Goals for Career Advancement
Below are some common goals people have for career progression, and a brief explanation of how these are beneficial.
More Money
It seems obvious, but people are sometimes reluctant to admit that earning more money is a motivating factor when considering why they want to advance their career. It’s important to know your worth, what you’ve contributed to your company and how the company benefits from having you as an employee.
The simple fact is that earning more money allows you to get more from your life. It gives you a better chance of owning a home, putting savings aside for your family, and being able to afford luxuries like vacations. It’s perhaps the most common motivating factor behind getting that promotion.
Better Title from Job Promotion
A better title can help you earn respect for the investment you’ve put into your line of work. From academic titles such as Doctor (afforded to those who have completed a Ph.D. or qualified as a medical doctor) to professional titles such as CEO or Executive Vice President, having your achievements recognized in the form of a job promotion is an important part of career progression for many people.
More Job Responsibilities
Taking on more responsibilities can lead to a more fulfilling professional life. However, you often need to graduate to a higher level of management or expertise to take on additional responsibilities. Some responsibilities might include making company-wide or departmental decisions, allocating or forecasting a budget, or leading a project.
Opportunity to Manage a Team
Managing a team is a test of your organizational capabilities and a great chance to improve your management skills. However, you need to get to a point where this opportunity for advancement is available. This might involve taking on responsibilities above your pay grade to show your organizational skills or leadership abilities. Once you get the chance, though, it’s a rewarding and challenging opportunity.
Leadership Opportunities
Taking on leadership of a company is the pinnacle of many corporate career paths. This could involve allocating resources or deciding a company’s new path.
On a smaller scale, this can involve project management, which is an excellent first opportunity to take control of a budget and design strategies.
Learning Opportunities
Progressing in your job can give you access to exciting learning opportunities. For example, in a scientific role, you might be able to apply for a position on research projects with top-level professionals in your field. In a corporate setting, you might be invited to attend seminars by industry leaders and learn from accomplished individuals in your field.
Whatever your profession, there’s always more to learn. The further you progress, the fresher and more advanced these learning opportunities become. It’s a great reason to want to advance in your career.
Professional Development
Each time you take on new responsibilities or challenges, it’s another thing you can put on your resume or use as backing when you apply for a promotion or senior position. Taking an opportunity for advancement when it presents itself aids with your continuing professional development because it teaches you skills you’ll need to progress to the next step.
Top Tips to Achieve Career Advancement
Below we’ve listed some top career advancement strategies to help you get ahead. If you feel like you’re treading water or running into a wall in your current position, it’s worth giving one or more of these strategies a try.
Change Jobs to Get a More Senior Role
Senior positions within a company are necessarily scarce. There’s usually a limited number of executive positions to fill, so only a few people can occupy these roles. If you find that your company’s senior positions are all occupied by people who seem unlikely to move to a different position anytime soon, it might be time to find another company where progression is easier.
Lack of opportunity within your company isn’t a negative reflection on you. It’s a sign that you need to seek advancement opportunities elsewhere. Larger companies typically have more senior roles available and innovative companies are constantly creating senior roles. Therefore, you might consider other companies as a better opportunity for career progression.
Change Careers
You might find that career growth in your current job simply isn’t desirable to you. Some roles might require extremely long hours or make decisions you’d rather not be involved with. If this is the case, consider moving into a new field where senior positions match the kind of role you’d like your professional development to build towards.
Switching to a new field can seem like a step back, but if progressing in your current role doesn’t appeal to you, that means you have a 0% chance of a fulfilling job advancement in that position. Stepping back can help you move forwards in this way. Successful job transitions can and do happen, and they can lead to a much more rewarding professional and personal.
If you’re thinking about changing careers, these seven questions can help you decide if that’s truly what you want.
Seeking Out Opportunities for Advancement within Your Company
Being proactive in pursuing career advancement opportunities within your organization is crucial for achieving your professional goals. Taking the initiative to identify and seize internal advancement opportunities can help you demonstrate your commitment to your career and increase your chances of success. To effectively pursue growth within your company, consider the following tips:
- Communicate your career goals with your supervisor
- Volunteer for additional responsibilities and projects
- Build relationships with key decision-makers within your organization
Seek a Promotion
Job advancement is an active process. Knowing how to advance in your career sometimes means creating your own opportunities instead of waiting for them to be offered: asking for a promotion isn’t out of line.
You’ll need to be able to justify your request based on your ongoing performance in the company. Consider putting together a list of your accomplishments with the company and how you’ve provided value. You’ll likely be presented with a chance to prove yourself by taking on more senior responsibilities before being granted the promotion. Taking the initiative in seeking a promotion and in taking on these responsibilities (and more, if you can) is a great career advancement strategy.
Learn New Skills or Build on Existing Skills
Upskilling is a great way to help put you in a position to advance your career. Diversifying and enhancing your skill set can lead to opportunities for progression. For example, if you started your career as a front-end software developer, you might notice that full-stack developers typically had better advancement prospects due to their ability to coordinate front-end and back-end development teams.
Learning back-end processes would therefore make you a more viable candidate for running projects and organizing a team. Upgrading your current skill set is a good idea, but make sure it’s targeted towards skills that you know will lead to better career advancement opportunities.
Showcase Your Achievements
Promoting your accomplishments is essential for career advancement, as it highlights your expertise, demonstrates your value to employers, and sets you apart from the competition. By effectively showcasing your achievements, you can increase your visibility within your industry and attract new opportunities for growth. To put your accomplishments in the spotlight, consider the following tips:
- Keep a record of your accomplishments
- Regularly share your successes with supervisors and colleagues
- Utilize professional platforms, such as LinkedIn, to highlight your achievements.
- Request performance reviews and feedback from supervisors
By consistently showcasing your achievements in a professional and strategic manner, you can enhance your reputation and pave the way for a successful and fulfilling career.
Manage a Team
Volunteering to take charge of a team demonstrates your organizational and leadership skills to your superiors, as well as your sense of initiative. Managing a team will be a requirement of senior positions so taking the opportunity to do it at a lower level is an excellent learning experience as well as proving that you’re ready to progress. Some opportunities might include being a project team lead or managing a smaller group within a department to help push through a department initiative.
Get a College Degree
If you don’t already have a college degree, you can open up career advancement opportunities by studying part-time while you’re working. You can also take time out for a full-time degree if you’ve got the resources. Otherwise, check with your employer to see if they offer tuition reimbursement. This benefit can help you significantly cut down on the cost of college.
Depending on your field, college graduates can earn substantially more than those who do not have a degree. Consider getting your college degree online which offers more flexibility and might also be more affordable than attending a local university.
Get an Advanced Degree
An advanced degree such as an MBA can help you access higher management opportunities. Some professional roles also require a master’s degree or consider it advantageous – getting hired as a C-Level executive might be much easier with an advanced degree, especially if you’re coming in as an outsider.
Get a Certificate or Add a Credential
Certificate programs offer an affordable way to get into the more technical side of a career and develop hard skills you’ll need for a job. They’re available from a variety of online providers like Coursera, Udemy, and edX, and can enable you to switch to a new career with better advancement opportunities or move forward in your current role. You can also find certificate programs at online colleges and universities. When you earn a certificate through a college, you can apply those credits to a degree in the future.
Another option is to earn a mini-MBA certificate. The mini MBA program is designed for professionals with a few years of work experience who want to advance their career. This program provides the knowledge, skills and confidence to take on new challenges and leadership roles.
Networking
Networking is all about connections. The more you make, the better it is for your career and your business. Building contacts within your industry is a great way to find out about new roles. Attending industry events and staying in touch with people you meet on fixed-term projects can open up many career progression opportunities.
Join a Professional Group
Membership in professional organizations can help alert you to new opportunities for advancement, as well as provide access to exciting learning programs. Professional organizations offer a wide range of benefits to the members such as networking, job opportunities, and social events. Membership within these organizations is also a good thing to have on your resume.
Become a Board Member
Becoming a board member represents a slightly different type of progression to simply moving up in a company’s management chain. You’ll need strong networking skills to get on the board of a company, and you’ll need to demonstrate an interest in long-term vision rather than focusing on day-to-day operations. However, it’s a great learning opportunity and can open you up to consideration for other senior positions.
Update Resume
Every 6 months or so, it’s good to take a day out to consider everything you’ve achieved in your professional life recently. Make a list and compare it to your resume. If achievements are missing, such as successfully delivering a project or increasing revenue, make sure you add them immediately. Keep your resume up-to-date and make it show your value.
Volunteer
Volunteering demonstrates initiative as well as showing that you’re a motivated person. It can also help you develop leadership and communication skills that are vital for ongoing career growth. You may also find unexpected opportunities for career advancement within a volunteer organization.
Cultivating a Professional Image
Developing a strong personal brand is crucial for career advancement, as it can influence how others perceive you and your abilities. A professional image can help you gain credibility, attract new opportunities, and create lasting impressions on potential employers, clients, and colleagues. To cultivate a positive and professional image, consider implementing the following strategies:
- Dress appropriately and practice good grooming habits
- Communicate effectively and professionally
- Demonstrate a strong work ethic and positive attitude
- Engage in professional development activities to enhance your reputation
By cultivating a professional image, you can strengthen your personal brand and position yourself for greater success in your career advancement journey.
Achieving Career Advancement Can Be One Small Step Away
Using the career advancement strategies listed above will help you to develop your career towards the role you envision yourself occupying one day. Remember to be proactive and take every opportunity for advancement when you see it – and if you don’t see any, create your own. Sometimes the best opportunities are those paths we envision and make a reality. Best of luck on your career advancement journey!
