1. Starting Point – Set Career Goals
Setting goals are vital to your career success, but knowing how to set goals is also critically important. It’s one thing to state a goal and another to be able to set a goal that is attainable and realistic.
Before you start goal setting, consider doing a self-assessment to help you determine some parameters for your goal setting. The questions you need to ask yourself might be:
- Where are you now?
- What were your highlights from the past year?
- What are your strengths?
- Where do you want to be a year from now?
- Where does your boss think you could be in a year?
Your Goals should be:
- Both Short term and Long Term
- Talk to someone about your goals. Get inputs from a mentor or manager to make sure your goals are reasonable.
- Be flexible. Goals should not be set in stone.
2. 10 Steps to Advance your Career – Act Today
Getting a good mentor
A good mentor or supervisor plays the main role in an employee’s success; one can owe their success to their mentor who guided them in all ways in their career. Look out for any individual in the industry who you admire and can share all your experiences, both good and bad. Invite that person for a meeting and share professional experiences.
Get to know what your job requires
Being at the entry-level, you must be aware of all the requirements for the role in order to get to a higher position. Try to increase your knowledge base by reading articles, books and journals, get in touch with experts in the industry and get to know about the requirements for your job.
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Communicating & Getting feedback from boss to act appropriately
Increase your communication with your boss and let him/her know that you intend to get to the next level/opportunity and also ask for their feedback as improvement is mandatory. It doesn’t need to be a formal talk; can be an informal one too. This will help you be on the top of their mind and you can be considered for the role whenever there is a position opening up within the company.
Enhance your network
Building a network is one important aspect that helps you to upgrade your position; it helps you to move up from the entry-level position. An Individual should build their network with professionals as advancement in your career can be achieved only when one knows people in the industry. It is also important to participate in all events of the company such as parties, cocktail events, networking events and conferences in the industry. In this way one can gain important insights within the field and have lasting connections.
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Do not wait for work
When you just sit down waiting for work, then you aren’t doing any favors to the organization. In order to be an asset to an organization try to spend your time researching and learning something that will help overcome failures and assist the company in order to attain success. For example, you can brainstorm for new ideas in order to promote the company online and increase its digital presence. You can also provide ideas that can boost up the slow process within the company. Hence sitting idle without taking any initiative will not help you move to a higher level.
Upskill Yourself
When you’re at the entry-level, you need to aspire for the next level of work and figure out what qualifications and skillset that are mandatory for the same. Research about the position and requirements for the next level and obtain formal education or training accordingly. Make sure that you enhance your skillset as per the next level of the job role.
Understand your work environment
At the entry- level position, you would be aware of what needs to be done. Once you have decided to move up to the next level, then you need to understand your work environment. Be proactive and take up work to show your skills and prove that you’re eligible for the next position. Try to take up new roles and volunteer for committees. You will be noticed by your superiors when you advance in your job and showcase your skills.
Handling Ordinary tasks
At the beginning of your career, you would be expected to take up tasks which involve menial work. It is vital to be humble and concentrate on the assigned task in a positive manner. It will help you to gain efficiency in your work and help you attain success in the longer run.
Work smarter
In order to upgrade your career, make sure you work smarter than harder. Instead of investing long hours of labor, working smart and impressing the decision maker is vital. Work on projects that no one else works on and apply your skills in order to make those unpopular projects into popular ones. Smart work is considered as the best tool that results in better ways to a higher level.
Don’t make assumptions
Make sure you inform others that you’re interested to move up the corporate ladder and are interested in taking more responsibilities. Don’t assume that your manager will know about your inclination. Instead take initiatives for the same and keep yourself available to grab the opportunity.
These are a few tips that help entry level employees to move to higher positions and lead to success within an organization. The employee needs to research about the position that he/she aspires for and update themselves with the required skillset, qualification and other requirements for the position. The employee’s responsibility is to accomplish all his tasks honestly from his end, and the rest is taken care of by the organization.
3. What causes people to fail? – Watch Out
Many people fail because they act too aggressive – putting bulk of their emphasis only on those opportunities where they believed, they could get promoted. On the other hand, some failures were too passive. They just did their jobs, while secretly hoping that they would get promoted one day. It rarely works like this.
After years of observation amongst winners and losers, it’s quite clear that putting exclusive focus on climbing up the career ladder results in failure. When an individual is only inclined towards achieving the ultimate result (to be at the ‘highest point’ in their career), they tend to neglect important things like personal growth, skill development and co-operation with other people. Not only do they neglect these things, but they also fail to realize that these things are actually essential for rising high and attaining recognition and so they land up in a corner office, somehow still toiling away at an entry-level job.
All the best for your career journey!