Career advancement is essential to professional development and growth and comes in many different forms, from climbing the corporate ladder to simply building critical professional relationships. However, achieving success in advancing your career requires a well-thought-out strategic approach: a career roadmap, the right mindset, and attitude.
As we will later explain in this guide, the key career advancement tactics involve having a clear vision and setting both short-term and long-term goals, networking and engaging with a community that can guide you in your journey, polishing existing and learning new hard and soft skills to prepare you when you seek opportunities for career advancement. By using these key career advancement tactics as a guide, you can increase your chances of ultimately and positively altering your career and life.
Create a vision and set goals
Another of the key career advancement tactics emphasizes that you can only go far with a clear vision, goal, and timeline. By combining your vision, goals, and timeline, you can create a roadmap that will lead you to success in advancing your career. Determine first what success looks like to you—for example, aspiring for a C-level executive position or owning a business. When defining success, consider jobs that foster and embody your core values, working conditions, and expectations that fit your lifestyle, interests, and skills that you consider the most valuable, desired working location, and working hours.
After, set both short-term and long-term goals that can enable you to track your progress. Your network can advise you in creating a feasible and measurable career plan and give you feedback to help you stay on track and, ultimately, meet your goals.
Network and seek advice
There’s the saying, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together:” For career advancement, this means tapping into your network and seeking help and support. A mentor or advisor can help you establish a clear vision and goal for your career advancement and determine your definition of success. Seniors such as supervisors or managers can help map out your long-term goals and explore potential areas and opportunities for your career progression.
Finally, building a solid network and developing professional relationships with those in your field or industry is another of the critical career advancement tactics. Your action plan will become clearer by connecting with professionals at networking events, conferences, luncheons, or virtually on social media groups.
Learn new skills and engage in continuous learning
One of the best career advancement tactics is to keep learning by polishing and acquiring new skills. According to research by McKinsey & Company, 87% of global companies know that they have or will anticipate having a skills gap in a few years. With this in mind, to advance in your career, it is essential to close gaps between the necessary qualifications and skills required and those already mastered. This means continuously building your skills, knowledge, and credentials to ensure you’re up to date with your industry’s latest trends and technologies. Depending on your aspirations, this can be anywhere from developing your management, technical, software, problem-solving, teamwork, or analytical skills.
Engaging in continuous learning and developing your skills can help you become the best professional version of yourself. Most importantly, it can also help you land a prestigious role at your company or help you build and start the company of your dreams.
Seek out opportunities
When advancing your career, it’s essential to look for opportunities constantly. Being passive will be your worst enemy during your career advancement journey. So, once you’ve polished your short and long-term goals and vision, the key career advancement tactics emphasize proactively seeking opportunities. Depending on your vision, this can be opportunities internally or externally, but still within your industry.
Before applying for jobs on sites such as Lensa or climbing the corporate ladder in your company, be sure to revamp your resume and communicate your transferable skills here. Finally, make a great impression on job interviews with thorough preparation via mock interviews and role and company research. By undertaking the necessary preparation, you can increase your chances of success in advancing your career.
Take the leap to advance in your career
By following the key career advancement tactics, such as defining your definition of success, networking to seek advice and learn from industry experts, developing your skills, and learning continuously and proactively seeking opportunities, you can increase your chances of success. Once again, success differs from professional to professional, where some seek to climb the corporate ladder to a C-level executive position or, perhaps, become an entrepreneur in their industry. Despite these differences, it’s crucial to take steps toward career advancement one step at a time. Expect some challenges, obstacles, and even changes in your goals. Your career roadmap will not be a straight line or set in stone. However, reaching your ultimate career destination is achievable with the right strategies and attitude.
