Heighten your professional advance

Professional progress is something that is much talked about; however, its connotation is interpreted differently by different people. But the fact that cannot be denied is that is significant because the need to give a boost to career advancement needs no emphasis. Every working person must purposefully do so.

It is all about availing chances to learn something new so that your knowledge base is widened so that you can achieve additional in your career. The prime advantage of professional advancement is that you also stand to gain on your personal front. But it is not a simple endeavour – something like a fire-and-forget missile. It is a continual process and could range from attending courses of instruction to participation in conferences and presentations. But the inescapable requirement is that it is you and you alone who has to decide the time and method to go about it.

Few suggested ways to give a boost to your individual and professional progression are:

·   Know what you seek:  You must evaluate your objectives vis-à-vis your appointment, work and career. It is also essential that you analyse all the qualitative requirements that you must fulfill to remain firmly entrenched in your current post, job or career. This can be best done by reducing to writing all your aims and wants; and after having done so, refer to them off and on to discern possible learning occasions that you can subscribe to or participate in.

·   Know where you stand:  To be able to accomplish whatever you seek, it is necessary to know your present qualifications, including your practical experiences. These also should be reduced to writing along with occasions when you utilized them. This cognizance will facilitate a deeper comprehension of your knowledge possessions that contribute towards your professional progression.

·   Know what you need to obtain:  If you are clear about your aims and how well you are poised to achieve them, you will for sure discern how your position can be strengthened. You should know what could possibly restrain you from moving ahead and thus make your career languish. The need to understand your vulnerabilities and deficiencies; and making efforts to offset them by acquiring additional qualifications thus needs no emphasis. Again, jotting them down all your contemplations will help in the formulation of a time-plan, which, you should adhere.  

·   Know what you would use:  You should also know various resources that you could utilize to further build up your skills for attaining your aims. They could well be people, organisations and events. You will have to decide on the most suitable ones and the modalities to be undertaken. For example, you could identify and bond with people with whom you could have mentoring associations. You could also find out about professional clubs and training centres where courses, workshops and seminars are conducted; joining such institutions will help you improve your skills; and eventually your career prospects. 

·   Know what you need to do:  This implies concluding all outstanding assignments and sessions. While knowing what you must initiate is important, finishing what you are at is equally imperative. You could have taken steps to identify your objectives, locus standi, qualifications to be acquired and resources to be utilized. But somewhere down the line, the spot light could shift elsewhere resulting in your advancement plan going haywire. Therefore, finishing all that you initiated will help you get over the standstill or decline being suffered. It is also necessary to get to the bottom of the issue and find out the causes for the same; the distance you have to still traverse for achieving your ambitions and objectives; and items on your agenda yet to be completed to cap all your efforts.

It is always possible to get over stagnation. You should simply ask yourself about a dozen actions that you must take to get your career progression on fast-moving track. Your responses will be way outs by themselves. Adopt those ways out to get back on course. And when you are heading in the right direction, you must take pleasure in working hard for your career progression. You will thus be able to acquire and better your expertise and make you indispensable.  But it will all be your initiative to make professional development the top most precedence in your current appointment, work and career.