Twigging career advancement

Who doesn’t want to see his or her efforts being appreciated? If your senior praises you for a project well-executed or when you are felicitated for outstanding contributions, don’t you have pleasurable feelings? Words of praise are one thing, but all of us want to experience advancement. But quite a few amongst us do not have any scheme of action for the purpose. In order to attain your objectives – both in career and life – simply winning words of praise is not enough. You need to have an assiduous and systematic outlook towards your career plan.

Career advancement will entail change in designations and additional responsibilities to shoulder. How can you witness it? You may consider seeking help from a career counsellor who can peruse your objectives and assist you to gear up for move head. You may have to provide extensive details, including information about your present job, if any and the possible position it can take you to. Such information may also be obtainable from your employer together with relevant qualitative requirements. The career counsellor will be in a position to contour a complete career path for you and indicate additional efforts by you en route. A mentor should also be able to help out in this regard.

Irrespective of the fact whether it is a career counsellor or a mentor, the important point of the matter is the affiliation and rapport that you infuse into the dialogue. If you are truly self-aware, that is, if you are mindful of your history, circumstances, knowledge, proficiencies and objectives background, the conversation process will definitely be more fruitful. Every single title in your selected domain will invariably call for particular knowhow to obtain it and move on to the next higher one. Each specific knowhow as an entity should be viewed as your personal achievement.

Your career counsellor or mentor may gauge your aptitude or have a tête-à-tête about your existing skills and compare them with the qualitative requirements indispensable for your career progression. Based on the inferences drawn, you can make arrangements to acquire them. If you are already working, you can even approach your management for assistance.

If while exploring the environment, you get an inkling of lesser prospects of growth with your present employer, you can always consider the option of moving on to another company where things are perceived to be more favourable. In case you decide to do so, your resume has to be structured appropriately. Indicating in the resume your intention to advance in your job and career and therefore the change of career line is advisable. Stating that will add potency to your application. However, you must endeavour to find out what your new employer is seeking and underscore your demonstrated performance in your previous job utilising similar expertise. It is also prudent to not to overlook your drawbacks and shortcomings; a mention can be made during the interview with an assertion that you can learn new roles fast and well. Your new employer will not treat this as a disadvantage.

You may apply for a new post in your present company or another company. You can get to know what it calls for only from a person who has served in that appointment or is currently serving. Your aim should be to talk to a present incumbent. In the case of another company, you must find out company policies for employee growth within the organisation or whether they lure and hire a suitable candidate working in a different company. In a nutshell, you should get to know the facts related to how the company values its staff and if serving personnel are given opportunities to ascend the career ladder or not.

In the case of career advancement with your present company, you must view those who are serving in appointments that you seek. For all you know, it may come to your knowledge that a particular employee has resigned. Under such circumstances, you must interact with the concerned employees and discern what that post is all about. Networking with people in that department or vertical will help in your name being considered whenever an opening is there. You must regard your career advancement not as a lone act of one step up, but part of your persistent efforts of moving up one step at a time. However, you must not be found wanting in updating your skills and making your efforts known to people who matter.

People generally accept as true that luck too has a role to play in career advancement, besides aspects like circumstances, academic pursuits and networking. But you need to understand that none of these by themselves can be of any benefit. You will require a premeditated and pre-calculated plan. Your career advancement has to be an intentional subscription to a long-term line of action that has inherent in it well thought-out objectives. The objectives have to be in sync with your penchants and inclinations.

  They say that opportunities are like elevators; they arrive and open their doors only for those who wait. And if you get out of focus, the doors will close. The decision to progress to the next level lies within you and no one can make that decision for you.