10 Tips on Career Advancement

Nowadays, it’s up to you to take control of your professional future and make sure that you are progressing wisely down the right career path. 

Here are 10 proven strategies to help you get started:

1. Talk to your boss. Sit down and have a very direct and pointed conversation with your boss about your future in the company. Stress that you want your job performance to meet the company’s goals. Share your own career goals with him or her. Your boss will respect this display of confidence and maturity.

2. Ask for more. Volunteering to help out other departments or teams — or simply asking for more responsibilities — increases your value within the organization. Asking for additional work shows an interest and desire to help your department and company to succeed. It also puts a spotlight on your value to the business.

3. Volunteer for boards. If you have your career set on something beyond what you are doing in your present position, seek out opportunities to volunteer or serve on advisory boards, where you can build a reputation as someone who is passionate and dedicated to your particular industry.

4. Sharpen your people skills. Strong interpersonal skills play a crucial role in gaining the respect of your boss and coworkers; they will also attract the notice of outside influencers who might open new doors of opportunity for you. Be friendly, outgoing, and personable. Listen carefully to people, and practice being a clear and effective communicator.

5. Be innovative. Never be afraid to think outside of the box and put your business acumen to work. Stay on the lookout for creative solutions to problems that will make you — and your boss — look good.

6. Find a mentor. Develop mentoring relationships, either inside or outside the company. Recent studies have shown that four out of five promotions are influenced by a mentor higher up in the company. Mentors are also great sources of information and career guidance.

7. Sell yourself. Learn the fine art of self-promotion. If you have had major accomplishments or created successful programs, make sure people know about it — especially those in influential positions who could help you advance professionally. Let it be known that you are seeking a promotion or the next step up in your career.

8. Keep learning. A proven way to advance in your career is to be continually acquiring new knowledge. Stay on top of trends or developments in your field and make sure that your current résumé reflects those needed skills.

9. Network. Strengthen your personal network and join professional organizations, attend industry conferences, or even volunteer. The more people who are aware of your strengths and abilities, the better your chances of hearing about any new opportunities that might arise.

10. Build your reputation. In business, your reputation is the most valuable thing you own. Be known for being dependable, professional, and cooperative. Act and look the part by dressing professionally. Make a name for yourself by attending conferences, delivering speeches, or writing articles.

Career Quotes

These quotes equally fit for people of all career types.

1. The best career advice to give to a young is ‘Find what you like doing best and get someone to pay you for doing it’.
2. If you want a big career, a big man and a big life, you have to think big – that’s the only way to get it… you just cannot stand being anonymous.
3. For many people a job is more than an income – it’s an important part of who we are. So a career transition of any sort is one of the most unsettling experiences you can face in your life.
4. He knows nothing and thinks he knows everything. That points clearly to a political career.
5. Think not of yourself as the architect of your career but as the sculptor. Expect to have to do a lot of hard hammering and chiseling and scraping and polishing.
6. No man can succeed in a line of endeavor which he does not like.
7. Work to become, not to acquire.
8. A career is born in public – talent in privacy.
9. The biggest mistake that you can make is to believe that you are working for somebody else. Job security is gone. The driving force of a career must come from the individual.
10. Jobs are owned by the company, you own your career!
11. The true measure of a career is to be able to be content, even proud, that you succeeded through your own endeavors without leaving a trail of casualties in your wake.
12. I’ve arrived at the place if I’m not taking a career risk, I’m not happy. If I’m scared, then I know I’m being challenged.
13. Criticism of others is futile and if you indulge in it, often you should be warned that it can be fatal to your career.
14. Analyzing what you haven’t got as well as what you can have is necessary ingredient of a career.
15. A good manager is a man who isn’t worried about his own career but rather the careers of those who work for him.
16. I think everyone should experience defeat at least once during their career. You learn a lot from it.
17. Your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it.
18. It’s not what you achieve, it’s what you overcome. That’s what defines your career.
19. I absolutely want to have a career where you make’em laugh and make’em cry. It’s all theater.