It’s always good to know that you’re in a job that you like, but it’s always important to remember that you’re unlikely to stay content with your position forever. While it might be just fine for right now, at some point in the future, you might find that you begin to feel a little dissatisfied with your position if you haven’t progressed. So it’s always important that you’re keeping one eye on the future, and taking steps to improve your career as the years progress. But how do you do this?

We take a look at a few tried and tested methods below. 

Know Where You Want To Go

You wouldn’t start a hike without having an idea of where you were trying to walk to. When it comes to your career, it’s all about figuring out your ultimate goal, as in where you eventually want to finish.

It’s much easier to navigate your career when you can see the type of position that you’re aiming for. There’s an additional benefit, too: thinking about your end destination will help to narrow down the extensive career choices that you’ll face.

Talking With Others

They say it’s not what you know, but who you know. Now, of course, that’s not strictly true — it’s not as if you can just bluff your way to the top. However, there is more than a grain of truth in the saying. The majority of jobs aren’t advertised, so it’ll only be through word of mouth that you hear about the position anyway. Additionally, the higher up the ladder you go, the more it becomes about your personality, who you get along with, and so on.

Make connections as you go through your career, and you might just find that you’re getting headhunted at some point in the future! 

In the Right Company

If you have ambitions to go far in your career, then don’t just look at yourself: look at the company that you’re working for. Sometimes, you might find yourself working for an awesome company with great people, doing something that you love. But there’ll be a problem: they don’t offer much by way of development. As good as your position is, that could be just about as high as you can go. At times like these, you may have to make the difficult decision to pack up and move to a company where advancement is an option.

It’s all about working for those companies where you can imagine things will be better in 10 years than they are now, even if the present is pretty good.  

Get Educated

There aren’t too many tried and tested things that can all but guarantee career advancement, but your level of education is one such thing. There’s a pretty clear divide in the types of positions held by high school graduates, degree holders, and master’s degree holders. You’ll likely already have a bachelor’s degree; could now be the time to study for a master’s?

An MA in American Legal Studies from Hofstra University is particularly recommended, since it’s applicable to many different industries and markets. Once you’ve furthered your education level, you’ll find that there’ll be many more senior positions that you can apply for. 

Learn Soft Skills

Of course, it’s not just your level of formal education that counts. Your soft skills do too — while they’re not quite as important as your education level, they can play a big role. This is because most soft skills are connected to your “humanness,” for lack of a better word. A person with these skills will find that there are more doors that open up to them.

Find a Mentor

The thing with your career is that you have to figure things out as you go along. Though you should trust yourself, it’s always worth keeping in mind that you’re really just making educated guesses when it comes to the moves you could make.

You’ll have all the wisdom relating to the best career moves when you’re older, but alas, that’ll be of little value to you then. But there are other ways that you can use the wisdom of experience in your career: find a mentor.

Having a mentor is an underrated move that more people should take advantage of; they can offer invaluable advice and open doors for you, too. So take a look at who you can ask to be your mentor, and approach them. You’ll likely find that they’re thrilled to offer their advice.

Stay Fit and Healthy 

When people talk about their careers, they mostly focus on the professional side of things too. But it’s also important that you’re paying some attention to the personal side of things, too. It’s much easier to deliver your best work and progress in your career if you’re fit and healthy and energetic! Take a look at improving your health, including getting rid of your bad habits. You might enjoy a few beers in the evening, but there’ll play havoc with your energy levels, and you might be unable to perform as well as you otherwise could.

Work On Your Professional Side 

When you reach the more advanced positions, you’ll need to bring more to the table than just your technical skills for the job that you’ve been hired to do. You’ll need to become more leader-like. As you go through your career, be sure to work on your professional side, including conflict resolution. Unless you’ve founded the company, it’ll be your diplomatic skills that determine how far you’re able to go.

Fully Committed

Finally, remember that you won’t be able to reach your ultimate professional goal if you’re not fully committed! Yes, you’d like to spend more time working on your hobbies and so on, but all achievements require sacrifices, and you’ll want to make your career a priority, especially during the most pivotal moments.

Believe in yourself, take the advice that we’ve outlined above, and you never know where you’ll end up in your long and illustrious career! 

© New To HR