Not having a plan is one of the main things that leads to job dissatisfaction. This is where career progression comes in handy. It helps you find the right job that won’t feel like you have to give every ounce of your blood and sweat to.
Choose a job you love, and you’ll never have to work a day in your life
Chances are that you’ve heard this famous quote by Confiscus several times when searching for a job. But unfortunately more than 85% people around the globe hate their job. This statistic makes it very clear that finding the right job that brings you the right joy is quite difficult. However, what one must focus on is that “it’s not impossible!”
What Is Career Progression?
The concept of career development and career progression are tightly linked with one another. The only difference is that career development is something you have to live by all your life. It’s about making efforts to manage your time, work and leisure all at the same time. Then there’s career progression which is about making little by little efforts that lead you towards your ultimate professional goals.
Furthermore, career progression helps you determine the route you’ll have to take in order to reach your career development goals. For example, your dream career goal would be to become a dentist. Having a career progression plan will help you identify the kind of education you should have. And the work steps you’ll have to follow to become a professional dentist.
Importance Of Career Progression
Without a doubt, your work takes up more than half of your time everyday. For example, if you have a 35 hours work week, you spend around 1680 hours annually just trying to make money. Here, it’s no surprise that you want an exciting job for yourself that makes you get off your bed every morning. You want something rewarding and challenging. This is where career progression becomes extremely important.
The two main reasons why career progression is a must for you to focus on are; it helps you find your dream job that you won’t ever get tired of. Secondly it will help you earn the exact amount of money that matches your lifestyle. In a nutshell, career progression is a trigger that empowers people to reach their ultimate work and life goals.
Tips To Boost Your Career Progression
Now that you know the crux of career progression, it’s time to learn some tips that speed up this process for you.
1- Identify And Work On Your Most Important Goals
We all have goals in our lives. But not all can achieve them especially when they don’t bother about their day to day work. Overlooking your daily efforts will make it more difficult for you to move forward in life. For example, in your career, you don’t just look for annual promotions or incentives, in fact, you look for more. Like learning new skills that aid you in your career or setting a goal to advance in your career. You need a goal that’s stimulating enough to bring some enthusiasm and excitement in your life. You need something that makes you want to get up everyday and work harder!
2- Time Management
One way or the other, your personal life affects your professional life. So organizing your personal one is as essential as working on your professional one. You need to learn and master the skill of time management here. Remember that a procrastinator is never satisfied with his life.
Especially in career progression, when you have a goal, you need to make some time to meet that goal. Start by organizing your daily chores. Give your brain some rest, entertain yourself and along with that work on your career progression plan.
3- Focus On The Results And Not On The Time
It’s great to start making money following an hourly wage system but this isn’t something you can live with all your life, right? For example, if you just sit all day in your chair staring at the wall , it will cost the company quite a lot of money but at the same time it will put your reputation at stake too. This isn’t the kind of behavior you can continue with especially when you really want to work on your career progression plan.
Focus less on the time being consumed at work and more on the results that you are producing. Be productive and creative with the time you have and try delivering your best. It doesn’t matter if you work 9 hours a day or 3 hours a day, the results should always be on point!
4- Self-Promotion
Don’t expect your company manager to spread the word about how good of an employee you are, in fact, do that yourself! Don’t skip any opportunity where you can promote yourself and showcase the skills you have. Not just to the outside world but promote yourself inside the company too.
For example, you can set some check-in meetings with your boss. This way you can review your work in a more detailed manner and get detailed feedback on your work. All of this will help you make it to the next level.
5- Find A Mentor
Even if you have outlined an excellent career progression plan, having a mentor to guide you is never bad. It’s not always necessary to have a formal relationship with your mentor and you can always have more than one of them. Have a mentor at work and one outside of work because guidance and motivation is all you need to make the best out of your career.
Final Words
The economy outside is shaky so the sooner you work on career progression, the more solid your footprints will be. These tips will help you make the most out of your plan. It might take you some time to be “there” but with consistent efforts, a solid plan and the right enthusiasm, you will get the results you desire.