Career advancement - How to Advance your career

Daily News reports online degrees can equip students with leadership skills and industry connections that are vital for career advancement.

Career and job advancement can be termed to be a Womb to Tomb process as it starts from your initial career days till your last working day. There are different beliefs and benchmarks for Career advancements for different people. Some may consider consistent climbing up the ladder as Career advancement whereas for some others believe in Career advancement as getting acknowledged by the great job they accomplished. There are also professionals who feel Career advancement is or can be achieved by just staying away from trouble or office politics. Career advancement may mean anything to any professional; schoolanduniversity.com has prepared synopsis; a practical approach towards success, especially for personnel’s seeking Career advancement; because successful career advancement depends a lot on good career guidance followed by a good career finder.

Melting markets have slowed down the promotion rates in most of the fields. We all would agree that the traditional Career advancement paths and techniques have vanished from most of the organizations. Very few companies exist who have shown adaptability to progressive preparation towards career development; however they are also focused on the surfaced or senior level employees...the penetration of such planning activity is very less to the middle and lower management staff. This situation creates a tunnel vision for aspiring and promising candidates about the guidance or the next course of action with regards to their Career advancement strategies. Taking it from bad to worse are the four misconceptions that prevail widely as long walked career path in organizations.

• Meeting Expected standards is sufficient: We all know the pace of evolving globalization where each second and each penny counts. In this jet age it is mere foolishness to believe that just the expected results will suffice your eligibility to advance your career or expect a promotion.
• Feedback from your reporting manager: There is a very thin line between a manager who shares helpful feedback- helps as a career advisor and a manager who merely gives feedback. Mostly all the managers are more than interested in your current performance because it adds up to his performance. Review meets both of you have are more inclined about accomplishing the current tasks and it most of the times leaves you with no clue as to what exactly you need to advance your career.
• Who you Know; is the key to get promoted: Well the most common belief of the four is who you know is the most important factor and work as a career builder as it will fetch you promotion; whereas the ground reality is totally reverse...which says Who all know you makes all the difference while making a career progression or getting promoted.
• Your Charm would do it all: A very immature belief still prevails in professionals that your persona, your style are the ones which will have their impact for you to get promoted; which proves to be a nightmare most of the times. It is your capabilities in terms of handling uncertain issues and exceeding the expectations which get you up the ladder as compared to others.

It takes immense dedication and hard work of an aspiring professional to position himself as the top candidate to get promoted. Performance track records and proven skills of core leadership are taken into consideration for promoting an individual.

Lot of career aspiring professionals have the habit of waiting for appropriate feedback from their superiors leading them to promotion. One is supposed to take the initiative to progress owns career for which actively working and displaying the next level skills preparedness serves better. On accomplishing this; you will find yourself all set to grab all forthcoming Career advancement opportunities.

Usually it is observed that not all are blessed enough to make and meet their career destiny in their own or family owned business. While you work for someone; your future is at the notion of that someone else. It gives a horrid feeling that your earning is at someone’s mercy. What is that you can do about it?

One needs to take charge of the situation, grab the opportunity to climb the corporate ladder with utmost confidence. Schoolanduniversity.com helps you with few tips which might mentor your advancement to the next level.

It is equally important for an individual seeking Career advancement to know or measure that are they even getting noticed by their superior or the super boss. In fact some don’t even try to find out what it takes to get noticed by the right person at the right time in the right perspective.

It happens to be a general belief and practice to follow the traditional fundamental principles that might have worked in past years but are now extinct.
Schoolanduniversity.com has tried to make it short and crisp for your reference as the “A” theory.

The 3 most important “A” for Career advancement – Ability, Assurance and Attitude.

1. Ability

What is your Ability? The process of continuous performance of activities as per the norms and quality required for the job you are doing or the Job you dream of is called ABILITY.
Generally IQ takes a back seat as compared to Abilities when it comes to Career advancement; FOCUS on your abilities of:

1. Organize
2. Research
3. Technical
4. Interpersonal Relations
5. Willing to learn and in turn enhance the abilities.
6. Further education in your field and making your boss feel that you are indispensible.
7. Always open for additional responsibilities.

Always trying to stand out of the crowd may result in standing out of the league. Hence constant presentation of abilities will in a way help you stand out of the crowd but ahead of all in the main league at the same time.

2. Assurance

Are your acts or performance assuring enough? We all have heard of people switching over jobs at alarming rates and as fast as they change their attire. Reasons they give are “I felt I was going nowhere”, “The job profile was not my cup of tea”, “and the opportunity was not meant for me” and so on. Of the people who switched their jobs; how many of them would have been near the desired Career advancement but they left and jumped off the wagon too early. Super leaders or Super employers always seek for Assurance; obvious it is that they would not give employment or Career advancement chances to employee whose actions or assurance does not reflect stickiness or longevity with the organization.

Following are some acts of assurance. Be a better judge to decide which ones are Dos and which ones are the DONTs.
Co workers hear from you of floating your resume now and then.
You are noticed seeking new opportunities on Internet.
You are usually found very excited about the pace of progress of your organization which in turn will help you with Career advancement and stability.

Management always intends Internal Job postings and internal elevations for employee who has proved himself with the organization as“I am all in”. Think over it; this can be correlated to personal lives as well.

3. Attitude

How is your attitude? Attitude is ONE thing which can make you touch the sky or can keep you waiting for the rest of your life. Rude people are not welcome in any walks of life. Lot of people nowadays run short of mannered gestures. This often costs them their advancement and career on personal front whereas profits and customer to competition; for the company such people work with.

How you treat all is really very important. May it be customers or co workers; because after all they are your internal customers? Paying appropriate attention, knocking before entering, asking before borrowing, staying calm while facing situations; these are some basic hygiene factors always to be remembered.

Treating people with correct attitude will surely help you advance your career as these nicely treated people will be with you always; professionally and spiritually.

Research says these 3 “A’s” are being constantly observed by the superiors and are always on priority while considering an employee for Career advancement.

This was all about what you do...but how you do is of more importance.

To achieve the above 3 “A”; well planned proactive measures are required. After setting the long term goals; break them. Yes of course, you will have to break them into small goals which become your step wise achievement towards attaining your final larger than life goal.

• Mentor:
  A friend, Philosopher or a guide who has experienced and faced the challenges successfully like nearly all other job seekers can best mentor you towards the; ups and downs, pros and cons of your profession, opportunities to be grabbed and let off, skill development, steer out of danger, and so on is a mandatory and top priority requirement.
• Role Model:
  Already employed people should not face problems in finding out a role model for themselves who is different in all means from others, may it be traits or characteristics, qualities that stand them apart from others. Watch carefully each and every move of your role model as your role model is the one who has climbed the stairs of success in spite of all odds and can give you career advice to advance your career. Virtues such as Professional approach, extended working hours, team player and the “I am all in” attitude; should be observed and absorbed genuinely. Next step to this preparation is to equip yourself with all these qualities appropriately which in turn might help you earn reputation in the organization leading to your Career advancement.
• Skill enhancement:
  Learning has to be a constant process. Preparedness to enhance your skills through within or outside the organizational purview helps an individual. Workshops and trainings been organized by organizations or Career advancement scholarships are rare opportunities which are not supposed to be missed. Additional skills often prove helpful to avoid retrenchments. Enhanced skills will add up to your value to the organization and that worth about you will guarantee your Career advancement.
• Progression path:
  Preparation leads to progression. Dedicate some time to chart out your career planning guidelines. Success ratio of planned activities is comparatively high. As said on the above point, break your career goals in to 5 year, 2 year and yearly goals. Written down plans will increase your sincerity towards your goals. Various steps, readiness for amendment in plan based on circumstances, achievements, failures and many more will help you focus on your plan. Decided progression plan is also one of the keys to Career advancement.
• Manage Resources:
  Professional advancement also depends a lot on resource management. Careers resources include managing professional time, personal deadlines, assets; company properties etc which will enhance your skills of efficient resource management.

Career advancement has to be an ongoing process; because it begins from the initial days of a career and lasts lifelong; as after retirement you are used to this kind of efficient progression in your personal life as well.