There are some simple steps you can take to accelerate your progression in your chosen career. Here are seven top tips on how to get ahead.
The economic downturn means moving jobs is no longer quite as easy as it was just a couple of years ago, prompting many to look to develop their careers within existing posts until the recruitment outlook improves.
There are a variety of methods by which individuals from all trades and professions can improve their skills and experience and make themselves indispensable in their organisation, either through working closely with line managers or undertaking initiatives under their own steam.
The following tips can help you take control of your career and make yourself more attractive to both your current and any future employer:
- Keep up with industry developments
Ensuring you are up-to-date with the latest trends in your industry through attending networking events and conferences can make you an invaluable employee and change the way managers see you, says John Grange, an adviser at free business advice and support service Business Link, which is provided by national skills service Train to Gain.
“If you’re dealing with bits of paper and you suddenly become aware that competitors and peers are doing it electronically, you’ll appreciate that the company you’re working for will need to move electronically,” he says. “It’s about gaining an insight into the future and helping to contribute to it; becoming a solutions provider rather than just an employee.”
In recent years, online networking has given employees the ability to liaise with peers over the internet using corporate sites such as LinkedIn. “Social networking can be a boon for people looking to improve their career prospects,” says Adrian Bedow, a spokesperson for training provider learndirect.
“It’s a great way of keeping up-to-date with what people in similar jobs and industries are thinking about, and plenty of people are willing to help if you have a problem or want some advice. People who succeed tend to have good networks around them, both of colleagues at their current employer and of peers from other companies.”
But Leon Benjamin, practitioner of a social software, online community and web 2.0 and author of the book Winning By Sharing, warns that the effectiveness of social media in advancing your career varies considerably depending on your industry sector. “In digital media it’s everything, but in the building trade it’s almost pointless because of its low level of adoption to source new talent,” he says.
“However, even if you are in the building industry there’s immense value in building up a profile and nurturing it until your industry catches up.”
- Request suitable training
Ensuring you have access to training to improve your skills and address any weaker areas is essential to progressing both your career and earning potential. Train to Gain, for example, estimates that individuals with the right skills could add up to £3,000 to their salary every year as well as making themselves more likely to gain promotion. Courses can range from intensely practical and specialised offerings through to nationally recognised qualifications such as NVQs.
“Whether it’s in transferable skills such as management or communication, or more sector-specific subjects, training, and, crucially, using that training is a great way to show you’re enthusiastic, keen to learn and willing to take on new areas of work and responsibility,” says Beddow at learndirect. “If training is available, take it.”
Finding the right type of training, though, is vital. “It’s not a case of getting to your personal development review and wondering what course you can get and looking at a brochure, although unfortunately that’s still something that a lot of people lean to,” says Dr John McGurk, adviser, learning and talent development, at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).
Instead, individuals should identify genuine areas of weakness and discuss those with their organisation’s learning and development professionals. The training itself can range from reading generic books to on-the-job development, as well as traditional and online courses.
- Benchmark and set goals
Having an idea of how peers in other companies are progressing is another way of judging your development, both financially and in terms of career progression - although it’s worth remembering that not all jobs are directly comparable.
“I don’t meet that many people who actually do this, but it’s not a bad thing to do,” says Business Link’s Grange. “It can be a driver to set out some goals and can become almost a mini-business plan for individuals. It’s something that people might benefit from giving a bit more thought to.”
There are many organisations such as Celre, part of the XpertHR group, which conduct salary surveys to help individuals benchmark their earnings against others, while trade associations, magazines and job adverts can also act as a guideline as to what you can expect to be earning. Many organisations’ HR departments also have such information and are usually willing to share it on request.
- Diversify your offering
Experiencing other parts of the business through interim roles or job-shadowing can give you a more rounded view of the organisation and ensure you won’t be pigeon-holed in one particular area.
“If you’ve worked within an organisation for 10 years, what you want is 10 years’ worth of knowledge and experience rather than one year times 10,” says Grange. “If you have an appreciation of what goes on within all departments you become much more valuable to the business, because you understand that if you take an action over here there’s a knock-on effect over there.”
He suggests speaking with line managers to establish how this would work in practice; options include formal secondments or simply spending a bit of time in another part of the business once a week.
- Consider mentoring schemes
Joining a mentoring scheme, or encouraging your company to set one up if it doesn’t already exist, can be a very effective way of learning from other, more experienced people.
These kinds of relationships tend to work best when both mentors and mentees can benefit; for example with the mentee demonstrating the benefits of newer technology such as social networking. “Mentoring relationships based on mutual learning are usually very productive,” says McGurk at the CIPD. “When it becomes the sorcerer and his apprentice there has got to be a very specific structure and it’s got to be about getting to a particular aim. Usually that’s found more in fairly senior jobs.”
Ruth Spellman, chief executive of the Chartered Management Institute, also believes such schemes can be very effective, but warns of the need to have clear goals about what you want to get out of them before starting. “Think also about alternatives to mentoring such as buddying – where there is a more equal relationship between fellow professionals – and a ‘shoulder-to-shoulder’, on-the-job coaching,” she says.
“These solutions can be more appropriate where a lot of teamworking is involved and where the best tutors are also likely to be your colleagues.”
Clear guidelines should be established at the start and such relationships should be subject to ongoing evaluation, adds Professor Bob Garvey, director of the coaching and mentoring research unit at Sheffield Hallam University. “It can also assist the process if both parties agree on a ‘no-fault divorce clause’ so that they can end the relationship by mutual agreement and with clarity,” he says.
- Work with your manager
All of the above require a productive working relationship with line managers, based on open communication so they know what you want to achieve going forward.
“Walking into someone’s office and asking for a promotion is probably not the way to do it, but there are perfectly acceptable ways, either through the formal appraisal system or informal discussions between yourself and your manager, to ask about the opportunities,” says Grange. “It’s perfectly acceptable to say you have ambition and aspirations and that you think you could contribute more. If you’re not doing things right it could be the trigger that spurs a very meaningful discussion.”
“One of the key skills is managing your boss and part of that is knowing what your boss is being judged by,” adds McGurk at the CIPD. “They all have targets from the chief executive and other shareholders, so look at ways in which you can help them to deliver those while still delivering your own goals.”
“Very few organisations do not respect honesty and openness,” adds Grange. “The key is not to suffer in silence because that will be noted, and eventually other actions may happen which are not to your advantage.”
- Make the right impression
Making sure you’re seen as someone who is prepared to go the extra mile and is passionate about their job will make a good impression on managers. “Reputation and personal brand probably contributes about 20% or 25% of the impact in terms of how people assess you,” says McGurk.
“It’s about being seen as a reliable and capable person who does what they say they will and doesn’t embarrass or undermine other people.”
It’s also important to maintain standards in terms of presentation, attendance and timekeeping if you want to be considered as someone with the potential to progress, and this is particularly important in interview situations.”
He adds: “Personally I think it’s irrational and that clothes don’t have any impact on your performance, but there’s quite a lot of research that shows that it has a massive impact on employers. They judge attractiveness and personability and the amount of interaction they get from people.”