Corporate Ladder Climbing 101: How to Advance Your Career

Career Management, Job Search, Networking, Resume and LinkedIn

What is a successful professional to do if they’re very good at their current job but aspire to climb the ladder and take on new challenges?

Do an Honest Assessment of Skills and Gaps

Before any next step in your career, it’s critical to do a very honest assessment of your skill set and gaps.

What are the critical skills for success in the position you aspire to? Which of those skills are your particular strengths? Which areas require more work? Are there major gaps where you might need additional training and/or experience?

Look at performance reviews, ask trusted colleagues for feedback and ask your mentor and your friends for input. Gather comprehensive data on your strengths and on areas you need to develop. Define a specific plan for how you will address the gaps in the year ahead. When opportunity knocks, you want to be sure you’re ready.

Rely on a Mentor

Everyone needs a mentor or a personal board of directors to help them navigate their career. (Tweet this thought.) This should be someone more senior than you are — in position and often in age, as well.

Learn from their experience and perspective. Ask them for honest and actionable feedback. Use them as a sounding board as you build your skills assessment and as navigate the journey to your next career move.

Train and Develop Your Replacement

Your organization values your contributions in your current job very highly. That’s great, but you don’t want that to stand in the way of your future advancement.

Often people get so focused on how to get experience and visibility to lead to that next job that they forget to worry about who will do their current job. Identify a rising star on your team and start training them on how to be successful in what you are currently doing. Provide projects that offer learning experience as well as visibility. Nurture this person along, and make sure your boss knows you’re working to train this person to someday do your job.

Some people worry this will show the boss they are not needed, but in fact it can be a shrewd move. Many managers are hesitant to take you out of a job you’re doing well for fear of what will fall apart. Help them start looking for your next opportunity because you have your current responsibilities covered.

Have Open and Honest Conversations

Have open and honest conversations with your manager about your long-term goals. Ask for input on what you need to develop to be qualified for the next step. Ask for special projects or assignments that would add experience and increase your visibility as someone who can do more than the current job.

You have to be patient and respectful. This isn’t about demanding anything — it’s asking for help throughout the journey. Sometimes it’s a position you aspire to that your manager might have never considered, but after talking about it they keep visualizing the possibility. Engage them in helping you advance your career.

Define and Implement a Plan

Define and document a specific plan of how you will achieve this goal. Having a goal is not enough. If you don’t know where you’re going, you’re going to have a tough time getting there. Identify target companies and/or target positions.

Commit to networking activity levels. Define specific activities and timeframes, and hold yourself accountable. A great goal that sits on the shelf has little possibility of success. Define you plan and execute it well, keeping track of your accomplishments and milestones. Whether your next step is in your current organization or in a new company, you have to develop and implement a plan to increase the likelihood you’ll achieve it.

Network, Network, Network

It is extremely difficult to land a job sitting behind your computer submitting online applications. It really is all about who you know and who they know. It’s the single most important and effective step you can take in your job search. The majority of jobs are filled through networking in this economy.

Talk to people you know. Let them know what you’re interested in and see who they know. Use your networking conversations to learn about companies and different roles. Learn how to get in the door and how to be successful once you get there. Networking isn’t about asking for a job, but it can certainly lead to one. Build a professional network to support your search. Focus on people at companies on your target list and in roles of interest to you. Leverage your alumni database, LinkedIn and former colleagues.

Even when you’re seeking a more challenging role in your current company, talk to people in the new area and to people who interact with that group. Learn as much as you can about what is required for success in that role. Understand how that role interacts with the rest of the organization. The more you know, the more effective you can be in the process. Also, the more people who know you’re interested, the more likely you are to be considered for an appropriate opportunity.

Be Realistic

You may have a dream job in mind, but realistically assess whether it’s a possible next step from your current position. Often there is a step or two between your current role and your ultimate desired position.

Learn enough about your dream job to identify critical next steps as part of your preparation. Do they value someone who has worked in more than one division or functional area? Is a foreign assignment critical to reaching executive levels? Understanding what they’ll be looking for in the senior position can help you be more strategic in determining your next step or two. Keep the end goal in mind, gather intelligence from your network and effectively execute your plan. This significantly increases your likelihood of success.

Demonstrate Success

Don’t wait until you have the job to demonstrate your capabilities to management. Volunteer to take on a critical project or cross-functional task force assignment to demonstrate your abilities and skills. It’s so much more effective to show someone what you’re capable of doing instead of just talking about it.

Keep Learning

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking you already know everything you need to know. Keep up with trends in your industry. Hone your technical skills. Attend conferences or professional association events to stay abreast of new developments. Take available internal training. Demonstrate your commitment to learning and growing.

What steps will you take to advance your career? Share in the comments!

This post originally appeared on the Get To Work Blog.

Image: Flickr

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