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Regardless of your professional goals, everyone needs to advance in their career at some point in the journey, right? You may not aspire to prestigious positions and leadership positions, however, it is possible, and even necessary, to develop your skills and grow as a professional.
That’s why career advancement is a natural movement for everyone in the job market. However, being natural does not mean that it will happen without effort. In reality, you need to dedicate yourself and put some strategies into practice so that everything happens the way you expect.
So, to get your plans off the ground and achieve your goals, how about starting to use some tips today? Below you will find 6 sure ways to develop professionally and become an even better professional.
How to advance in your career? 6 strategies to adopt now
Define your career goals
To make a successful professional shift, start by defining your goals and updating your career strategy.If you’re still not sure what it is or what it’s for, consider the following analogy.
Assume it’s Sunday and you want to eat lunch with your family at a restaurant.There are hundreds of restaurants in your city, and you may visit any one of them.
However, if you don’t provide a place, you won’t know where to go.As a consequence, you’ll be driving aimlessly throughout the city, with no direction to guide your efforts or locate the GPS.
With your career, the logic is the same. Being successful and advancing in the profession is a valid desire, however, it is very broad and can mean several different ideas. If you don’t know exactly what you want, such as the sector you want to work in, the position you want and the skills you want to develop, you won’t be able to focus and understand what to do to achieve your goals.
So, reflect on what you want for your future, understand what makes your eyes shine and create your career plan. It should contain short, medium and long-term objectives, as well as the steps you need to overcome to achieve each of them.
However, once done, planning cannot be forgotten or frozen in time. It needs to be a living document, which evolves and undergoes transformations as you live your career. This may even mean that it will undergo changes. Sometimes small changes, other times, sudden transformations.
Change is part of life, and deciding on other professional goals is normal and expected for everyone.
Develop new soft skills
Your career plan will be able to show you exactly what you need to develop. And you will certainly realize the need to improve your socio-emotional skills, popularly known as soft skills .
They are your behavioral skills, that is, the way you deal with the work environment and your job itself. And although they have been neglected by companies for a long time, the situation today is completely different.
Both Human Resources professionals and managers have already realized that they are fundamental to achieving impactful results and contributing to a healthy atmosphere in the corporate world. Therefore, they are valued in selection processes and, in many cases, as valuable as technical skills, which define the execution of the work itself.
In this context, candidates who take soft skills seriously are able to stand out, evolving in their careers as they develop this huge range of emotional intelligence. It includes, for example, being organized, proactive, knowing how to organize yourself, working as a team and acting under pressure, having a leadership spirit, a sense of urgency, empathy and much more.
Invest in your professional specialization
In addition to soft skills, your career planning will also make it clear that you need, to the same extent, to focus on your technical skills. After all, the knowledge acquired during graduation is valuable, but it is not enough for your entire professional career. You need to go further.
To do this, you must stay up to date in your profession, with your radar on trends and news in the area. You also need to choose some focuses to direct your attention and be strategic to understand what will make a difference in your career.
Investing in a postgraduate degree is a wonderful approach to go deeper, improve your hard talents, and draw the attention of the market. This allows you to focus on a topic that interests you while having access to up-to-date and high-quality information created by market-working teachers.
Cultivate your network of contacts
And speaking of networking, cultivating your network of contacts is essential to growing your career. Maintaining relationships with people in your area will help you in many ways, with opportunities that go beyond the already known job vacancy recommendations.
For example, approaching professionals with more experience will be your chance to receive insights, recommendations and advice from those who have been in your shoes, and arrived where you want to be one day. Furthermore, you will be able to participate in discussions and conversations about the area, establish genuine relationships and count on support whenever you need it.
So, take advantage of postgraduate studies to get in touch with teachers, tutors and other students. Furthermore, use LinkedIn to expand your network, socialize at events in your area, and don’t be afraid or embarrassed to connect with other professionals. You will see results even in the short term.
Take advantage of feedback and mentoring opportunities
If you don’t care about the mentoring and feedback processes, this is the right time to change your mind. After all, counting on the support of other professionals to assess your growth and direct your efforts is an excellent way to stay focused on your career plan, understanding what is working and what needs improvement.
Learn to “be seen”
Finally, a very important point for career progression is ensuring that the right people are aware of your strengths and results. Being able to “be seen” is fundamental, no matter how much you don’t like the spotlight or attracting attention.
You can lose the shame of talking about your achievements at work, take the initiative to highlight your work, without damaging relationships with colleagues, and also use other tools. LinkedIn, for example, is your chance to show the world your professional qualities.
After all, to advance in your career you need to embrace your achievements and have confidence in your journey. From the moment other people recognize you, you will see new doors open for you.
