Why and How To Continue Growing Your Career (Guest Blog)
When most people hear of career growth, they often associate that with job promotions or salary increments. While those are some of the perks that may come with growing your career, that is not exactly what it means. Career growth means regularly polishing, improving and adding more skills to your skill set in order to continue advancing in your career and remain relevant in the job market. In today's world where the way jobs are done in the workplace is constantly shifting, it is very easy to become obsolete. This article is what you can refer to as a top-quality essay about helping you stay on top of your game career wise.
How do you tell if you're facing career stagnation?
It is very easy to get to a point where your career aspirations are becoming a pipe dream. One common reason why people stagnate in their careers is getting too comfortable in their careers. A person gets to a point where they have a regular job, regular income, and regular routine. Everything just becomes routine and familiar. It very easy for a person who allows themselves to get too comfortable in this kind of situation to stop pushing themselves and just keep flowing with the current. Below are some pointers to tell if you are headed towards that direction of stagnation.
You are bored with your work
If you're at a point where your job doesn't challenge you and most of the skills you possess are under-utilized, chances are you're not growing in that particular workplace. In this kind of a job situation, your only motivation will most likely be the expected paycheck at the end of the month, but you know if the company started to downsize you will very likely be among the first people to go.
You're not getting a salary increment
When you have stayed on the same job for too long and your best efforts are not bearing fruit in terms of increased remuneration, you're even reducing your value on your future prospective jobs. That is because you're not gaining any more experience that will make you more marketable and employers tend to pay you based on your previous earnings. It is important to find out what other professionals in your field are earning to know if you're getting value for your time.
You lack a platform to implement your skills
If you joined a company with the hope of getting a role that will require your skills and after a while, it is not happening, you will become frustrated at work and become de-motivated.
Work overload
You have the skills, right, but your current employer does not seem to appreciate your value and is constantly burdening you with work. Then that organization is not growing you. You need to be somewhere else where you will be treated as a valuable asset.
You lack skills
To be honest with you, stagnation is not always from external sources. Your own incapacitation may be what is curtailing your growth. If you're stagnating, begin to evaluate your skills and see if they're in line with your career aspirations.
Reliable Ways To Achieve Career Growth
After you have analyzed your career situation and noticed to have reached a level of job stagnation or you even want to avoid getting to that situation. What is your next course of action? The following is career advice by experts to ensure your career stays on course.
Get professional training
To increase your value as a worker, it is very important to keep expanding the boundaries of your knowledge. Get professional training for a new skill or even advance the skills you have. When you get better at what you do, your value automatically increases to both your current and prospective employers.
Set career goals
Take your time and set your own realistic and measurable career goals. When you have attainable goals to accomplish, it will push you to work hard in growing your career. Remember achieving those goals will also give you a sense of fulfillment as well as lead you in the right direction towards career advancement. So, make sure you have goals and give your time reasonable to achieve them.
Focus on doing the right thing always
Napoleon Hill observed that wealth or position cannot last long unless founded on truth and justice. So, whatever you do, make sure you make the right judgment call when it comes to your career.
Take new assignments
Avoid getting stuck in a routine rut. Explore other ways of doing things by taking up new assignments. That is one way to broaden your experience.
Change jobs if you have to
If your current role is what is making you stagnant. You may want to consider changing jobs and get a job that will grow you.
Whatever you do, to achieve career growth you cannot afford to be complacent. Take action now. Take classes, read, explore. Take every action that makes you more relevant in the job market.
Author Bio:-
Robert Everett is a freelance writer currently based in Chicago. He helps solve students career and university problems and has an interest in marketing and business.