What Are The Best Strategies For Career Growth?

In an attempt to someday make C-level status, should one stick with a single company to grow or should they jump between firms?

In the past, I have come across CVs where candidates have been with one company for more than 10 years. If you have gradually risen in the 10 years, that is a plus for you. However, if you have been in the same role for more than four years, then there is always the question, “Why?”

Being a job hopper is even worse. If you, for example, have been at four different companies in the past four years, another employer is unlikely to invest in you.

If you are looking to grow your career and rise above the ranks to the top, here are general practices you should consider taking up:

1. Network 

You’ve likely been hearing the networking career tip that it’s not what you know, but who you know since the very beginning of your education and career.

No matter how qualified you are, it is people who do the hiring – and having a solid network of professional relationships will advance your successful career faster.

Get to know key people within your industry. 

Put a word out for the jobs you are looking for. If you can help someone else professionally, do that as well. That’s how networking works and everyone involved benefits.

Leverage your LinkedIn network to stay on top of industry knowledge and take note of who’s talking about what. Thoughtfully send connection requests to people whose careers align with your goals. 

You can also take on mentorship and seek career mentors. A good mentor will ultimately help you better understand what makes a great leader in your industry. Conversely, being a mentor allows you to test your knowledge and exercise leadership skills. It also looks great on your CV.

2. Develop New Skills, But Choose Wisely 

If you’ve just started your career, right now is the easiest it will ever be to completely change direction professionally. You can and should explore new opportunities to find a career path that is challenging and meaningful to you. Eventually, however, you have to specialize in a field to advance your career.

In learning, diverse expertise gives you the freedom to try more new things, but gaining expertise in one area always means ignoring others, reducing your freedom. Developing expertise in anything worthwhile takes time, and your time is limited.

While it’s not every day that you embark on a new career path, you will regularly make choices about where to develop skills. Whenever you engage in additional training, take a class, jump into a new project, or even choose a book to read, you build knowledge in some areas rather than others. All of that training and experience constitutes the skill set you can market to employers. If you don’t pay attention to where you accumulate skills, you can make important career decisions completely by accident. You are what you learn.

If you don’t pay attention to what you get good at, it’s easy to get stuck in a field simply because that’s what you know, whether or not you find it fulfilling.

3. Understand How Your Job Creates Value and Find Problems to Solve

How do you get to a point where each success naturally brings more and more opportunities for you without you having to work quite so hard for it?

Truth is, generating real momentum for yourself doesn’t happen overnight, but you have the tools you need to accelerate this process. Rather than hoping to someday be in the right place at the right time, there are a few things you can do to find what the right place is:

• Learn why your role exists and how your work creates value for others
• Find out the most difficult or important challenges facing the business
• Become an authority on something that allows you to solve problems for people

In the end,

Whether you looking to get promoted or to transition to consultancy, these are practical tips you can use to facilitate your career growth and ultimately achieve your career goals.