Career Corner: How To Advance Your Career

Learning about website analytics is just one part of what I’ve learned over the years. Another part was learning about the working world. This career corner post is all about how to advance your career.

Choose a job where you’re paid fairly, always learning, and appreciated for what you contribute. If you’re waffling between staying at a job or moving on to the next big thing, see if your current position fits the above criteria. If it doesn’t, feel good about your decision to move onwards and upwards.

Find a mentor. People like helping people, so don’t be shy when asking someone to be your mentor. Look for a person you respect and has a job that one day you would like to have. If you work in a highly male or female dominated field, remember that you may have to seek out a mentor of the opposite sex.

Network. Get involved in your professional community. Networking is a great way to meet a mentor, get advice about industry changes, and learn about potential job opportunities. Ingratiate yourself in networking groups by offering to volunteer, even with small tasks. Getting your foot in the door and establishing a reputation as a dependable person will help grow your career.

Keep track of your accomplishments. You probably don’t remember what you ate for dinner last week, so the chance that you’ll remember all the accomplishments you’ve had over the past couple of years is pretty slim too. Keep a list somewhere or standardize naming conventions when you’re sending out emails or calendar invites about process improvements. Standardizing your naming conventions means you can easily pull up the many reasons why you deserve a promotion.

When asking for a raise, talk about what you’ve done in the past, what you will continue to do and what you will do in the future. Also, make sure to do your research on websites like Glassdoor and salary.com to know what the average salary for your position is. While you’re at it, make sure that your title matches up with your responsibilities at work. If you’re taking on more responsibilities than your current role requires, it might be time for a title change as well.

Looking for more career advice? Check out the other career corner posts, including how to start off in the workforce, how to be a better employee, and how to be a better manager.