4 Ways To Pursue Your Career Advancement Without A Godfather

For your career advancement, you need to be proactive with the skills you acquire, jobs you apply for, career relationships you build and more. This is a very strategic way to advance your career without a godfather; also known as a ‘ladder.’.

As a young professional, did you follow up on a job opening you came across? After your first post-university internship, did you stay on the job to kill time while searching for better opportunities; only to find yourself stuck on the same job, career or level for several months or years? This can be very frustrating.

You do not need a godfather to scale up and advance your career if your skills, zeal, experience and drive are on par with your career advancement goals. Here are few examples of how you can advance your career without a godfather.

1. Remember Why You Started

Zig Ziglar once said that “…regardless of your lot in life, you can build something beautiful on it.”

To advance your career, you need to remember why you started, what gave you that early spark and got you on the job or career path? You need to take a self-audit and ask yourself what made you start and got you to the point now where you’re feeling stuck? This would help you plan your career from the point and further help avoid future mistakes.

2. Build Career Connections for Career Advancement

Meaningful career connections are very key to your career advancement; who are your connections in your industry of choice? Much as this is the age of internet and all things online, word of mouth is still very efficient in getting news of the next available vacancy, industry career workshops, networking meetings etc. Your career connections to help advance should also include mentors and influencers in your industry. Avoid becoming a leech when dealing with your networks. Instead, show appreciation and be patient and respectful to them for their time and effort.

3. Never Stop Learning

“Learn as if you were to live forever,” said Mahatma Gandhi. If you’ll ever be able to advance your career, it’s important you never stop learning. With advancement in robotics, job automation and demands of the jobs of the future, it is important your skills-set are constantly upgraded to meet the demands of the changing place of work.

4. Always Reinvent Yourself and Live Healthily

Choose a healthy relationship between you and your body. This is very important to your career advancement; exercise, investing in having your mind and body in great shape would make it even more possible to implement whatever great strategy or roadmap to career advancement.

It’s time to prioritise your career and cease waiting for a godfather to hand you a business card to a manager. Begin today and cease procrastinating.