Get ahead in your career
It is up to you to drive your career, whether you want to get ahead in your current field or change direction completely.
If you are looking at a change in your career, the first step is to work out whether you want to stay in your current line of work but want to go further in some way or whether you want to change your career completely.
Ways to get ahead
Improve your skills to get ahead
Ways to get ahead
Work out where you want to get to
It is important to have a plan of where you want to get to and how you intend to get there, like gaining new skills.
Make changes
You may make a subtle change at work, like coming up with a more efficient process for something you are working on, or you may look for ways to gain new experiences, like working in an interstate office.
Network
Remember 'it is not what you know but who you know'. Also, the more you know about the organisation you work for, or want to work for, the better. Usually the best way to learn about an organisation is to talk to people who already work there.
Keep up-to-date in your industry
Keep abreast of issues and new trends in your industry by reading journals, networking, surfing the Internet and attending industry conferences.
Assess your achievements
Compile a record of all work-related achievements, samples of great work, letters of recognition and other materials that demonstrate good job performance.
Look at horizontal moves
It may be better to make a sideways move to a job at your current level in the short term so you can learn new skills that will help you move upwards in the future.
Be proactive
Let your supervisor know that you are interested in progressing and learning more. You may also want to approach someone to act as your mentor. If you want a mentor, choose someone who knows something you want to learn, who is someone in a position you aspire to, and/or who is someone who has skills you wish to develop.
Improve your skills to get ahead
If you want to drive your career further, you may need to improve your skills. This is particularly important if you see a skills gap between the job you have now and the one you want.
A good way of working out your skills gap is to look at where you are now, research the area you want to get into or the job you want and then compare them.
The best way to work our where you are now is to undertake a self-assessment. Make a list of the following:
Your qualifications
Include formal and informal qualifications like courses and workshops.
Your skills
This may include writing, negotiating, organisational and problem-solving skills.
Your experience
Include experience gained inside and outside of work, such as positions held in sporting or community organisations.
Your knowledge
This may include content-specific knowledge about an area of work or a specific issue you have been working on, as well as knowledge about people, networks, and procedures and processes.
Your values
List out what you value and look for in a job and company such as a good work ethic, self-management over being guided, and the geographic location of a job.
Your attributes
Examples of attributes are reliability, a sense of humour, honesty, integrity and adaptability.
Once you have determined your skills, you need to compare what you have against the skills required for the job you want. You can find out about your potential job and the skills you will need for it by talking with people currently doing the job, contacting the human resources area of an organisation you may want to work for and searching the Internet.
This process should help you identify any skill gaps. From there you will need to work out how to fill those gaps. There is a range of ways to expand your knowledge and skills while you are still working, such as on-the-job training, part-time study with a training provider and finding a mentor.
There is a lot of information on the Internet about getting ahead at work. To find this information, go to a search engine such as www.google.com.au and type in key words like 'get that promotion' and 'get ahead at work'. You could also check out websites such as www.seek.com.au for career life cycle and development information.
Contact Apprenticeships info 1800 210 210 or Training Queensland 1300 369 935
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