Where exactly is your career going, or do you see your career going? Leveling up your career and pushing through barriers to direct your own path might seem challenging, especially if there are no obvious paths or openings to progress and develop as you would like. And if you enjoy what you do and you want to explore your opportunities to cultivate the perfect career for you, what exactly do you need to do?
Get a Mentor
A mentor in your sector can help you improve your skills and open your eyes as to what career advancement in your local industry looks like. They can be anyone who is well versed in what you do, so a current manager, a colleague with more experience than you, someone else in the sector you know, or you look online for mentors in your industry you can work with to help you improve what you do and give you a helping hand to accelerate your career.
Niche Down
Embrace the excitement of exploring new career options. Take a closer look at what you do and consider opportunities that may not be immediately obvious or that you have never considered. This adventurous mindset can open up new paths and possibilities for your career.
Let’s say, for example, you’re a truck driver. And you’re looking for your next challenge. What are your options? You might decide that you want to move into long-haul trucking or learn how to drive flatbed trucks. Delivering oversized cargo might be worth exploring, or you may wish to consider hazmat trucking team driver job openings to see if this sector is worth investigating further to increase your job satisfaction.
Keep Learning and Stay Curious
The more you know, the more equipped you will be to jump on chances as they arise. Learning more about your industry, brushing up on your skills — both hard and soft — learning about new advancements and developments in the sector, and so on can all help you learn as much as possible.
You also need to be proactive in being curious about different roles within the company you work for, ask for more responsibilities, make it known that you’re looking to advance, be willing to learn and take on new challenges, and use your initiative to showcase your abilities. Be curious, learn as much as you can, and use this to push your career forward.
Ask for Feedback
If you don’t receive any feedback, how do you know what you’re doing well or where you need to improve? Constantly solicit feedback from clients, colleagues, managers, and others. While not all feedback should be positive, it’s vital that every negative comment, for the sake of it, without being constructive, isn’t taken to heart. That is not to say you need to ignore negative feedback altogether. You need to identify your weak points or areas for improvement and work on these areas. Embrace the positive and always look for opportunities to improve or change. This way, you can get to where you want to go.
