Getting a Head Start on Your Career Advancement
Whether you are ready to pivot away from your current role or simply looking for a new challenge, pursuing career advancement opportunities can be an ideal way to further your professional journey. Earning a Master of Business Administration (MBA) can help you gain the advanced skills and knowledge that you need to take your career to the next level.
With a better understanding of the numerous ways career advancement can manifest, along with some tips for furthering your own professional journey, you could be well on your way to success in your future career endeavors.
What Is Career Advancement?
While many people may think of career advancement as getting a big raise, in reality, career advancement can take on a range of different forms.
Lateral Moves
In some cases, advancing your career has nothing to do with getting a pay boost or promotion. Instead, it may be more about finding the role that’s best suited for your strengths, interests, and career goals. A lateral move into a new department or a role that is better suited to your skill set can prove a highly effective path to advancing your career — especially if it opens up opportunities for further growth down the road.
Promotions and Raises
Naturally, promotions and raises are also common elements of career advancement. Receiving a raise or being promoted into a supervisory, management, or other leadership role can be a major advancement for many working professionals. Oftentimes, these promotions accompany additional responsibilities and duties and thus may require special training or other skill development.
Training and Development
Speaking of training and development, it’s important to recognize these opportunities as a form of career advancement as well. By learning new skills and sharpening your expertise in certain areas of your field, you can perform your job more confidently. Over time, these newfound skills and knowledge could also open the doors to additional promotions, raises, and other moves that may get you closer to where you want to be in your career.
The Importance of Career Advancement
Why does career advancement matter, anyway? If you’re generally content with your current job, you may be wondering why you should still go out of your way to learn new things and diversify your skill set. There are several notable reasons to strive for continuous improvement in your career, regardless of where you may find yourself currently.
Avoid Job Dissatisfaction
First, making strides toward career advancement can help you avoid dissatisfaction and complacency that can otherwise come with being in the same role for an extended period of time. Even if you enjoy your current role, learning new skills and building relevant knowledge in your field can help you challenge yourself and explore new career opportunities. This, in turn, may prevent long-term job dissatisfaction and that stagnant feeling of being “stuck” in your position.
Increase Your Earning Potential
Pursuing professional development and career advancement opportunities could also increase your earning potential. This is especially true if you’re striving for a promotion into a leadership role — but even making a lateral move into another department or role that is more fulfilling could accompany slightly higher pay. If money is a major motivator for you, then focusing on your professional development through advanced education, certifications, and other designations could help boost your earning potential.
Further Your Professional Journey
Whether you’re in an entry-level position, a mid-level role, or anywhere else along your career path, professional development can help you further your professional journey and make progress toward your big-picture career goals. Interested in running your own company? What about a promotion into an executive role? These are goals that you will need professional development and an advanced education to achieve — and now is an optimal time to start working toward them.
Find Your Niche
Lastly, professional development and career advancement could help you find your niche or passion within your current industry. Even if you have no interest in assuming an executive role, building your professional skills and knowledge could help you explore your field and find a specialized area of the industry where you can flex your strengths. Once you find that niche, you can enjoy the sense of satisfaction that comes along with it for the remainder of your professional life.
How to Create a Career Advancement Plan
Ready to take your career to the next level? It’s always wise to have a plan that you can follow to achieve your professional goals. Although you may want to make some tweaks to the following steps to personalize them to your own career development goals, this can be an excellent starting point for those who are serious about elevating their careers.
Envision Your Career Goals
Start by simply setting some time aside to ponder your career goals, both in the short-term and far into the future. While you may not know exactly where you want to see yourself in five or 10 years, having a general idea of where you might like to end up can help guide your next steps.
As you envision your career goals, consider the following questions:
- Are you happy in your current role? If so, can you see yourself being happy there for several more years?
- Do you feel like your strengths and skills are being truly put to their best use in your current role? If not, what kind of role might support that?
- How willing are you to enroll in an advanced degree program or pursue additional designations (such as certifications) in your field?
- What are some areas of your field or specific skills that you want to improve upon?
- What is your ultimate career goal? Where do you see yourself “peaking” in your professional life?
Remember, too, that goals can change over time. It’s valuable to revisit your career goals every so often and revise your plan as needed to keep yourself on track.
Make a Plan
Next, it’s time to outline a practical plan to help you achieve the goals you set in the previous step. This can be easier said than done, as everyone’s plan will look different based on what their short- and long-term professional goals are .
If you were able to set some concrete career goals for the next few years in the previous step, now is a good time to think about what it would take to achieve those goals. For example, if you want to move into a leadership role within the next few years, you may need to pursue your MBA or a similar degree to build the leadership and management skills that employers will likely be seeking.
In addition to planning the advancement of your formal education, you may want to focus on building your professional network by attending industry events, creating a website, or taking other proactive steps to set yourself apart from others.
Communicate
Another key step toward career growth that many may overlook is speaking to your employer about your desire for advancement. If your bosses and supervisors don’t know that you have goals to be promoted or move into a different role, they can’t help provide you with professional development and training opportunities. By making your goals known to your workplace and networking with colleagues regarding potential opportunities as they arise, you may be in a better place to achieve them.
Continue Learning
For many, getting serious about their professional development will take the form of seeking out higher education. If you already have your bachelor’s degree, for example, a master’s degree may be the next logical step. Not only can an advanced degree help you learn valuable skills and knowledge that you can apply to your work in the field, but holding an MBA (such as an Online MBA from Boston University) or a similar degree can also help your resume stand out.
Pursue Advancement Opportunities
Once you’ve obtained the designations and/or degrees you sought out to earn, you may qualify for advancement opportunities within your field. Now is the time to start putting in applications and pursuing those professional experiences as they arise. Career progression may take some time after you obtain your degree, but there’s a solid chance that you can land your ideal role with a bit of persistence and patience. Of course, taking the time to practice your interview skills and refine your resume can make all the difference as well.
Advance in Your Career with Boston University
Taking your career to new heights isn’t something that’s accomplished overnight. With the right mindset and a proactive approach, however, you can start taking steps now to better yourself in the future.
One of the most essential steps? Pursuing an advanced degree, like an MBA, that can help you build the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in today’s fast-paced and dynamic business environment. At Boston University (BU), we offer a Full-Time MBA program featuring on-campus collaboration, along with a Part-Time MBA with both in-person and online flexibility.
If you’re concerned about finding the time to meet the demands of an MBA program, you may want to consider our Online MBA (OMBA). In this program, learners enjoy the quality, integrated curriculum and supportive community that you’d expect from an on-campus program — but with the added convenience and flexibility of 100% online classes. Plus, every online student at BU has access to a dedicated student success specialist to guide them from the start of their programs all the way through graduation.
Want to learn more about Boston University’s MBA options? Get in touch with our team today. Take the next step by reading up on our admissions requirements and filling out your online application.
