Five Ways to Grow Your Career

Money Magazine lists five ways to grow your career as follows:

• Make a lateral move
• Solve the boss's problem
• Hone your soft skills (like public speaking or leadership, as opposed to "hard", technical skills.)
• Capitalize on change
• Build the right skills

Here's my take on these:

• Personally, I've never had much success making a lateral move so I can't say I endorse it. That said, I have had "lateral" moves from a title standpoint that were moves up in compensation, and these have worked out fine. But I don't really consider them lateral moves because I was paid more. But I'm sure there are cases where people have made moves that aren't upwards in either title or salary and it's worked out for the best. Anyone out there able to share a personal example here?


• Being a problem-solver is a GREAT way to get ahead in the working world. Believe me, I've had employees who have been problem-solvers (people who identify problems and develop solutions to deal with those problems) and employees who are problem-identifiers (people who just bring me problems and expect me to solve the issues for them). In addition, I've seen both sets of people in every company I've worked in. In my experience, the former group gets promoted and the latter group gets left behind. Just that simple.


• The "soft" skills is an interesting "tip" to me since I've never had "hard" skills like being versed in computer systems, having an engineering background, and so on, and most of the people I've dealt with (including those in executive positions) haven't either. So if the tip is to simply develop skills that help you get ahead, then sure, I agree with it. But I'm not so sure "hard" skills are any more valuable than "soft" ones. I think it depends on what company, industry, and position you're in before you can say if one is more needed than the other.


• Change certainly does hold opportunity, but it also holds risk. I've grabbed the bull by the horns during times of great change several times. Sometimes it works out well and sometimes it doesn't. When it does, you can end up dramatically growing your salary. When it doesn't, you can end up unemployed (like when many people, me included, joined a web start-up during the dot-com era -- and we all know how that ended up.) I was never let go, but I have been in companies where 90% were -- and I was fortunate to be transferred to a sister company at a comparable level. So here are my thoughts on seizing change: as much as you can, be as sure as possible that you'll be successful before you take the leap. I know that in many cases you can't even be near certain what will happen (and that's why you can make such great leaps -- you're willing to go where no one else can/will). I'm just saying not to be foolhardy and to consider the pros and cons of any move before you make a change.


• Of course "building the right skills" is a good tip. If you don't know where you need to grow as an employee, ask your boss or a mentor to give you some suggestions. Then devise a plan (college classes, seminars, various/new work projects, etc.) to develop the skills you need.

Any other thoughts on these tips?

Comments

[Rod Ferguson]

Overall, I think theses are good suggestions. I do have a comment on #2, though. Sometimes, solving the bosses problem can make you a threat ("Hey, I'd better keep this person out of sight or they might take my job.") (although, this usually is only an issue in middle management) and I have been seeing a management trend where the boss uses that to abdicate themselves of doing their job ("Hey, don't bring me problems - bring me solutions" translates to "Hey, I don't want to solve any problems, so you do all the work for me.") Still, solving the bosses problems will certainly get you noticed, so as long as you can maneuver yourself to offset any potential repercussions, it's still a good idea.

Just my 84 cents (an inflation-adjusted nickel)

[Christy]

I made a lateral move to another department within my company when I felt I reached a point where I could not advance further in the department. At the time, it almost seemed like a bad move because I had additional commuting/parking expense from my previous position and did not get any additional pay (I went from a suburban office to a downtown office). However, it's been 8 years now and I am making over twice my prior salary, which would have never happened in the old department. So for me making a lateral move, as crappy as it was initally, really paid off.

Sort of along the lines of item #2, I like to tell myself that one of my jobs is to make my boss look good. This could be by helping them, or just keeping them in the loop about something (so they don't look like they don't know what is going on), or not being a headache for them in one way or another. You have to do it so they don't even really notice (you don't want to look like a brown noser). If you can make your boss look good it can really help your career. ;)

[KMI]

Just an additional note on a lateral move - sometimes it is worth taking it to refresh skills or expand your skill set even if it doesn't come with additional pay up front. Our company encourages lateral moves periodically since we have a very flat organization with few move-up options. Moving to other departments within the company can refresh your interest in a job that was getting boring, let you use new skills and learn another area of the business. In the long term, if you excel in each position you take on you will have expanded your promotion options as well since more people in the company will know what you can do and you will have the business knowledge to move up in more departments.