What do you need for career growth? Career growth. How to make a career. Career and features of its formation

Elizabeth Babanova

For those who are concerned about the question “How to make a career”, such information will be of interest. The legendary Jack Welch, based on his 30 years of experience in managing the international corporation General Electric, derived the following formula: out of 100% of the employees of any organization, 20% are stars / excellent students, 70% are good employees who will never become leaders and managers high level, and 10% - threes and twos, which should be disposed of.

You can work with good students if you carefully control them, but they do not shine for rapid career growth. Only stars become leaders! The remaining 80% of employees, even moving up in the service and passing different stages career growth, will never take leadership positions.

Are you a manager, a business owner or an employee who dreams of one day becoming a manager or opening your own business?

Whatever position you hold today, this article can help you answer the question “How to make a career” on 3 levels:

1. If you consider yourself a star/excellent student, you can check if you are doing everything in order to achieve a rapid career growth or start your own successful business.
2. If you do not yet consider yourself a star, but you have a great desire to grow professionally, then the recommendations will be the most useful for you: how to become an irreplaceable excellent student from an ordinary good student who is not afraid of layoffs and layoffs? After all, even if your company files for bankruptcy, the skills you gain from these tips and your career plan will give you a huge head start in your next job.
3. If you are a manager or leader, you can use these criteria when evaluating your team.

So what do you need to do to become a superstar? I made a list useful tips on the topic “How to make a career?”?

START YOUR DAY EARLIER AND END LATER THAN ALL THE OTHER EMPLOYEES

Nothing distinguishes a star from a mediocre employee like initiative in work and ability to work. As a rule, it is these qualities that contribute to fast career growth.

Dale Rogers, President of Rogers Capital, where I did an internship during my last 2 years at an American university, once he told me that in his company there are people who work for return and with soul, and there are clerical rats who come to work at 8:00 and leave exactly at 17:00.

"They can neverget a raisein the service,” Dale told me. Comparison with rats, of course, is rude, but this is how the president of a successful company assessed his people. As an intern, I devoted more and more time to work and carried out the additional projects assigned to me, while my colleagues, who work "from call to call", career , to put it mildly, did not shine. For two years, I, a trainee, overtook many of my colleagues.

People who work more than others in their team are the first to get a promotion, and vice versa - those who work from"call to bell".

Another benefit of working to your full potential rather than a fixed schedule is your increased value to your boss. Only exceptional employees, after receiving credit from their superiors, subsequently get the opportunity to have a flexible schedule and choose which projects they take on.

WORK EFFICIENTLY AND ALWAYS DO MORE THAN EXPECTED OF YOU

Despite the fact that for professional and career growth, you need to work hard - this does not mean working smart. In my practice, there were cases when my subordinate worked from morning to night, hoping for fast career growth , but at the same time performed as many tasks as I could complete in a couple of hours.

Learn how to make the most of your time and strive to always exceed the expectations of your manager or client. If you learn to regularly raise the bar for yourself, then for your manager this will be the first signal for your promotion.

While still an intern at Rogers Capital and developing marketing material for an investment project, I, without even thinking about what is needed for career growth , proposed and implemented several innovations: additional graphics, interesting statistics and new handouts. As a result, I earned the right to participate in negotiations that resulted in several additional millions of investment capital for our firm.

ASK YOUR MANAGER TO BE YOUR MENTOR OR FIND A MENTOR IN YOUR INDUSTRY

If your manager considers such a spiritual impulse a threat to his position, then it's time for you to look for another job. If a job change to this moment is inappropriate, then find yourself a professional mentor who is in a high position in another firm and is ready to help you with development and career growth.

I was very lucky - even at university, my mentors were the dean of an American business school, part-time consultant in an investment company, a hedge fund manager who earned a multi-million dollar fortune in two years. Then financial director multi-billion dollar investment company, president of Frost Bank, and other mentors from whom I learned a lot, and some of whom later became my friends.

Every time I met interesting person, I asked for an hour of my time to talk about their careers and learn from them. In 100% of cases, I received a positive response. I studied their companies, biographies, and I always had a huge number of questions for them. Meetings were scheduled either in their offices or in a restaurant over a cup of tea, and they shared their principles for building a successful career with great pleasure.

Very rarely our communication ended with one meeting. Feeling my enthusiasm and desire for development, they invited me to interesting business events, and sometimes to visit. Communication with such people is truly an invaluable experience.

IF YOUR MANAGER IS NOT SATISFIED AFTER CHECKING YOUR WORK, SHOW ENTHUSIASM AND CORRECT YOUR MISTAKE

How does a mediocre employee respond if his work did not satisfy the manager?

"I'm sorry I couldn't do it."

How does the "star" respond?

“What do I need to do to make you satisfied with my work?”

Each manager on his way of working with career growth has made a lot of mistakes and knows that the path of professional development is impossible without them. But if he became a leader, it means that he worked on his mistakes and strove to correct them.

If your boss is unhappy with your work, do your best to fix it. Don't give up and don't let him finish what you couldn't do. For him, correcting your mistakes will be a signal that he needs to look for another, more capable employee. And for you a serious obstacle on the way to career growth.

If you make a mistake and you have a choice - tell your manager or hide, always do the first. The truth will come out sooner or later, but if you jeopardize the reputation of your firm or your boss, you will lose his trust for a long time. About rapid career growth, respectively, you can forget.

Loss of trust of the manager to the subordinate most often leads to the replacement of the subordinate, unless he is instantly rehabilitated and then within long term will not prove his honesty and diligence.

Your manager needs people on whom he can count, otherwise he will have chronic tension from the need to constantly control you, double-check.

If you find a mistake, report it to your supervisor immediately. Most The best way voicing a problem is just saying how you solve it. If you cannot solve it on your own, then tell your boss how you have already tried to solve it, what steps you have taken, and only then ask him for help.

BE INITIATIVE DAILY

This is the best way to make a career. Your manager dreams that you will be able to do your job, and he will be able to delegate additional projects to you. The more he can convey to you, the more irreplaceable you will become for him.

Constantly improve all processes and help your colleagues to improve. Also, do not forget about delicacy in taking the initiative. It is very important that your leader does not feel that you are aiming for his place. A person who is not too developed will start to put a spoke in your wheels and interfere with your development and professional growth. Take the initiative in a subtle way, with the intention of making life easier for your boss, not "hooking" him.

IF YOU HAVE BEEN GIVEN A BUSINESS, BRING IT TO THE END

One of the biggest irritants for a leader is when an employee does not complete the assigned task. Often the manager does not explain all the details of the project, but expects the employee to ask him questions to clarify the task.

If you need to get an answer from a boss who doesn't respond to your question, get his attention until you get your way. This is exactly what all people who have managed to achieve professional and career growth do. Very often, an employee comes to a dead end, asks a question, but not having received an answer, shifts responsibility to the manager. Responsibility, however, is not removed from the employee, it is still on him.

Your manager, most often, has 3 times more daily tasks than you do. Therefore, he may postpone the answer to your question, switch to a more significant matter.

Remind him that you are waiting for an answer from him to complete the assigned task.

An annoying, but executive employee who brings everything to the end is much more valuable than one who gives up.

One more recommendation. Before contacting your boss, ask your colleagues if they can help you. Always think about how to make life easier for your leader: if the answer can be found in your organization (your team) - find it!

BE ABLE TO FOLLOW THE INSTRUCTIONS

Only those who know how to obey the leader will be able to learn to lead in the future. If you want to build own plan career development, you must understand this.

Sometimes a manager wants your innovations, but sometimes they just want you to get the project done on purpose.

The manager may be in time trouble and not be able to explain to you why the task should be done in a certain way.

You will become an invaluable player if your manager is confident that you can be assigned a task and forget about it, knowing that you will do it right.

TO GROW TO THE LEVEL OF YOUR MANAGER, YOU MUST WORK NO LESS THAN HE

This a big secret, which is not known by most employees, even those striving for career growth.

Believing that by working less than the manager (not in terms of hours, but in terms of the number of projects completed as efficiently as possible), they will be able to rise to the next level. Miracles don't happen.

RESPECT YOUR LEADER

If you don't respect a leader who is on a higher level, find yourself another job and another boss who will be an authority and leader for you, under whose guidance you will not be a burden to make a career. Only then can you learn and grow from him.

There is a law of hierarchy: if you do not respect the one who is higher, your subordinates will not respect you.

Show signs of respect and never allow yourself familiarity.

IF A MANAGER MADE A MISTAKE, REPORT THEM AS DELICATELY AS POSSIBLE

Never say such words: “Why can’t I make mistakes, but you can?” The leader is, first of all, your teacher and coach. He has his own teachers and coaches who help him work on his mistakes throughout all stages of his career. Teacher lower grades also makes mistakes, but the first grader has no right to point them out to him.

DON'T GOSSIP AND NEVER TALK ABAD ABOUT YOUR CHEF

Gossip at work always leads to a loss of trust and sincerity. Your boss will definitely know if you said something negative about him. As a result, this will slow down your career growth, because he will promote you with much less enthusiasm, and even more so, he will not stand up for you with reductions.

LEAD A HEALTHY LIFESTYLE SO YOU HAVE A LOT OF ENERGY TO GO OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE REGULARLY

To succeed in the professional world and have an amazing career, you need to be physically and energetically strong. Top up your daily energy reserve playing sports and following the basic rules of nutrition. Certainly a huge number successful people leads wrong image life. But what pleasure will you get from success if you are constantly sick or experiencing chronic fatigue syndrome?

In the US, almost all successful people devote time to their health. At my last job in America, I was asked what sport I do. And as a reward for a year of successful work, I was given an unlimited subscription to the best fitness club in the city with daily private lessons with a trainer.

FORGET THAT YOU WORK FOR THE ORGANIZATION - YOU WORK FOR YOUR MANAGER!

It is not the organization that decides how much you get paid, when you can be promoted, and when you go on vacation. It is up to the person you report to. Think more about him: how to make his life calmer and more efficient. The dream of every competent leader is to have people on his team who can be relied upon. Become one, and your rapid professional growth will be just around the corner.

TREAT EVERY JOB AS YOUR BUSINESS

The more you take responsibility and love what you do, the more you will develop the habit of working like an owner.

This is, in my opinion, the most important skill in developing yourself. leadership qualities Super star.

While ordinary employees are always looking for ways to shift responsibility to someone else in their team, potential stars take on any job and treat it like their own business.

It is these invaluable employees who become partners in the future, and also develop the skills necessary to manage their own business.

Remember successful people from your environment. Do they do everything listed here? What else do they do to be successful? What are you doing (or not doing)?

Many noticed that I was a smart careerist, and they began to ask me for advice on how to ensure career growth in the IT industry. To avoid repeating the same advice different people I am writing this article in private messages, sharing in it the story of my own career growth and the main observations that I have made over 13 years of experience in large and small companies.
I will immediately warn you that I do not pretend to present a universal theory of the career growth of a spherical horse in a vacuum, and most of the comments are distorted by the prism of my perception. What has worked repeatedly in my case may not necessarily work in yours.

Briefly about my career achievements, so that there is something to compare.

I got a job as a student when I was in my third year and immediately wrote a full-time GUI on Qt under Linux. Linux I'd seen one and a half times before while my brother coached me for a job. Prior to that, he had academic knowledge in C ++ and C, so in terms of knowledge he was the most malicious newcomer. Literally four months later, I became the de facto (but not de jure) lead developer of the project to migrate the product to ncurses. So de facto that I had a painless quarrel with my immediate superior about the use of STL in base classes, and in this conflict the top authorities took my side, not his side.

Since then, I have been stubbornly arguing with all my bosses, and despite this (or maybe because of this), my career and salary went up. Over 13 years of experience, I increased my salary by 15 times (an average of 23% per year), although I myself actively demanded a raise only twice:

1. Because I was promised after probationary period and forgot
2. Because I needed the minimum rate to obtain a work permit for a highly qualified specialist (HQS), which made it easier for me to get registered in Moscow. This second time, the boss didn’t even ask what kind of promotion I was asking for - he just wrote a letter to the accounting department so that I could get the promotion I needed.

And now I'm thinking about how I did it.

Career Reflections

First, what is a career? For many, career and salary are almost synonymous. On this non-obvious synonymy lies a lot of misunderstanding. Many people, when they quit, argue about the lack of career prospects, although what they really mean is “I want more dough.” Probably because talking about money in society is indecent. And a career is so sublime!

For me, this synonymy never existed. Yes, I was pleased when they raised my salary, and yes, at the certification, I hoped that it would be raised. Yes, I would tell my boss to my face everything that I think about him if I knew that the salary was raised for everyone except me. And still, for me, the salary has always been something secondary. A consequence of something else. That is what makes a career. Namely - influence. I expanded my influence in order to have more opportunities to get the final result.

Career It is an extension of its area of ​​influence. And logically, the wider your influence, the more you get paid. It doesn't matter why - out of gratitude or out of fear of losing you. But the fact remains:

There is no career growth without expanding influence.

Hierarchies and the Peter Principle

It just so happened that in our civilization a hierarchy has been chosen to manage large organizations and processes. Those. many others are subordinate to one node. The higher the node, the more influence it has. Those. by our definition, the higher he is on the career ladder.


In such organizational structures, the principle formulated by the Canadian researcher of the hierarchical system Lawrence Peter operates. The principle goes like this:

In a hierarchical system, any worker rises to the level of his incompetence.

The rationale is simple: if you deserve a promotion, you will be promoted. If not, then you will hold the position that you hold. The proof is entertaining, but without a special reservation, by and large, incorrect. After all, there is an option that if a person does not cope, then he is fired. However, the nature of the hierarchy is such that figuring out whether a given node is doing its job is such an expensive operation that it is often sacrificed for other activities. Roughly speaking, instead of analyzing how subordinates work, the manager will give out kicks and commands that he receives from his manager in the same way. From all this history we draw the most important conclusion:

Your boss doesn't know and isn't particularly eager to find out how you work.

drum boss

Of course, there may be exceptions, but I was not lucky enough to cross paths with them.

The fact that bosses do not seek to find out how their subordinates work is evident at least from the fact that attestations are made analogous to population censuses in large organizations. If the bosses didn’t give a damn about the quality of work of their subordinates, there would be no need for universal attestation duty - just a competent boss, seeing the efforts and competence of his subordinate, would himself take the initiative to improve it, and lazybones, of which there are a great many in any large organization, here or kicked out.

In management theory, by the way, concern about the career growth of a subordinate is one of the most important points. In theory. For 13 years, none of my managers cared about my career. Even though I was lucky and had a wonderful American manager. Not once did he discuss with me the prospect of my career growth. Although my case is special (details below). But he also did not discuss career prospects with my colleagues.

Star manager

There are bosses whose people grow like mushrooms after rain. They have the most in the department a large number of workers with the prefixes senior, lead, experienced, advanced, superfood and their various combinations. As a rule, these bosses also don’t care how their subordinates work, and they inflate their people for their own sake, since, of course, a star should also manage a star team. Woe to the one who got the "star" manager. Nothing puts an end to a career (in my understanding) like a vain manager. It's hard to appease your own vanity when your manager, for no reason, says that people from other teams are no match for you. I know what I'm talking about - I experienced such a suggestion on myself.

If your manager praises you out of nothing, run away from him! He is fooling you!

Career ladder, not an escalator

Career growth is provided by the career ladder, not the escalator. If you want to be at the top, you have to go yourself, and not wait for someone to bring you there. And this is defined by one single word - initiative. A rolling stone gathers no moss. If you do not take the initiative to expand your sphere of influence, it will not expand on its own. This is where the main crossroads lies when choosing the path to expand the sphere of influence:

1. Career path
2. The path of a professional

Career path

I’ll make a reservation right away that this is not the path that I went (naturally!), So I judge it by observing others. The leitmotif of this path is the formula:

To expand your sphere of influence, you need to influence the boss.

A careerist influences the boss with everyone possible ways. Emphasized zeal appears, sucks up, engages in window dressing, claps his eyes, shows different parts of the body (if they are beautiful), etc. The ultimate goal is to be able to push your ideas to the boss through a dedicated channel. Since the boss is a signal amplifier, the expansion of the influence of the careerist in the organization is thereby achieved.

The path of a careerist can be called the path of vertical wobbling:

The disadvantage of the careerist path is that his influence on the team is colored in the tone of the boss. Colleagues feel the taste of the boss in the ideas of their classmate and experience sincere hostility and contempt for him. Most often, careerists are not particularly bothered by this, as they rise to the top, leaving enemies outside the scope of their interests. Well, the dog is with them, with the careerists, as Ivan Vasilyevich would say.

The path of a professional

The professional expands his influence horizontally.


The professional formula is:

To expand my sphere of influence, I need to solve those problems that prevent me from achieving efficiency.

The professional sees the team as a source of problems that he can solve. Here one is very important point to which you should pay attention. Speaking about the problems to be solved, we are not talking about the tasks lowered to the employee from above, but about the problems that make the achievement of their immediate duties ineffective. Most often, these problems come up as a result of the question: “Why am I doing this nonsense?”, i.e. it's looking for the root cause of the problem from the company's point of view. This is the fundamental moment of mentally getting out of your context, followed by expansion of influence, and then career growth.

Influence on the boss is achieved as part of your extended influence on the entire environment. The boss will know that you are doing a good job because everyone will know about it. Therefore, it is not a surprise to anyone when you are promoted. After all, it's overdue.

An added bonus to the professional approach is that the employee expands their expertise in different areas. Instead of delving into his field, taking the task presented to him as an axiom, he learns the context of its appearance. He learns how people live who have thought of this before. He recognizes and often even does his task more correctly, as he understands the context.

Professional vs. Specialist

If I call a professional someone who goes from a problem to the top, looking for its root causes, thereby expanding his area and sphere of influence, then a specialist, in my understanding, goes to reverse side He digs deep. The specialist is not interested Why there's a problem, he's wondering How solve it. As a result of this deepening, the specialist gets a deep knowledge of his subject area, so deep that no one except him understands how cool he is. This is the secret of the difficulties of a specialist in certification: only another specialist of his level can understand his qualifications, which his manager, obviously, is not. Thus, the best thing that his boss can think of him is "doing some magic." He is forced to judge the degree of power of magic by indirect evidence- silent respect that colleagues have for a specialist. However, let's not forget that for this the manager needs to take the initiative, which managers in hierarchies do only in theory.

In no way do I want to prove that specialists are worse than professionals. I'm just trying to illustrate why so many good specialists underestimated by their superiors.

So the output is:

Narrow specialization is not conducive to career growth.

Algorithm for professional career growth

So, forgetting about the bad careerists, let's formalize how the expansion of the influence of a professional is achieved, which, as mentioned above, leads to career growth.

1. Find the problem

If something in your work or in the work of your colleague caused you to have a healthy WTF? question, then you have a chance to expand your sphere of influence and grow in your career.

2. Identify the problem

Trace the problem back to its root cause. If it is in you, eliminate it by sim increasing your skills. Exit from the algorithm. Most often, the problem is not with you (you are perfect, aren't you?). Explore where it comes from. Most often, the problems are in the blurryness of someone's eye or his lack of competence (hello to the Peter principle). Study. This study will improve your skills. Having found the one in whose area of ​​responsibility the jamb lies, describe to him (here it is - the initiative!) The essence of the problem and how it manifests itself at your level. Come up with and clearly communicate other potential problems that may come up because of this jamb. Most likely, by the way, they have already surfaced, what the bugtracker will tell you. One way or another, advise a colleague how to fix this jamb. If a colleague agrees, you have done a good deed for the company, you have received a grateful colleague, i.e. slightly expanded their sphere of influence. And at the same time gained new knowledge outside your area. By the way, at the same time you fixed the jamb with someone else's hands, which is also quite encouraging.

Admittedly, most often a colleague will send you to hell. People in hierarchies are already overloaded with all sorts of responsibilities, so that useful thing study. But I still recommend reaching out for advice, even if you're looking forward to a turnaround. This is important so that later they could not accuse spheres of influence of raiding, because you will have an iron "I told you (a)".

One way or another, if we are denied, we move on to the most important step:

4. Do someone else's work yourself

Fix the detected jamb yourself, even though it is in someone else's area of ​​responsibility. Firstly, it will give you the opportunity to test your hypothesis, and secondly, you will fix the problem itself, not the symptom, which should be inspiring even apart from the rest of the theory - you have made the world a better place!

Either way, if you were right, people will quickly notice the improved process. People quickly get used to the innovation, accepting it as the norm, unable to return to the previous state, which was also considered the norm. You have just become indispensable, congratulations!

From de facto to de jure

It should be understood that according to the algorithm described above, you will always be underpaid. After all, you will always be loaded with duties for which others receive money. But this situation has several advantages:

1. Since you are already doing this work, getting it legally is a no-brainer as you have already proven your worth.
2. You are free to move in the direction that is most interesting to you, as you see the whole range of potential development paths
3. You are a freelance artist. The company understands that you do much more than you get, so you are allowed what others are not allowed to do. For example, you can troll the president

Final Thoughts on a Career

Companies and teams are different. What I described worked in all the teams where I worked, and there were 5 of them. In all these teams I got exclusive freedom, so I could say what I think, both privately and publicly even to company owners . Admittedly, early in my career, I stumbled upon a rather inadequate boss, which led to my leaving the company, which led to career and financial growth in another.

The main secret of the path I have described is that you grow from the inside, and the career is just chasing your growth. As a child grows out of children's pants, so you grow out of your current position. A child does not grow up because he is given larger pants. A career is the clothes you wear. You are your qualification, and it must grow first. And where to grow, they show the problems that your company is flooded with.

The described career growth algorithm is a consequence of your professional growth. And since you are a professional, you will fit anywhere. Just as you can outgrow your baby pants, you can outgrow your current company. And grow up to your own. After all, surprisingly, with approximately the same words

Career development does not begin from the first day of work, but much earlier, when a person first realizes how people earn. Even then, the first ideas about different types of activities and a personal attitude towards them are formed. Later, a person chooses a profession and career growth criteria based on their ambitions, lifestyle and goals.

Career types

Traditionally, there are two types of two types of career growth: horizontal and vertical. The names correspond to the direction of the employee's career development in the hierarchy of one or more companies.

Vertical growth is the classic concept of climbing the career ladder, that is, getting to a higher position. Vertical movement can be rapid or, conversely, consistent. In many companies, promotion requires going all the way from a junior position to leadership position. Vertical career growth is typical for most enterprises and is often exactly what they want to achieve when applying for a job.

horizontal growth means professional growth in a certain area. This includes advanced training, obtaining new skills and abilities, which makes the employee a more valuable and sought-after specialist. For example, obtaining a degree means horizontal career growth. Often, such development is chosen by people of creative or scientific professions who do not dream of a boss's chair, but want to realize their talents in a certain area.

In accordance with the preferred type of career, criteria for success are also formed.

The main criteria for a successful career

Specialists conducting research in the field of professional growth distinguish two main types of criteria for a successful career: objective and subjective. Objectively, the career growth of an employee is evaluated according to two parameters: movement within the organization and movement within the profession. The subjective or internal criterion of career success is a person's personal assessment of his work achievements.

• Position held;
• The speed of career advancement, or career mobility;
• salary level;
• Achievements.

In accordance with the selected criterion, the success of the career growth of an employee is evaluated. Let's consider these criteria in more detail.

Job status

Most often, it is the position held that is considered key criterion success. People who aspire to climb the corporate ladder are building a vertical career - moving up the steps of the company's hierarchy. Their motivation is the desire to occupy a higher and more respectable position. This approach is common in our society and is fully justified, because promotion means an increase in social status and almost always - salaries, as well as a more prestigious entry in the work book.

career mobility

Career mobility is understood as the speed of promotion. IN modern companies career mobility is considered high if a person stays in the same position for two to three years. If an employee occupies the same position for a long time, the authorities believe that he has “stagnated” and lost his competitive advantage. A high rate of climbing the career ladder is an indicator of the competence of an employee who masters new skills with each more high position. In addition, this indicates the penetrating personal qualities of a person: ambition and purposefulness.

earnings

In the theory of "monetary" career, competence is evaluated in monetary terms, and the employee strives to become the best specialist to cost more. This criterion of career success is common, for example, in American society. In our country, money also plays an important role in choosing a profession. On the other hand, often young professionals refuse to advantageous offers in favor of higher social status. Few people want to go to work as an electrician, because it is not prestigious, and the position of junior manager sounds much better. During this time, a professional electrician can earn twice as much as a novice office worker.

Achievement career

People who set themselves the goal of completing as many big projects as possible choose the career path of achievement. They are reckless and ready to take risks, they are not attracted by dry salaries and job titles. Despite the fact that they are not chasing money, they often manage to "hit the big jackpot" and even get high social status. Usually they realize themselves in the fields of art, finance, science and achieve impressive results.

Work made a man out of a monkey, but professional growth should not stop there. We will tell you how to arrange a career evolution!

Believe in yourself Yes, you deserve a raise. Yes, your boss should appreciate you, because there are very few such specialists. Yes, your bathroom mirror and your pillow have already heard about it, and more than once. Nicola Cook, author of The New You: Small Changes That Make big effect I'm sure the reason you're stuck at some career step is the fear that you're not really as good as you think. Prove to yourself that you deserve more. And this is immediately noticed by the authorities.

Get an estimate First things first, you need to reassess your abilities. Check with a recruitment agency or a recruiting consultant to find out if there is a demand for professionals like you and what salary you can expect if you want to change jobs. Get advice on how to improve your resume and what to focus on during an interview. Perhaps you will also be named companies where they will be happy to see you among the employees.

Be careful Even if you go to interviews not to change jobs, but simply to understand what you are worth in the labor market, the current employer has absolutely no need to know about your actions and intentions. So plan everything business meetings in advance and take a couple of days off from work "for family reasons." But if your manager guessed everything and asked a direct question, don't lie. Most likely, an honest answer will lead to a discussion of what you do not like about your current job. And it may very well be that the boss will offer you some bonuses. Isn't that what you wanted?

Ask for a raise Keep in mind that bosses do not understand hints. “So let them know that you want to discuss your career path and ask for half an hour of your time,” advises Liz Bingham, managing partner at auditing firm Ernst & Young. The best time to discuss a promotion is right after you've delivered a successful presentation or received an enthusiastic response from a client. Anna (35, manager) recalls: “It seemed to me that no one noticed my successes. Rather, out of resentment, I told the boss about all the achievements that were left without attention for Last year. Imagine my surprise when she said that she had been thinking about my appointment to a new position for a long time. A month later, I was promoted."

Look around If you have reached the ceiling in your department, look for vacancies in other divisions of the company. If you are a valuable employee, they will not want to give in to competitors, or simply lose you, and they will help you find a new position in which you could develop. But don't go behind your boss's back. It is better to honestly explain the situation and ask to facilitate the transfer to another department. He will appreciate it.

Expand your search In fact, we rarely realize how highly our skills can be valued in other areas. Most companies involved in different types business, there are similar specialists: analysts, advertising managers, copywriters. Use the opportunity to move into a more dynamic area. Maria (32, designer) did just that: “I worked for minimum wage for two years at a small publishing house, until I decided to try my hand at the Internet. At every interview after showing a portfolio, I heard the question: “And you did all this alone?” Now I work several times less and earn three times more.”

Update contacts Before sending resumes to companies where you don't know anyone, go through notebook. Remember all your former colleagues and bosses, find out what they are doing now. Yes, it is not easy to renew old contacts. But after all, no one calls to indicate in the subject line “Help!!! Need work!!!" Offer to have coffee together. And there, during the conversation, you can also ask the interlocutor if his company needs valuable specialists. Many companies offer bonuses to employees who refer their friends. So your interest, if anything, is mutual.

Go out to people Keep track of all professional events: look for information about conferences, lectures or master classes on specialized sites. This perfect way make the necessary contacts. Try not to ask about vacancies directly. “Ask the other person for advice or ask for their opinion: this will make the person feel important, and he will definitely remember you,” says Deborah Francaise-White, leader of the seminar on business charisma. “And don’t forget to send letters the next day with a reminder about yourself and a question about a job opportunity.”

Spread your nets Don't have a LinkedIn profile yet? Get it on urgently! It is visited daily by millions of potential employers. “If you think Facebook can benefit your personal life then why don't you believe that LinkedIn. com or Professionali. ru help your career? asks social media expert Barry Furby. Think over the profile: your photo should be strict, but the smile should be friendly. Once you've listed your accomplishments, start joining groups in your area of ​​expertise. Ask questions, leave comments, participate in online conferences: let the professionals know about your existence.

Start over If you've tried everything and haven't gotten any closer to your dream job, consider making a radical change. Decide - would you like to work freelance? Are you ready to move to another city or even a country for professional growth? Maybe it's time to start your own business? And if it's time, turn your idea into a business plan. Nicola Cook advises: “Answer the questions: Do you need investments? When will you be able to start work? When is profit expected? What will you do if things go worse than planned? If you have come up with a dream for yourself, all that remains for you now is to start making it a reality.

Published: Glamor magazine, January 2013.
"See you at the top"

If you become a department editor after working as an ordinary journalist for half a year, this is vertical growth.

But remember that you should not strive for such growth without weighing all the pros and cons. You may not be ready enough for a promotion. And you might as well be ready for new position A lot depends on the level of your managerial skills.

• Horizontal career growth is a deepening in your field.

You do not strive to become a leader, but you develop while being at your workplace. Continuous learning and the acquisition of new competencies is a necessity for “survival” in a highly competitive environment in the labor market.

If it seems to you that horizontal career growth is something shameful and if you have certain knowledge, you should go for a promotion - this is not so. Horizontal career growth suits many “followers”. Besides, narrow specialists and experts in their field are highly valued in the labor market - you can always find a job with good level rewards.

Career tree - what it looks like and how you can do it yourself

The Career Tree is a visualization that shows your most important successes. drawn computer program the tree has clean branches on which you can write about your career achievements - from the lowest to the most significant, which will be located on top. Thus, you will motivate yourself for further achievements - all your career successes will be in front of your eyes, and thoughts about "unsuitability" will not even arise.

You can right now on Evio-club.

Career development methods

• The main thing is self-education. Take advanced training courses on the Internet, attend lectures in your specialty, read specialized media. The promotion will not keep you waiting, as you will become a more competent person.
• If self-education is not enough for you, try an internship at a foreign university. Such a weighty argument as a recommendation from abroad will help you overcome all obstacles on the way to the desired position. At the same time, you will demonstrate an excellent level of foreign language proficiency.

And, finally, the last method of career growth is the transition to a new place in another company. If the previous two did not work, then this firm cannot satisfy your requests. Most likely, several HRs will immediately “pick you up” on the market, and there it’s a stone’s throw to a job offer.