Career Progression 101 – Upskill for a brighter career

Career progression can be defined as the process of making advancements in your career. Career progression is a continuous process that makes the individual climb higher in the hierarchy of one’s professional life. 

Many often face stagnancy in their career despite putting in hard work or long hours. 

We interacted with many industry experts to find ways in which one can progress in their career. Here are the top 5 ways to career success – 

  • Do smart work – Putting in long hours of work or sticking only to your job description hinders your progress. Instead putting in smart work along with hard work reaps more benefits. Smart work can be in terms of effectively utilizing your time for increased productivity with spare time to upgrade your skills. 

For this, one can identify, prioritize and execute the tasks on daily basis to become more efficient. Identifying mundane activities and developing innovative ways to save time doing them can considerably increase your time efficiency. Learn simple Excel, Word or PowerPoint hacks, turn on auto-response for redundant emails, and avoid spending too much time at the vending machines. These simple tricks will help you save time and utilize it more productively.

  • Volunteer to learn – Sticking to your role or team will not let you grow as a professional. Interacting with people of different cultures and backgrounds. This gives you a holistic perspective and enhances your communication, and listening skills, and broadens your horizon. 

Find development opportunities by learning from people who possess skills different from you, try to understand their work style, and incorporate changes that may make a positive impact on your personality. Volunteer for projects outside your comfort zone, this will help you upgrade your skills. Be open to learning. 

Take feedback from your colleagues or employees regarding your leadership style, and your interpersonal skills and take the feedback and criticism in your stride and work on them. 

  • Create a plan– Make a career progression plan. Visualize your growth and fix your career goal in your mind. Write down the experience, skills, or accolades required for you to climb higher on the career ladder. Work towards attaining the required qualifications, update yourself with the latest happenings in your industry, and communicate with a mentor. 

Often having a mentor helps individuals to get the necessary guidance and tips to perform better and update themselves. Hence discussing your career plan with your mentor gives you a different perspective enriched with experience, making the journey easier.

  • Work-life balance & mental health – Maintaining a healthy physique is important but to do better in your job, maintaining a healthy mind is equally important. Focusing on your mental health is a serious aspect that no one should swipe aside. Author Arthur Golden says, “A mind troubled by doubt cannot focus on the course of victory.” Hence a sound mind and mental peace are necessary to succeed in your career.
  • Training & Development– The world is constantly changing, and the skills that are relevant today may become obsolete tomorrow. Hence constantly upgrading your skills to avoid stagnancy in your career is crucial. For this purpose, online learning or distance learning programs solve the problem of leaving one’s job in the middle of one’s career. 

MIT School of Distance Education is an AICTE-approved distance learning institute that offers Post Graduate Diploma courses with specializations in Marketing Management, Finance, HR, Operations, Information Technology, Logistics & Supply Chain Management, Digital Marketing, Business Analytics, and Construction & Project Management.

Speaking of MITSDE’s distance learning programs, the company believes that learning and earning can be taken up simultaneously. Flexible or self-paced learning pedagogy is designed in such a way that one can learn while being engaged in a job. The programs being cost-effective, the courses provide an economical solution. 

With a team of experts from various domains acting as mentors, learners can ask for guidance, map their career path, and gain core industry insights.

Pursuing a PG Diploma in Management or other certification courses from such reputed institutes gives the candidate an extra edge over the competition.