To propel your career and successfully apply for promotions, new job opportunities, and pay rises alike, you need to prove your worth. Your skills are a commodity. Your work ethic is a selling point. In essence, you need to be the best product on the market and worth the extra money it takes to hire you. You cannot do this if you or your employer do not believe in your value.
Thankfully, you can easily improve your value right at home. Knowledge is power, after all, but when one seeks out new knowledge, they also demonstrate a strong work ethic that is hard to replicate. It is this combined ethic and know-how that will give you the edge over your co-workers and give you a leg to stand on when asking for a promotion or pay raise. To start your at-home improvement, all you need to do is slowly incorporate the following steps into your daily routines:
Attend Workshops and Events in Your Industry
A great way to network and learn simultaneously is by attending all the relevant workshops and events in your industry. This can be daunting when you first start attending, especially if you don’t go with a colleague or as part of your company, but it is a great way to further your career. Take education, for example. There are always new strategies and skills to learn to provide better service to students, and attending these workshops and events will give you the opportunity to learn and even put in your own ideas into the pot.
Benefits
• Cutting-edge knowledge
• Strategy development
• Networking
What to Remember
Attending these events puts you in with the right people, but if you really want to solidify yourself as an expert in your industry you will want to provide coverage as well. Start a website or blog, grow followers, and publish key information and cover these events on social media to showcase your skills and determination to be the best in your field.
Read Academic and Professionally Compiled Articles and Reports
The information that will be presented at these events and workshops will often be the watered down version of some publication. By reading the original copies you can gain full insight into trends, strategies, and new research right from the source. If you remember the information and more importantly the statistics included in these articles, then you have the opportunity to wow both your clients and employers.
Benefits
• Cutting-edge knowledge
• Improved vocabulary
• Improved grammar
What to Remember
To gain access to these resources, you will often have to pay for a subscription or for the report itself. This funds further research. What you should attempt before you use your own money is to bring up the issue with your employer. See if they will pay for the subscription on your behalf so that you and all your employees can be at the front of your industry and help your company successfully become a leader.
Follow Key Case Studies
Another way to further your knowledge and propel your career is to study case studies. For therapists, educators, and other professionals who work in ever-evolving industries, case studies can be critical for developing your own strategies and research. Follow relevant case studies, make notes, and use those deductions to inform future decisions. If possible, try contacting the researcher and asking them directly about it and even giving your own personal opinions if it is relevant. In the future, you might be able to collaborate, and your name could be next to ground-breaking research.
Benefits
• Advanced knowledge
• Personal research
• Networking
What to Remember
Case studies are not confirmed patterns. You will want to take each case study as an example, but not as fact. What worked for one student, patient, or client might not work for another. Use these case studies more as a means to expand your repertoire of strategies and to devise your own methods in the future.
Further Your Qualifications
Reading and studying on your own is a good way to keep your skills sharp and for you to develop your own ideas, but if you need that foot in the door the best way forward is to enroll in university. Today you can achieve even specialist degrees like a Masters in Early Childhood Education online and from your home, making it easier than ever to juggle a career and gain the formal qualifications you need to apply for higher ranking positions.
Benefits
• A complete rundown of everything you need to know
• Formal degree
• Networking
What to Remember
You don’t want to get through these courses too quickly unless you can easily juggle the workload. If you take on too much, you will struggle to handle both your career and your education, causing both to suffer. It is also wise to avoid paying it all by yourself until you know what options are available to you. If your degree will help better your company, then, by all means, approach your employer and see if they will be willing to sponsor you.
Even if they only cover a quarter or an eighth of the costs, this will help you save money and spread out the costs. Combine whatever sponsorship you get with the university’s tuition help or with a low-interest bank loan to cover the rest. You do not want your debts to go into arrears when you have a full-time job, because this will only add stress and mean your education and career can both be wasted. Only enroll once you are sure you can handle the commitment and the costs.
Propelling your career means developing your own skills and knowledge. In doing so, you show your employer and even potential employers your strong work ethic and drive to stay on top of trends and be the best in your field. Another benefit of adopting this hands-on approach to your further development is that it puts your name out there. You network in the best way possible because people get to know you and learn to trust your opinion and expertise.
