{"id":27496,"date":"2023-05-15T03:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-15T10:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/?p=27496"},"modified":"2023-02-14T15:21:43","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T22:21:43","slug":"4-steps-to-grow-your-career-as-a-young-professional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/4-steps-to-grow-your-career-as-a-young-professional\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Steps to Grow Your Career as a Young Professional"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

At the start of your career, the best way to advance and succeed isn\u2019t always clear. You may be talented at your chosen profession, but you\u2019re still unproven to your boss, colleagues, and industry, which makes it incumbent on you to approach your career growth strategically<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here are four steps that can smooth your trajectory to the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Find a Mentor<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Meeting and exceeding career goals<\/a> usually doesn\u2019t \u201cjust happen\u201d\u2014it\u2019s a process that builds over time (or doesn\u2019t) depending on your choices and actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the most prudent professional decisions you can make early in your career is to benefit from key workplace relationships with people who know more and may be willing to help you out. In particular, intentionally finding and forging business relationships with a mentor can help you achieve success<\/a> in your company and industry. A mentor is a senior-level colleague who agrees to coach and advise you on issues in your job, company, and industry<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sean Nguyen, Director of Internet Advisor, explained that when he first started out in the world of online work, he found it quite daunting\u2014he didn\u2019t know where to start, how to manage his time effectively, or even what jobs to look out for. A mentor changed that for him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLuckily, when I found my first online job, the CEO of the small business was willing to mentor me and help me to grow my knowledge and skills<\/a>,\u201d Nguyen said. \u201cI used the knowledge that he taught me to improve not only in that company but in all the other businesses that I ended up working for.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seek Sponsors and Other Advocates<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

While many are familiar with the concept of mentors, sponsors and advocates can be even more instrumental to your career growth<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sponsors and other advocates are generally even more invested in your career progression than mentors are. They use their own executive connections to help open doors for you while also helping to promote your strengths<\/strong> to others in the organization to create new opportunities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sondra Sutton Phung, Marketing General Manager at Ford Motor Company, recommends that young professionals secure a well-respected advocate, which she explains is very different from a mentor. \u201cAdvocates must believe in you enough to break down barriers that will inevitably exist in a large corporation,\u201d said Sutton Phung.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Join a Career-Related Community<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In addition to the individual relationships you create early in your career with senior-level mentors, sponsors, and other advocates, finding a community of like-minded professionals<\/a> at different levels of their career can help fuel your own growth more quickly\u2014while helping you enjoy the process more too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt’s really difficult to grow your career if you’re off on an island by yourself\u2014you need other people and they need you,\u201d said Jo Harris, a Conversion Copywriter and Business Coach who has over a decade of experience as a remote digital marketer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the easiest ways to seek a professional community is to join an online group<\/a> that caters to your industry<\/strong>, either through a social media site like LinkedIn<\/a> or Facebook<\/a>, or through industry-specific associations and organizations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apply Your Passion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Having the best advocates and community in the world won\u2019t advance your career if you don\u2019t do your part to excel<\/strong>. Sponsors will only want to recommend you if you stand out as exceptional, and colleagues in your professional community won\u2019t think of you for opportunities if you come across as bored or negative about your work life<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever tempting it may be with remote work, forget about quiet quitting and doing the bare minimum,\u201d advised Nathan Brunner, CEO at Salarship, a job search engine for candidates who want to find low-competition employment opportunities. \u201cPay some time to research the industry and be aware of its latest changes<\/strong>. Take extra time and extra projects, if it\u2019s possible. Remember that good things never come easy, and hard work always pays off.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brunner believes that another smart thing you can do to grow your career is to find something you\u2019re truly passionate about<\/a>. “If you don\u2019t love what you are doing, you will never be able to work at your full potential,\u201d Brunner concluded.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you focused on growing your career? Here are four essential steps to take early in your career that will accelerate your success.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":89,"featured_media":27612,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"old-site-template.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[95,97],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27496","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-advice","category-career-growth-and-development"],"last_modified_at":"","edited_by":"Jessica Howington","acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27496","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/89"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27496"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27496\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27667,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27496\/revisions\/27667"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27496"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27496"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.job-hunt.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27496"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}