Taking Charge of Your Career

Taking charge of your career is your responsibility. Most people understand this concept in the world of work, but do they really understand what it means? Taking charge of your career means understanding the organization in which you have accepted employment. You do this by understanding the organizational structure, culture, management, and the growth opportunities within the organization.

While most of us understand this concept, the majority of individuals join an organization expecting to be recognized and promoted based solely on their productivity, loyalty, and commitment to getting the job done. Productivity, loyalty, and getting the job done are the minimum expectations of a person filling the position, but may not get you promoted or in a position of growth. So how do you get promoted?

Taking charge of your career means doing all of the above, plus one very important thing:

making sure your career goals are communicated
to the right people within the organization.

One can no longer expect an organization to promote or give additional growth opportunities based on hard work and meeting expectations.

You must make sure your career goals are verbalized.

Taking charge of your career means understanding the position’s growth opportunities. Sometimes this knowledge comes with time on the job; it may not be crystal clear upon hire, or may change as companies change to remain competitive in today’s market. Therefore, it is imperative to remain current on expectations of the position and the organization’s growth and/or changes. So, how do you make sure the right people within the organization know about your career goals? You must be sensitive to what, when, who, and how to communicate your goals.

The interview process is a natural time to ask about the growth opportunities within the organization, although you will want to remain focused on the position for which you are being interviewed. Once on the job, the best place to communicate your career goals may be to your immediate supervisor. If you find this a difficult conversation to start, you can begin asking about your performance or areas in which improvements could be made. Asking about your performance (provided the conversation is going well) will give you an opportunity to share your goals.

Take advantage of conversations like these to share your goals.

Waiting for the performance evaluation is not taking charge of your career;
that is merely a time to reemphasize your desire to grow within the organization.

Growth does not necessarily mean changing positions. As companies merge, reorganize, and expand, often positions have the potential to grow in responsibility, so speak up and let the right people know of your interest to grow with the organization.

Do not expect that a one-time conversation either in an interview or with your immediate supervisor will get you that promotion. This is an ongoing process. Using discretion about what, when, who, and how to communicate, it is possible to keep your goals in front of the right people and truly take charge of your career.