How to Advance Your Career (With 10 Insightful Tips)

Creating an actionable plan to advance your career starts with figuring out your goals.

Do you aspire to climb the corporate ladder? Or are you seeking to achieve work-life balance? Or are you searching for a new role that exposes you to challenging projects where you can put your skills to the test?

The path to career advancement lies in taking actionable steps towards the career goals that align with your personal definition of success. Whether you’re a first-time job seeker, or looking to take your career to the next level here are ten insightful tips to help you advance your career.

1. Chart a course for career advancement
2. Create SMART goals
3. Leverage your network
4. Be honest with your manager
5. Seek constructive feedback
6. Know your worth
7. Get organized
8. Take on bigger challenges
9. Sharpen your competitive edge with upskilling
10. Build a personal brand

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1. Chart a course for career advancement

OK, so you want to advance your career, but it'll be hard to make that happen until you know what career success means to you. The first step in advancing your career is figuring out your short- and long-term goals. Then, you can start creating action items.

Career advancement is a broad objective. Think about specifically what success looks like to you and where you want to be in the next five or ten years. Once you know the destination, you can work backward and create your roadmap.

Asking yourself these questions can help determine what your goals are:

• Where do I want to be in the next three months? Six months? One year? Five years? Ten years?
• What is the typical career path for someone in my current position?
• How happy am I in my career right now?
• What is my dream job?
• What do I want to accomplish professionally?
• How do I measure success?
• What do I want to do more of?
• What do I want to do less of?
• What matters most to me?
• Whose career inspires me?
• What do I want to learn how to do?

Write down all of your different professional goals (and personal goals if they overlap). Try to come up with as many as possible, no matter how big or small. Think of this as a brainstorming session without any right or wrong answers.

2. Create SMART goals

Once you have your answers from above, you can select the most important ones and make them achievable using the SMART framework. SMART stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. Rewriting your goals with this structure helps you create a plan with realistic steps that you can take to make them a reality.

A common career goal is "I want to get a promotion," which is a great starting point. You can take that goal, add the SMART framework, and turn it into, "I want my manager to promote me from a level I graphic designer to a level II graphic designer with a 10% pay increase in the next six months." Now this goal is actionable. While getting a promotion isn’t guaranteed, articulating exactly what you want helps you to map out the actions you can take to help make it happen.  

When creating SMART goals, think about the SMART framework elements and ask yourself these

Specific

Be as clear and precise as possible. Divide your bigger goals into smaller ones so that you can work on them individually. Instead of "promotion," the goal is defined further as the new job title and salary increase.

Ask yourself: What am I trying to accomplish? What would I need to do? What would success look like?

Measurable

Make your goals quantifiable and trackable by adding amounts. By determining what the current position title is (level I) and the promoted title (level II), along with the pay increase amount, it will be easier to know when you've achieved your goal.

Ask yourself: By how many or how much? How will I know when I've completed it? What are the possible benchmarks?

Attainable

Your goals should be things that you can reasonably accomplish. If a goal is a stretch, break it down into smaller goals that will help you get closer. The new job title is the next level up, and promotions typically include raises–this goal seems reasonable.

Ask yourself: What are the tools I need to achieve this? What constraints currently prevent me from succeeding? Can I do this with my current resources, or do I need to take other steps first?

Relevant: Every goal should be a piece of the puzzle, contributing to your overall plan. You don't want to spend too much time on goals that get you side-tracked. This promotion makes sense for someone looking to grow their graphic design career.

Ask yourself: Why am I setting this goal? What will this help me achieve? Is this something I want to spend time on? Does this fit in with other goals?

Time-bound: Set a date, so you know you can better measure your success. A timeframe also helps you know which goals to prioritize. You know when you want to achieve this by.

Ask yourself: When would I like to have this completed? What is a reasonable time frame? What is my deadline?

3. Leverage your network

Networking is essential, especially for independent professionals looking to advance their careers. You can network in person by finding local events near you or from home with remote events and communities. Networking with others in your field can be a way to find new opportunities, from training and workshops to job openings. Your colleagues can give you valuable career advice. Learn from their mistakes and be inspired by their successes.

You may even be able to find a mentor in your network, someone who can coach you through career advancement. Mentors are those in your field and industry that you look up to. They've highly accomplished (with goals that reflect your own) and are willing to share their knowledge. Once you've defined your SMART goals, you can start looking for a possible mentor to help guide you.

Tips for finding a mentor:

• Make a list of people you look up to professionally–those who have your "dream job"
• Join professional organizations to grow your network
• Try to find someone who understands your current role and industry
• Consider if you're part of an underrepresented group and want someone who reflects your identity
• Reach out to those in your network that you admire and see if they're interested in mentoring
• If they're open to mentorship, ask for a formal meeting to discuss your goals (like coffee or a Zoom call) and see if the relationship is a good fit for both of you

4. Be honest with your manager

Your manager can be an important resource for your career advancement, advocating for you and helping find opportunities for development within the company. Make sure your manager understands exactly what your goals are. They need to know that you're ambitious and looking to grow your career so that they can help.

A good manager will support your goals and want you to succeed and help you advance your career while staying at the company. Once you've outlined your goals, share the ones that you can accomplish at your current job with your manager. Be upfront. Let them know you're looking for career advancement opportunities and ask what is available. Many companies offer career development as a benefit, from e-learning classes to workshops and optional training.

Intrapreneurship is the idea of spearheading new projects and advancing within your current organization. Companies that promote intrapreneurship support employees in developing new skills and experimenting in their current position. They want to encourage growth and cultivate individuals, hoping they can retain talent. Not every company has this mentality; you may need to look outside your company to achieve some of your goals.

Have your pitch ready. Let your boss know what your goals are and ask what resources and opportunities are available to you right now. You could also ask your manager to help you develop a career path (if you want to stay at your company) and get their advice on your next steps. Together you can create an actionable plan.

5. Seek constructive feedback

Many people find looking at their work objectively to be difficult. Accurately evaluating strengths and weaknesses can often be easier when assessed from someone else's point of view. Feedback from your manager and colleagues can be incredibly valuable and help you grow professionally. Successful individuals actively solicit feedback and use it to learn what they're doing right and what they need to work on.

Learning how to accept constructive feedback and not take criticism personally can be challenging at first. When using feedback to grow, think of it as a gift rather than a personal attack. Try to focus on the good intentions of the person providing an assessment and use any negative feedback to make yourself better. No one is perfect; everyone could be working on something. Knowing what that something is can give you a competitive advantage.

If you have formal one-on-one sessions with your manager or office hours, this is the perfect time to solicit constructive feedback by asking questions. You can let your manager know that you want feedback beforehand so they can set aside time during the meeting. Instead of asking a general "How am I doing?" come to the meeting prepared with a list of specific questions. Take notes, and don't be afraid to dive deeper and ask follow-up questions. You can use this as an opportunity for an honest evaluation.

Questions you can ask to get constructive feedback:

• What do I need to work on?
• What could I be doing to make your job easier?
• How would you like me to improve in the next six months?
• What training classes or online courses do you suggest I take?
• What skills could I develop to help the team?
• What are my strengths on the team? Weaknesses?
• What do you wish I did more of? Less of?
• What suggestions do you have on how I can be more productive?
• How can I contribute more to the team?
• What soft skills should I work on to be more effective?
• What do you like most about my work? Least?

Constructive feedback can be quick and informal. If you want feedback on a recent project or deliverable, you can send your manager or a colleague whom you respect a message asking for their input. Your colleagues may feel awkward giving negative feedback at first, but explaining why you're asking can help. Choose colleagues you respect, who are familiar with your work.

Example: "Hi, I was hoping you could give me some feedback on [project] and tell me what I got right and what I could do better next time (please be honest!). I'm working on professional growth right now and want to see what I need to improve and work harder at. I really value your opinion. Thank you so much."

Tip: Asking specific questions can make it easier for a reviewer to evaluate your work and know where to start. "What can I do better?" can be harder to answer than "How could I have made my presentation more engaging?"

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6. Know your worth

Are you paid fairly for your role based on your skills and experience? Being compensated fairly, and hopefully competitively, is important for your professional self-worth and self-esteem. Feeling motivated can be hard when you feel undervalued by your employer or client.

Start with market research to see what others with the same experience and skills earn on average in your position or what they charge clients for their services. Independent professionals get to determine their rates when they submit proposals for new projects. As a freelancer or contractor, you need to know what is fair to charge for both you and your client.

Some companies practice pay transparency; in fact, certain states and countries require it, disclosing the pay range on job postings or making employee salaries available as internal information. The European Union's Pay Transparency Directive gives employees the right to request information on average wages and even the gender pay gap if the company has over 100 employees.

When looking to advance your career, you need to determine your target salary or hourly rate. Before you interview for a new role, negotiate a raise, or submit a proposal for a client, make sure you know the going rate for your skills and services. You may find that you need to close skill gaps to get that promotion or charge clients more.

Where to find information on average hourly rates and salaries across different industries:

• Glassdoor
• PayScale
• Salary.com
• Upwork

7. Get organized

Time to get organized. Once you've determined your goals and know what you're working toward, you can create a trackable career advancement plan. Online productivity tools help you work smarter, not harder, especially as a freelancer. You can visualize your goals, lay out your tasks, track your progress, and build your roadmap for success.

Have you ever noticed how good crossing an item off your to-do list feels? It helps you stay motivated and gives you a sense of accomplishment. Breaking down goals into smaller actionable items that you can achieve fairly quickly is typically less overwhelming than tackling major long-term objectives. Consider creating day-to-day microgoals you can cross off a to-do list that will gradually snowball into career advancement.

The right tools help you organize your different goals and their specific tasks to keep you accountable. When you have a good plan, you know what you should work on and how individual actions fit into your overarching goals.

Helpful productivity and project management apps:

• Notion. Try the Habit Tracker or Personal Growth Plan templates to map out your goals.
• ClickUp. Plan and track your career advancement goals and tasks using project management.
• Lattice. Create your own development plan with short- and long-term goals.
• Todoist. Organize your tasks and action items with this tool for list-lovers.
• Trello. Visualize your goals and create boards with related tasks and updatable statuses to monitor progress.
• Hive. Track your goals and projects, choosing from a variety of layouts and formats.
• Clockify. Know how much time you spend on each task with this time tracker.
• Canva. Create a vision board with all of your goals that you can turn to for inspiration.  

8. Take on bigger challenges

If you're open to stepping outside your comfort zone and want to challenge yourself, you can ask your manager about stretch assignments. These are opportunities and projects that are outside of your regular work scope. You get to learn and develop new skills when working on challenging projects, gaining hands-on experience and leadership skills.

Stretch assignments are a great way to advance within your current workplace and impress your manager and leadership. You can also test out roles to see what it's like to wear a leadership hat or work with a cross-functional team. Demonstrate that you're ready for a promotion and can handle more responsibility.

When you develop new skills and are looking for a new job or promotion, employers want experience. Theoretical knowledge is often much different than practical knowledge. Accepting a stretch assignment can help you develop new skills while giving you the equally important on-the-job experience that can be hard to come by.

9. Sharpen your competitive edge with upskilling

Learning new skills is a great way to advance your career. Whether you work as an employee or freelancer, upskilling can help you be more competitive. Building your skill set shows drive and could help you stand out for that new job or promotion. Upskilling as a freelancer lets you offer more services to your clients and potentially charge more.

Tips for upskilling:

• See what freelance skills are in demand right now
• Check the job description of the promotion or new job title you want to see what skills are needed
• Assess your personal skills gaps
• Hire a career coach to accelerate your growth
• Stay up-to-date with industry trends and follow thought leaders on social media
• See what courses are available on sites like Codeacademy, Udemy, Coursera, and Udacity
• Ask your manager if your company offers any professional development assistance
• Join professional organizations to learn about opportunities
• Attend workshops for your industry and field
• Keep your Upwork profile updated with your latest skills and certificates

10. Build a personal brand

Businesses create brands to let customers know who they are and why they should choose them over their competitors. Through messaging and content, they craft identities that highlight their values, mission, and personality. As a professional, you can build a personal brand to advance your career, positioning yourself as an expert in your niche.

Personal branding quickly answers, "Who are you, and what do you do?" In one or two sentences, you should be able to explain what sets you apart from other candidates or employees. Your unique value proposition lets employers and customers know why they should choose you and what you offer–your main selling points.

The most successful personal brands are niche-specific and showcase expertise in their specialty using social media, blogs, and guest authoring. These individuals create content demonstrating their authority in their space, through posts, videos, or blogs. Authenticity is key to having an influential personal brand. If you're not where you want to be yet, you can work hard to develop the work ethic, skills, and experience to build your self confidence, reputation, and credibility.

Your personal brand is how others see you. It can start with your outward appearance, like dressing for the job you want in profile pictures. Then dive deeper with a personal blog where you can write thought-leadership pieces. Your website, social media sites, Linkedin and Upwork profile resume, and any other professional content should reflect your personal brand, from the tone of voice to the color scheme and fonts.

Questions to ask yourself to build your personal brand:

• What am I best at?
• What are my top selling points?
• What am I passionate about?
• What niche can I carve out for myself?
• How did I get here?
• What do I want to be known for?
• What content can I create to add to my credibility?
• Do my public social media sites reflect my professional goals?
• How would I describe myself to a stranger?
• What are my top values?
• Who is my audience?
• Why should someone choose me?
• How did I get here?
• What is my story?
• What motivates me?
• How would I describe myself professionally in 30 seconds?

Tip: Some of the most successful freelancers find a niche and work to become an expert at that specialty. They build their reputation and increase their rates as they successfully complete more jobs and have a higher demand for their skills.

Conclusion

Advancing your career starts with figuring out your professional objectives, breaking them down into SMART goals, and then creating a plan you can track and follow. Find out what options you have within your current job to grow your skills by talking with your manager, asking for feedback, and seeing what development opportunities are available. You can also work on advancing your career on your own time by upskilling and building your personal brand.

Have you considered working as an independent professional to boost your career? Freelancing is an alternative career path that can have quicker advancement opportunities. Freelancing is more skill-driven than an employee with a set job title and a list of responsibilities. If you upskill, you can offer more services to clients and raise your rates as your demand increases. Find a niche and become an expert in something that you enjoy doing. See what jobs are available on Upwork right now based on your skill set, and explore what working as an independent professional could look like.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.