Where do you see yourself in five years? Everybody has been asked that question at some point in their life. It’s an amazingly hard question to answer when you don’t have a clue about the promotional structure inside the company you are working for.
This is a question that you should think about carefully as knowing you are on the path towards a future of achieving your goals and winning is incredibly important for your own personal motivation.
You need to ask yourself when starting at a company, is hard work rewarded? how have my managers got to where they’re in the company? it is important that you know this information so you know what it takes to get to the top and win.
But those questions may not be the right ones as well as considering how you can move up the company ladder you also need to know if you need to climb up the company ladder, are you fully committed to your careers and do you think your skills are best for this career type. These are also key questions that need answering in order to determine how you see yourself in the next 5 years.
Job/career advancement is key to winning — dealing with the subsequent stages in your profession, setting both short-and long haul objectives are key outlines you need to make when committing whether you want to focus on moving up the company ladder, this helps you keep your eyes on the end goal at all times by creating an eyes on the prize mentality that keeps you focus and motivated.
Quite a lot of organizations offer workers clear paths towards career progression by supporting development through opportunities and training. If you work for an organisation like this then great, you know that the company can help you get where you want to get without using it as a stepping stone onto another job which isn’t ideal. The organizations that invest in there employees always top the lists of the Best Places to Work as it’s an absolute necessity especially when hiring young motivated employees who want to succeed.
If you’re working for an organization that doesn’t put any attention on promoting career progression then you should think long and hard whether that company actually values you or not and whether you can feel accomplished while working there. If you are devoting 40 or more hours every week working for a company you should at the very least know that you will benefit from this work in some way. If you are in this position then we have some tips for you to consider:
Profession advancement nuts and bolts
Professional advancement, at its core, is tied in with defining objectives for yourself and accomplishing those objectives. Here are a few different ways to begin this:
Self-reflect. Think about what your identity is, are you suited to your current working environment, and what you eventually would like to achieve from your working life. Is it safe to say that you are content with the way career has progressed until this point? Is it accurate to say that you are in the correct job? being able to answer these questions with ultimate assurance is the first step in determining what a winning career would look like in your shoes.
What Are Others Doing. Find out about the various kinds of occupations inside your organization by looking at what individuals do on a random day. This will widen your understanding on how your organisation functions, how things complete, and how you fit in to the company structure.
Set momentary objectives. Disregard where you see yourself in five years for the occasion. Where do you see yourself in one year? What abilities do you need to develop right now? Record your objectives and look to accomplish them to become more capable in your position.
Get the preparation you need. In the event that your organisation doesn’t offer training opportunities then discover who does. You could take a night class at a nearby college or take an online training course. The subject doesn’t have to be strictly related to your job and can be something completely outside your subject matter. Having knowledge about things that your co-workers may not have will only help you stand out from the crowd.
Think about a horizontal move. Taking a sideways step could be the best move to eventually progressing up the career ladder as accepting a job with company that may be offering the same pay but also have more career development opportunities will more than likely benefit you long term.
Impress your manager. Your manager can be an incredible ally in helping you achieve your goals. They can help open more doors for you and further your profession development if you are seen to be a valuable member of the team.
Keep your work system solid. Building up your work systems is fundamental to landing the position you need. Keep looking to improve your relationships with co-workers as well as your own productivity, organisation and motivational systems that keeps your work output to a high standard.
Consider the above and get to work on outlining your future to winning at your career today!