How To Advance In Your Career During The Pandemic

The world is ending. Well, at least according to the media and your Facebook feed. But don't worry! You can still advance your career during the pandemic.

The pandemic has put a lot of things on hold, not just your family’s yearly vacation to Disneyland, but it’s also most likely put a real damper on your job and income. Maybe you were even looking to advance your career when covid hit and put a pause on your job growth opportunities! It’s been a rough road for employees, especially those eager to grow in a time of crazy uncertainty. But the good news is that the economy is trickling forward, and the window for career growth is opening up.
 

Every day and every small habit matters when it comes to advancing in life, so you need to make sure that each day counts towards working on advancing your career. Here are 4 tips to help you MOVE UP the career ladder during a worldwide pandemic:
 

Tip 1. Develop a Game Plan and Start Building Your Skills

The first step to moving up in your career during unprecedented times is creating a clear understanding of what exactly you want to achieve. Simply wanting to move up the career ladder won’t build you any momentum, or give you any further credibility to do so. As an employee who wants to advance, you need to have a comprehensible road map of WHAT areas you need to grow in and HOW you’re going to develop those skills. What higher job position are you working towards? What skills and qualifications do you currently have? And where do your skills fall short? Once you determine what you still need to learn in order to advance, you can then make a very direct game plan to build those skills. 
 

There are a million different resources available on the internet that are FREE to take advantage of. You can find free courses for almost anything - from coding, to marketing, to data analysis, etc. All it takes is a google search! Some websites with low cost or free courses include: Coursera, Udemy, YouTube, Alison, or LinkedIn. 
 

Tip 2. Self-Development
 

Besides working on your skills, make sure that you are also working on your self-development. Having confidence and leadership attributes are key to setting yourself up to land higher job positions. Companies don’t just want someone who can do the job, but someone who has the right attitude, personality, and skill set combo. 

For self-development, invest your time listening to podcasts, reading books, meditating, watching YouTube videos, or other media that will teach you, inspire you, and guide you to become your best self. Don’t forget that investing in yourself, is also investing in your professional development as well.

Tip 3. Create Your Own Opportunities

The best way to find new opportunities? Create them! You can ride on the excuse that the world has all but stopped turning to avoid taking the next steps towards your job growth goals.. But the reality is that there are still big breaks to take advantage of! You just have to do the work to create them.
 

Creating opportunities starts by networking. Getting to know your colleagues can help get you in the right position and in front of the right people for career promotions. Networking is powerful, so don’t be shy to reach out to people in higher roles within your industry! Make sure they know what you have to offer, and ask for their feedback or recommendations on how to climb the ranks in your organization. The more people you network with, the more chances you have to learn from different individuals and grow your skills based on their feedback. It also sets you up for being the go-to person to be put on new projects or openings. 

Don’t just keep your goals and ambitions to yourself, network to ensure that your colleagues know that you are ready to take on a bigger challenge.

Tip 4. Accept More Work

Employees can make themselves indispensable to their company by taking on more tasks, projects, and duties. 

The pandemic likely caused your workplace to abandon less time sensitive projects while they ensured the more pressing and vital assignments. Which means, if there’s an overwhelming workload and you’re in the market to move up in your career; those “paused projects” are big opportunities. Offer to take on the projects that have been delayed for the last year! That kind of proactiveness demonstrates company loyalty and concern, and is sure to make an impression. If you take on more tasks with gusto, no one will be able to stop you from getting ahead. 

Even if there are no visible gaps in your work, be proactive in inquiring about what else you can do to help your company get back on their feet after taking a hard blow from 2020’s storm of events. Employees who are willing to take on more responsibilities, are not easily forgotten. 

So stretch your neck out and volunteer to take on more assignments. Because being stagnant won’t help you to grow in your career.
 

The world is ending, but at least you can advance your career! This is the perfect time to re-evaluate your job and find a more satisfying position! Know what position you want and what skills you need to learn for it. Invest in your personal growth, developing leadership-like attributes. Then create your own opportunities by networking with the people that can help you get to the top! And finally, be proactive in the workplace instead of waiting around for change by taking on more tasks or responsibilities. So go ahead; take some initiative and make it happen for yourself.
 

Your Friend,

Ryan Kay

P.S - Send me any questions if this has sparked ideas for how to get started advancing your career as we head into an uncertain future together!