Career Pro Tip: Always Be Asking and Looking (Elsewhere) for Opportunity (employees, tips)

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I am not claiming that this is the end all, be all answer for everyone. However, I am sharing this idea based on my observations over the past (almost) decade of working in Corporate America.

Target Audience: Those who consistently seek upward mobility and career progression.

One thing I've learned along the way is that hard work can and will be overlooked from time to time. Also, office politics can and will take precedence over performance. Therefore, you need to take it upon yourself to promote yourself and your brand, early and often. Here are some tips:

1) Set up time with your manager on a regular basis to discuss goals, tasks, and projects. Keep a running log of all things you're working on and point out where you are excelling. Use this time to talk about ideas for your future.

2) Let it be known what your personal career goals are to as many people in the org as possible. Get the word out. In the best case scenarios, people may reach out to you for certain projects that they know you have a keen interest in. Your manager may keep you in mind down the road when bigger, better projects come through the pipeline. The good ones will even appreciate the idea that you're a "go-getter" and ambitious.

3) Brag about yourself, but don't be obnoxious. I know a lot of people have trouble gloating about themselves, including myself. But I'll let you in on a secret. Those who are getting the promotions are doing this quite well and quite often. They are constantly gloating about their importance to the organization, their vast networks within the org, their accomplishments in the past, etc. These people will act like they are the SME (subject matter expert) on any given topic, even if they're not. But what's important is not necessarily what they know at that moment in time, but the confidence they exude towards others. This leaves others with a warm and fuzzy feeling in that they feel like they can trust and lean on this person. In essence, you fake it until you make it. Successful, career-oriented people are extremely good at this.

Opportunity is not always internal. Many of us grew up with the notion planted in our minds that if you work hard, good things will naturally be rewarded to you as a result. And, often times, they do. But it won't always be in the places that you expect it to. Most of my friends are very career-oriented, hard-working, intelligent folks. I've heard some truly heartbreaking stories from them regarding their career trajectories. In many of their stories, the recurring theme is the difficulty of getting promoted internally. Often times, companies do not have the resources to promote the best people when they are ready to be promoted. They do not have the resources to give everyone 5%+ pay increases every year. Even when you are the best candidate for a promotion, in your own mind, management may have other ideas about that. This creates a complex system of inequalities where management's goals are consistently out of balance with their employees' goals.

One thing that has been consistent in their careers is how grueling and difficult it is to move up internally within a company. I always try to remind them that they should look outside their employer for better opportunities if they are not getting them internally. IME, it has been significantly easier to move up in my career by way of external promotions. I have more than doubled my salary and moved up the ladder in less than a decade by seeking opportunities outside my then current employer. I make it known what my goals are to my current employer. I give them 2-3 years to prove themselves to me. If they are not working with me along the way to help me develop into a better candidate for future internal positions, I cut my losses and seek employment elsewhere. And this has worked SO SO SO much better and faster and easier than my friends who have tried to work their way up through the ranks internally with their employers. I've not had to go through nearly the same amount of hoops, deal making, broken promises, carrot dangling, etc. as they have.

As I stated earlier, this advice is not supposed to be an end all, be all for every situation. I'm simply sharing my experiences from within Corporate America in hopes that others will gain a better understanding of different things that may be more effective for them.

Tl;dr: Promote your brand (accomplishments, successes, knowledge-base) early and often. Tell management what your goals are and develop a plan to reach them together. Always be looking for better opportunities, even those on the outside. They may be much easier to attain than the internal opportunities.

Bottom Line: You should never accept being stuck in a job, at a particular company. Expand your search and be more aggressive in self-promotion in a gracious, respectful manner.