Careerist

Four Things Every Young Professional Should Start Doing Right Now

Posted by angela on April 9, 2008 at 7:39 am.

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This guest post about career advancement for young professionals is from Angela, 26, who publishes Girl Meets Business. Her professional development website dedicated to exploring the topics of passion, success, and climbing the corporate ladder.

Young professionals set the stage for their advancement everyday. The following four strategies will help you get ahead and stay ahead:

1. Have a conversation with your boss regarding your future.
You should regularly get the opportunity to talk to your boss about your current work and your future with the company.

If you like your job and don’t necessarily want advancement, you should still be checking in to ask how you’re doing and if there’s anything you can improve on. These active conversations will help you with your job performance, and could help you if you ever do want to seek a promotion.

If you’re looking for advancement within the company, make sure your boss knows it. You should be asking:

  • How is my current work?
    You are soliciting real feedback, not a pat on the back. You need to be excellent at your current job in order for your company to consider a promotion. This question helps you figure out what you’re doing right. It also gives your boss a reason to think about you and your quality work. Be careful, though, not to sound too needy. You should only be checking in unsolicited with this question about once a quarter.
  • What skills do I need to work on to get closer to a promotion?
    You want to know the specifics needed for advancement. If a promotion is going to put you in a management position, your boss may suggest you need stronger leadership skills. You need to know the skill set, whether it’s leadership skills or better HTML skills, that is needed to be considered for a promotion.
  • How can you assist me in developing these skills?
    Can your company send you to a class or a conference to get you familiar with the topic? Can you shadow someone who already has the skills you need? Find out how much they are willing to invest in your future with the company.
  • What additional responsibilities could I take on right now?
    Be careful not to do the job before you get the title and the money. That would be a big mistake. But, if you there are small things you can do, such as a lead a high-level project, to prove yourself, ask if you can give it a shot.

2. Negotiate your salary.

If you didn’t negotiate your salary when you got the position, you really should have. But, don’t despair. It’s not too late. Negotiate now. Follow these basic steps to ask for more money:

  • Research the salaries of people who do your same job in other companies. Use this as a reference, not a basis for your negotiation.
  • Write out all of your responsibilities and duties. Then write out all of your accomplishments in each area. Expand on “Performs sales pitches” by stating, “Increased sales by 10%, a record-breaking increase.” This should also be used a reference when making the case.
  • Meet with your boss and ask for the raise.

Remember: If you don’t ask, you won’t get!

3. Put money into savings.
It seems like you can wait to start saving, but the sooner you do it, the better. I’m sure you’ve heard all about compound interest and how you’re better off saving early. And, it’s certainly true. But here’s more fuel: When you’re young, you presumably have fewer responsibilities, so it will be easier to start saving. Once you buy a house, have kids, and all the responsibilities that go along with these choices, it will suddenly seem a lot harder to save.

If you need direction, like I did, get a financial planner. Whether you make $20,000 or $200,000, a financial planner can help you plan for the future. This is the time to start.

4. Invest in quality wardrobe pieces.
Perhaps slightly contrary to my previous point, but you should invest in a few quality pieces of clothing as well as high quality accessories. Choose to spend your hard-earned money on the basics, like a beautiful black suit and a classic necklace for women or a tailored navy suit and a high quality pair of shoes for men. You don’t need to spend three months’ salary, you just need a few fantastic pieces and you can keep building from there. If you work in an industry that is more casual, I would still urge you to invest in suit. You’ll need something to wear to all those award ceremonies you’ll certainly be appearing at soon!

These four tips will help point you in the right direction. There are thousands of other things you can do to make yourself more marketable within your own firm and within larger community. You have the opportunity to make your own way – take advantage of it.

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  • Do you or Angela have tips on good resources for finding what your salary range is in comparable jobs in comparable companies?
  • Great Tips! Thanks for this, What additional responsibilities could I take on right now? its an additional info for me.
  • I really like those tips.

    Number 1 is a good reminder that we should view every job as a learning experience and if we can't learn things and go places, then maybe we don't even belong there. It's too easy to stagnate and that isn't very helpful for someone starting at the bottom.

    3 is good because money can compound over the years in amazing ways. It also gives you a sense of security that maybe you won't need to rely on the questionable future of social security when you get to the point of retirement.

    In reply to number 4, it always amazes me how many nice pieces of clothing older business people have. It's like, gee, if I went and bought 3-4 nice suits I'd be broke for a month. . .
    Buying a little at a time is definitely the solution
  • @ Ashe - A couple sites I know of are salary.com and indeed.com. These should be good starting points for you. You may also want to check into your industry's professional organizations; they can often be great resources for this kind of information.

    @ Biodun - Thanks. Glad you enjoyed it.

    @ Michael - I'm glad you found the tips useful. I think sometimes we, as young people, come in and want everything right - a promotion, a fantastic wardrobe, a retirement fund - but these things take time! Thanks for your insight.
  • I have been through the process (I am now 36) of trying to better myself career wise and have found that it boils down to happiness. I would encourage everyone to angle for a position in their company that makes them the most happy... not necessarily the most money or most prestigous position. Instead seek a position that is so fit for you that you are excited to go to work, have fun doing it and naturally push yourself to the next level.

    If you are able to negotiate a position that you love... your salary will increase naturally (or at least it will be easy to negotiate) since you are a top performer, you will have better control of your future (because you will naturally be the best for that position), and even if things don't work out exactly the way you planned you will have had fun doing what you loved.

    Seek happiness first... the money will follow.

    Just my 2 cents.
  • Great discussion. I'm most impressed with this post because each of these four points is so important it could easily be made into a separate post. Thanks Angela!
  • Mike - Great point and thanks for adding it. I guess I assumed that people would naturally go for positions that would make them happy, but I know better than to assume anything. I totally agree with you. Happiness is key. Thanks for your insight.
  • Hey Angela

    Excellent tips! Sometimes people are fearful of their boss and just cannot muster up enough confidence to discuss some of your points. what kind of tips would you offer a person in this situation?

    I like your point about asking yourself "What additional responsibilities could I take on right now?" I know someone that has this type of approach and he is blowing people away at the company he started working for this past year. He is always looking for ways to improve, grow and impress.

    One problem he is facing is that other people now feel threated because his work ethic is exposing their laziness, apathy and overall incompetence.

    Any suggestions for situations like this? Thanks!
  • Miguel, I'm glad you enjoyed the post and you certainly raise some tricky situations.

    First, for the person who is intimidated by their boss, I would suggest seeking the insight of fellow co-worker, either at a higher level or even on their level. Even a mentor outside of the office could be helpful in this situation. They may also consider getting a career coach.

    For the person who is making others feel threatened by their approach, this, unfortunately, can happen even when the co-workers aren't lazy and incompetent. My suggestion is to keep on doing what needs to be done to improve and grow - even though others aren't happy about it. It's a tough situation, but you have to what's best for you and your company.

    Of course, I'm not an expert on these situations - so professional insight is recommended!
  • Hey Angela

    Thanks for your suggestions. I like your point about finding a mentor outside of the office. I agree, doing what is best for you and the company should take priority over the feelings and approval of co-workers. By the way, this is not the go ahead to freely walk all over people.
  • Crystal Cote
    Hey Angela,

    I am 23 and trying to network some clients for my job, I work with a company but my position within the company is much like being self employeed. I really want to get to know people within the professional industry but I feel like I am much younger then everyone else and am not as experienced. I am very good at my job but how do I let others know without ending up in a business meeting with nothing to say and nothing in common witht the clients that I am meeting? (I can't stand awkward silence) I am a very talkative person and love meeting new people but I seem to freeze up when I feel intimidated. What are some strategies to overcome this?
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