5 Signs It’s Time to Invest in Your Career

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Careers are like houses. Even a new home needs regular improvements to increase its value. Professional development isn’t much different. While you may be perfectly happy in the job you have right now, your career growth over the long term depends on your planning ahead. It means regularly evaluating if your career is on the right trajectory and recognizing when you should devote some time to advancing it. Depending on the employment situation, that can mean different kinds of investments. One thing’s for sure, though – successful people are willing to spend time and money today to receive payoffs tomorrow.

Think it might be time to invest in your career? Consider if you fall into one (or more) of these categories:

1. Your Peers Are Moving Up Faster Than You
Chances are you were in a peer group when you joined your company, meaning you were part of a cadre of colleagues of similar age and with corresponding education, salary and responsibility levels. Are they getting promoted while you remain in the same position? If so, it’s time to make a plan.

Schedule a meeting with direct management to talk about your performance and career interests. Stay positive: the message should be that you want the organization to be more successful, and that you can contribute to this by philippines phone number resource using your valuable experience in a role of greater responsibility. Ask your manager what he or she sees as your strengths and weaknesses. Do they jibe with your own sense of reality? Together, work out the best way you can stand out as promotable by crafting a plan for improvement. Maybe the organization offers internal training classes or would be willing to pay for training courses outside the company. Offer to do a trial by taking the lead on a new project. Start an informal mentor-mentee setup by asking your boss to agree to regular meetings to talk about your development plan and to offer insights on your performance and decision-making over time.

And don’t neglect those peers who’ve already taken a step further than you. They can also provide worthwhile advice, if you’re open to it. What do they think were the most influential factors in their getting promoted? Compare their decision-making processes and work strategies to your own. You’ll learn something.

If internal resources are not offering the support you need, consider enlisting a career coach. Such an unbiased outsider can help you see the state of your career and professional development from a new angle. Plus, expert coaching can help you better assess your true strengths and interests, and work with you to build out a path from there.