6 Career Advice Tips You Should Hear In Your 20s

Nurturing a career while paying off student debts, battling a brand-new mortgage, or planning a wedding can be the hardest thing ever. But this is what your 20’s bring to you. Every 20-something in the job market is undergoing similar struggles as you are.

So, how do some people go from being a management assistant to being a vice president in just three years while the rest of the workforce end up stuck in the same post? What are these people doing differently to you?

Most people who climb the corporate hierarchical ladder do so by working smart, not hard. They strategize their moves to get what they want when they want. Though it looks effortless from the sidelines, it is a tough journey. Here’s how you can move forward in your career, in 6 simple steps:

Go searching for problems

Every business has issues that need answers. If you want to stand out among your coworkers and show off your skills that’ll make you a great manager, try to spot the problems. Think about how your department gets things done, what methods you use, and how long the process takes. Observe how your teammates move with one another.

When you become observant of these things, you start to see the problems. Sit down with a problem you found and think about how you can provide a solution. Do you have a way to streamline the process? Or maybe an idea of how to increase the efficiency? Those solutions can be your golden ticket.

If you can’t spot issues right away, don’t be disheartened. Every great feat requires practice. Educate yourself on how successful companies do things. Read business journals, listen to podcasts, or watch YouTube videos to learn from startups.

Fixing issues for your company is a guaranteed way of getting noticed by your management.

Learn how to fix things

Great! Now you know how to spot the issues that affect the success of your company. But how do you go about fixing these? Noticing problems doesn’t get you as high up the corporate ladder as much as fixing them.

Don’t be afraid to step out of the confines of your job description when trying to fix issues. Talk to your superiors or senior staff to find out a solution to the problem. Learn how other people have done it before.

Educate yourself like earlier, but this time on fixing things. Then be the change that you want to see in the company. Implement those solutions yourself and ask your coworkers to be a part of the solution.

Pick yourself a mentor

Is there a senior staff member who is amazing in the boardroom and out of it? Who oozes self-confidence and never runs out of fresh ideas? You could learn a lot from such a person if they are willing to teach you. Ask them if they can mentor you.

Don’t leave all the mentoring to them alone. Get permission from your boss to shadow them once or twice a week. You can use this time to observe how they work in a team. You can also pick out a few valuable pointers from them. Ask them why they choose to do things differently from the traditional methods.

Go out and network

Career advancement is benefitted largely from having a good network of successful people to help you and guide you. Want to become an ultra-successful manager? Surround yourself with some.

Attend networking events organized by your company or business conferences on topics that you love. You are guaranteed to meet people with similar ideas to yourself. Not only that, try to connect with your coworkers during work. It can be as easy as grabbing coffee once a week with the management team.

Communicate with your boss

Having a positive working relationship with your boss is vital to getting ahead in your career. When you feel like you’re ready to move on to the next step in your career, let your boss know. You can either set up a meeting with your boss or use your annual review meeting to do this.

Tell your boss about your plans for your career and ask them for their opinion. Ask them to recommend a course of action for you. Or simply ask them for their best career advice.

This works well for you in two ways. For starters, if there is room for you to expand in the company, your boss will let you know that. Then, you can improve yourself and gather any certification you need to climb up that step.

On the other hand, your boss can tell you whether there is no chance for you to move up in their business. If this happens you can decide to move on from the company to a better position.

Lastly, take some time off to recharge yourself

Have a surplus of sick leaves that you haven’t used this month? Use them for a weekend getaway to the mountains. Taking a small vacation occasionally can do wonders for your mental health. A vacation helps you unwind and refresh yourself. Use this time to totally detach from work and relax.

Sometimes when you have just started out in your career, taking an off day may feel like a crime to you. You may feel like you’re not made from sturdy enough stuff to take on the pressure. Let that mentality go. Everyone needs to decompress once in a while. Give yourself a break from the hectic work cycle to enjoy life.