By learning how to advance your career, you open yourself up to the helpful feedback of those around you. Through this quiz, you can Test Your Knowledge on how equipped you are to advance your career, whether through networking, upper management meetings, or self-promotion.
What is the best strategy to use when transitioning to a new role or industry?
- Stay generally in your comfort zone to minimize risk and potential career downfall
- Focus primarily on job titles and salary ranges to best gauge a job transition
- Focus on the potential new job’s office atmosphere as a way to narrow in on the best opportunity
- Hone in on your transferrable skills and which ones can best be applied to potential new opportunities
What is the classiest way to promote your professional accomplishments when being considered for a new role?
- Confidently describe your accomplishments and the value you have brought to the company in your current role
- Downplay your successes just a bit in order to avoid appearing arrogant
- Deflect credit to other coworkers in order to make the entire team look successful
- Don’t mention specific accomplishments unless your manager or interviewer prompts you to describe them
How can you best grow your own professional network to the advancement of your career?
- Attend seminars, primarily from individuals who are in positions of power and befriend them
- Only focus on connecting with individuals who are in your same industry since you have the most in common
- Try and hang out with those in upper management outside of the workplace as much as possible
- Participate in groups and communities online where individuals of all industries and roles contribute professional ideas and experiences
What is the most strategic way to seek out feedback in order to advance your career?
- Ask for feedback only from those that you know since they will give you the most positive references and reviews
- Feedback is important when you’ve done something wrong, but you don’t need it for advancement purposes
- Seek out a variety of feedback from coworkers, peers, and friends
- Self assessment is most important, so don’t worry too much about seeking out feedback
What is the best way to seek out mentorship when focusing on career advancement?
- Seek out a coworker who has lots of free time and availability to coach you
- Find someone who will challenge your current assumptions and provide constructive criticism
- It’s best to seek out someone who has a similar background and prior understanding of your career
- Find people who will give you an advancement checklist that you can blindly follow
What is the best strategy to use when transitioning to a new role or industry?
- Stay generally in your comfort zone to minimize risk and potential career downfall
- Focus primarily on job titles and salary ranges to best gauge a job transition
- Focus on the potential new job’s office atmosphere as a way to narrow in on the best opportunity
- Hone in on your transferrable skills and which ones can best be applied to potential new opportunities
What is the classiest way to promote your professional accomplishments when being considered for a new role?
- Confidently describe your accomplishments and the value you have brought to the company in your current role
- Downplay your successes just a bit in order to avoid appearing arrogant
- Deflect credit to other coworkers in order to make the entire team look successful
- Don’t mention specific accomplishments unless your manager or interviewer prompts you to describe them
How can you best grow your own professional network to the advancement of your career?
- Attend seminars, primarily from individuals who are in positions of power and befriend them
- Only focus on connecting with individuals who are in your same industry since you have the most in common
- Try and hang out with those in upper management outside of the workplace as much as possible
- Participate in groups and communities online where individuals of all industries and roles contribute professional ideas and experiences
What is the most strategic way to seek out feedback in order to advance your career?
- Ask for feedback only from those that you know since they will give you the most positive references and reviews
- Feedback is important when you’ve done something wrong, but you don’t need it for advancement purposes
- Seek out a variety of feedback from coworkers, peers, and friends
- Self assessment is most important, so don’t worry too much about seeking out feedback
What is the best way to seek out mentorship when focusing on career advancement?
- Seek out a coworker who has lots of free time and availability to coach you
- Find someone who will challenge your current assumptions and provide constructive criticism
- It’s best to seek out someone who has a similar background and prior understanding of your career
- Find people who will give you an advancement checklist that you can blindly follow
Advancing Your Career and Staying Engaged
As you consider your current profession, how do you view your role? Do you see your position as one that you would like to hold permanently? Is the role that you’re in just a means to future positions down the line with more money and accolades? Do you feel that your current role provides a pathway towards advancement opportunities? Per the results of a Gallup survey conducted in 2022, only 34% of Americans are “engaged” (read: satisfied) with the jobs they currently hold. The other 66% profess that they are either passively or actively disengaged, or a combination of both extremes.
With the average American spending a minimum of 40 hours per week devoted to their profession, it’s obvious that both companies and employees need to pivot in some way to create sustainability. If a job is to be feasible long term, the professional goals should be both attainable and encouraged, with resources at the ready for all parties. Both companies and employees should place a much greater emphasis on how employees can extract both growth and enjoyment from their day jobs. Understandably, many feel at a loss as to how to achieve that combination.
The reality is that more than two-thirds of American employees are disengaged from their jobs. Combine the lack of advancement resources available for those disengaged employees with a primarily remote working environment, and the idea of advancement is, naturally, disheartening. Yet the more that employees can familiarize themselves with career advancement strategies, the more empowered they will feel in their current roles. This empowerment can provoke a fresh desire for advancement opportunities as employees learn of possible networking strategies, ways to project their advancement desires, and master plans for professional skillset refinement.