6 Ways to Grow Your Career – Without Taking a Management Position
Everyone wants to push their career forward, and management offers the most obvious way to expand your salary and drive advancement. However, not everyone wants to move into management. If you don’t want a supervisor role, how can you grow your career?
After all, becoming a manager isn’t an unmitigated dream. It comes with heavy responsibilities while often taking you away from the core tasks you used to love. In many situations, these theoretical moves higher can become a career trap.
Luckily, there are other paths open to you. A top recruiter, like SmartTalent, can help you map those possibilities. You’ll get the industry intelligence you need to make the best career choices.
Meanwhile, further strategies exist to fuel your professional development. Here are six ways to grow your career without taking a management position:
Define Your Ideal Role
It’s a question you’ve probably heard a dozen times in job interviews: where do you see yourself in 10 years? Usually, you answer in a way meant to impress hiring managers. But set aside your interview brain and really think about that query.
Drill down on your hopes and dreams and define where you’d like your career to go. By doing this introspection, you can approach your professional development with more intentionality. You can conceive of your ideal role and work towards that vision.
Look Sideways
We often think of career development as a vertical endeavor. You want to climb the corporate ladder. However, this is a limiting conception.
Don’t continually look to rise in your organization. Instead, look around you. Are there roles elsewhere in your organization that represent a better fit for you? See what else is out there before mapping your ideal career path.
Develop an Expertise
Become as irreplaceable as possible. This gives you job security and more leverage in salary negotiations. To reach this level, you need to nurture specialized skills. By becoming an expert in a crucial area, you maximize your earning potential in the discipline you love.
As you look to maximize your compensation, SmartTalent represents an indispensable partner. You’ll get the insight and direction you need to find the best position for this point in your career. Connect with SmartTalent to get the most out of your skills and talent.
Look for Ways to Up-Skill
Complement your core expertise with a diverse set of secondary skills. Make improving your abilities a central component of your professional development. A career-long commitment to learning will help you maximize your paycheck.
This process includes both hard skills and soft skills. Look to add universal attributes like communication, organization, and teamwork. These competencies can help you in any position.
Call Your Own Shot
Don’t wait to find the ideal job for you. Instead, take the conception you’ve formed of your perfect role and try to make it a reality.
This requires patience and a strategic approach. Here are some steps to take:
- Talk to the people around you, like your boss and your coworkers.
- Expand the conversation to include contacts in your network.
- Look for ways to add desired responsibilities to your current role.
- Search out areas of need within your organization and offer to fill those vacuums.
Consider Consulting Jobs and Contract Work
Get creative about the kinds of roles you are willing to take. You might not be able to reach your full potential in a traditional full-time job. Rather, your career might get a boost by leveraging other approaches, like consulting jobs and contract work.
These situations offer a series of potential benefits:
- Build your resume
- Learn new skills
- Broaden your network
- Take on multiple assignments at once
- Get more schedule flexibility
- Avoid long-term commitments
Ready to upgrade your career? SmartTalent can steer you toward the best positions for you, letting you maximize your prospects without moving into management roles.
Contact SmartTalent today to learn more.
