To remain competitive in today’s job market and realize your career goals, it’s important to continue your pursuit to grow professionally. When you apply what you learn from professional development courses or training, you grow toward your career goals. Understanding professional growth and how to achieve it can help lead to advancement opportunities, higher salaries or increased overall career satisfaction.
In this article, we define professional growth how it differs from professional development, provide strategies for growth and answer frequently asked questions about what professional growth can do for you and your career.
- Set clear goals
By setting detailed, you can create actionable steps to help you achieve those goals. Measuring your accomplishments may also help motivate you in the long term. Creating a PGP can help you outline how you want to advance your career. Examples of professional growth goals include:
Obtaining an academic degree
Earning industry certification
Joining a professional organization
Learning new technology
Increasing duties and responsibilities - Search for new opportunities
While training is important to professional development, experience and opportunities can be just as transformative for professional growth. Look for opportunities to take on projects that challenge you and help grow your skill set. By taking on new responsibilities, you will learn more about your potential.
Related: Professional Development Topics That Can Help Grow Your Career - Seek out a mentor
A mentor can help guide you by offering professional or personal advice, developing trust and listening, responding to your questions and concerns and exposing you to a new perspective. A good mentor will be someone who has succeeded in the role you hope to achieve and has used that success to advance in their career. If you’re looking for a mentorship, ask your supervisor if they know a good candidate or ask a coworker for advice privately.
Related: 13 Reasons Why You Should Have a Mentor - Discuss your goals with a manager or colleague
It’s important to let your manager know about your career aspirations. After all, part of their job is to foster your development and become a valuable asset for the company. If they know you’re eager to take on new challenges, they will likely start to trust you with more responsibilities.
Your manager can also be a great resource regarding available training courses. If you’re self-employed or work independently, ask a colleague in your industry if they know of opportunities to expand your skills or experience. - Grow your professional network
A great way to get accurate feedback is to have multiple people analyze your efforts and results. Professional networks offer an environment to grow professionally. Think of your network connections as your key professional support.
Networking also involves staying connected with people you already know, such as former coworkers and managers who might alert you to potential opportunities within their companies or fields. Depending on your relationship, they may also put in a good word on your behalf. - Track your progress
Though growing is exciting, there may be times when you experience frustration or doubt. That’s why it is important to keep track of your accomplishments and regularly review your progress. Performance reviews are a good way to see if you’re meeting expectations and where you might improve. Meeting with your manager for a review is a good time to voice your goals for professional growth.
