5 Tips To Give Your Career A Glow‐Up & Land That Big Promotion

You’ve taken a page out of Dolly’s book and are on that nine-to-five grind, consider yourself to be financially independent, and are seemingly slaying the game – so why does it feel like you’re at a career standstill?

If you haven’t figured it out by now, adulting is the worst, especially when the thing you do eight hours a day, five days a week isn’t super fulfilling.

It’s clear you want more responsibility, a fatter pay check, and the feeling of having made it, but not knowing how to get it – or even where to start – can leave you feeling defeated before you’ve even begun.

Luckily, there are a bunch of real-life things you can do to get over your work slump, give your career a total glow-up, and land a killer promotion that you deserve. Here are five to get the ball rolling.

#1 Put In The Research

The greatest thing you can do before entering any unknown situation in your adult life is to educate yourself.

Things you might want to research include what exactly career progression looks like for someone in your position or the standard salaries for employees in your field. These will give you a clear indication of where you’re headed if you stick to the path you’re on.

Take your research into the physical realm, too. If you work in a company that likes to promote from within, chances are there’s someone who used to work in your current role around.

Sit down with them to find out what kind of moves they made to secure a promotion and quiz them about their current role to get a feel for if it’s something that sounds right for you.

If all else fails, trawl LinkedIn for folks who used to have your job title – they’ll likely have some wisdom to share.

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#2 Talk It Out With Your Mentor   

Don’t have a mentor? Consider this the perfect excuse to get one.

Finding a mentor doesn’t have to be a stressful task or something to overthink – it’s simply identifying someone in your life who knows what they’re doing, offers opinions you respect and – most importantly – wants to see you succeed.

A mentor doesn’t have to be someone you work with or even someone in your industry – but in the case of acquiring a career glow-up, it’d help if they did.

We know it’s hard to take your own advice, so having a well-informed second opinion makes the world of difference when it comes to decision making.

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#3 Make A Plan

We’re talking a literal plan written down on actual paper that you can reference and physically check off when you’ve completed its steps.

It might include small tasks, like reaching out to your mentor, or larger, more important ones, like actually meeting with your manager to set goals you can strive to achieve before your next annual review.

Telling yourself you’re going to do something is easy, but having a tangible, real-life thing to hold you accountable and display your progress will keep you motivated to get it done.

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#4 Further Your Education

In some instances, hard work will only get you so far. To successfully progress in your career, you’ll need to acquire some extra skills.

This is where going to uni (or back to uni if you’ve already completed a degree) could come in handy. And, before you start panicking – no, you don’t have to quit your job to do it. Through Open Universities Australia, you can choose from over 300 degrees from universities across Australia, and they’re all available to study online.

Not only will a degree give you the competitive edge you need to advance your career, but OUA makes it super easy to scale your study load up or down to fit around work or other commitments. This means you could very well start and complete a new degree while still working full-time.

Or, if you just need to fill a specific skills gap, you can also choose from 1500 FEE-HELP-supported single subjects without going the whole hog.

#5 Talk To A Professional

It’s never a bad thing to ask for help, especially when your livelihood is at stake. At times like these, you might want to consider chatting to a career coach.

A career coach is someone who has been professionally trained to help employees and job seekers in a bunch of different ways. They will help you define, redefine, and achieve your professional objectives – like scoring that promotion you’re after.

In this instance, a career coach will be able to provide expert knowledge on potential opportunities within your chosen industry, as well as provide assistance on the awkwardness that is negotiating with a manager.

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(Lead image: Freeform)

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Landing that promotion has never been more achievable. Through Open Universities Australia, you can explore hundreds of degrees and study online with leading Australian universities, without putting your life on hold. Find out more at open.edu.au or call a friendly student advisor on 13 OPEN.