Advancement Within Your Current Company

In a highly competitive employment market, sometimes it is a strategically excellent idea to look within the organization where you are currently employed before venturing out into the rest of the employment market. There are numerous good reasons to do this and I'll present the methods by which to make it possible to grow and advance, possibly without leaving your office building.

Many companies make it a matter of procedure to promote primarily from within. Generally, the new positions are advertised in some form, be it through the corporate web site, newsletter or posted in the lunch or conference room. Be cognizant of these postings because very often, the human resources managers are not allowed to distribute information about them unless it is available to all.

Before these positions are advertised, however, you should be aware that they are going to occur. How? Pay attention to areas of growth or new departments. Most likely, a new department will need new people and you want to be ready. Check out your company on a public search engine and see what news information they are releasing to investors.

All types of activities should trigger your inquiries. Some of these are new products, expansion to new cities or buildings within your city, new legislation or industry trends that influence your company. Declarations of substantial profits are also indications of expansion and prospective jobs. Identify who the managers are. Determine where they have been professionally, and investigate what those companies did. Ask questions without appearing too inquisitive.

On a more basic level, volunteer for as many projects as possible, without sacrifice to your basic responsibilities. Offer overtime if it is made available and generally make yourself visible to management on a positive basis. Enroll in whatever training programs are made available, whether they are directly associated with your current position or not. Don't participate in gossip or water cooler gathering. The more you appear to be a diligent and committed employee who is dedicated to the best interests of the company, the better.

If you have a positive, trusting relationship with your manager, enlist his or her help. Indicate that you want to make a bigger, better contribution to your company and ask if you can anticipate a positive evaluation from management. Update your resume and be ready for whatever happens. Be open to another department, another manager, another area of responsibility, another division of the company, etc. The field is smaller, the opportunities may be better, your retirement plan and benefits will be uninterrupted and your tenure with the company will be extended.

From every possible standpoint, it is a winning situation for you to look for promotions (or lateral moves) within your organization. It will allow you to make best advantage of every available opportunity and your current familiarity with the company will give you a clear preference over those who are coming from elsewhere. But don't wait until it is too late to promote yourself. Be a visible, understated, high-performance employee from the first time you walk into the door.

These are methods that work and are substantiated by my own career history. If you need proof, review the history of many upper level managers and you will be able to verify that they have frequently started in much less prestigious positions. Corporate ladders really do exist.