Little Known Career Growth Options

Employees commonly believe that by dressing for success, saying the right things and having a great combination of skills and knowledge they will be rewarded with a promotion. And very often this is true. However, many times career advancement has a lot more to do with being in the right place at the right time.

Career advancement means being visible, not just presentable. It means being heard and remembered for the good, not the bad. It means knowing what it takes and having the ability to make it happen. And even then employees need to be in the right position, in the right company at the right time.

Here is what an employee looking to climb the career ladder needs to keep in mind about the types of companies that are likely to offer great career advancement opportunities.

Growing Companies Offer Career Growth

It’s not surprising that ,according to a 2005 report in the Harvard Business Review, there are advantages to working in a growing firm, especially younger firms, which typically offer faster advancement opportunities because they tend to have flatter hierarchies.

On the other hand, old-time firms – think traditional Fortune 100 – might offer lots of training and development opportunities as well as more stability, but “relatively long promotion ladders.” Therefore, they tend to be great places to be from or great for employees who don’t mind a long career with a single company.

Large Firms Provide Other Alternatives, Too

Speaking of larger firms, working for a big company has always been considered the way to go because of the belief there are lots of opportunities to advance a career. And in some ways this is true. But the employee looking for a career path within a large organization has to keep in mind another consideration.

Career growth within larger organizations with many divisions and subsidiaries throughout the U.S. or world means opportunity to those who are willing to step outside of the corporate office or parent company and relocate to other divisions or take on challenges in subsidiary companies.

Restructuring Organizations May Offer Unique Advancement Opportunities

Believe it or not, an organization that is restructuring may offer career advancement to those who are fearless, because it comes at a price: uncertainty. So for employees who are working for an organization in the midst of a major restructuring, there just may be an unlooked for opportunity.

Keeping in mind that the changes to the organization are probably going to occur regardless, being a team member actively involved in the change and ultimately securing a new and better position may be better than becoming unemployed.

Good Careers Often Come in Small Packages

Careers at smaller organizations can mean a quicker climb according to a survey by the Institute for Corporate Productivity because fewer of them have promotion policies with stringent requirements.

In fact, of the 423 companies surveyed, 30 percent with more than 10,000 employees require employees to have a specific number of years on the job before they can apply for an internal posting; whereas, less than 20 percent of smaller organizations (500 to 4,999 employees) have such policies.

What it all comes down to is employees need to be willing to explore promotional opportunities in a variety of firms -- growing companies, large and small firms as well as organizations going through restructuring. They just may find unlooked for possibilities that will lead them down the road to career advancement.

Career Success

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