If you ever want to progress in your career, learn to advocate for yourself at work.
We've seen people work hard at their jobs without ever reaping the benefits that their skills can bring them.
The reason is most people, especially women, are not aware of how to advocate for themselves at work. You are not telling people all the hard work that you are putting in on a daily basis, you are not promoting your skills on LinkedIn, you are not highlighting the impact of your work in your resume.
Some people are also afraid that they'll be called braggarts or self-obsessed fools if they talk about their accomplishments.
If you are one of these people then this article will teach you about the subtle ways you can advocate for yourself and make it to a point that it becomes natural for the people working with you.
Know your strengths.
Understand what you are good at and make a list of your strengths. Are you good at written communication? Are you a good presenter or speaker? Are you a good problem solver? Are you good at convincing and negotiating with your clients? Whatever skills you have, make a list of them for guidance on the points that you can use to self-promote your work.
Understand the value you bring to the company.
Using the same strengths, evaluate how beneficial you have been for the company. Identify significant milestones for the company that you contributed to and how your strengths played an integral part in achieving those milestones. How your day-to-day job impacts the overall growth of your department and company.
This is an essential pre-work for you to start establishing your rapport and credibility within your company.
Use your network.
Take advantage of your connections, your mentors, and supporters. It is essential that you have other professionals and prominent people from your industry beat the drum for you as a testament to your skills and accomplishments.
Track and promote your accomplishments.
Use meetings, one-to-one conversations, the power of LinkedIn to highlight your progress through the years. This not only helps you with your current job but also puts a good word out there for future employment opportunities.
Ask for what you want.
If you feel you are ready for a promotion, talk to your managers about it. Even if you have been working with them closely and you assume they know everything, it is always important to refresh their memory on how integral you have been to the team.
Seek feedback and work on it.
If you have been turned down for a promotion, seek feedback as a way to let your employers know that you are serious about your work and you are ready to make improvements wherever necessary to do your job effectively.
Take that feedback and work on it, once you have tried and tested their feedback, go back with results showing your commitment and promise to your job role.
Share your honest opinions.
Be authentic and honest when sharing your opinions. If you have been asked for feedback, be sincere about it. When your teammate reaches out to you for help, listen actively and share your honest feedback.
If your boss asks you for your opinion on something important, it's a clear sign that they trust your judgment and are interested in listening to your honest opinion.
Build your credibility.
Be consistent as you build your credibility, the combination of everything mentioned above will lead to people promoting your work for you. Understand what you wish to be known for in your career, what sort of expert you want to be, and focus on that while promoting your skills and building your credibility.
Change your strategy as you make progress, what worked for you before might not work for you as you switch your roles, your teams, your boss. So constantly be aware of growing your network and make sure you are connecting with the relevant people at the right time.
- The Other Working Woman
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