Every career reaches a turning point. This point requires you to analyze what you want out of your career and to start truly taking steps forward. No longer can you, or should you go with the flow and go where your options take you. At a certain point, you need to take charge. This is how you will get the most out of your career and your personal life.
Taking your career to the next level can also mean going from working as a specialist to a leader. It could mean starting your own business. It could mean adding additional skills to forge your own way forward.
You will learn more about yourself, your interests, your passions, and your strengths, and you will need to use that new knowledge to redirect your career to the next level:
Great Ways to Move Forward
There are many great ways to take your career to the next level:
Working Your Way into an Executive Position
The first option is to transition into an executive-level position. Instead of a team, you'll want to manage a department, and then instead of a department, a division, all the way up to CEO. Executive-level management is a huge step, and being the top of your field isn't enough to make that transition. You'll also want business and managerial skills and to use networking to help you either win those internal promotions or to work your way up from new job to new job.
Finding the Right Organization
Sometimes it isn't the role you do, but the company that you work for. For example, if you are a top-notch marketer but don't find the industry that you work for interesting. By changing tracks and finding an organization that you are passionate about, you can enjoy a renewed interest in your own career and have the passion and incentive to excel once again.
Starting Your Own Business
Starting your own business is one of the best ways to customize your career exactly how you want it. Not only will you be your own boss, but you can create a unique company model that allows you to work off of your strengths and interests. There are so many great options out there and so many new ways forward. However, you won't want to jump into this new idea without preparation. Do your research, create a strong business model, acquire the funding that you need, and always get help when and where you need it.
Diversifying Your Incomes
This option is a great idea for everyone and should be done regardless of how you want to handle your main career path. Investments, passive incomes, and even investing more time in your hobby and making something of a side gig for yourself are all excellent ways that you can improve your income and your stability. Diversifying your income can help you now and throughout your retirement, and it can also help support you while you make big transitions.
Building Up the Missing Skills
When it comes to taking your career to the next level, one of the biggest issues will be a lack of skills and knowledge. Generally speaking, moving forward means taking on more leadership responsibilities. Perhaps for a team, perhaps for a whole company. It's okay not to have these skills, especially if you worked as a specialist and have a unique set of skills that can help you stand out either as an employee or as a company, but you need to learn.
One of the best options for those in this stage of their careers is to earn an online MBA. MBAs are used by professionals of all backgrounds, especially those with STEM-based specializations like engineering. The MBA will help you make great managerial decisions, help build up your skills with finance management and managerial accounting, and help you manage teams of people better. You can even customize your degree further with a certification in modern business practices, global leadership, healthcare management, operations management, or supply chain management (levels I and II).
For those who are STEM specialists like engineers, you may even be able to earn more than one degree in just a few extra courses. Engineers, for example, can earn a Master's in engineering management or a Master's in operations management and their MBA in just two years.
With a learn today, use tomorrow approach, you can easily start putting what you learn in your MBA to work, allowing you to make significant progress towards your next career goal.
