Ways and Challenges in Carrier Advancement
It is everybody’s vision to be successful in life. That is why we struggle in education and training so that we can secure a better job in a company of our choice. However progressing up to your dream position is a process and may take days, weeks, months, or even years. Your path to your dream carrier may be straight or curved depending on your education level, your background, people you associate yourself with, and your mindset (Shaw, 2019). Therefore, this paper constitutes a case study of why Scott did not approach his immediate supervisor for advice and ways through which she will use to advance her carrier.
Her supervisor is a Narcissist and also takes credit for other people’s work. Such kinds of bosses embrace themselves and don’t appreciate other people’s work and teamwork. They don’t care about their employee’s life and well-being; instead, the mind on how they look and appear to other executive staff. These supervisors do not mind effort put across or working hours spent in coming up with a certain project, what they want is great work to appear unique without engaging the whole team that came together to deliver the results (Shaw, 2019).
The supervisor is a poor communicator and a terrible listener (Shaw, 2019). This type of supervisor gives wrong instructions and at the same time expects great results and the moment they are corrected about the instructions, they hit back with statements such as ‘I have more experience, I know what I’m saying.’ The worst thing is that when such instructions are executed and done as the supervisor instructed and the end product is not fulfilling, the blame on the workers. Such supervisors are terrible carrier advisors.
The supervisor is a bully and unapologetic. This supervisor oversees the functions of their department through intimidation and fear instead of offering guidance. They create a culture of fear, nervousness, and distrust. Due to this, workers are so worried about being sacked from their jobs. In extreme cases, the bullying might enhance behavior such as lying about people in their absence and leading campaigns to turn friends into enemies. This kind of boss does not realize their mistakes, and thus they do not offer apologies. This kind of boss is not easy to talk to this hard to seek advice from.
Her supervisor exercises micromanaging and always promote the wrong person. This kind of supervisor is ever looking at your job performance and every decision you decide to make. Such bosses ask even for basic information and inhibit creativity and innovation in a given organization (Shaw, 2019). They demand the execution of duties and reporting of the task performed on a timely basis. The supervisor that frequently promotes wrong people are not people who could give you advice on how working hard can bring carrier advancement.
On the other hand, for Scott to be ready for carrier advancement, she must address the following queries.
She should conduct a self-assessment of her work. This entails checking at work output, quality of work performed, attitude towards customers, coworkers and boss, and work ethic. This is well achieved by writing a personal resume for an interesting position. From this evaluation, she will identify her strengths and weaknesses and focus all attention on the weaknesses to change or improve them (Virdia, & Schindler, 2019).
For a good transition from her current work to a better position, she needs to formulate a good working plan and volunteer for additional tasks. This involves a well-formulated strategic plan that entails things that she is going to work on and how she is going to accomplish them (Jauhar, & Lau, 2018). By asking for more work in the current position shows desire and interest to help the department achieve more and also shows your importance to the organization.
To fit well to a higher position in the organization she has to further her education in the field of her choice in this case accounting. Her current education level, training, and skills are what secured her a job in the current department and position (Jauhar, & Lau, 2018). So to climb up the ladder, additional effort in education and training in her favorite field is an added advantage in getting a promotion.
By establishing a gap in management through exploring different opportunities in the department increases her chances of carrier advancement. It is the easiest ways to get a promotion into a higher position. This is done by identifying a strategic gap in the management that requires urgent filling (Virdia, & Schindler, 2019). After identification, then she should write a proposal to the management showing why filling the position is important and why she is the best candidate for it. Even if the position is rejected, she will have demonstrated her creativity and value in the firm.
In summary, there are several characteristics of bad supervisors which makes them unfavorable to be good mentors. They include bullies, narcissists, micromanagers, unapologetic and so on. To be prepared for carrier advancement, you should create a strategic plan, further your studies, be creative and always stay positive.
References
Jauhar, J., & Lau, V. (2018). The’Glass Ceiling’and Women’s Career Advancement to Top Management: The Moderating Effect of Social Support. Global Business and Management Research, 10(1), 163-178.
Shaw, K. L. (2019). Bosses matter: The effects of managers on workers’ performance. IZA World of Labor.
Virdia, S., & Schindler, S. (2019). Educational upgrading, career advancement, and social inequality development from a life-course perspective in Germany. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility.