When you begin a new job, whether you’re a college graduate working with a large financial firm or an apprentice training to be an electrician, know that your current and future work will be much more important to your career trajectory than the reasons you were hired.

“There’s a tendency for first-time employees – especially college grads – to think that they’ll have a natural path to a promotion, that the next job is waiting for them because of the job they were currently hired for,” says career adviser Niles Smith, who works with financial executives in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. “You’re hired to do one job and regardless of how good you are at that job, it doesn’t mean you’re qualified by any means to do the job above that one, and if you want a promotion, you have to prove that you’re ready for the job you want, not the one you have.”

And when do you begin proving you’re ready for the next step forward in your career? The first day on the job, according to Smith. “People are looking for immediate assurance that they hired the right person,” he says.

Smith says promotions don’t happen automatically. “The days of ‘you did a good job. We’re giving you a raise and a new title’ are over, if they ever even existed at all,” Smith says. “If you want a promotion today, you’ll need to fully understand the job you want and what your employer is looking for.”

Fill the gaps

Most employees spend the bulk of their work focusing on the nuts and bolts of their job. That’s fine, says Smith, “as long as you want to keep working on those same nuts and bolts for the next 10 years.”

If you don’t, Smith suggests taking a hard look at what your boss does or what they are supposed to do,” he says. “Look at job descriptions within your company and at other similar companies. If you know your boss is planning on leaving – or even if you share a strong relationship – go ahead and ask. You may be unaware of the financial planning that’s done or the business proposals that are required, and if you have no experience in those fields, you’ll have to get some.”

Learn when you can

Smith says even difficult bosses can provide opportunities. “I worked for someone who didn’t want to pass off any of his duties because he always felt threatened, especially by the women in the office,” says Ramona Perez, a 41-year-old production manager in Naperville, Illinois. “I realized I’d never get any new assignments from him so I tactfully went around him. I asked some of my peers what he did and how he did it, but it got back to him, so I guess I wasn’t so tactful.”

Perez’s boss actually brought it up with the company’s HR department. Instead of chastising Perez, they enrolled her in a series of online courses in project management.

Smith says most HR departments do; if they don’t, you can look for appropriate classes independently. “At the very least, your HR department should give you a job description,” Smith says. “You can look for classes that can help you sharpen your skills as well as mentors who can assist you in doing so.”

Tribune News Service