Have you ever felt that advancement in your career or earning potential was more about who you knew than what you could do? Let’s face it: office politics, social connections, and the development of your reputation sometimes feel as though they define your success more than anything else. We all know that people often fail upwards in their jobs, which is why sometimes those at the top of an organization are not more talented than those working at the bottom.
Regardless, it is possible to advance your career without being fake, posting endless self-aggrandizing updates on LinkedIn, or lying to people. It might take a little time to let your actions speak much louder than your words, but ultimately, this can help improve your earning potential more than anything else.
But how can you invest in the little practices, habits, and developments that help you squeeze the most out of your earning potential? Let’s consider that, below:
Improve Your Income Earning Potential
By Learning New Skillsets
Get Your First Aid Qualifications
The current first aid certification on your CV provides an often overlooked career advantage. Of course, it could help save someone’s life, arguably more important than a few thousand extra per year. Qualifying in CPR & first aid demonstrates you’ve taken the initiative to develop valuable emergency response skills outside your core job responsibilities. However, those skills could still be helpful; an employer will look at them fondly.
After all, many employers appreciate staff trained in properly handling basic injuries, performing CPR, and utilizing emergency equipment should situations arise. After all, it could be them you save, and that isn’t lost on a sharp recruiter. Getting certified is also a relatively quick, inexpensive way to enhance your professional development portfolio with credentials that someone almost identical to your skillset might not be able to match.
Consider Certifications & Optional Training Courses
It’s easy to coast once we’re relatively comfortable in a position, and there’s nothing wrong with working hard at your job and then going home. But if you don’t allow your education to stagnate at just the mandatory workplace training pace, you might be able to adopt many more paid-for certifications.
This might involve placement tasks or coursework that align with your current job role and future career trajectory in the direction you’re interested in. It could be an advanced data analysis certification showcasing capabilities with programs like Excel at the advanced level or even a creative suite.
You might hope to gain a full marketing certificate after working in that space for a while… Rounding out your qualifications this way shows a self-motivated attitude towards continuous learning and connection – something managers appreciate when choosing their next hire. What’s more, you may be able to get paid for taking these courses on company time – it can’t hurt to see what’s available.
Negotiate Your Salary
One reason most people don’t ask for a raise is that it seems rude. Most people don’t sit down with someone outside of their family and ask them for more money continually, especially because it feels like a personal request. Moreover, you agreed to a salary or might have had a mandated rise last year.
Despite being an uncomfortable conversation, you can absolutely negotiate salary throughout your career – both during the initial hiring process and later on during performance review cycles when appropriate. There’s no shame in it; the worst they can say is no.
Taking the time beforehand to research typical pay ranges for professionals with similar roles, expertise levels, and years of experience provides a little background. If you feel you’ve been going above and beyond, well, that in itself is worthwhile. You can then calmly present a case for why your skillset and background are justification for compensation at the higher end of that range. Remember, it costs so much more for you to leave and for them to rehire and train an individual at your level, so sometimes their acceptance is just the natural option.
Also, don’t listen when company leads suggest it’s bad practice to discuss salaries with your colleagues. You deserve to know what other people are being paid. If someone on your team is on 5k more than you despite doing the same job, well, you deserve to begin negotiating again.
Move (Or Search For) Jobs Every Few Years
Staying at the same job forever is pretty rare these days. Most people tend to switch companies every couple of years to unlock bigger salaries and to get a good deal of experience. Instead of staying stagnant in one position long-term, it can be inspiring to start looking around after building up some good experience.
Now, jobs don’t always fall from trees, so if you need to stay and prefer stability, that’s absolutely fair, too. But there’s no harm in searching for comparable roles at other places that could offer higher salaries and better compensation packages that fit your new experience.
Having an attractive job offer from the outside gives you major leverage, too, whether negotiating a prior salary increase or leaving a toxic workplace. So while constantly job-hopping every year isn’t ideal, it’s perfectly normal to make strategic moves every 2-3 years. That puts you in a strong position to refresh your income as skills and experience levels rise. It’s also quite exciting, making sure you never feel trapped at a particular desk.
Make Use Of Compensation & Benefits
It’s easy to fixate solely on salary numbers during job negotiations and reviews. However, experienced professionals know to look at their employer’s complete compensation package. Way more valuable perks and benefits are baked into that package than just your paycheck, be that private healthcare or company care.
Depending on where you work, that could also include stock options that could be worth serious money someday. In fact, employees at Nvidia are becoming rich from the ballooning success they’re enjoying. As discussed above, using professional development funds to cover training costs can help, too. You might even get performance bonuses for hitting targets. A great pension, many days off, remote work (which saves a great deal of time and money on commuting)—well, it all adds up.
All these extras add up big time in the overall value extracted from your job. Someone offering a slightly higher flat salary might actually net you less than a gig with an incredible benefits program you can maximize compared to others in your industry. For example, government jobs are known to have good job security and pensions, and that might be worth it. Simply leaving benefits like that on the table is tantamount to leaving money, savings, and advantages on the table.
So, if your salary is stagnant, renegotiate your benefits package. You might be surprised at the results.
Yes, Networking Helps
You don’t have to play the aforementioned corporate game of kissing up to your superiors and never putting a foot wrong to benefit from networking. You don’t need to post 10 fawning status updates on LinkedIn to become noticed within your group of colleagues.
Simply remain dedicated, focused, and pleasant to be around. Head to a staff event or two, even if you’re not super duper enthusiastic about every single cultural work event. These little approaches can help you gain a leg up over someone who refuses to engage at all, and of course, it’s just human nature to raise up people we’d like to work with. Consider this a professional strategy if you can’t muster the enthusiasm to be a mouthpiece for “company culture.” It should benefit you in the end.
With this advice, we hope you can improve your earning potential more easily, even without playing “the corporate game.”
