There are moments in every person’s career when progression or advancement feels stalled or somehow blocked. These experiences can reduce our motivation for and dull our sense of fulfillment and purpose in our work. Organizations can often facilitate learning and development activities to facilitate career-related exploration and growth. Sometimes it is possible to even build internal career pathways that can help employees see and understand how their careers can develop following a common set of stages or steps. Even when these types of options or tools are available, actively engaging in personal career development strategies is often the most powerful method for maintaining our career-related momentum. Though it may not always feel this way, there really are proactive steps we can take to further our own career growth, independent of any formal opportunities that may be offered by our employer or supervisor. By taking advantage of personal career development techniques that are within our control, we can find direction, overcome obstacles, and experience enhanced purpose, meaning, and fulfillment at work.
What are personal career development strategies?
Many of us tend to think of career development as what happens through formal training or other development opportunities offered by employers to help us do our current jobs better and perhaps advance via promotions over time. A common metaphor for this process is that of climbing a career ladder (Fernández-Aráoz, 2018), starting at a low level and then gradually working our way to a higher level. There are elements to this perspective that make sense and may accurately describe many people’s experiences with career development, but there are alternative and additional perspectives that also should be considered. By relying on an employer to guide or enable our professional growth, we run the risk of overlooking how important it is to exercise personal ownership and control over this important process.
Climbing the ladder to achieve traditional career-related outcomes like promotions, pay raises, and impressive job titles is not always an option for every employee, even within the most forward-thinking organizations. From a career ladder perspective, the main reason for this is that an employee can only advance or climb as high as the person or people who are on the rungs just above them. In higher education contexts especially, it is common to find that people who reach high rungs on this ladder tend to stay in those positions for extended periods of time. This makes it difficult and sometimes impossible for others who are behind or below to continue climbing. Upward movement is only possible in this type of scenario when someone steps off the top of the ladder (or moves to a different ladder altogether).
Given this, it can be helpful to expand the ways we think about our careers and explore alternative and more personally managed career development strategies. These include the following:
- Career lattice instead of career ladder mindset: One empowering perspective encourages us to think of career development in terms of a career lattice, rather than a career ladder (cf., California Roundtable on Educational Opportunity, 1985; McDonnell & Christensen, 1990). From this perspective, career development does not necessarily mean unidirectional, upwardly oriented growth or change. Instead, it may mean pursuing lateral, diagonal, upward, and downward job changes and opportunities to develop new knowledge and skills, increase experiences in different areas of an organization, or simply try something new. Lateral career movements refer to transitioning into new roles or positions within the same organization, typically in different departments, that offer similar responsibilities, titles, and compensation (Helvey, 2016). Career development within this model ends up being about pursuing opportunities to grow and develop in ways that align with personal career-related aspirations, not pre-determined or organizationally defined progressions. Research shows that lateral career movements are more common and beneficial than we might first think. Indeed, many successful executive level leaders were able to reach their positions because they recognized that lateral moves could broaden their skill set, re-energize their work and career-related dedication, and help them distinguish themselves from other candidates (Hamori, 2010). This is because lateral career movements can enhance your sense of personal satisfaction and allow you to challenge yourself and your abilities, strengthening your agility and promoting innovation. Moreover, moving to a similar role in a new department may open doors to promotions or pay raises that were not available in one’s existing or previous position.
- Job shadowing: Related to lateral movement, an often-overlooked strategy that can help with career growth is to seek out opportunities to shadow experienced employees who may work in an area that interests you. Through these types of perspective-enhancing experiences, it is sometimes possible to identify specific job or position changes, and/or learning and development needs and opportunities that can help you move your career forward in a way that suits you well. Job shadowing can allow you to gain practical knowledge about potentially new and worthwhile career options, which you may be able to take advantage of with a lateral career move (Castrillon, 2024).
- Demonstrating career-oriented initiative: Other ways of gaining some control over personal career growth include planning ahead, being proactive, developing a strong professional network, and focusing on developing transferable knowledge, skills, and competencies. As an example, consider constructing a five-year career plan for yourself, which will help you prioritize your transferable skills over ones that only apply to your current role or organization (detailed guidance for building this type of plan can be found at https://hbr.org/2023/09/how-to-develop-a-5-year-career-plan). Ensure that this plan is aligned with your passions and be honest with yourself about what you can improve on and what is holding you back.
- Seeking feedback: Gathering feedback from respected and trusted supervisors, peers, and significant others can also help with personal career development. You can start this type of conversation by asking these trusted contacts what they would suggest that you start, stop, or continue doing, and what steps they would take if they were in your shoes. Seeking mentorship and support in this way can help you understand what is possible and evaluate what makes the most sense for you. Detailed guidance for supervisors who want to discuss career development with their teams can be found at https://hbr.org/2023/03/how-to-talk-to-your-team-about-their-career-development. By exploring career development with significant others in your life, you will have the opportunity to consider how possible career development movements may impact you and the others who depend on your (at work and outside of work).
- Self-reflection: Finally, the importance of self-reflection during the career development process cannot be overemphasized. When we take the time to truly reflect on what we want from our careers, the way to get there often becomes clearer and more achievable. Evaluate where you are now, what is important to you in the long term, and how you define career and life success. While doing this, it is important to keep in mind that not all career-related movements or advancements lead to improvements in quality of life or feelings of success.
Why personal career development is important to TOH@UTC
A central tenet of the TOH@UTC initiative is Opportunities for Growth, which reflects the extent to which employees have access to resources they may need to learn and develop in and through their work. Facilitating personal career development is an important element to enhancing TOH, given that climbing the traditional career ladder is not a consistent option within higher education work environments. Moreover, taking initiative and ownership over your career development can have numerous benefits for your health and well-being at work. Those who take initiative over their career development are more likely to experience enhanced purpose, fulfillment, and motivation, as well as decreased career-related stress (Cast, 2018; Hamori, 2010). Outlining what you want from your career also may increase your self-confidence and perceived employability (Hamori, 2010). Each of these positive outcomes are key areas of emphasis within the Opportunities for Growth building block of the TOH@UTC initiative. We hope this brief blog post has provided some concepts and strategies that may expand how you consider ways of helping yourself and your colleagues to continue their career development journeys.
Recommended readings and additional resources about personal career development
- Cast, C. (2018, January 19). 6 ways to take control of your career development if your company doesn’t care about it. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/01/6-ways-to-take-control-of-your-career-development-if-your-company-doesnt-care-about-it.
- This article lists different ways to engage in personal career development and illustrates the positive outcomes of doing so.
- Castrillon, C. (2024, March 18). How to find a greater sense of purpose at work. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/carolinecastrillon/2024/03/17/how-to-find-a-greater-sense-of-purpose-at-work/.
- This author discusses the different ways someone can enhance their sense of meaning at work, including the significance of job shadowing.
- Fernández-Aráoz, C. (2018, September 27). The key to career growth: Surround yourself with people who will push you. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2018/09/the-key-to-career-growth-surround-yourself-with-people-who-will-push-you#:~:text=Don’t%20hesitate%20to%20ask,set%20yourself%20up%20for%20success.
- This article discusses the importance of holding each other accountable and supporting each other in our different professional journeys.
- Hamori, M. (2010, July). Managing yourself: Job-hopping to the top and other career fallacies. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2010/07/managing-yourself-job-hopping-to-the-top-and-other-career-fallacies.
- This author addresses and dismantles four common career misconceptions to encourage people to take charge of their career development.
- Heger, B. (2025, February 23). Internal mobility metrics and supporting practices. Talent Edge Weekly. https://reportds.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Internal+Mobility+Diagnostic+Tool+-+Talent+Edge+Weekly+Brian+Heger.pdf.
- This PDF offers insights on using internal mobility to boost career growth, retention, and skill development within organizations.
- Heger, B. (2025). Internal mobility diagnostic tool. Talent Edge Weekly. https://reportds.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/Internal+Mobility+Diagnostic+Tool+-+Talent+Edge+Weekly+Brian+Heger.pdf
- This PDF offers a diagnostic tool for evaluating internal mobility practices within an organization.
- Helvey, K. (2016, May 10). Don’t underestimate the power of lateral career moves for professional growth. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2016/05/dont-underestimate-the-power-of-lateral-career-moves-for-professional-growth.
- This article reviews research on the benefits of lateral career movements and offers guidance on how to promote lateral career movements within an organization.
Additional References
- California Roundtable on Educational Opportunity (1985). Teaching: Making it an effective and attractive profession (Report No. ISBN-0-87367-281-X).
- McDonnell, J. H., & Christensen, J. C. (1990). The career lattice – A model for structuring personalized staff development. In C. Heideman, P. Burke, & R. G. Heideman (Eds.), Programming for staff development: Fanning the flame (pp. 117-137). The Falmer Press.