One of my pet peeves is when I hear professionals (doesn’t matter the industry) use passive terms to describe the career situation. Let me give you an example, person says, “I want to move up in the company because I gave them all these years but they won’t give me a promotion.” UGH! Okay I get it, you want the dream. You want the fairy tale but listen to Maroon 5 as they sing their hit song “Payphone”, “All those fairy tales are full of sh*t..”

Maybe you’ve heard of someone who was given a promotion and you want that same thing. The acceptance and validation. Well buckle up buttercup, it ain’t happening. So take control of your career.  If you are not happy then get happy. Go after what you want aggressively. It’s no longer good enough to be smart. It’s no longer good enough to have references. It’s no longer good enough to be certified. You need all of that and a personality and a professional network. Good companies want it all; smart, attractive, highly sought after certified employees that have good personalities.

You cannot allow your employer to dictate your career path. If you’ve been dating your company for 4-5 years now and no one has approached you about upward mobility, let me tell you, they ain’t thinking about you. I hate to be the one to tell you but you are NOT in their future plans. They are just as content to let you come to work every day and do the same thing as you are coming to work doing the same thing.

You feel like you deserve better? Well deserves got nothing to do with it. Go after it.

It’s okay to have conversations about your career goals with your employer. Let it be known that you are looking for more money and challenges. Don’t be bashful and don’t be rude. You can have a lunch meeting with your superior and discuss career goals respectfully. You don’t have to give any ultimatums. Just have a conversation, but pay attention the politically jargon and direction of the conversation. If it doesn’t seem as if you all are talking the same language then dust off that resume and start looking for something else. If you are as good as you think you are, you will find it.