So you're interested in career progression promotions and pay rises and how they're
related to each other and when you come into these discussions it's always a nervous time as you
don't know whether you're going to get negative feedback or whether the manager is going to
encourage you with what you're currently doing so it's always good to go and do with a plan
i'm going to give a brief discussion about what each one of them are and how they're related to
each other and how i approach them and something that's helped me throughout my 15 years experience
as a structural engineer hi my name is brendan i'm your structural engineer based in australia
i produce videos that help progress your career faster in the field of
structural engineering it's just some general engineering advice as well so let's get into it
so i'm going to go into detail about each one of these experiences however one thing i'm really
passionate about is separating career progression from both promotion and payrise discussions
as there's a lot of emotions brought into when you're discussing about promotions and pay rises
so it really clouds your judgment when you're looking at your career progression
which is the thing that really helps you out throughout your career
so if you can wherever possible try and separate them now yes they are related
and they do help you get to your goals however you should try and separate them as it will help
really help you focus on where you need to be going for your career progression and not cloud
it with the judgment of how you get that next pay rise or how do you get to the next promotion
now career progression what is it and what should it be focusing on and why should it be separated
from promotion and pay rises as I said it will help you get to your goals of that next promotion
and that next pay rise however there is little goals that you need to make along the way
through to achieve this and this is where your career progression discussions really come in
so for example as a structural engineer you do have you got those different types of designs have
you designed a post tension slab have you designed enough columns have you done a whole stability
model these are type of areas which you can say you want to focus on as a structural engineer
and when you get further in your career you can go i want to start running projects i want to start
managing that flow from project management i want to get that experience on quoting on projects
so these are different experiences that have different realms of
experience that you need to drill down on so this is really where you're having a discussion with
your manager saying i want to focus on these areas you want to discuss more broad range
of topics about areas you should be focusing on so you're not just focusing just on those
technical skills but potentially also focusing on those soft skills so helping managing clients
also helping quote for those projects so when you're having that career progression discussion
it's not just focusing on just one thing so it's not just focus on your technical skills and not
just focusing on your soft skills either as you need both of these to be successful however it's
broadening those experiences when you're at the start of your career i guess there'll be a lot
more technical base to try and get that broad experience across the different design fields or
when you're moving your leading career moving into more those soft skills like dealing with clients
quoting on projects and making sure that project is on budget however if you do bring it into those
different discussions with promotion and pay rises it clouds your judgment and doesn't make
you see the real goal of what you're trying to achieve as you do not want to be just focusing
on that next promotion and pay rise as it does take time and you need to show your dedication
another area is having those little discussions with your manager off to the side during the year
so it's not just that one mid-year or end-of-year discussion with your manager
having little discussions having little check-ins with them they do not need to be formal but saying
look i think i'm missing these type of experiences this will show you that you are dedicated towards
your career and it will actually help you in those next discussions as they say that you're really
serious about progressing your career and helping out the company so when you're talking about
career progression it's not even just focusing just on different type of experience on project
work although that does help there may be outside courses that you may be able to go on that may
actually help you progress your career as well so looking out for those different opportunities and
asking your manager is this something i should be focusing on the company may actually offer
to help pay for some of that or they might even have internal courses that you can go
on to help you around by having these discussions again it's it's about you looking to progress
your career the way you want to go there's your manager does not know what you want to focus on
it's something that you need to take into your own hands as you do have a long career
and you want to make sure that you're focusing on the right stuff something that you enjoy
now how about pay rises this is already a touchy subject both for your manager
and for yourself as well as they want to try and get you for as least as possible
so you need to do a couple of things and it's about forward planning
as a lot of time once you've come to that meeting it's really too late as they've already allocated
their pay rises to different areas then they may have some budget to move but it'd be very limited
so what you want to be doing is is talking to your manager planting that seed in their mind
not going directly at and asking them for that pay rise necessarily before you go into those meetings
but showing them that you are dedicated and that you've done additional responsibilities that have
helped the company and have grown value to that company so when you come and have that discussion
with them you can lay them down saying this is the things that i've done and that i've taken on
additional responsibilities and i feel that i've added a benefit to the company now this will not
always work and so potentially when you're in those meetings they're saying well what can i
do to get that next position because i really think i'm valued however what additional things
can i do to help you out to try and get that additional pay rise that you're looking for
pay rises are also not just about working hard although that is really critical aspect it's about
a couple of things you need to add value to the company but also then go out to them and say this
is what i want to do showing them that you are a go-getter and that for them to keep you they need
to give you that additional asset so it's about you going to them and saying this is what I want
to achieve this is what I want to get out of my career I've been trying to help out the company
add additional value as well and then I feel that I'm actually worth more so it's about telling them
about your feelings and then potentially they will come back and say look we don't have money at the
time or some other reasons we're saying then what can i do to prove to you that i am value to that
so setting some little goals and then potentially coming back in a couple of months time and saying
i've achieved those goals have i not achieved those goals and that way you've got some sort of
recourse to go back and forth and some way to aim for that additional pay rise what it
is and this is really what i emphasize is that you improving their value to the company as
they do have a limited pool and companies are not charities they need to earn money so you need to
prove to them about why you should get paid more and that the benefit that you're adding to them
as potentially they can go out and find someone else and that someone else may be cheaper but are
they as good as you so it's about you adding that additional value and making yourself invaluable to
that company so it's really a two-way street here as you need to show them about why you should get
paid more and but you got to realize that they are a business they are there to make money
and that you are not there just along for the ride you need to show them that you want to
try and help promote them as a company and add value to them and not just skip them out when
we get to the next role as some people may and say you are dedicated to that company
so there is a couple of things you need to do is about talking to your manager about what problems
do you have that i can potentially solve how can i add additional value to the company and you
may even be looking around about different areas that you can focus on to help that and it's about
you coming out and coming to them and saying this is what i've added to you and i think
that has added additional value to the company and letting them know do you disagree or not now
how about promotions now promotions are probably one of your biggest assets to get that pay rise
as it makes it a lot easier for your manager to come saying look they've taken on different
responsibilities we feel that they've stepped up and they've got that to the next position
so when you're going for that promotion and you think you're going to get there
it's about doing a lot of research before you get in that door as you want to know what type of pay
rise do you want to get out of this and this is really your biggest time to negotiate with them
because of those two reasons is that you have taken on that decision responsibility they've
shown that by giving you that promotion as they've seen yes you are stepped up to the next role
and also for your managers it's easier for them to go to the other people and say well he has taken
those additional responsibilities on and he's earned it and he's got that promotion so it's
a lot easier for them to get that acceptance through the different charts and now if you
are going for that promotion and you are talking to your manager about it again it's about taking
on those responsibilities before you actually get there as you need to prove yourself that you have
stepped up to that next position that you are valued and that you have done those additional
roles and you can achieve them successfully it's not about just getting that additional
promotion and then stepping up did you really need to do this before now promotions are also
done well and truly before you've gone into that door so you want to be drilling down
throughout the whole year showing you them you're dedicated stepping up wherever you can asking for
those additional responsibilities taking on those additional responsibilities throughout the year
helping out your manager through little different problems that he has it's all about separating
those career progression discussions from you both your pay rises and promotion discussions because
if you do blur them it doesn't make you focus on each one of them and it brings the emotions in
especially about pay rises which can confuse you and not help you progress your career further so
i would recommend you wherever possible separate these discussions in your mind and separate these
discussions with your manager as this will both help you progress your career faster
because yes career progression is your key aspect and it will help you get those pay
rises and promotions but there's potentially little steps you need to make along the way
and you do you want to make sure that you are focusing on achieving those little steps
instead of just trying to jump ahead to get that next position as it will hinder you in
the long run so if you have any other additional comments that can help people out when you're
having those discussions please comment below and if you do like these content please like
comment and subscribe i look forward to seeing you in the next episode and hope you enjoy
see you later see you in the next episode now as I said you want to separate your discussions between promotions and par rises