• Menu
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary navigation
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

College Magazine

College Life, Dating, Career & Campus Advice

  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • Colleges
    • College Guides
    • College Rankings
    • Campus Life
      • Academics
      • Dating
      • Freshman Year
      • Health
      • Social Change
      • Party
  • Majors
    • All Majors
    • Most Popular Majors
    • Choosing a Major
  • Intern
    • Internship Directory
    • How to Get an Internship
    • How to Write a Resume
    • How to Write a Cover Letter
    • How to Interview
    • How to Network
    • Career 101
    • Find Your Passion Career
  • Money
    • How to Make Money
    • How to Save Money
    • How to Get a Job
    • Credit Cards 101
    • FAFSA
    • Ramen Project
  • Travel
    • Study Abroad
    • College Spring Break
    • How to Travel Cheap
    • Things to Do
  • Shop
    • Writer Course
    • College Magazine Shop
    • Gift Guides
    • College Packing List
  • Find your college or university
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

You are here: Home / Career / 7 Insider Tips on How to Climb the Corporate Ladder

7 Insider Tips on How to Climb the Corporate Ladder

November 13, 2020 //  by Cameron Opartkiettikul

Shares7FacebookTweet

You finally entered the corporate workforce, but have no idea how to progress further? In these interviews with working professionals from the finance, customer service and technology industries they provide newbies with advice. 

Read on for the seven insider tips you need in your arsenal to climb the corporate ladder.

1. Communication proves KEY

corporate
giphy.com

The skill of being able to communicate efficiently on a daily basis can increase the effectiveness of any work you do.

“A lot of the time what I’m required to do is to get a holistic view. In other words, I have my own piece, that person has their own piece, but we need to combine them to get a meaningful picture. But it’s not just that one other person, it’s like ten other people, so a lot of communication, a lot of emails, and zoom calls,” Financial Consultant at Meltwater, Mitchell Chu said.

Without the right level of communicative efficiency, your work will become even more difficult. Knowing how to talk to people can expedite processes—and reduce headaches. 

2. Always Stay Open to Learning

corporate
giphy.com

Oftentimes, jobs in certain fields require you to continually learn the best practices or knowledge, or the job itself might appear as a “learn everything on the job” case.

“I have to learn new coding languages and softwares and apply them in a real world sense where there is real money at stake. That’s part of the job though. It’s being able to adapt and use whatever technology is best for the task at hand,” Software Engineer at Splunk, Brian Yoon said.

This can seem like a drag at first, but you can also regard things like this as an awesome opportunity to learn different skills that maintain your competitiveness in the field and can come in handy in the future. If your job demands you to learn more then see that as a plus; having a job that teaches you nothing new remains worthless. 

3. Take Initiative

corporate
giphy.com

While first entering the workforce, one of the things you must learn includes that if you want something then go for it, take the necessary steps.

“I think the most important things are to be open to taking on different side projects and learning about different roles within the company. For instance, expressing a willingness to learn about other teams and taking interest in other projects that don’t directly involve your role. That will ultimately help you to advance,” Customer Service Representative at Weave, Phoebe Johnson said. “Somebody else on my team who started in the same role as me started expressing interest in wanting to train people or interact more with new hires, so now she’s transitioning into a new role that they created for her. As I see that I’m like okay she got to that place not because she is particularly better at anything, but just because she communicated what she wanted to do and was open to taking on more side projects.”

No one will baby you in the real world and rarely will someone ask you what you would rather do. By making your voice heard and contributing to the company in different ways you can carve a better path for yourself, especially if you currently find yourself in a less than ideal entry-level position. 

4. Embody Cooperation and Compassion

corporate
giphy.com

Empathy proves crucial to working with people because if everyone feels misunderstood, you find yourself stranded with a dysfunctional team.

“The most important quality is being able to put yourself in the other person’s shoes. You need to be able to see the entire team and see what the needs of those people are so that you are able to work with them as a team. You’re a valuable member and everyone else is and there will always come a time where you need to cooperate and collaborate, so it really helps to kind of see where you guys are as a team. Next time when that person needs help you’re able to give them help and together you can do something more valuable than you alone getting your work done,” Chu said.

By remaining cognizant of other people’s needs you can better prepare yourself to help them as well as become aware of not only why your own tasks appear difficult, but also how everyone finds themselves struggling to some extent. Acknowledging the team as a whole can produce better performance results. 

5. Learn to Deal with Work-place Drama

corporate
giphy.com

Sometimes, you’ll encounter discouraging situations as you deal with the chaotic people around you. “With customer support a lot of the time if they’re texting or emailing it’s because they have a problem. They are usually irrationally angry or feel justified to be really mean because they don’t see us as a person but as a company. Even when making simple requests they’ll yell. I didn’t expect it to be hard to separate that from me as a person: to not take it personally outside of work or not think that I’m doing a bad job or I’m not good at it because a customer is yelling or saying different things,” Johnson said. Even if you don’t handle public interactions, thriving in the workplace always entails conflict and tension to some capacity. Although inevitable, having the maturity to not let drama affect your work, can also help you take care of your mental health.

6, Stay Humble

corporate
giphy.com

No one likes a stuck up snob and pretentiousness usually scares away people anyway. “In the tech industry one thing that wouldn’t be immediately clear, but is important to moving up is interpersonal skills. Being able to work with people and bring your problems in an understandable way so that other people can help as well as assist with other people’s problems. That’s the most important part of advancing in a tech company. It’s not exactly how spaceline smart or talented you are,” Yoon said. “It’s just how willing you are to work with people because there’s always going to be people smarter than you. The best way to grow is being willing to accept help from people who are smarter and they will also show you how best to grow in the context of your company as well as extending that help to people who are not at your level yet so that you also get a better grasp of your own material.” Everyone out here wants to move up the ladder, so instead of engaging in gruesome competition, help each other out and do so willingly. 

7. Advocate for Yourself

corporate
giphy.com

If you don’t speak up for yourself, who will?

“I mean, it’s just the amount of work that you’re doing and the difficulty of tasks. If that changes then your pay should change too. Like you come in with a certain workload, level, and expectation and you sign up to get that much pay, but in six months if you end up doing more complicated projects or you’re taking on different things that go beyond the initial job description, well, now your position is more advanced and you’re taking on things that require more thought and skill. You should be compensated for that and it shouldn’t just be like I’m in the same role so I’m going to get paid the same forever. Your pay should grow as you grow and you become more of an asset to the company,” Johnson said.

Know your worth and speak for it because no one will advocate for you unless you do. Asking for what you want can always be a difficult thing because we’ve grown used to complying, but there comes a point where you realize you deserve fair pay! 

And there you have it — hopefully, you learn a thing or two from these interviewees. Some key takeaways definitely include growing in your capacity to work in a team, taking initiative and control over what you want to do and getting your ego out of the way. Best of luck to those building their careers!

Shares7FacebookTweet

Filed Under: Career Jobs & Internships

About Cameron Opartkiettikul

Cameron Opartkiettikul is an English major at UC Berkeley (class of 2022) and knows the whole alphabet. If he wasn’t a college student, he would be a YouTuber doing an eating show (aka mukbangs) just so he can have an excuse to always get boba, lattes and watermelon.

You May Also Like

Top 10 Things To Keep in Mind When Asking for a Reference Letter

Finding Yourself Through Professors and Pandemics 

Painting strokes image

CM Creates: How to Become a Professional Painter

5 Tips for Getting Your Social Media Ready for the Professional World

resume styles

College Magazine’s Guide to Resume Styles for Landing the Job

Community College Professor walks through the halls

Higher Education: Why Teaching Community College Makes the Ideal Career

College Magazine’s Guide to the Engineering Major

Writer

How to Use Your Creative Writing Degree: 10 Tips and Tricks

corporate

7 Insider Tips on How to Climb the Corporate Ladder

career development

How Your College Career Center Can Land You a Job During COVID-19

how to become a software engineer

College Magazine’s Guide to Becoming a Software Engineer

CM Guide Health Science

College Magazine’s Guide to the Health Science Major

Overview of three people at a desk working

Work in the Way? 10 Guilt-Free Reasons To Leave Your Job

10 Office Ethics Commandments That Apply to Daily Life

What Is a Good Credit Score and How Do I Get One of Those?

10 Invaluable Skills You Get from Learning and Working Virtually

future teacher

CM’s Ultimate Guide to the English Education Major

Finance Managers

Become the Next Warren Buffett: CM’s Guide to Portfolio Management

cover letter

The Cover Letter: Your Secret Weapon into the Professional World

peace corps

Top 10 Well-Kept Secrets to Succeeding in the Peace Corps

online portfolio

10 Steps to Building an Impressive Online Portfolio in 2020

woman on the phone

Bridge the Gap: CM’s Guide to the Interpreting Profession

internships

How To Make Your Internship Work For You

professionals working together

CM’s Guide to the Public Relations Major

Previous Post: «election From History Hater to Political Junkie: How Election Night Changed My Life
Next Post: College Magazine’s Top 10 Colleges for Sports Law for 2020 »

Primary Sidebar



Trending Posts

94

10 St. John’s University Finals Activities to Help You De-Stress

mental health
78

Pandemic and Academic Blues: Being Aware of Your Mental Health

60

24 Ways My 2020 Survival Guide Turned into 2021 Lifestyle Habits

55

The Ultimate Auburn University Bucket List: 21 Things to Do Before Graduating

best classes
24

10 Best Classes You Need to Take at Drake University

Featured Chapter: St. John’s University

Footer

logo

College Magazine is the national daily guide to campus life. Our articles for college students feature university rankings of U.S. colleges, college guides, academic advice, college prep, career advice, student health and collegiate dating tips.

Written by students for students, by a team of journalists from universities nationwide, we’re on the pulse of the college experience.

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter

Colleges

  • College Guides
  • College Rankings
  • Campus life
  • Academics
  • Dating
  • Freshmen Year
  • Health
  • Party

Majors

  • All College Majors
  • Most Popular Majors
  • Choosing a Major

Intern

  • Internships Directory
  • How to Write a Resume
  • How to Write a Cover Letter
  • How to Interview
  • How to Get an Internship
  • How to Network

Money

  • How to Make Money
  • How to Save Money
  • How to Get a Job
  • Credit Cards 101
  • College Loans

Travel

  • Study Abroad
  • College Spring Break
  • How to Travel Cheap
  • Things to Do

Shop

  • College Packing List
  • Gift Guides
  • About Us
  • Team
  • Write
  • Apply
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sign Up
  • Advertise
  • My Account
  • Cart

Copyright © 2021 College Magazine · All Rights Reserved · Powered by BizBudding Inc.