We are stepping out of one era and into a new one where our careers are concerned. For years, we thought that our biggest career milestones were things like pay raises and promotions into management.
In the old days, we pegged our career success to other people’s decisions.
That’s why so many of us have been programmed to please any boss in sight. We were trained to desperately want our manager’s approval. What good is your manager’s approval? It will not carry over from one job to the next.
Your manager’s praise and gold stars only have any value at all in your current company. They are like gold coins you accumulate in a video game. They are worthless in the real world!
Now we are learning that there are career milestones that are far more valuable to you and long-lasting than becoming Employee of the Month or getting a gold pin to commemorate your fifth anniversary at work.
Those are old-millennium milestones. New-millennium career milestones are very different!
The 25 career milestones listed below are personal achievements you reach by yourself. They are yours. No boss or certifying body confers them on you.
You have to grow your career muscles for yourself, but once you have them no one can take them away. You carry them from job to job with you, and when your muscles get really big you may decide to start your own company.
Here are 25 career milestones worth celebrating!
25 Career Milestones Worth Celebrating
1. Starting your first full-time, career-type job. That’s a big step!
2. Hearing a customer, vendor or co-worker say, “You really know your stuff. Thanks for your help!”
3. Your first presentation to your team.
4. Your first business trip.
5. Your first time telling your boss something he or she didn’t want to hear.
6. Your first negotiation with a customer or vendor.
7. Your first time interviewing a job applicant or a consultant pitching your company on project.
8. Your first negotiation for yourself (e.g., your annual increase or extra vacation time).
9. Your first blog post.
10. Your first time speaking up in a group setting where your point of view was unpopular – but you spoke up anyway.
11. Your first time managing a project.
12. Your first solo business trip.
13. Your first process improvement — one you designed and championed yourself.
14. Your first published piece (maybe in a company newsletter or on its website).
5. Your first public speaking experience outside your own workplace.
16. Your first time participating in a hiring decision and salary negotiation.
17. Your first international business trip.
18. Your first time selling a big idea to your boss.
19. Your first time managing a team or committee to achieve a goal.
20. Your first time setting a boundary with your boss — for instance, around your personal time.
21. Your first time turning down a job offer because it didn’t meet your requirements.
22. Your first time managing a budget.
23. Your first time being referred to as a subject matter expert.
24. Your first successful stealth job search.
25. Your first independent consulting project, either alongside your full-time job or job search or in place of it.
When you get promoted or win an award at work, it’s a visible event. Other people can see it — but so what? You grow the biggest muscles when you step out of your comfort zone in the 25 ways listed above and hundreds of other ways.
Your new muscles aren’t visible when people look at you, but as you become more powerful everyone around you will feel the heat of your growing flame!
You can get a journal and write about the 25 milestones listed above and how to reach the ones that are important to you. Your path is your solitary journey. It is not the same as your employer’s plan for you, if they have one. Your own plan for yourself is far more important!
Liz Ryan is the CEO and founder of Human Workplace. Follow her on Twitter and read the rest of her Forbes.com columns here.
