I’ve always believed – and acted on the belief- that the best managers are the ones that started working on the front lines of a company. They truly understand the perspective of their employees because they have done the work themselves. But how many times should a person have to hang out on the bottom rung of the work ladder before they’ve banked some credibility? Is it anytime you change departments or job functions? What about if you move from one company to another?
I took these questions to learned ones on the World Wide Web and found a couple of thoughts. Given the present economy, most of the articles are about how to keep your job instead of how to move up in your job, but there were a couple of notable ideas.
The Guardian’s job site told me that “there’s no shame in making tea,” especially if I want a job in media. You have to start at the bottom and work your up by looking for internal postings, becoming skilled in different facets of your industry and showing a passion for leadership and movement. That’s logical enough and I think most people who are in the work-world can add a check to this on their work to-do list. JobBite.com had similar words of encouragement and told me to “pull the trigger” if I want to change careers, but just don’t be afraid to start at the bottom.
However, the real jewels of information came from an article that Michelle Goodman wrote in 2006 for the Seattle Times, titled “Smashing Career-Changing Myths.” Myths 3 and 5 get right to the heart of my question and the answer is … be patient. She says that, “when it comes to career happiness, impatience is the kiss of death.” Furthermore, I should try a bunch of jobs in my 20’s and early 30’s to see which ones are a good fit, but be patient when it comes to success. Apparently, the 30’s are the new 20’s even in the work world.
Although my research didn’t exactly answer my question, apparently this thought is on the minds of plenty of other “young professionals” out there. Real-life stories of people actually being hired above the bottom rung may just have to satiate my hunger for this question. So if you have a personal tale or even a story of a friend-of-a-friend, fill me in.
