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Career Advancement
Entry Level
You may have noticed in your research the words entry-level.
- What does that mean?
- An entry-level position means that you are beginning a career and will enter a job with little or no experience.
It is a great way to get on-the-job training. While you will be paid, it won't be as much as the median salary/wage you looked up in your research. Entry-level jobs are a starting point for your career.
Promotions
You may also have seen the terms promotion or advancement.
- What does this mean?
- You have to gain experience and knowledge in order to "move up the ladder" and be given extra duties and responsibilities.
Added duties and responsibilities also usually lead to promotions, more responsibilities, more prestige or higher status, and more money.
Work Your Way Up
Many careers require that you work your way up to your desired position or career.
- For example, a principal doesn't just get out of college and become a principal. He or she must teach first and must usually serve as an assistant principal before being promoted to principal. You can't automatically become the sales manager at a car dealership; you would have to at least be a car salesman first.
Career Ladder
Career ladders are diagrams that show how a worker can move through a career by getting additional knowledge and skills through education, training, or work experience.
Remember This
Remember that when you begin your career, you usually start at the bottom and earn the privilege of moving up in your career.
Career Ladder Example
Moving "up the ladder" doesn't happen as often as it has in the past. Look at the example of a career ladder.
Starting on the Career Ladder
In a career ladder, you might start out at a restaurant as a host or hostess making minimum wage, then begin to serve tables, become the manager of all the servers, then manage the whole restaurant, and finally open your own restaurant.
Career Web
Because so many careers are interrelated and people now change careers between 5 and 10 times in their lifetime, it is far more likely though that you will be involved in a career web.
Career Web Example
Look at the example of a career web.
Starting in a Career Web
In a career web, you might start out as a host or hostess and move to different positions within the restaurant, but after gaining experience, move to a different career or different kind of company. Each experience you have could lead to something else.
Career Opportunities
All of the boxes are connected or interrelated. You might start out as a hostess, move to cook, and end up as a nurse, or you might start out as a host or hostess in a restaurant and end up as a hotel manager or manager of a retail store. Who knew that getting a job as a host or hostess at a restaurant could lead to so many career opportunities?