Entering the working world after graduating is intimidating and likely out of your comfort zone. As a young professional your resume is likely light, primarily filled with extracurricular activities, internships and summer jobs. You’ve adjusted to being a senior in college, part of the group that knows everyone and everything within your college bubble. In your new workplace, you’ll transition to the most junior person in the room and learning to adjust to the new culture. It’s tough, but with the right moves you can get quickly back on track to being recognized as knowledgeable and a leader within the team. No matter what industry you’re in, here are 10 pieces of career advice for young professionals to help you advance your career.

1. Get Promoted Quicker By Hustling At Your Job

Your lifetime earnings are decided in the first decade of your career. When you are a young professional you must make the first 10 years of your career count. Create a plan to double, triple or even quadruple your salary. Does that seem out of reach right now? Maybe, but you need to think big and set high goals. You’ll get farther setting high goals for yourself than if you set really achievable goals.

2. Make a 5 Year Plan

Technology changes quickly. Whether or not you work in the technology industry the changes to technology will impact your career. There are news articles about potential jobs that will be displaced by automation by 2030. It’s hard to know what the hottest jobs and best career paths will be 10-20 years down the line. Start mapping your career by making a 5 year plan. What skill sets do you want to acquire? What do you want to learn more about?

3. Advance Your Career Through Investing In Yourself

Don’t put yourself on the path where your job will be automated in the next 10 years. Always continue learning and acquiring additional skills. You’ve invested in yourself by attending college, but it doesn’t end there. There are other professional certifications and additional degrees that can significantly increase your earning potential. Investing in yourself in your 20s is easiest when you have fewer responsibilities. This can mean getting your MBA or another Masters degree, getting your CPA, CFA or PMP. It can also mean strengthening your soft skills such as communication skills and leadership skills.

Investing in yourself doesn’t have to cost money. If you work for a large corporation your team likely has money for training and internal training available. Some companies also offer LinkedIn Learning for free or you can subscribe for free for a month. Don’t hesitate to ask your manager about what training options you have available through your company, or what opportunities there are for external training / certifications. If the external training / certifications will help you in your current job your employer may be willing to partially or fully pay for it.

4. Expand Your Network At Your Company and In Your Industry To Unlock Career Opportunities

It’s important to surround yourself with people you admire. Find someone that has the job you want and learn from them. Surround yourself with people that you learn from, have positive attitudes and you enjoy being around.

Find advocates within your company. Many decisions will be made about your career when you aren’t in the room. Have people who are in that room that will advocate on your behalf. Don’t know who will be in the room? A likely place to start is the head of the division, their right hand, and their human resources business partner.

It’s equally as important to have a network outside your company. You are more likely to get a job through an employee referral and will have even greater odds if the person referring you is one of your sponsors. To build the network external to your company go through your Linked In contacts and see who you’re already connected with from school, neighbors, former coworkers, etc that work in the same industry as you. Then, reach out and ask to grab a coffee to catch up or ask to catch up on the phone. It’s best to periodically connect with your network and not wait until you need a favor.

It’s not just about what you know but who you know. How do you get put on the best projects? When you’re not happy with your job and want a change, can you pick up the phone and call someone who can help line up a job for you? You need to have both mentors and sponsors to give you advice and advocate on behalf of you.

Once you’ve assessed your current network, strategically network. This means now that you know what gaps you have in your current network, expand your network so that those gaps are filled. Starting with friends of friends or “2nd” connections on LinkedIn are the easiest places to start.

5. Advance Your Career Through Mentors and Sponsors

It’s important to have both mentors and sponsors in order to advance in your career. Mentors will help give you career advice when you don’t know how to navigate a situation and help guide you on topics you discuss. Think of a mentor like a coach. Many companies offer formal mentor programs that you can sign up to be a part of. Career advice is especially important for young professionals because the visibility you have so far is limited. Those with more experience or have greater visibility to the bigger picture can help you dream bigger.

Sponsors will advocate for you to be put on good projects, considered for new roles and for promotions. They will help push you in the right direction, put you in meetings to help you get executive visibility or expand your network. If they ever come to you about a job in their group, or with a referral to another job you know that person is one of your sponsors. The best piece of career advice for young professionals is to get a career sponsor early on.

See Also: Want to Advance Your Career? Get a Sponsor

6. Maintain Your Network

Young professionals spend time building their network. A key piece of career advice for young professionals is to maintain that network. Add connections on LinkedIn. Schedule coffees, lunches and drinks after work with current colleagues. Reach out to classmates that are in your industry often. It’s very easy to lose connections with classmates if you don’t live in the same area and as you get farther out from college. Check in with former colleagues from time to time as well. It takes a lot of effort to establish that sponsorship relationship. These are the connections you should work hardest at maintaining.

If you see an article that someone in your network may find interesting, send it to them. Or, if you have heard that they have a major life event change (such as a promotion, having a child, kid going to college, kid graduating college, etc) reach out and congratulate them. Know their birthday, put it in your calendar and text them happy birthday. Time flies by. Even if it’s been a few years since you’ve connected it won’t feel as out of the blue as you think. Keeping in periodic touch with your network helps maintain your network and keep additional career opportunities open.

See Also: Advantages of Working for a Large Corporation as a Young Professional

7. Say Yes to Attending Workplace Events

It’s important to build relationships at work. When you are invited to team building activities or holiday parties, attend them. If you do travel frequently for work go out for the breakfasts and dinners with the team.

When leaders or peers are traveling into town try to grab a coffee with them or a drink. As you advance in an organization, it’s more likely you travel and have the opportunity to build relationships with the coworkers you travel with. When you’re starting out, unless you are a consultant, it’s unlikely you have this opportunity. You need to create these opportunities for yourself.

Even if you are an introvert, try your best to attend a few work events. Attending for 30 minutes to say a quick hi and mingle is better than not attending at all.

8. Attend Conferences

Conferences provide an excellent opportunity to network and improve your skills. Women’s leadership development conferences will help you network with other women, how to get through barriers in the workplace that affect women and improve soft skills like leadership skills.

Other conferences, like industry conferences, will help you stay on top of the latest industry trends and network with other people in your industry. These conferences provide an excellent way to expand your network into other companies in the industry that you may want to work at one day. These conferences will also help your business acumen in your current job.

Don’t wait to be extended an offer to attend a women’s conference or an industry conference. Research what conferences interest you, find out if your company already sponsors other coworkers to attend and ask your manager if you’d be able to attend. The closer to the conference the less of a chance they will say yes as tickets sometimes sell out the same day they go on sale. But, this will put it on your managers radar that you’re interested in attending and open up the possibility of you attending a conference sooner than later.

9. Dress For the Job You Want

If you want to be a VP, you do not need to dress like a VP from day 1. You do, however, need to dress professionally. Professionally doesn’t mean suit and tie, it depends on how people dress in your office. When you first enter the workforce or if you naturally look “young” it is easy to be mistaken for an intern. Don’t wear something where someone will walk by and think you look sloppy. Spending money on clothes can sometimes be frowned upon, but in the context of work it should really be looked at as an investment (within reason). If you don’t know what to wear, Corporette is a blog focused on professional wardrobes and there are plenty of ideas on Pinterest as well.

You can buy nice work outfits from TJ Maxx or buy second hand and look professional. If work gives you a laptop bag with your laptop use that for a bit while you’re getting on your feet. From there, take advantage of Black Friday shopping at the outlets for a nice black tote bag. You do not need to start day 1 (or even year 2) with a Tory Burch or Goyard tote bag.

10. Figure Out What Work You Don’t Enjoy

The first decade of your career is as much about figuring out what you don’t like as figuring out what you do like. Do you want to be a manager or individual contributor? What projects do you like and what projects do you hate? Where would you never want to live? You don’t have to have this all figured out. But, you do need to begin to get a better understanding of what brings you joy, and what doesn’t. The best way to do this is to continuously try new things and step out of your comfort zone.

Hopefully you can find passion in your work and your job isn’t just a paycheck. If you aren’t passionate about what you do learn what you don’t like and what are areas you do enjoy. This will help you identify your next career move that you’ll find more happiness in.

Understanding what you don’t enjoy will help narrow the list to help you find your true calling.

See Also: Smart Money Moves in Your 20s

Career Advice for Young Professionals Summary

Set yourself up for success with this career advice for young professionals. Start by hustling at your job and make a 5 year plan. Continue investing in your education and network, network, network. Find a few mentors and sponsors to help coach you and advocate for you. Dress for the job you want, not the job you have. Lastly, don’t forget to learn more about what you like and what you don’t like.

What career advice do you recommend for young professionals? What do you wish you knew when you were just starting your career?

Having a career sponsor is critical if you want to advance your career. It’s not just about what you know but who you know. Many decisions will be made about your career when you aren’t in the room. It’s important to have people who are in that room that will advocate on your behalf. That room may be at your current company or at an external company. To advance your career faster, have sponsors at your company and other companies in the industry.

What Is A Sponsor For Career Development

A Sponsor is a person who will advocate for you. They are usually more senior in the organization and have an interest in helping you advance your career. Sponsors take a direct role in advocating for their protege and putting their reputation on the line. This includes making introductions to key connections and open doors that otherwise would not be open.

Sponsorship at work is important for everyone, but especially important for women and minorities to advance their careers. Barriers to advancement for women and minorities tend to be structural and rooted in unconscious bias. A sponsor can help break down these barriers. Sponsors do not need to be the same race or gender. Do look for ways to relate to a potential sponsor though. Is there anyone high up in the organization that graduated from the same college, from the same hometown or share similar hobbies? If not, no fear. Identifying how you can help your boss, peers or cross functional team succeed will also put you on the path to getting sponsors.

Sometimes mentor and sponsor are used interchangeably, but are they the same? No. Sponsors and mentors play key but different roles when it comes to advancing your career.

See Also: How Career Mentors Can Help Advance Your Career

How Do You Get a Sponsor For Career Development At Your Current Company

Sponsor relationships are almost always informal and the relationship takes time to form. Be patient. There are certain steps you can take to fast track sponsorship at work.

Leadership development programs will give you more visibility to senior leadership in a shorter time period. These leadership development programs tend to be for recent graduates or MBA students. Showing your ability to execute and responsiveness to feedback is critical. This will open the door for receiving advice from leaders in the organization. Continued interactions and continuing to provide value to the business will help turn these relationships into sponsorships.

Another step you can take is asking your manager for visibility to your skip level manager (your manager’s manager). This can include asking for a quarterly or semi- annual 1×1 with your skip level manager and being put on a high visibility project. Your skip level manager has greater responsibility and greater visibility to where the company and organization are going. If you show that you are a strong team member within the organization and share your career aspirations they are more likely to know if there will be an opportunity within the organization that meets your aspirations. They can also give you advice on what areas you should focus on to advance your career.

See Also: 10 Pieces of Career Advice for Young Professionals

How Do You Get a Sponsor For Career Development At Another Company

Finding a sponsor at another company doesn’t have to be difficult. If one of your sponsors leaves your current company and moves to another company all you need to do is maintain contact. You can periodically send them articles you think they’d be interested in, or if you know they have a certain milestone they’ve reached like a child graduating high school reach out to congratulate them. Know their birthday and text them happy birthday every year. This holds true for anyone you consider a sponsor.

Other ways to find a sponsor at another company include networking at conferences, staying in touch with college professors, connecting with the alumni career center at your college and volunteering.

Sponsors at other companies are important as you may get to a point where your current company doesn’t offer opportunities that align to your career aspirations. Employee referrals are the easiest way to get your foot in the door at another company. If you don’t think this is relevant to you now because you’re perfectly happy ask yourself what you’d do if you get passed over for a promotion you deserve?

How Do You Know if Someone is Your Sponsor

A career sponsor is a bit more tricky to identify than a mentor as there are few or no formal programs for sponsorship in the workplace. Sponsorship happens more organically and is sometimes easier to spot after the fact. The first sign to look for is if they are introducing you to key contacts in the organization that aren’t directly linked to the work you’re doing.

You’ll also know someone is your sponsor if they advocate for your career when you’re not in the room and you find out after the fact the reason you got a job or project is because X person advocated for you. Another clue is if they reach out to you about an open position on their team or another team they think you’d be a good fit for and are reaching out to identify interest.

If you think someone may be your sponsor, or you would like someone to be your sponsor is to ask if they would advocate for you should a specific opportunity arise in the organization.

How to Ensure A Sponsorship At Work Is Successful

Your career sponsor must know your career goals to advocate for you. In addition, they must also know your limits. For example, are you willing to move for a job? Do you have limitations to how much you can travel? Having limitations is fine but it’s important to be specific with your career goals and limitations so your sponsor can best advocate on your behalf.

There will be many times in your career where there are potential discussions around advancing your career that are happening that you aren’t a part of. Perhaps a reorganization will occur, a new business unit is starting up or someone is leaving the company and none of these situations are announced yet. This is where it’s a must to have a sponsor in the room. They can advocate for you on your behalf.

Why Women Need a Sponsor At Work To Advance Their Careers

Women especially need sponsorship at work to help advance their careers. A Catalyst survey in 2008 found that women were being mentored at a higher rate than the men in their survey yet they were being promoted at a slower pace. They found that high potential women were over mentored and under sponsored relative to their male peers.

The Wall Street Journal recently wrote about women falling behind at work at the first step into management. Getting that first step into management is a huge barrier but you can’t move into upper management without that experience. You need a sponsor to help break this barrier. When you have no management experience, someone trusted and higher up needs to advocate that you should either be considered for a manager job, identify people to move underneath you already in the organization or give you reqs to open for new headcount. The more sponsors you have in the room advocating on your behalf, the easier it is to get past this barrier.

How have you leveraged sponsors to advance your career? How did you form your first sponsor relationship?

See Also: How Mentors Can Advance Your Career