You know, those “lucky” ones who always seemed to be in the right place at the right time, landing their dream job at an amazing salary? Or the ones who always seem to get those promotions and $50,000 raises, “right on schedule”? 

 

I decided to study those people, to see if they had anything in common that I might be able to replicate for myself.

That’s when I started making some surprising discoveries.

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Were they born lucky?

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To be honest, at first I was a little worried that I might discover that they’d simply come from advantageous backgrounds, with lots of family connections, huge networks, financial advantages, and so on.

 

That would have been bad news for me, because I didn’t have any of those things!

 

But my concerns were eased when I discovered the real truth: most of them did not come from advantageous backgrounds -- in fact many of them came from incredibly humble beginnings.

 

Nor were they necessarily geniuses, or specially gifted people. While they were certainly very good at their jobs, in many cases they were not necessarily any better than those crawling up the corporate ladder at a snail’s pace!

 

 

How to be “lucky” in your career

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What I discovered was that the people who were making leaps in their careers were always masters at navigating the career ladder.

 

Here are just a few examples:

 

• When searching for jobs, they weren’t just looking for “a role that suited them”. Instead, they pinpointed their next position strategically, so that it not only aligned with their skills and interests, but also positioned them for their next career leap too! 

 

• Nor did they send out their resume to companies and hope for a response… Their resumes were polished, and optimized to pass through any company’s Applicant Tracking System (ATS), guaranteeing it would be seen by hiring managers and position them as a top candidate in their field.

 

• Before going into an interview, they’d already done their homework -- researching key details about the company, the interviewer, and even the proper salary range for the position they were seeking. This helped them interview confidently, ask great questions, make themselves the most memorable and standout candidate, and negotiate the best possible salary for themselves, every single time!

 

Again, those are just a few examples, and there’s certainly a lot more to it. But the big takeaway is that these people were all advancing their careers in ways that were predictable and repeatable -- almost like a scientific process that anyone can take advantage of.

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From “steps” to “leaps” in my own career

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Once I realized that anyone can deliberately, methodically advance their career much quicker and more efficiently than most people realize, I decided to get serious about putting time and effort into building my own career. 

 

I stopped blindly climbing the corporate ladder, and instead became the architect of my own career success.

 

Within 12 months, I went from feeling “meh” about my work, to breaking into an amazing management role, getting multiple promotions and repeatedly negotiating $30,000 salary increases each time.

 

I almost couldn’t believe it… In fact I wouldn’t have believed it just a few short years earlier. But after witnessing many others take leaps in their career, and doing it myself, the results were undeniable.