Civil servants wanting to achieve success in their job must ensure they are putting in hard work. There are many different levels and roles within the public sector. They may seek advancements to boost their career or make more of an impact. We have compiled a guide covering five ways to help civil servants find success and advance their careers. We will start with the importance of feedback.
1. Seek Relevant Feedback
It would be best to ask your employers and managers what they expect from you. This will likely come in the form of direct feedback, and they may set goals you will need to meet to advance your civil servant career.
Some find it difficult to ask for feedback. Here are some tips that will help with this. You should choose your words carefully when seeking feedback from an employer within the civil service industry. Make sure you list the questions you want to ask beforehand and how you will ask them. Ensure you are making it clear that you want to improve and offer open-ended questions.
It would help if you also had a good idea of who to approach. You may have multiple managers in your civil service department. It’s also worth noting that it could be beneficial to speak to your co-workers because they may offer you feedback that could help you become a better colleague.
You must be looking to seek relevant feedback. You should ensure that the feedback you are receiving is relevant to you and isn’t just generic. Ensure you create a plan to work on this feedback and prove to those around you that you can improve.
2. Be Approachable
It will be in your best interest to make yourself more approachable. You may find that you cannot reach your potential as a civil servant due to managers not believing you have the personality for the role. This will involve working on your soft skills, like empathy and communication.
You should ensure that you are being approachable both in-person and online. Some people may be approachable in person but come off differently via email. Getting your tone across in email can be difficult. You should understand how to pitch your tone of voice in emails so that you can say what you mean in the way you intended.
You may find more opportunities to advance your civil service career if you are more approachable around the office. This could involve you making changes to how you communicate in the workplace.
3. Prepare To Learn
You should be prepared to learn more to succeed as a civil servant. This should be done in your own time and through work time. You will find that civil servant leaders will appreciate employees willing to put in the extra work to educate themselves.
It’s worth your time to engage in training courses and educational seminars to gain the skills needed to succeed and advance your career.
This will impress your boss as well as give you relevant skills. Looking into courses that provide relevant knowledge to your industry will be a good idea. There will also be more general courses that assist you with building practical skills, and you will find that a public policy-specific course will assist civil servants.
Civil servants who want to influence public policy will benefit from a public policy analysis course. This course is offered by The London School of Economics and Political Science. Courses such as this will help you build up your knowledge that could help you make more informed decisions. Management will look at someone favorably if they have this type of knowledge.
You should find out if your employer is willing to fund any type of education that could see you gain more insight into the public sector. You may find they will fund your venture if you work hard. An employer may even make it an obligation that you must complete a training course to be at a certain level.
4. Put In The Work
It’s worth pointing out that you still need to put in the work. You need to prove to management that you are a hard worker as a civil servant. You should allow your work to speak for you.
It will be noticed if you can pick up any extra shifts or take on any extra work. You should put yourself forward if any projects are being organized within your workplace. Being a project leader or someone who contributes majorly to a project is work that will be noticed.
Reach out to other departments to find out if there is anything that you can do to assist. This will also be a great way to reach out and connect with others in the business. This could lead to you advancing your career as a civil servant.
5. Engage In Networking
Not only should you be reaching out to other departments to make connections within the civil service, but you should be looking to engage in networking in general. Networking involves you making meaningful career connections that could help you grow professionally. You can network with confidence once you’re aware of the steps you can take.
For example, you can attend civil service events that allow you to network with others you may not otherwise be able to meet. You should build up your confidence skills to approach people more comfortably.
Some have found it more difficult to network since the pandemic. However, there are still opportunities to network remotely. Look to join video meetings and speak to as many people as possible. Put yourself out there to be noticed, and do so with enthusiasm. Give yourself the best chance of seeking a promotion by working on yourself and making genuine connections.
This will serve you well if you can network with civil service leaders and managers. You will be able to achieve success once you put in the effort and engage in networking.
Featured Photo by Alena Shekhovtcova: https://www.pexels.com/
