In the world we are living in now, everything goes at the speed of light thanks to the internet. You send an application through one click, you have an interview and then you get a job. And more often than not, as soon as we get it, we are already thinking about our next step. Be it a promotion or a new job, we are always focused on what’s next. And though there is a lot of questions about being promoted, there are few about growing in a role.
When I started at Topshop, I was mainly trans-creating and monitoring their French social media. Nothing more, nothing less. When I left, I created modules targeted to the French market for their homepage and newsletters, I wrote articles for their blog, interviewed Camille Charrière, worked with many French influencers, built a social media strategy for France and worked with PR and marketing teams to help them with their projects for the French market. At that time, being promoted wasn’t my goal, but learning was. I came from being a Fashion Product Editor – a role that doesn’t enable much growth – to Digital Editorial Assistant, a role I saw potential in for growth. I knew the role had some limitations because localisation can only go that far (for now), but I also knew I could learn a lot being part of the Editorial Team.
It wasn’t always easy but it’s only coming to London that I understood that you are the one shaping your role. Of course, there are changes in a company that can influence your job, but there are also some that have no influence on it. Be it for the former or the latter case, you need to make those changes happen by looking at your past achievements and using your appraisals. I believe it is important to explore all the possibilities a role is offering you before jumping into the next job or promotion to be prepared.
Have a clear vision of what you want to do in a role
A job description is there to indicate you roughly what a role should be. Once hired, sometimes you will do exactly what is written on it, sometimes a little bit more and other times it won’t be what you expected it to be. Whatever the case, you should always envision how you want your role to evolve. Chances are before being hired, you will have to give it a thought as some interviewers will ask you what you would like to do in your role so reflect well on it.
When I applied for my Digital Editorial Assistant role I knew I wanted to do three things:
- create modules targeted to the French market on Topshop homepage
- Trans-create more content for the French audience
- Translate well the ethos of the brand to a French audience
These three things weren’t written in my job description. I wrote them down after going through the British and French versions of Topshop site and social media. I analysed what I found interesting on the British version and what was lacking on the French one and came up with these three ideas. Some are more in-depth than other but there were my connecting threads throughout my whole time at Topshop. On top of that my weekly meetings and appraisals with my manager helped me stay focused.
Having a clear vision of what you want to do in a role doesn’t need to be something super specific but it should inform the direction you want to go. Some things might change and you won’t always be able to achieve everything you want but it will keep you focused.
Take any opportunity to ask to do something you are interested in
I am currently working as a sub-editor and each member of my team has their domain of expertise, so that when someone in the team has a question about a specific topic one can be the reference for menswear, womenswear, accessories, lingerie etc. When I had my weekly meeting with my manager I asked her if I could specialise in jewellery. I am obsessed with it, I have almost every finger of my hands covered with rings and I love earrings but only know the basics. Besides asking it purely for personal reasons, I also did it because writing about jewellery isn’t like writing about clothing. Jewellery is its own world within fashion and with the boom of semi-fine jewellery – a category between fashion jewellery and fine jewellery – I found it was necessary to know about it in order to know the distinction between fine and semi-fine jewellery, what metals are belonging to fine jewellery, what are the precious stones etc. In brief, all the information I need to sub-edit jewellery pieces the best way.
I wouldn’t have thought about specialising in something if not asked by my manager, so this example embodies perfectly how to seize an opportunity to learn more and add something more to my CV. Instead of putting jewellery lover in interests, I will now be able to write that I am knowledgeable about ‘jewellery writing’ and tell everything I did around it.
When you are given the opportunity to learn, seize it! You will never know where this knowledge will take you next. Don’t always wait for a meeting with your manager, if you are genuinely interested in something, tell it! Each thing I could do at Topshop like writing in English on their blog when I’m not a native speaker was because I told them I wanted to contribute once a month. And I’m glad I did! It’s in my portfolio and is a very valuable asset for any future writing gigs. On this, my last advice would be to be strategic. Ask to do things that will benefit your career, not only the company you are currently working for.
It’s only growing in your role that you will figure out what’s your next step
Unless you do a repetitive job, it’s unlikely your role will stay the same throughout your whole time in a company. Especially in our era where everything is going super fast thanks to the internet. Look at your role at the beginning and six months or one year later, you will realise things have changed. The company might have implemented new methods influencing your working style or your manager might have noticed you were good at something and asked you take over new tasks for that reason. You will never know. While having an exact idea of where you want to be is great, it is also good to not focus only on your final goal because you might miss the opportunity to get more experience. The most successful people never had a perfect plan to be where they are but they had a plan for their journey. What I mean is to be in the moment in your current role to take the most out of, it will benefit your next step.
What do you do to get more experience at your work? Let us know in the comment below!
featured pic Chriselle Lim
