How to Climb the Corporate Ladder Without a Degree

Is it possible to “climb the corporate ladder” and advance your career without having a college degree? In many career fields, the answer is yes. With the right informal education, experience and achievements, you can go far. How far, is really up to you.

Climbing the Corporate Ladder is Changing

“Climbing the corporate ladder” is a phrase that isn’t used today as much as it was a generation ago. But the idea of advancing one’s career, while also hopefully increasing one’s income, is still a goal that many workers have.

Three or four generations ago, only a select few careers required a college degree, so most everyone could climb the corporate ladder without having one.

But by the 1980’s, things began to change as more and more employers required a bachelor’s degree for management or other upper-level positions. That’s when adult degree completion programs really began to take off, helping adults finish their degrees so they could move ahead in their careers.

Back then, career paths were fairly easy to identify, and you could “work your way up” through several different career fields in one industry and/or company throughout your entire career.

The phrase “climb the corporate ladder” implied a linear pathway that you could follow step-by-step to advance your career in your industry or company as you “paid your dues” or “did your time” at each step.

You could start out sweeping floors today, work in the mail room tomorrow, be a salesman next week, and a company v.p. next month. Okay, it might not happen that quickly, but you get the idea.

Today, career paths aren’t as clear or linear as they once were. Instead of climbing a ladder, it’s more like walking through a maze with many different pathways.

Now you’re more likely to work in one or two general career fields over your lifetime, and advance your career by making lateral moves to different industries and companies every few years, instead of working your way up one company or industry.

According to career expert Dan Miller, the average worker today will work for 10 or more employers in their lifetime.

This has created a major shift in terms of who is responsible for your career advancement. Before, your boss or company created the pathway and often guided you through the process – and a degree was often a factor in how far you moved up.

Today, you’re in control of your career destiny. You can make the moves to the companies and careers that are the best fit.

In many fields, your experiences and achievements are becoming much more of a determining factor in career advancement than the degree certificate hanging on your wall.

10 Tips for Advancing Your Career Without a Degree

Here are 10 tips for climbing the corporate ladder, or advancing your career, without having a four-year college degree.

1. Make a plan.

The most important thing you can do to advance your career is to clarify a vision of where you want your career to go in the next 5-10 years, and create a plan to help you get there. Identify a couple of different scenarios and options that could take you from where you are today to where you want to be tomorrow.

Ask yourself questions like:

• What kind of work do I want to do?
• What kind of company do I want to work for?
• What kind of environment do I want to work in?
• What kind of money do I want to earn?
• What new skills do I need to learn or master in order to take my career to the next level?

Remember this quote from Andy Stanley: “Direction, not intention, determines your destination.”

2. Be a specialist.

Most career advisers agree that today it pays to be a specialist, not a generalist. Find one job or career field that you can excel at, and become the go-to guy or gal that people uh…go to…when they really need to get stuff done.

3. Be remarkable and likable.

Seth Godin talks about this all the time. Be remarkable. Stand out. Add some flair. Not by wearing lip or nose rings and tattoos, but by being excellent and over-delivering on everything you do.

But it’s not enough to be competent or excellent. You’ll go farther if you’re also the kind of person people want to work with. No one wants to work with a jerk or with someone who brings their life’s drama and baggage to work with them every day.

4. Nurture your network.

Make a list of friends and acquaintances who can help you achieve your career goals, and a second list of people whom you can help achieve their goals. Find ways to nurture those connections and relationships. Give a call or send an email from time to time to check-in with them. Ask if there’s anything you can do to help them.

Remember these words from Zig Ziglar: “You can get everything you want in your life if you can just help enough other people get what they want.”

5. Volunteer your way to success.

Volunteering is a great way to hone your skills, try out and learn new skills, and expand your network of relationships. It’s also a great way to advance your career. I know several people (including myself – four times) who have been hired by the organizations they volunteered for. And a few friends have been hired by people they worked alongside of on volunteer committees and projects.

6. Be a problem solver.

People and companies have problems and are willing to pay for solutions. Develop a track record of being a problem solver and solution provider.

7. Invest in yourself.

Get the best informal education you can. Today, it’s easier than ever to become an expert in your chosen field or industry. Attend workshops and conferences, and read books, industry journals, and blogs. Investing in yourself is the best investment you can make for life and career success.

8. Track your success.

Because there’s no linear pathway to career advancement any more, you will want to develop a process for keeping a record of your achievements and successes.

Make sure you clearly identify the projects or problems you worked on and give a detailed account of the solutions you helped to provide.

Give a summary of these achievements and successes to your boss from time to time to keep them informed of your progress. And use this information to show prospective employers what kind of difference you can make for their organization.

9. Consider yourself a free agent.

Don’t become overly emotionally or financially dependent upon your current position or boss. Think of yourself as a free agent who controls his or her own destiny and freely moves to the best opportunities.

10. Always express gratitude.

Develop an attitude of gratitude in your life and work. Thank God for every project or opportunity you receive, and for every person you come in contact with. And be lavish in expressing gratitude and praise to those you work with and for, and for those who work for you. Gratitude is a gift that truly keeps on giving . . . and when you give it out, it often comes right back to you.

How have you seen these tips play out in your own career advancement, or what else would you add to this list? Leave a comment!