Sometimes, you have to make sacrifices to get to where you want to in life - especially when it comes to your career. To get to the very top, you will need to put in the graft it takes to get there. However, it’s not just hard work that will get you places - although that helps massively - it is often about taking a step back and mapping out a career path and realising the necessary steps you will need to take to get there, no matter how small or seemingly insignificant. Here are five crucial sacrifices you may well need to make to further your career.

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1. Knowing Your Place

It’s important to properly understand where you are right now in your career. As a graduate, you might feel a sense of entitlement or a level of self-importance that isn’t necessarily healthy for a young professional trying to navigate their way up the hierarchy of a big organisation. You must know your place to further your career, you can’t leap to the very top straightaway - no matter how good you are at what you do.

Be prepared to play your part at the bottom for an extended period before moving up in your role. Sometimes, it takes the need to impress those above you in order to advance - and this isn’t a bad thing. You will be far more accomplished and better at what you do by the time you get to the top if you have grafted hard at the bottom at the start of your career.

2. Being Prepared To Relocate

Not every organisation will be able to offer you your dream role, so one major thing to consider when changing careers is whether you’ll need to relocate. Unfortunately, not every country can give you the career path that you want, so if you are from a less developed or smaller nation, it may be worth considering a move abroad to really shake up your career prospects. Consider which countries will provide you with the best career prospects before moving and be certain that a language barrier or cultural unsuitability won’t prevent you from advancing in the workplace.

For example, Singapore is a popular location to relocate for work due to the country’s excellent and notoriously stable economy, high-paying salaries, and the ability to attract foreign talent. There are plenty of very affordable Singapore rental flats, meaning you needn’t worry about finding a new home out there straight away, plus the standard of living is known to be high, with extremely welcoming and friendly locals ready to help you settle in. For these reasons, Singapore is often a very attractive location for ambitious young professionals looking to further  their careers. 

3. Going Back To School

Sometimes, you need to take a step back and perhaps realise that you don’t have the necessary skills that it takes to get to where you want to be. There’s no shame in going back into education in later life to study for and obtain those all-important qualifications. A number of positions at major corporations are only accessible with a master’s degree or chartered status in your field, so be prepared for this to roadblock you if you haven’t already studied at this level before.

You needn’t halt your career to achieve this either. There are plenty of part-time or evening classes that will enable you to study while working full-time. Lots of established professionals go back into education in later life for the same reason as you, so you may even find yourself surrounded by like-minded people, which is always a nice bonus. Balancing your studies and your career will still be tough though, so make sure you’re organised and prepared to sacrifice some of your social time to achieve the grades that you need.

4. Taking A Lower Salary

Why do we get up every morning for work? It’s obviously for the money. That’s how our capitalist society works after all. However, sometimes you might have to make life less about the money and take a lower paid job to get to where you want to be. Not every role - no matter how well-respected or revered - comes with a large salary attached to it, it’s only in certain private-sector organisations that these large sums are typically found.

For example, sometimes, a position above yours may become available at a third-sector or charity organisation. It may be necessary to take this leap and therefore a bit of a cut in salary in order to prove to your next employer that you are competent in this more senior role. It’s these sort of sacrifices that will help you to advance more quickly in your career. For some, working for less pay and a charity organisation doing good in the world won’t feel like a sacrifice at all! 

5. Less Family Time

Sometimes progressing in your career means long hours in the office and really putting the effort in. As a result, this can reduce your family time somewhat and place strains on your relationships at home. It can be a difficult balancing act between wanting to give your young family the best in life by progressing in your career versus putting the miles in away from them in order to get there.

Help your family manage the sacrifices you are making by spending time with them whenever possible and enjoying every moment that you have. If it’s your children’s time off from school, then why not book off a week of annual leave and really maximise spending it with them? Your young family will grow up fast, so while it’s important to put the hours in to advance your career, it’s also possible to still make time for them where you can. Work-life balance is so important.

Hopefully, this article has helped you to reassess your priorities and understand where you might need to make sacrifices to advance in your career. Remember, taking that step back to reflect and avoiding a sense of entitlement are both key to getting far in life.