Discuss Internal Job Postings

Keep doing Job Searches

To me, a successful career has lateral and upward movements which challenge me. And so even if this is how I view success, others may view success as not getting fired or doing better than their parents. That's perfectly acceptable, so hopefully this post works for you as well.

Traditionally, I think most people do job searches when they're unhappy in their current situation. But I want you to think about looking at Internal Job Postings when you're happy. Doing searches at happy times are much less stressful in my opinion, but more importantly it allows you to gain insight on potential job growth.

Know what Opportunities are Out There

This is the most obvious for those looking at other jobs, but you can also look at open jobs to dictate where the company is moving. Recently, a lot of openings appeared for Data Analysts within Xfinity Mobile and Business Services -- this tells me that Comcast is really focused on an analytics approach in two specific business units.

Now, this is important for someone like me that has an Analytics background, but if there were only Sales positions available that tells me Comcast is growing faster than they can currently handle -- again not a bad thing.

Understand the Growth of the Company

As mentioned earlier, if there were a lot of Sales positions, or open positions in a specific department that tells me the company is perceived to be growing. It's very disappointing when you see a company with limited openings (unless it's a start-up, in which case I would expect minimal jobs).

Also identifying which unit within a company grows is important. For instance, I'm seeing a lot of openings in T&P (our Software/Hardware group) - and that makes sense for a tech company. However, we also have many openings in our Audit teams - and that makes sense due to the amount of regulations we must adhere to.

Know how to cater your training to move into higher positions

This is the most important reason I keep looking at job postings. I look at qualifications that I'm lacking (or that I excel at) in order to know how to navigate my career. When I was at Vanguard, many job postings that were promos required an advanced degree I just didn't have. I took that knowledge and went to school to get my MBA; otherwise, I could have stayed in the same stagnant role.

When I was a Software Developer and I wanted to move into Project Management, I looked up roles for Scrum Master. Sure enough, I saw words like "Agile", "3-5 Yrs Programming Experience", and "Excellent Communication Skills" - at the time I was only lacking Agile experience, so I worked with my manager to work on projects and coursework to increase my Agile/LEAN knowledge. Then after a year or so, I felt confident enough to apply for an open Scrum Master role.

I hope you'll continue to look at jobs even after you've taken on a new role. I don't find it wise to apply to them that early, but you'll be able to progress in your career always searching...

Next time I'll discuss Post-graduate Degrees!