Everybody wants to grow their career and enjoy professional success. (At the very least, everybody should want those things.)

Achieving this success doesn’t involve just one or two big things. It’s a combination of things, some of them small, that all combine to have a positive effect on the trajectory of a person’s career.

The key is to identify these things and then be studious in your pursuit of them. It may not result in “overnight success,” but as they say, slow and steady wins the race.

Below are five factors that can help ensure career growth and professional satisfaction:

#1—Continuous learning and education

When you’re not moving forward, you’re actually falling back. That’s because many of your colleagues and peers are moving forward. As a result, you can’t stay still.

Continually adding to your skill set is one way to give yourself an edge in the employment marketplace, not only at your current job, but also with a potential new employer. Your education does not end once you enter the workforce. In fact, it’s just beginning.

#2—Personal branding

Your personal brand is the experience that you provide for other people. It goes without saying that you want that experience to be as positive as possible as often as possible.

This includes every interaction that you have with somebody. It could be in person, over the phone, through email, or even a text. So build and cultivate your personal brand with care.

#3—Proactive approach

Taking a “wait and see” approach is typically not the best. This is akin to being reactive, and when you’re reactive, you’re at the mercy of what happens to you.

On the other hand, when you’re proactive, you don’t wait for things to happen. You move forward to make things happen. As a result, you’re moving from a position of strength, as opposed to a position of weakness.

#4—Value

Ultimately, your career comes down to value—the value that you can provide to an employer. The more value that you can offer, the more valuable that you’ll be considered.

And of course, when you can offer a considerable amount of value, more employers will want to hire you. Not only that, but you’ll also position yourself for promotions, raises, and more career advancement.

#5—Networking

It’s not just what you know, but it’s who you know. Actually, it’s both what you know and who you know, but all the knowledge in the world will only get you so far. You must have the right connections to truly maximize your opportunities in the marketplace.

With the pandemic abating, this is a good opportunity to attend more conferences and tradeshows in person. And of course, don’t forget about networking on social sites like LinkedIn!