Keeping your job skills in demand is a definite thing to consider to advance in the ranks. You always have to be the one employee that your employer cannot live without. You also have to be the one that can do almost everything. Take a simple job for example: selling product at a store. You may sell only one product and everyone else has their own and it is a neat little web of who can sell this and that the best. The other employees are sent to where they are the best, as are you, but what if that other employee has to call in sick? Who will your employer turn to? The answer to these questions should not be a temp or manager that has better things to do, like running the company.

It should be you. If you can learn that other area, not only are you needed for your own section, but you can be needed for your coworker’s sections as well. How will this allow you to get a promotion? The answer is simple. It shows your employer that you are willing to go above and beyond in the best interest of the company. They will call you in more often and give you harder tasks. They will also give you the power of choice, to choose where you want to work. They will need you more and more until they say "Hey. Let’s move this person up in the hierarchy and give them the power. They have shown that they are dedicated and their effort and devotion should be recognized. They can also help us out more if they are given the new job." And Bingo! You now have the position that you have worked so hard, day and night, to accomplish. But you still have to have the skills necessary to keep advancing. You don’t want to come to a stagnant end where you cannot progress any farther. You need to keep learning.

Talk to the managers and find out what they need their employees to work on and accomplish that task, single handedly or with your coworkers, as the employer will still know that you are the one who made it happen.

You want to be the best at what you do and you want to do more than any other person. You want to be the one person everyone thinks about when someone calls in sick and can’t come to work. They are playing hooky and you are given more hours, a higher paycheck and a promotion. If the employer doesn’t have enough time or hands to get something done on time, they call upon you. If, when the time comes, and there is an opening among the ranks above, they think of your dedication and perseverance. They think about all the hard work that you have done and they think about how much time you had to sacrifice at work to accomplish all that you have done. Be the person everyone needs to come in because you have the skills everyone wants and nobody else can equal, and you will be the one to get the promotion. You will be the one that everyone can count on to do the job, and your coworkers will become your employees.