I am starting a job soon as a sales assistant in a supermarket. I aim to work my way to the top. Does anyone have any advice or secrets to success in doing this? I am an ambitious person and hard-working and just seeking any hints/tips from people who have started at the bottom and worked their way to the top!
just be willing to try anything they throw at you, be prepared to do as much overtime as possible (the extra money will come in handy too) and dont be affraid to ask for a promotion if you think you deserve it, the worst they can do is say you are not ready but should explain what you need to work on to get there.
Ask about possible training and development possibilities for progressing, maybe ask if you can shadow senior colleagues in your ow time, maybe stay on for a hour or so before or after a shift to get more more experience.
Ask if there are any other responsibilities you can take on, even for a trial period.
See if there are any local business groups nearby you could attend to make contacts and get advice.
Make your ambitions known to your line manager at the first opportunity and as above - ask about training/development opportunities - if you don't ask, no-one will know you are interested.
Tow the corporate line. Learn everything you can about the company and not just the branch you work in and be very interested in your line managers job role. Never be affraid to make it clear you want your line managers job when they move on and be prepared to do more than expected of you.
Also, it's important for you to ask for regular feedback from your boss as to how they think you're doing - you may think you're doing great, but that's no good if your boss doesn't agree - they're likely to be the ones that are making any choices about your promotions so it's important that you know how they feel. Don't wait for appraisals or performance reviews to do this... ask for it on a regular basis and don't react badly to criticism.