Career Advancement Without Selling Out

Sometimes it seems that nothing is going your way in your work. You get passed up for a promotion, you don’t get a raise, or a new hire is brought in for a job that you are definitely qualified for. This can be discouraging and can make it hard to know what is needed to advance in your career. Take that plus the stigma that exists that you need to sell out in order to advance and it seems to be nearly impossible to advance without selling out or “playing dirty.” But that is not the case. The competition will be tough, but you can advance without selling out, but you need to be willing to put in the work and think through your advancement plan.
The truth is you need to sell yourself in order to advance. How are your employers going to know that you deserve or even want the position if you don’t let them know? However, you do not want to be annoying, obnoxious, or sound entitled. When you do that you are slipping into selling out instead of selling yourself.
Have good work to back up your claims that you are qualified. That will impress your employers more than spouting fluff or degrading your competition. Take that work you have done and show it to your employers. Show them that you have helped them be successful and you could do it again and again. If you can show them that and are willing to sell yourself to them you will have a much better chance of advancing than in any other way.