What career has the quickest progression?

Looking for a career that can provide plenty of progression at a quick rate? You’ve come to the right place. In today’s day and age, there’s a whole library of available career opportunities. But they’re not all equal and don’t all offer the same opportunities for progression. So we’ve done the hard work for you and narrowed it down to a few careers that can provide fast progression.

If you’re ambitious and have a fire in your belly, this article’s for you!

5 promotion jobs with quick career progression

Sales

Sales director: £47,500 average annual salary

Sales is a fantastic career route for people looking to progress quickly. The best thing about sales is that it’s not based on your qualifications, but more on your merit. So, you don’t need to go to university or college to get started in sales, you just need to have the right personality and drive to succeed. You may start out in a low-ticket sales position but if you prove yourself in this, new doors will soon open for you to sell higher-ticket items with higher commissions. 

Once you’ve proven you’re a fully fledged sales animal, it won’t be long before you’ll get promoted into a management or director position where the focus is more on strategy and team motivation.

Requirements: organisation, confident communicator, self-motivated

Software developers

Lead software developer: £62,500 average annual salary

Although a career in software development begins with study (usually at university), once you’ve got your foot in the door you have every opportunity to progress. As a software developer, you’ll play a key part in building computer or mobile applications.

Software development is an incredibly in-demand skill, so there’s a wide band of opportunities available to you at every step in your career.

Requirements: qualification in computer-related subject like computer science, IT

Actuary

Actuary: £57,500 average annual salary

Becoming an actuary usually requires a maths-based degree followed by further studies to take IFoA exams. It’s a studious path and mainly suited to people who are natural mathematicians. As an actuary, your role would be focused on interpreting and analysing lots of data and statistics to offer organisations strategic advice.

Once you’re qualified and have gained some experience, you can progress into high-paying management positions.

Requirements: strong maths (ideally a maths-based degree), problem-solving

Auditor

Auditor: £42,500 average annual salary

Auditors have an important role to play, reviewing the financial accounts of businesses and organisations to ensure they’re accurate and compliant with local tax laws. To become an auditor requires some study, typically starting with a finance-related bachelor’s degree like finance, economics or accounting. Companies also expect you to have further accounting qualifications such as your ACCA.

There are several ways to progress as an auditor, which is a high-paying job in itself. You could move into management, become an independent consultant, or move into a finance director position later down the line.

Requirements: finance-related bachelor’s degree

HR

HR advisor: £32,500 average annual salary

There’s a lot of career progression for people working in HR, and those who are dedicated can progress quickly through the ranks. HR professionals are the backbone of a business, managing the company administration from policies to hiring to onboarding to annual leave and disciplinaries. Their role is far-reaching.

To become a HR professional, you don’t necessarily need a degree. You could start out as a trainee HR assistant but you’ll be expected to gain your CIPD qualification. As you climb through the ranks, you could become a HR manager, VP of HR, or even find yourself in the boardroom as a CHRO (Chief Human Resources Officer).

Requirements: organisation, multi-tasking, attention to detail, strong level of English

Find a career you love

Of course, the main thing to remember when picking your career is that you work out what career is right for you. Progression is an important consideration, but unless you find a job you love, it’s going to be hard to stick with. So be sure to research the highest paying careers, but don’t be guided purely by money!