SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Smartbrief on Workforce — tracks feedback from leading managers and HR practitioners. We run the poll question each Wednesday in our e-newsletter and feature analysis from SmartBrief on Workforce Senior Editor Mary Ellen Slayter on this blog.
Last week’s poll question: What is the most important factor in getting promoted?
- Networking, 33%
- Work ethic, 32%
- Experience, 24%
- Brains, 10%
- Education, 0%
Y’all take that old adage of “it’s who you know, not what you know,” quite seriously, don’t you? I agree that networking is important, but I’m shocked that education ranked so low, with only one person picking it as most important. (The percentages are rounded.) In part, that’s because education has played a critical role in my own career trajectory — my master’s degree in journalism lead directly to a promotion (and significant raise) at my last job.
Did these results surprise you? How significant do you think education is in getting ahead at work.
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