Hello fuzzbutts!

We all need to work somehow. Some of us draw, make fursuits, or just have “normal” jobs somewhere. Sometimes we’re doing great but sometimes we feel like we’re spinning our wheels. When we feel like that, we have to work smarter to find a way forward. How do?

To advance in whatever career you are in, you need to develop more skills. If you do fursuit building, you need to make better and unique fursuits. If you draw, you need to improve your speed and poses. If you work somewhere else, you need to develop skills relevant to where you are AND where you’re going to be promoted.

There’s even skills you need that aren’t the core of what you’d think you need. Fursuit building and artistic work requires organizational skills to keep commissions on track. You also need to get better at marketing and your social media presence to attract customers. All the skills in the world won’t help if nobody knows you exist. Learn your weak points in these areas and start working on ways to improve.

If you work at a “regular” job, similar rules apply but you likely don’t have to work on such a wide variety of things. Do you work stocking the shelves? Can you start cleaning or working the registers? What can you do to make yourself more valuable? Not just to your current employer, but to any other places you might like to work at.

I work as a chemist in a biotech. I need to learn way more biology than I ever wanted to so I can better apply myself. I also have to learn about management and operations so I can rise higher.

You won’t get promoted for showing up and metaphorically turning the crank all day, punch your timecard, and go home. You need to work and prove you can handle more responsibility before anyone will consider advancing you forward. It’s not always the case that there’s actually a position for you to move into. In that case, it’s time to advance by finding a new place that gives you more of what you want! It’s not comfortable to switch job but if you become stagnant at the same place for more than a couple years, it’s time to make the most of what you can do!

Good luck out there, Fuzzbutts!