Climbing the career ladder is about to get easier - at least for workers who make the most of the looming labour shortage.

With about a third of the workforce eligible to retire in the next five years, there's unprecedented opportunity for advancement.

"The Baby Boomer retirements are going to be a huge brain-drain and I think it's going to present some interesting challenges and some interesting opportunities," says Kathryn Graham, dean of the faculty of public affairs at Carleton University in Ottawa.

"Suffice to say, there are going to be significant job opportunities, particularly in the federal public service because of the incentive for boomers who joined the service early to retire when they turn 55."

Barbara Bowes

That Baby Boom "bust" has already begun in many government departments and is expected to peak for Canada's largest employer, the Public Service Commission, in 2013. The Department of Veterans Affairs is a typical example, with 46 being the average age of its workforce.

"Across the department, the impact (of Boomer retirements) is quite severe," says Robert Mercer, a senior staffer heading up public service renewal efforts for Veterans Affairs.

"Our figures show that in the next four to five years we could be losing as many as 1,000 employees in a department of around 3,500, so that's pretty substantial."

Worse still for the workforce - but great news for workers looking for a promotion - is that more than 50 per cent of executives and senior managers will be eligible for retirement in the next five years.

"I don't think there's much question about what that means in terms of opportunity," says Mercer. "The expectation of some of our younger and middle-aged employees is probably greater than we've seen."

It's a similar story at businesses and corporations right across Canada, where employers are bracing for the retirement boom.

"It's a challenge - there's no doubt about that," says Peter Judd, deputy city engineer for the City of Vancouver. "We're already seeing the effects of the Boomers retiring and with the economy booming out here it's an even bigger challenge."

The City of Vancouver is now struggling to attract engineers. Across the organization, many management and senior-level positions will also open up as thousands of retirements are expected between now and 2011.

"We do know that as time goes on our numbers will be even higher so, by 2016, about 42 per cent of staff will be eligible for retirement," says City of Vancouver human-resources consultant Steve Ogram.

"Another interesting piece that maybe makes our situation unique is that we're hosting the Olympics in 2010 and there's speculation a lot of staff will retire after the Games so we could have many more retirements than we're even predicting."

In Manitoba, the province is projecting that over 3,600 civil servants - or 26 per cent of the workforce - will be able to retire in the next few years.

"In the case of senior managers, that figure is 51 per cent so we anticipate that there will be opportunity in a wide range of departments over the next five to 10 years," says Ana Frias Mira, program co-ordinator for the Manitoba Civil Service Commission.

"With opportunities opening up for senior management positions, we do expect a ripple effect to take place where more individuals with the required knowledge, skills and experience will move into those positions, opening up further opportunities at the middle-management and supervisory levels as well."

Experts agree all of this presents an almost unprecedented opportunity to climb the career ladder quickly. That's what happened to Faith McIntyre, who recently landed an executive-level promotion after 12 years in the public service.

"I guess I was at the point where I believed I could do that level of job. However, I really didn't see myself in that position for another five years, but then this opportunity came up," explains McIntyre, the new director of HR national operations for Veterans Affairs.

Despite the boom of opportunity the Boomer retirements bring, bosses and experts warn that doesn't mean you'll get ahead without a plan. They say there are key things you need to do now to position yourself for a promotion.

"You need to focus your career and strategize instead of hoping things will happen, wishing things will happen and volunteering for a ton of committees that just take up your time," advises Barbara Bowes, career expert and author of the popular The Easy Resume Book: A Transferable Skills Approach.

Bowes says there are three "career drivers" employees should focus on to get ahead: Becoming known in the organization for your skills; continually developing your skills; and developing a network. The best tip for how to do that? Get assigned or volunteer for a special project.

"That will get you on the leading edge of what's happening and it will get you noticed," explains Bowes. "You'll meet new people, you'll develop relationships across the organization and not just in your department. you may even find yourself a mentor and if a new position arises from the project - and they usually do - you'll be in a great position to apply for it."

While working on high-profile projects is good, Bowes says the biggest mistake many people make is agreeing to sit on committees without first evaluating how it can help - or hurt - their career.

"I remember doing this when I was younger and women in particular need to avoid saying yes to everything," says Bowes. "You really need to ask yourself: Who is on the committee that I can rub shoulders with? Who can I learn from?

"It may sound harsh, but you have to be strategic about it. Otherwise, you could find yourself on 11 committees that may not add any value to your career and just zap all your energy and use up all your time."

It's also a good idea to plan out where you want to be in your career in both the short and long term. By identifying the types of roles you'd like to have, career experts say you can then research the skills and requirements for those positions to ensure you'll have what it takes to get ahead.

"Every organization has a set of competencies they want for different levels of managers and supervisors. You can get this information from the HR department and you can also Google 'competencies' and the position title you're interested in to get an idea of the skills you need to develop," says Bowes.

"And you will need to develop your skills as you move up the ladder, you'll need to acquire new skillsets and a more strategic thinking approach - a big-picture approach and you'll need to develop experience in managing budgets and managing people, regardless of the job."

Another growing trend right now is to get a professional designation. This is becoming especially popular for fields such as human resources.

Beyond that, insiders say returning to school for further education might also increase your chances for a big promotion.

As you plan your career climb, perhaps the best advice of all is to do your current job well.

"The most significant thing you can do is a great job," says Mercer. "You don't establish a reputation by looking to do something else - you're paid to do your job and it needs to be your focus and doing your job well will get you noticed."

(What's in a name? Job titles are more important than ever and some people are getting creative with what they call themselves. Do you have a colleague or co-worker with a weird, wacky or innovative job title? If you do, or if you have one yourself, e-mail tess@businessedge.ca.)