When you are inexperienced, you shouldn't call yourself a "professional". But aside from the semantics, the career progression is simple: Get stuff done, on time, to a high quality and keep learning. Your value to an employer is in proportion to the increase in profits you contribute to or the savings in expenses. Your career capital is the reputation you build up over a period of time in consistently attaining those measurable contributions.

For most of your career your primary objective should be to make your boss look like a hero to his boss. In client facing roles it gets even trickier, you need to make the client feel they're number 1 and yet not compromise your company's objectives.