^ menu utama
The Top 10 Questions and Solutions to
Help You with a Career or Job Change
We have
all heard that if you do what you love, you never work a day in your life - or
as Arnold Toynbee once said, "The supreme accomplishment is to blur the
line between work and play." The following ten points are a start on the
journey of finding the career or job that will bring fulfillment.
- Do you enjoy getting up in the morning and
going to work? Are you experiencing the typical signs indicating that you
are not enjoying your job as much as you did at one time, i.e., being
unwilling to put in extra hours, not volunteering for projects, feeling
elated on Friday afternoon and depressed on Sunday night?
- Do you feel energized by your work? Do some
parts of your work drain you? Create a list of those parts that energize
you and those parts that exhaust you. The "energize" list is the
list to build on - the "exhaust" list is the list you want to
learn more about. (Is there a pattern with people or tasks? Do you want to
do what you are currently doing, but for a different company?)
- Are you happy at work? If you are not happy,
take a few minutes to determine why. Are you unhappy with the type of work
you do, your company, or your manager? Or is your life missing
"balance"? What was it that drew you to this job in the first
place?
- Examine your strengths and interests. Keeping
on top of your strengths is critical - both for your value to your
organization, and for your self-esteem. Know which skills you enjoy using
the most - these things are what you want to do more of in your next job.
- Speaking of skills, are yours up-to-date? At
least once a year, take a look at whether your skills are still
state-of-the-art. Keep up with your industry, stay on top of new
technology and trends in your field to stay current and competitive. If
your organization offers tuition reimbursement, take advantage of the
opportunity to update your skills with the benefit of financial support.
- What job is right for you? Relax quietly and
picture your ideal work day one year from today. Describe a full day from
morning until night. What are your surroundings? (Are you in an office
building, a home based office, an RV?) Is your work culture high energy
and fast-paced or is it slow and peaceful? What are your duties during
your workday: creating, managing, building, technology-based, or helping
others? Compare the results of your visualized workday with your current
circumstances -- the differences will help you identify the changes to
make. Then, set a specific strategy to make those changes.
- Looking for a lucky break in the job market?
People don't get great jobs or careers from "luck." Luck is just
an opportunity for which you are completely prepared. When the next great
opportunity presents itself, make sure you are prepared to accept the
challenges.
- Once per quarter, update your resume. Everyone
knows this one, but few actually do it. Keeping track of your recent
accomplishments and new skills will help you when your performance review
is due, and it will increase your self-esteem. If you wait until you
"really need" a resume to create an update, you may find you've
forgotten some significant points.
- Set clear, concrete goals for change. When we
say, "I sure don't want to be doing this a year from now," we've
made a statement of frustration - it's a start, but not a goal. Try
saying, "Next year at this time I want to be _______________."
Then set specific action steps to get there, including additional formal
education, learning new skills, and expanding your network.
- Take charge of your career. When we don't take
advantage of the choices available to us, we become victims of
circumstance. To find the right career and move ahead, we must start from
the inside, learning what it is that we value, need, want and do well.
Then, we must increase our personal bandwidth through constant learning,
growing and a take-charge attitude about our careers. It's a journey -
value each step of the way.
Submitted
by Linda R. Dominguez,
^ menu
utama