Why is it important to work on your career and not just in career?

More often than not, many of us do not find the role that really inspires us the first time round. It is essential that you have your finger on the pulse on what is out in there in the market in order to make a career move that is right for you.

We are now in the third month of 2020, the beginning of a new decade and Christmas are now a distant memory.

The downtime over Christmas and New Year is an ideal time to reflect on our careers and what we want to achieve in the coming year.

Have you done anything about what you want from your career this year?

Isn’t it time that you actually begin to do something about it?

It is easy to understand how it may tumble down the list of priorities as we are 12 weeks into the year and the focus is back on the day job.

What have you done about what you have reflected on?

It is important to make commitments and promises to yourself in relation to your career. For example, if you don’t achieve a promotion during the next year, you should commit to considering opportunities outside of the firm.

Before you do this, it’s important to ask yourself these questions:

●       What do I want career wise by the end of this year that I don’t already have now?

●      What would career success look like for me in this year?

●      What skills do I want/or need in order to improve this year?

Answering these questions should provide you with some clarification on your career vision and what your next steps could be. From this there are a number of possible options that you can take…

1. Grow and Develop:

Growing your skill - set is a great way to boost your career prospects in 2020 and provides a perfect opportunity to not only improve your work goals but your personal ones too. One way that this could be done is through attaining a new qualification alongside your current role. There are so many types of qualifications out there, so take some time to research those that you think will benefit you the most.

2. Work towards a promotion:

This can go hand in hand with investing in your skills, as developing on them will only help you to climb higher up in your career ladder and prepare you for more responsibility. Keeping up with industry trends and improving on your transferable skills such as managing people and how you communicate, will all help to demonstrate your hard work.

Remember, that promotions are not usually given easily, so work hard and ask to take on some added responsibility or volunteering to help others. It will only help to increase your value within your organisation.

3. Work on your Career – not in it:

If after reflection, you’ve come to the conclusion that your current role no longer provides you with the job satisfaction that you’re after, it could be time to start looking for other roles out there in your market.

Take some time to really think what you want out of your next role. Could it be a larger salary, better career development opportunities, or perhaps an improved work life balance? Understanding what it is that you want will only help towards your job satisfaction in your future role!

By talking to a career consultant like Adlestrop Consulting, we can help guide you through this stage.

With access to key decision makers, you’ll be exposed to the most relevant opportunities, alongside others that at first glance you may have not considered, meaning you’ll be well on your way to a Happy New Career!