On the back of the pandemic, many people have taken their experience as a good opportunity to re-evaluate their working lives with a view to re-set or re-imagine their working lives. If you’re feeling like this, you’re not alone as a recent survey confirmed this as it found that as many as 6 in 10 UK workers were looking to change their careers from small to major changes, many are certainly looking to re-set their careers.
As part of any career development process, there are some simple steps to follow to see how your career can start to move in the right direction.
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Ask yourself what you want to achieve in your career
What does your perfect career or job role look and feel like? Having a clear vision and sense of purpose about what you want to achieve in your career is an essential first step. This will help you to get to the bottom of what your ideal job role looks like and the direction you’d like your career path to fulfill great job satisfaction.
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Figure out why you want to change
Think about your current role and try to evaluate it objectively to work out why you might be looking for a change.
Complete a simple pros and cons exercise to work through what you love about your hob role and what you loathe. By completing such an exercise you may well determine that it’s not your job role but rather your working environment or colleagues that are makinig you feel negaitve ratehr than the work itself.
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Spend time outlining your current skills and abilities
Reviewing your current skills is an important next step to help you to identify your strengths. You’ll also be able to discern which skills are transferable to different roles or sectors and identify how effective your soft skills may be.
At Aim Higher Training we encourage our students and learners to work through a few personal development exercises by working through some free online resources to help guide their personal development. You can access some of these tools via our sister site Wise Elephant. We’d encourage you to work through a personal SWOT exercise to identify areas for development. You can also assess yourself against a skills matrix based on professional skills across such areas as personal effectiveness, communication, and people skills.
4. Work out how much time are you prepared to dedicate to your career
Finding your ideal job role or your next great career move is not something you can take on lightly. You will need to devote some time to your own professional development to help you to meet the requirements for your next career move. Some requirements, such as completing a pool safety inspectors course, can take as little as a few days. Others, such as pursuing a degree, will take much longer. You’ll also need to spend some time finding suitable opportunities and growing your professional network. Be realistic about the amount of time you can spend on career development and factor this into your plans.
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Develop a clear plan
By starting to build some clear ideas of how you feel about your current job role and assessing your current skills and abilities you’ll start to gather some useful data about yourself. Using the results of the SWOT exercise and Skills Matrices you will be able to start to build your personal and professional development plan and focus on where you need to improve and develop your skills and self-confidence.
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Update your professional profile
Firstly, ensure that your CV is up to date and reflective of the career you intend to pursue. Secondly, update your Linked In profile, along with any other social media profiles you may have on any professional sites. Thirdly, check that any memberships you claim are current. Finally use these memberships as valuable sources of continuous professional development by staying up to date with developments in your sector.
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Grow your networks
Connecting with people in your profession can be hugely beneficial. Not only are you likely to find some like-minded people but it can also help you to better understand your sector. Finding a mentor can be a helpful move to focus on your goals and stay on track.
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Finding support and advice
Sourcing the right sort of help and advice to support your career move can be key to helping you guide your career towards meeting your future goals.
At Aim Higher Training we offer a career coaching to help you get started and make the most of your time to plan your future in the most productive way. Investing in yourself to steer your career in the right direction is always valuable, and we’re here to help, so please get in touch.
If you feel you could benefit from some support with your career development please get in touch or book a call.