Career Assessment: Now is a good time to carefully evaluate and assess you career.
Here
it is mid-October and the other day I noticed a well decorated
Christmas tree in a department store while the leaves are still on the
trees and I was still mowing my grass. Talk about rushing the season.
But maybe there’s another season that needs to be brought to the
present. Instead of waiting until the New Year to perform a thorough
career check up, with the holidays and everything else is in the way,
now is an excellent time for you to take a careful look at your career.
How
is your career progressing? Where are you now, what do you expect in
the near future and are you satisfied with your progress? Is it
necessary for a new beginning?
Don’t be like a lot of people that
make job and career decisions based on only one or two factors. These
decisions need to be carefully thought out before you change employers
or to go into a different career. If you perform a wide-ranging career
evaluation you won’t be caught up in making career decisions on
superficial slights or minor disparities. There are more important
considerations that completely outweigh these minor short term
distractions.
Instead of making career decisions based on short
term factors like did you get the last promotion, is your current pay
competitive or even how well you are getting on with your boss, your
career assessment should be based on a whole range of factors. Don’t
make the mistake of hastily jumping into another job or becoming
unemployed and later you have to regret the move.
Here are four basic factors involved in a Career Check-up. Take your time to carefully evaluate each factor.
What is Your Employer’s Situation?
How
well is your employer performing financially? Are sales and market
share increasing or decreasing? Is your employer a leader and keeping up
to date with the latest trends and technology? Evaluate your company’s
reputation in your industry and community, and how does this impact your
own career goals.
Is Your Career Marketable?
What is the
current demand for your skills? Be honest with yourself and consult with
others in the same position with other employers. Are you up to date
with the professional demands of the job and the job one level above
you? Examine this factor critically. We all, at one time or another,
tend to inflate our skills and job knowledge. What’s been the recent
experience of others in the same field that elected to change employers?
Is Your Own Professional Career Development on Track?
Are
your skills being used in your current job? What is your potential for
future career growth? Does your present job utilize your interests and
strengths? Is your current job challenging? Do you have a say in how
your job is performed? Are your ideas sought and listened to? What is
your potential to advance further with your current employer? And how
does your future at your current employer mesh with your career plan?
What are Your Personal Preferences?
Do
you enjoy your job? Are most days positive? How do you feel about
getting up every day and going to work? Is your job personally
satisfying? Have you been thinking about changing jobs?
If you
decide your current job and career situation is promising and rewarding,
even in the face of minor distractions, this assessment will validate
your current position. If you uncover areas that you need to improve,
develop a plan to address the short fall. However, if you’re faced with
mostly negative answers, and there are limits on your career prospects
with your current employer, you might consider looking at other
employment prospects.