There are times in your career that job search may seem like boot camp, where you follow your sergeant’s orders unquestioningly. You just do what they tell you and trust they will guide you to the right destination.
You go along fine for a while, blindly letting others navigate your way from mile marker to mile marker, and from career city to career city. In fact, outsourcing the job of job search may feel calm, as you are head-down, performing the assigned tasks and feeling the glorious momentum propel you in new directions.
However, this method of career management can derail you—and your career—if not kept in check. For the most part, you must commandeer your own job search. Strategically enlist people, tools and processes to help arrive at your personally prescribed destination versus following someone else’s orders.
Doing so requires confidence in your destination selection as well as a process of career and self-evaluation every year or so to determine what adjustments are needed.
Following is a preview of what you will learn in my latest Glassdoor.com post. For the full post, please click: 4 Steps to Visualize Your Career Goals.
Here are four ways to determine, and keep your eye on your career destination prize:
1. Be honest with yourself.
What is it that you wish for, going forward in your career?
2. Realize your destination may evolve over the years.
Allow for a change of course during this journey. The best way to do this is to think about your career often, and go deep every year or two to reevaluate and adjust your career sails.
3. Work-life balance or blend.
While some people merge their careers and personal lives well, others have realized that, for them, there is no such thing.
4. Don’t let the discovery process be an excuse not to land on, and act upon, goals.
While long-term goals create vision for which to aspire, short-term goals create traction.
Written by Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Partner/Owner, CareerTrend.net
I am a career writer hired by individuals and organizations to build game-changing stories for executives, professionals and entrepreneurs. To find out how I can support your personal or corporate storytelling goals, please follow this link: www.careertrend.net.
It is very important to be honest with yourself and stay true to what you want to become. Many people, especially recent college graduates, end up not going into the field they went to school for. When they cannot automatically find a job in the field they desire, they may give up. It is important to continuously nurture your skills and abilities.
Well put, Ken. I love the ideas of ‘staying true to what you want to become’ and ‘continuous nurturing.’
Even when we sometimes lose sight of our career shore, it is important never to lose hope. Simply, adjust our sails.
Thank you for stopping by!
Jacqui