What has 2007 done for my career?

There is a book by David Campbell called "If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up somewhere else.”   This may seem like an obvious statement but if you are working full time with other commitments, it is hard to find the time to take stock and consider where your career is bringing you.   How often do we hear the refrain at this time of year that “I can’t believe it has been 12 months since last Christmas”?

It doesn’t take very long to review what 2007 has done for your career and this kind of exercise can help you anticipate changes that you need to make or prevent you from missing opportunities.  

Career Stock 2007

1.   The first question to ask yourself is “Am I enjoying my job more or less than I was this time last year?”

If not, why not?   Did you stop learning?   Are you bored?   Did you have a change of manager, which proved a negative?

If yes, why? Are you doing more or less of something that is increased your job satisfaction? Maybe you now have more people interaction and this has given more meaning to the administration processes that you are dealing with.

Based on these answers, you may have some ideas as to how you can continue on a positive path or address a problem.   Maybe the volume of your work has increased because the business has grown and you need to raise this issue with your manager.

2.   The second question to consider is consider is “what have I learned in 2007?”

§          How have you updated your skills and experience either on-the-job or outside of work?

§          Did you get experience in anything new in your work?

§          Did you learn anything new about yourself through your work this year?   (E.g. I am good with clients or customers.   I enjoy writing reports.   I got positive feedback in an area that I had not thought about.)

It is not that you have to be constantly updating yourself but it is valuable in terms of your career and mental sharpness if there was some learning for you.   If 2007 has been limited in terms of learning, this would be an important goal for 2008.   While doing a course is an obvious way of improving your skills and enhancing your CV, learning is not necessarily all about courses.   Opportunities to learn on the job are very valuable and may suit some personalities much better than courses.

3.      The third question to consider is based on an interview or CV scenario.  

§          If someone asked you to talk through the last year at an interview, what would you say? Would you feel good about answering that question in terms of how you have spent your time in work?

§          What has 2007 added to your CV and how would you present it?

Once again, it is not that every year needs to be adding significantly to your CV but there will come a time when you want a different or more responsible role and the building blocks to achieve that need to put in place over time.   Taking stock allows you to refocus if you need to or enables you to build on what you have achieved in 2007.

John Deely is an occupational psychologist with Pinpoint.   Pinpoint offers career change and development services to individuals, and selection, management development and outplacement services to organisations.

Contact details:        (01) 6425 721 www.pinpoint.ie