Defining The Direction Of Your Career

Submitted by: Sam Pearce

Deciding to change the direction of your career or going through a period of career transition can be very difficult and can require a positive mindset. It also needs clarity of purpose, focus, positive action and some realistic goal setting. It is no wonder that this level of personal commitment can seem daunting.

Perhaps the best way to deal with this career transition is to view the future as an opportunity rather than a threat or a fear, and to approach the grasping of this opportunity in a planned and well structured way. By adopting a project management-type approach to your career transition, you will feel as if you have control over the process, and you will also find that you have a greater sense of purpose.

Steve Preston has put forward a 5 step approach to progressing your career future in a positive and proactive way. These steps are listed below.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lBB6YLMiIVE[/youtube]

Step 1: Spend some time working through your gremlins; digesting the mistakes you have made in the past, the events that have not gone to plan, the decisions that you now regret. Once you feel that you have successfully come to terms with these mistakes you ve made, let them go. Remember that the path you are on now is moving forward, not looking back. Living in the past does not achieve anything helpful, so before you can move on with your career, you must let go of your past experiences and learn to move forward.

Step 2: Make sure you know exactly what you are aiming for. Even if you think you know where you are heading and what your goals are, nothing can be lost from reassessing and re-evaluating your career goals and values. This also means looking at what is important in your wider life, not just your working career.

Step 3: What is your marketability? What are your unique selling points? What makes you different and thus stand out from the crowd? Remember, don t just focus on your skills and past experiences, also think about your attributes, attitude and knowledge base.

Step 4: Now is the time to find out what is out there explore your opportunities! Spend some time doing a little bit of market research and gather information on what roles are available, what work shadowing opportunities might be open to you, and what other things you could do to increase your change of securing a new role. Make sure that the opportunities you find successfully combine your true marketability, your values and ultimately your needs.

Step 5: It is time to take action! Decide what you want to do and go for it! Yes the future might look scary and yes you might not succeed at first. But you must try, and in doing so you will be taking a positive step towards reaching your ultimate job or career goal. It has been found that when looking to progress their career, people do often fall right at that last hurdle or they lose motivation along the way. This is where a professional career coach, some friendly advice from a career or job specialist or simply a valued friend or family member can be invaluable.

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