Research has shown that typically we change careers between 4 & 10 times! Good Heavens! was my response, then looking back on my own working career & realised that these statistics actually related to me to. And that got me thinking about why it is that these career changes took place.
The reasons generally given for career changes are as follows?
- Company A pays better
- Company B has a better training programme
- I hate my current boss!
- I don’t feel valued where I am.
- My skills aren’t being used.
- I’ve reached the ceiling for development/promotion within Company C.
Any of these sound familiar? They did to me. The question to ask yourself though, is....... Are you moving purely for emotional reasons or have you looked at the bigger picture & made sure that what you doing is congruent with your bigger picture?
Oops....now I know from personal experience that many of my moves were knee jerk reactions to circumstances and nor necessarily part of that all important “Bigger Picture”.
So what do you need to do to make sure that you are not wondering off on a tangent? Here are a few questions to ask yourself?
- Why did I first take on this job/career?
- Am I really passionate about what I am doing?
- What is the real reason that I’m unhappy? (It may not be work related)
- Can I upgrade my skills to make myself more valuable to the company?
- Is there a discrepancy between my work values & those of the company?
- What can I do differently to make the current job/career more challenging?
Once you get thinking on these lines you will be surprised what comes out of the woodwork. Important to remember though...don’t try and answer all the questions in one go...give them time to mull around in your head. Sleep on them. You might surprise yourself!
To be continued.......
