Have you ever felt stuck in your career? Burn out from your job can be devastating to your personal life. Naturally, just like everyone else, you probably commute and stay at work for a great part of a single day. That could easily be 1/3 of your day if you don’t count sleep. That’s a long time to be dissatisfied.
Now, if you emphatically feel stuck, here are suggestions to get the one you like:
Brainstorm on a sheet of paper – I’ve talked about this before and it’s a strategy I use all the time. Take a pen and write your desired career goals as a question. Then, just list as many answers as you can. E . g ., you could write “What do I want most in life?” Then stay seated for a half hour to an hour compiling a list of answers to the question . This is an exercise that you can easily repeat every day until you find the right answer (at least on paper).
Talk to people who know you – Sometimes our friends and relatives have greater intimate knowledge of us as compared to ourselves. While meeting with one of your friends, ask for their help to sort things out about your career goals. Ask what they think you’d enjoy doing. You might be surprised at how easily they can zero in to your strengths and abilities and come up with a good suggestion.
Ask your boss and coworkers – Sometimes, just like friends, your coworkers most likely see you in a way you do not see yourself. In fact, they have seen what you’re good at in a professional sense. Compile all the answers you get from them and look for a pattern.
Talk to an agency – Most professionals, like you, have a resume. Sometimes you may get lucky and catch a headhunter or recruiter in between recruiting schedules and speak to them about your skills and expertise. I’ve done this a few times before and they didn’t mind speaking to me. The result are useful.
Take a skills assessment exam – Take note: all professions require different career paths. Easy to illustrate, nursing career require a different set of skills from a video game designer. In the age of the Internet, there are websites with services where someone like you can take these tests. But be careful since some are available for free, others require a fee. From the previous tip, a lot of job placement agencies where headhunters work have this software and will let you take the test in their office. I’ve taken these tests two times in my life and they usually take an hour or two, but they are thorough. They ask you to provide multiple choice answers regarding your professional expertise and goals. If you take one, you will likely receive hints of what you want to do.
Keep a journal – Having a record of your thoughts is fantastic especially when browsing for common threads in your writing. Keep your eyes peeled for common themes. Also, what you don’t like is as critical as the things that you do not like. For example, if you’re averse to an overbearing supervisor, you’d probably like a self-directed position.
Understanding your career goals might be distressing at times, but you can get help. Without a doubt, we spend a great deal of our lives earning a living for ourselves and family. Hence, its worthwhile to figure it out.