Finding the right ladder in your life
Wherever we land on this earth at the beginning of our life we have a furrow to plough. Our stay on this earth will vary in length, quality, achievement, success and satisfaction to anyone else and therefore we are unique. We have been provided with an exclusive situation to mould however we may wish. Our path through life starts inevitably from different places and with a range of components to help us, some seem to have enormous advantages whilst others very little. It is pointless comparing our lot and wasting precious energy. What we have to do is use our attributes and we all have some of those to make our life journey as gratifying as possible.
We are always influenced and cajoled by forces and situations both inside and around ourselves but these are our poker chips with which we can play the game of life.
To watch how people vary in the way they use their chips is fascinating and in many ways reminiscent of how people gamble in a casino. There are those who go with the flow using intuition and perceived opportunities to change lifestyle and approach. There are those who play their chips carefully and cautiously and move forward or backward in their planning without huge changes. In between these two extremes are the majority of us who wind our way carefully through life navigating the highs and lows as they present themselves.
Janet Knowles explains how to stand back and review the success you have had so far in the career section of your life and assess how to plan ahead to maximise the unique qualities you have to your advantage. The aim is to collect relevant information in sections that fit together to form a life jigsaw so that having established a personal picture we have the confidence to explore new areas with confidence and knowledge.
“There is no such thing as a career path it is just a crazy paving and you have to lay it yourself” (Sir Dominic Cadbury)
Plan of action
First take stock of present situation
Allow yourself time to stand back and review
Establish the overall scheme of the project ‘My Career Campaign 2001’ (MCC2001)
Project MCC2001-phase 1
To make any good decision there needs to be a collection of valid data.
Data to be collected:
1. Personal Information
This consists of a review of personal chronological data looking specifically for trends and reasons for decisions and influences that have resulted in you being where you are today.
2. Personality preferences
By considering individual preferences you not only learn more about yourself and how you react to situations, but you can have more control about choosing the working environments, which suits you. Knowing yourself in this way provides confidence, energy and self-value.
3. Values
Understanding how important personal comfort zones are in continuing commitment and consistency can be identified from personal values. This is your “shape” and this can be matched against the “shape” of the job, team or Company and any areas of mismatch can be identified. This gives the opportunity to consider personal ‘fit’.
4. Skills
This is your passport to the job you want. Life long learning is now a catch phrase that includes these important aspects of acquisition of saleable skills. Carefully explore your collection of skills. Consider realistically whether you really need to gain more or improve on those you have, to benefit your chosen area of expertise.
5. Experience
By including your past activities you prove your skills ability. It is no good saying you can be a racing driver unless you have not only passed your driving test but also had experience of actual racing with some success. At the same time allow your emotional response to have a say and recall times that have been more successful, happier etc. Ideally you will wish to replicate these good times again in the future so identifying the salient points of these occasions can provide helpful clues.
6. Achievements
Identify past successes both in work and in your private life. By giving yourself permission to acknowledge your triumphs you boost your self-esteem. Presumably you enjoy the feeling of success and wish to replicate this and by identifying the source of this feeling you provide self-motivation and drive.
7. Aspirations
This is the big question –so where do you want to go in your career? This varies enormously between people. Some people know exactly where they wish to go, whilst others never know where they wish to go or indeed whether they ever reach their goal. For these people career management can be a continuous process of opening new doors to find out whether they wish to go any further.
8. Additional aspects to identify
To this comprehensive list of personal data now add any other information about family, physical needs etc that need to be placed into this life equation.
The process of collecting this personal information is in itself therapeutic. It helps to clarify why situations have arisen in the past that you have not understood or perhaps why interpersonal problems have stalled you career. This process is accelerated and maximised if you can talk through your findings with someone whom you can trust and who will listen and comment without feeling the need to match each statement with a personal observation.
Project MCC2001 – phase 2
The next part of project ‘My Career Campaign 2001’ is to turn to the market place. It is important to realise that when building a career we are selling a commodity, which is ourselves, and as in all commerce we are dependant on the requirements of the market place. Sometimes individual skills and attributes are in short supply and people with these skills are in a fortunate position to be able to be more choosy whilst at other times there is a surplus of skills and redundancy is rife. The magic formula is to be able to have some expertise that is wanted in the workplace and to know how best to exploit this situation by being adept at marketing your skills at the right time and the right place.
Self marketing
Establish the model for this phase by considering the following alternatives and questions.
A. Do I wish to continue in my present career in the same organisation
B. Do I wish to stay in my chosen career in a new organisation?
C. Do I wish to start a new career by gaining more skills through full time training?
D. Do I wish to work for someone else?
E. Do I wish to work for myself?
F. What are the obstacles for me achieving my career aspirations?
G. Are they surmountable or not?
A. Same career – same organisation
If this is your choice then you have decided that for some valid reason you have reached an acceptable career position at least for the moment. If you have decided that for the time being at least it would be wise to stay in your present job then you can use this time admirably to develop both hard and soft skills and consider the appropriate next steps when you are able or wish to do so. In the mean-time you could identify a development programme for yourself that would provide higher proficiency or wider range of skills and increased confidence. You then keep you options open for a move when you consider the time is right to do so.
Be truthful with yourself as to why you wish to stay in the job and make your career plan real.
B. Do I wish to stay in my chosen career in a new organisation?
If this is your preferred option then you have found some satisfaction in your functional skill areas but perhaps consider a change of company or promotion might add some benefit to your career. The salary might be better too!
Your marketing approach needs to emphasise your expertise but more importantly how this expertise benefits the organisation in which you work. Your CV, which is often the first information your new employers receive about you, should reflect the advantages that you have brought to your present company if possible in hard figures. E.g. increasing turnover by x% or streamlining processes and achieving higher production figures etc.
C. Do I wish to start a new career by gaining more skill through full time training?
Sometimes there is regret that we did not do ourselves justice at school or higher education. If this is so then seriously consider whether you could return to some education that will give your chosen career a real boost, perhaps you can gain professional qualifications. This is not an easy route but many people have found the effort worth it later in their career.
D. Do I wish to work for someone else?
This is the choice of the majority and does have some drawbacks but also some real advantages. Larger organisations have more supportive systems and structures than small ones and can provide career and training opportunities. Some organisations have a strong reputation for quality and skill acquisition and can be attractive to other employers when you wish to apply for a promotion outside the company. Some people actively search for a job in a ‘blue chip’ company to add zest and reliability to their CV. The downside can be that the structure is more rigid and you are expected to conform to processes more than in smaller organisations.
E. Do I wish to work for myself?
Many people have a wish to work for themselves. They see this as the ultimate career achievement, and many make a great success of it. But take care, for those who become established and succeed there are many that fall by the wayside. If however you consider you have a viable plan and an attractive product or service to sell, then at least explore the options available or you will never forgive yourself. Due diligence and discussion with people and professionals you can trust will ensure that you make the right decision.
F. What are the obstacles for me achieving my career aspirations?
We all dream about possibilities and set aspirational goals, this is not wrong but to follow a dream especially if you have other responsibilities and commitments can cause hardship and sometimes emotional suffering too. This is time to face facts. Be brutal with yourself and identify the obstacles that exist that could stall your career and cause you to fail in your quest. Paint the worst scenario that could happen to you career plans and write them down. Once you have done this you have faced the worst prospect you can imagine and this provides strength to either change direction or look for ways to overcome these problems
G. Are they surmountable or not?
Now you are assessing the cost both personal and financial of overcoming these identified barriers. The first most important question you must ask is ‘Can the obstacle be conquered? If the answer is no, then although it can be very disappointing the strong response is to find another route and not waste precious life and effort on attempting something that you have said is impossible.
If the answer is yes then a careful analysis of the problem will reveal the best and most energy efficient way to do this.
Project MCC2001 –phase three
Career plan
Keeping a clear valid and current log of all that is happening in you personal career project is vital and an area that is often overlooked. It is often stated that people can do this sort of activity in a casual and opportunist way. I have always found that the people who treat this private and personal project in an important and factual way are the winners. Make a file either on-line or hard copy in which you record everything that you have done and everything you wish to do for your project.
Start by getting together the results of your own personal audit and keep them for reference. This information will provide data for your CV. A CV is a document on which everyone purports to be an expert. It matters not who has helped you or how it is written, when you show it to someone they will have a viewpoint. These viewpoints are valuable; you may feel ‘miffed’ at these comments but listen and then later decide whether you consider there is real value that can be utilised by either changing your CV or writing another one. Many people find it an advantage to have more than one CV so they can match the approach to the culture and required skills of the job you seek.
Possible future roles can be located by advertisements, agencies, recruitment specialists or networking. The most pro-active approach personally is networking. People who find the right role for themselves by this route have a ready made interested group of contacts that will be valuable for the rest of their life. To have had to explain what you want and how you propose to do it enables you to think around the issues involved and results in high self-esteem and confidence. (see networking article in last month’s magazine). However use all the means available to you for maximum effect.
Once you have moved into your new role the danger is to relax and work hard to establish yourself. Although this is important if you are to build the career you have designed then it is important to sustain the effort to grow, to keep networking both new and existing contacts and upgrade skills accordingly. Your record of your career project must be kept up to date to maintain momentum towards your goals. This will enable you to consider the whole picture objectively rather than becoming too concentrated on some particular aspect.
A good and robust career plan takes into account all personal needs of intellect, family, responsibilities, children, disability, geographical preference etc. The trick is to be able to design a plan with flexibility and opportunity that can overcome obstacles and economic downturn.
Finding the right ladder and climbing it with skill and confidence is the key.
Chinese proverb say ‘ Wise man get off ladder one rung before the top.’
Contact: Janet Knowles, Recall Recruitment
Tel: 020 7734 7100
Email: janet@qualis.co.uk
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