Creating a New Year’s Resolution for Your Career — and Following Through

It’s the last week of January. Did you make any New Year’s Resolutions? Whether you did or didn’t, why not make some resolutions for your career?
Here are some suggestions:

  • Why not make career planning a top priority? Yes, your family, making and keeping friends, eating right and exercising properly all are important. But your career has such a huge impact on the quality of your life, so why not give up watching TV for a couple of hours this week and sit down with yourself to review where you are in your career and where you want to go.
  • Even if you’re nearing the end of your career, there’s still plenty of time to create the kind of career you want. If you now are unhappy or unsatisfied in your work, sit down with yourself (as mentioned above) and ask yourself this: Is it my job or is it my career? If it’s your job that you don’t like, you can find another. But if the career field you’ve chosen makes you unhappy, now’s the time to start exploring and researching different careers and creating a strategy for making a change. It may be that you truly can’t change careers at this point in your life (you’re nearing retirement, you have children in college and switching careers would mean a big cut in pay), but that’s not to say you can’t pursue a passion you discover in retirement or on weekends or in the evenings (really, you won’t miss the TV you’ve been watching four hours a night, we promise).
  • If you really dislike your job, start looking for another. You may love the kind of work you do; it just may be your employer, or your colleagues, or the commute, or the pay that you dislike. Just be careful to really research and vet any potential offer with which you’re presented — what a pity it would be to move from the “merely” bad job to one that’s truly awful.
  • If you’re happy in your current position, promise yourself that you’ll do all you can in 2011 to get a raise or a promotion. Track your accomplishments and be sure your boss gets a copy (you can do so at your annual review). Network with others in and out of your department — and even out of your company. You’ll gain new supporters and learn new things.
  • You may need more education or training to get a new job or receive a promotion. You’ll more than likely need training/education if you’re hoping to change careers. Resolve to find out what kind and the scope of any training or education you need. Research different ways to pay it. (Will your employer help?)

Follow the suggestions above and you’re  practically guaranteed to be in a new position at a new company (or promoted at your current company) by the end of 2011.
Part of your career resolution for 2011 can include bringing your resume to the Opti Staffing Group. Whether you’re looking for work in environmental engineering, bookkeeping, the mortgage and lending industries, in manual machining or in many other industries in Chicago, Seattle, Anchorage, Portland and other Northwest cities, we have many temporary, temp-to-hire and direct-hire assignments waiting for you. Contact a recruiter today.

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