John Groth asked:

Here it is mid-October and the other day I noticed a well decorated Christmas tree in a department store while the leaves are still on the trees and I was still mowing my grass. Talk about rushing the season. But maybe theres another season that needs to be brought to the present. Instead of waiting until the New Year to perform a thorough career check up, when the holidays and everything else is in the way, it now appears to be an excellent time for you to take a careful look at your career.

How is your career progressing? Where are you now, what do you expect in the near future and are you satisfied with your progress? Is it necessary for a new beginning?

Dont be like a lot of people that make job and career decisions based on only one or two factors. These decisions need to be carefully thought out before you change employers or to go into a different career. If you perform a wide-ranging career evaluation you wont be caught up in making career decisions on superficial slights or minor disparities. There are more important considerations that completely outweigh these minor short term distractions.

Instead of making career decisions based on short term factors like did you get the last promotion, is your current pay competitive or even how well you are getting on with your boss, your career assessment should be based on a whole range of factors. Dont make the mistake of hastily jumping into another job or becoming unemployed and later you have to regret the move.

Here are four basic factors involved in a Career Check-up. Take your time to carefully evaluate each factor.

What is Your Employers Situation? How well is your employer performing financially? Are sales and market share increasing or decreasing? Is your employer a leader and keeping up to date with the latest trends and technology? Evaluate your companys reputation in your industry and community, and how does this impact your own career goals.

Is Your Career Marketable? What is the current demand for your skills? Be honest with yourself and consult with others in the same position with other employers. Are you up to date with the professional demands of the job and the job one level above you? Examine this factor critically. We all, at one time or another, tend to inflate our skills and job knowledge. Whats been the recent experience of others in the same field that elected to change employers?

Is Your Own Professional Career Development on Track? Are your skills being used in your current job? What is your potential for future career growth? Does your present job utilize your interests and strengths? Is your current job challenging? Do you have a say in how your job is performed? Are your ideas sought and listened to? What is your potential to advance further with your current employer? And how does your future at your current employer mesh with your career plan?

What are Your Personal Preferences? Do you enjoy your job? Are most days positive? How do you feel about getting up every day and going to work? Is your job personally satisfying? Have you been thinking about changing jobs?

If you decide your current job and career situation is promising and rewarding, even in the face of minor distractions, this assessment will validate your current position. If you uncover areas that you need to improve, develop a plan to address the short fall. However, if youre faced with mostly negative answers, and there are limits on your career prospects with your current employer, you might consider looking at other employment prospects.

Higher Career

James Copper asked:

If you’re looking for a career change, to a profession or industry that is more fulfilling, more rewarding, more in line with your interests and skills, you should prepare well in advance. There are a number of things to think about before you get started on your career change. Here are some tips on making an effective and well-thought-out career change.

First, make sure your plan is clear. Treat your transition just as you would an important road trip. Map it out carefully, taking stock of your finances, as well as the education and training that you will need to have to succeed in your new career. Keep in mind that it is far more important to exercise patience that it is to act impetuously. Remember that old saying, “Act in haste, repent at leisure.”

Your career change must wait for just the right time. If, for example, your career change is to an industry or career about which you know little or in which you’ve had little experience, you might consider volunteering part time in the career while you keep your current job with its steady pay check. You might also consider a short term internship in your chosen new field, or hire yourself out as a consultant or freelancer for a few hours a week just to test these new career waters.

Your career change must be done for the right reasons. Being unsatisfied in your current job doesn’t mean a career change is necessary. It may be that a job change in the same field may be all thats needed. Perhaps you just need some additional training to make another step up the career ladder in your current field and even with your current employer. No matter what change you make in this world, career or otherwise its generally wise to take baby steps first to test the waters. Making a small change to see if that results in satisfaction is the best recourse. You should also talk to career counselors and people in the career to which you consider a change. Take some self assessment or career evaluation tests to determine if your right for the career that you are considering. You may find that a career change is a good move for you – but to a career that you hadn’t even thought of.

Take a good long look at yourself. Make a list of your likes, your dislikes, your skills, your beliefs, your interests and your values. Determine the money you need to make to be financially comfortable.

Don’t forget, in your zeal for a career change, to find out what experience and education that new career will require. Perhaps an entry level or mid-management job in the industry would be open to you now but you’re looking for something more responsible. Might it not be better to get your education now Or perhaps that new employer would help you through school if you come on board at a lower level than you ultimately desire

All these things must be considered as you think about a career change. Determining that you need to make the change might not be as important as determining when and how.

Higher Career