How to Plan Your Next Career Move?3 Easy Steps to Figure Out Your Next Career Move
Every morning you wake up wishing to quit your present job, but the moment you decide it’s time for a change, figuring out what you should be doing next becomes one of the hardest tasks to do. This could be a reason why many people don’t face it and stay at companies longer than they should. They waste months and years hoping that their next career move would come to them automatically in their dreams or, worse, they end up landing new jobs where they still lack work satisfaction.
But you should not make any of those mistakes and waste time just thinking. By just following few easy and uncomplicated steps, you can get a clear picture of your next career move sooner than expected, so you can finally move ahead in your career and get into a new role you will love. And on the brighter side, it doesn’t require setting up dozens of informatory interviews that sometimes leave you even more confused.
Step One: Self Introspection
I understand it’s tantalizing to quit your current job when you feel miserable working there. But instead of running away from a problem, you need to chase towards finding a solution, especially when you truly want to fix the issue of not finding peace and feeling fulfilled in your career. In simple words you should be willing to do self-introspection, asking yourself the hard and tricky questions to get to the root of what you would like to add or delete in your present career and what needs to be upgraded.
Here is a list of few questions you should ask yourself: What’s making you feel dissatisfied in your career right now? Is it the work you do, or is it your current work atmosphere including your manager or not so understanding colleagues? Is it the products, services or clients that your company serves? Next, recall the time when and about what you were most excited about in your career, was it some project or you enjoyed working with your team or manager who you think brought the best in you? What kind of work environment do you imagine yourself thriving in the most (quiet or lively)? What kind of organisation would you be proud and excited to work in? Are you passionate about any service or product or do you wish to try an entirely new industry?
Step Two: Go Window Shopping
Once you have taken some time to interview yourself with the above questions and you know your answers, it’s time to go window shopping to get more distinct on your next ideal role. Window shopping here exactly means how it sounds. But, rather than going out looking for clothes or accessories, it’s the dexterity of browsing for jobs without the stress of applying right away. It’s an ideology to go above and beyond just reading a job description just for the sake of applying to that job. It persuades you to take a deeper look and weigh every aspect of the opportunity and note what’s out there, so as to become more aware of your options, while also shrinking the list of roles and companies that incite you.
The fact is there are tons of organisations; plenty of roles and things which you might not even have heard of before that you can try as your new career. Taking a step back to gather details and becoming aware of what’s out there allows you to take an informed and calculated decision about the right next role for you so that you can be prescient, strategic and conscious about your career move.
Step Three: Key Out Your Sweet Spot
After gaining enough knowledge about different roles and companies that attract you and align with your career goals, the next step is to figure out your sweet spot. A sweet spot is a place where your interests and your skills meet. Just knowing what you want to do next is not enough. Making a note of your strengths and weakness will help you paint a clear picture of your skills and expertise. Knowing both will ensure that you can successfully excel at your new career and what exactly you should be doing to get hired for it. While discovering your sweet spot, you might even realise that you don’t even have to take a step back in your career to do what you love.
For example, you might have realized that you’re interested in shifting your career from HR to communications, and you like both media relations and internal communications. But do you have any relevant experience or transferable skillset for media relations or internal communications roles? Finding the answer to this question will help you position yourself as a top candidate for the right role thus increasing your chances of getting hired where you will most likely succeed and enjoy.
Conclusion
Careers moves don’t just happen. Most successful people map out their career moves wisely. If you’re feeling unmotivated or unenthused about your job, then it’s the right time to consider taking a new direction in your career. But making your next career move doesn’t have to be super perplexing. All it takes is a little determination and will to take a step back and think through. By following the above three steps, you’ll quickly discover clarity and a sense of confidence in pursuing your next career move.
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