Buying a new outfit or updating your hairstyle can go a long way toward making over your professional appearance. But if you’re still stuck in the same ho-hum job, you may not need to overhaul your look – you may need to overhaul your career.
How do you give your career a makeover? Today, our Murfreesboro staffing agency is sharing five tips to get you on started on a “new look” in 2015:
1. Take a look back. Reflect on what you achieved in 2014 and what you’d like to accomplish this year. Did you get the raise or promotion you wanted? Find the ideal job you searched for? Perhaps most importantly, will your current position allow you to grow and develop within your field? If not, 2015 may be a great year for a change.
2. Get real. If you’re considering switching fields, set a clear path and timeline for the transition. For example, you can’t expect to jump from being an administrative assistant to manager instantaneously. But, you can create a plan to find a job as an administrative assistant who reports to a company owner or VP.
Once you get hired, you can set a timeline for educating yourself, getting on-the-job management training, and volunteering for projects with supervisory responsibilities. With experience and education, you’ll become a viable candidate for a management job that positions you for additional advancement within your company.
Write down your plans and keep them in a place where you’ll see them frequently.
3. Inventory your transferable job skills. If your former and dream jobs seem unrelated, don’t worry – they may actually both require some of the same job skills. The trick is identifying where your experience and the prospective opportunity overlap, and then convincing your interviewer that you’ll be able to hit the ground running.
You probably have already acquired a solid foundation of versatile job skills, both in school and on the job. Detail your communication, organizational, people management, project management and soft skills (those that allow you to work effectively with others) to determine which you can carry from one job to the next. Update your resume to highlight these marketable qualities.
4. Break through roadblocks to success. To achieve your full potential, you must eliminate the obstacles that stand between you and your ideal job. What’s in your way? Do you have an apathetic boss who doesn’t take your growth seriously? Does your current job lack the responsibility you desire? Is your own resistance to change holding you back?
For each obstacle, determine whether or not it’s within your control to change. Cross off those barriers you can’t control, and then brainstorm ways to overcome or eliminate the remaining ones. Positive actions will help you get rid of the feeling that you’re “helpless,” “stuck in your career,” or a “victim” – and put you back in the driver’s seat, controlling your own future.
5. Get input from people you respect and trust. Talk to your mentor, experts in your field, trusted colleagues and family members to get their perspective on career opportunities you’re considering. While you will ultimately make the decision, their insights may help you uncover new alternatives, options for development and networking opportunities that could accelerate your transformation.
Give Your Career a Makeover with Wood Personnel.
Make 2015 the year to find a better job or transition into a new career! We can: help you get your foot in the door with your target employer; provide access to unadvertised opportunities; and assist in your search for work, confidentially.
Register with our Murfreesboro staffing agency today or search Middle TN jobs here.
