Considering a Strategic Career Move? We Can Make It Happen!
We never promise more than we can deliver, but we always deliver more than we promise.
- by Jeffrey A. Glickman, M.A.
A guide to successful career self-management written by an expert with 30+ years of
experience in senior human resources management for Fortune 100 companies,
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Balance. We all want it. A healthy balance between our professional careers and personal lives. Time to pursue important goals in both areas of our lives. Balance. You can have it, but it requires effort and actions on your part. My comments here will focus on career management, but one key question to ask yourself in considering any job or career change is: How will this career move affect my ability to achieve my personal goals?
I can tell you that you can change horses in midstream without getting your feet wet and without learning how to walk on water. But there are some things you should know to make the process easier and its outcome more successful in order to avoid ending up confused and overwhelmed.
But first some straight talk. You have to decide whether you just want another job or whether you want to design a career.
Today, the average person entering the work force can be expected to make as many as five major career changes in a lifetime and works for up to 12 different employers. Learning how to make these changes work for you can make the difference between a successful career/life balance and a professional/personal life that is out of balance.
Sometimes a change is contemplated out of choice and sometimes it is forced by economic necessity. Regardless, the change can either be a catastrophe or an opportunity, depending on how you deal with it. It's really your choice.
If you are evaluating your career because you have lost your employment, then everything that follows certainly applies to you. If you are currently employed, but still exploring your career options, two questions to ask yourself are:
- Is my present employment preventing me from achieving my goals in life?
- Am I unhappy with my present company or boss?
If your answer to the first question is yes and you answer no to the second question, then a real career change is in order. If you answer no to the first question and your answer to the second question is yes, then you probably just need to seek a better job doing pretty much what you're doing now.
If you answered both questions with a yes, then what are you waiting for? Don't let fear or inertia keep you in an unsatisfactory situation. Change is never easy, but it doesn't get any easier with time and the reasons you have been considering such a change aren't likely to go away. They seldom do.
Whatever you do, don't act impulsively.
The process I recommend using to achieve your career goals is something I call "Strategic Career Management." Using this approach, there are three phases to making a successful career or job change and they all take some time to accomplish. They are:
Let's look at each phase in some detail.
Would you be willing to invest $100 and two hours in your career development, especially if that $100 could then be applied to any further services you elect?
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