STEP UP THIS SPRING
Sophie Rowan shows you how to revitalize your career in eight easy steps
Spring is here, with crisp weather, blue skies and a long stretch in the evening - and with that, a
wonderful feeling of energy and vitality. Winter is long gone, so it’s time to look at the year ahead with a sense of optimism and purpose - it’s much easier to do that in April or May rather than January or February! The surge of energy that we get at this time of the year can be put to great use in transforming your career prospects. So it’s a good time to reflect and ask yourself some questions.
In your career, what do you want the rest of the year to hold for you?
What skills need a little attention or development?
What projects or teams would you like to be involved in?
Can you see yourself in the same job or career this time next year?
This snapshot of your current career set-up may well highlight a couple of areas that need some attention. Here are some ideas to revitalise and spring clean your career:
1 Review Your professional profile
Reviewing your career is a great time to sit back and review your skill set. If you’ve been in the same organisation or career for a long time, you often take your skills and experience for granted. And remember - if you undervalue yourself and what you have to offer, others will too. I advise my clients to create or add to their professional profile on an annual basis. This entails highlighting and writing down your key successes and key contributions to projects and work activities over the past 12 months. Be sure to highlight tangible outcomes or results. Instead of saying that you “worked on an IT installation project for the Finance department”, for example, you could note that you “provided key software programming and testing input into an automated compliance system within budget and on schedule”. You’ll hopefully be pleasantly surprised at just how industrious you’ve been! Approach this exercise as if you are going for a new job, presenting and promoting your skills appropriately.
“Writing down your goal is the first step in committing to it, which is why goal setting is such an important part of the performance review process.”
This exercise keeps your career strengths and achievements to the fore and gives you the confidence you’ll need when you’re faced with a challenging situation at work, such as taking on a new project or going for an internal promotion. This is also a good way of measuring the distance between where you are now and where you would like to be. It also helps you identify any obvious gaps that might exist, such as a need for training. You’re looking to close the gap between you and your goal so be open to up-skilling, taking on an academic or professional qualification, or availing of any coaching programmes your company might offer. These are all sure-fire ways of energising and enhancing your career efforts.
2 Find yourself a mentor
Seek out someone that you trust and respect, whose opinion you value, and someone you’re comfortable talking to. Your mentor is often your role model, the person you would like to be or become. This person may work in your company or may have nothing to do with your line of work. They may be a family friend, relative, or simply a well-respected colleague, boss or ex-boss. So be bold: approach that person you admire, build a relationship with them and ask them for their input into your career decisions (many people are very flattered to be asked for advice on someone’s professional and personal development). Mentors or role models not only provide you with a good sounding board for your ideas, but they can often inspire you to be the best that you can be.
FIX YOUR PROBLEMS
Do any of these gripes seem familiar?
- an unreasonable boss or irritating colleague
- a lack of opportunities to be creative
- a lack of career progression
- constant work overload
- the salary you earn
- the hours you work
- the commute to and from work
Add your own gripes to this list and make a pledge to address at least three things this year. Do you really want them to be on the list again this time next year?
3 Seize the day
Ever look back at a work situation and think that you “should have done x,y,z…” or “why didn’t I?” Well, join the club - we’ve all been there. Many of us have simply done or said nothing at a critical point. Often, that will leave you with a sense of a missed opportunity. This is where proactivity comes in. Being proactive is all about concentrating on your situation, clearly identifying what you want to get out of it, planning how you will achieve that goal - and then, of course, implementing the plane. Proactivity maximises your chance of achieving the outcome that you want.
4 Plan your goals
Research has shown that those who write down their goals are more likely to achieve them than those who keep them firmly tucked away in their head. Writing down your goal is the first step in committing to it, which is why goal setting is such an important part of the performance review process.
Goals guide thoughts and actions - they’re the means of translating wishful thinking and dreams into reality. Psychologists believe that setting goals in the professional domain is essential to achieving success. Goal setting in the workplace shakes people out of sitting around and waiting for changes to happen in their environment, meaning that they’ll be more proactive about pursuing progress and satisfaction in their own career.
To increase your chances of making your goal a reality, goals much be specific, and you must set yourself a deadline for achieving your goal.
GETTING ORGANISED
- Is there a better way for you to organise your desk? Look at your available resources (drawers, filing, shelving) and get one of your spatially gifted colleagues to help you with a redesign
- Put frequently-used stationary and office equipment within easy reach
- Keep on top of your in-tray and out-tray filing. Set yourself a target of having less than three things in your in-tray at the end of each day
- Get yourself a personal rubbish bin for under your desk and empty it every day
- If you eat at your desk, spend two minutes before and after your lunch clearing and cleaning
- Having a nice plant or a happy photograph provides a nice focus for the 10 per cent of time we spend day-dreaming
5 File away
Just how many emails do you have in your inbox? Email file management has become something of an art form - the best users file and delete emails once a week. A good rule of thumb is that, once the pile of messages falls low enough on the page to require scrolling, it needs to be dumped or filed. Maximising your spam filter (No, we don’t want any Viagra, thanks all the same!) also saves valuable time here.
6 Detox your desk
It’s safe to say that you probably spend more time at your desk than any other place most weeks. But when was the last time you cleaned it properly? There are some pretty grisly germs about and some scary stories about your telephone handset housing more germs than the toilet seat - they’re true! Most people don’t clean their desk on a regular basis, usually because there are piles of papers all over it, and the cleaner generally steers clear of it too as it’s your personal space. Many people now eat at their desk, so it also doubles up as the canteen! So clear your desk at least once a week and give it a proper clean.
7 Clean out your closet
In The Rules of Work, Richard Templar dedicates a full chapter to cultivating a professional image in the workplace. It’s not just how you dress that’s important - it’s about your overall image, including speaking and writing well, or smiling and greeting your colleagues pleasantly! Look at your own work wardrobe: is it time for a makeover? If so, head off to the shops with one of your stylish buddies and invest in a few key pieces. Remember, we’re not necessarily talking about completely overhauling your wardrobe. Even simple steps such as steering clear of overly dark colours, adding in a few accessories, or introducing a little variety can make a big difference.
8 Learn a new skill
Much of your work happiness comes from feeling challenged, fulfilled and engaged by your work. But what happens when you’re in the right job but find that you can do it with your eyes closed? You guessed it - boredom sets in. One way to avoid this happening is to keep on top of your professional development by undertaking ongoing training and skills development. Learning a new skill or process (or learning new ways of managing and behaving) keeps both your career and your motivation on track. Learning can take place formally in the training room, a night course at your local college or through your professional body. Many professions now have requirements that you keep a Continuing Professional Development (CPD) log so that your skills and knowledge remain up to date and in line with best practice. Learning also happens informally in your day-to-day relationships with others. If you are fortunate enough to work in a progressive and dynamic setting, learning is organic and you learn constantly from those around you - especially your boss. Also, keep an eye on people you admire in your organisation, and whose career progression you would like to emulate. Watch and learn from how they carry out their work and how they deal with other people. Why not ask them to mentor you, or put yourself forward for a project they are working on? Just contact your HR department to ask about in-house training courses or coaching that may be available to you. Any investment you make in up-skilling is likely to produce a good return on your career progression and your job satisfaction.
Sophie Rowan is an occupational psychologist with Pinpoint, a company specialising in career management programmes for companies and individuals. Sophie can be contacted on 01 642 5721 or at sophie.rowan@ pinpoint.ie.
Sophie’s book, Happy at Work - Ten Steps to Ultimate Job Satisfaction, is published
by Pearson (Prentice Hall Life) for €15.95.
Your notepad!
Recommended reading
Sophie Rowan, Happy at Work
Richard Templar, The Rules of Work
Stephen R. Covey, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
Martin Seligman, What You Can Change… and What You Can’t
David Alien, Getting Things Done
Published in: You & Your Money, Money, May 2008