First off, I'd just like to wish you all an exciting and adventurous 2008! I think this year will be a challenging one for everyone but there are great opportunities out there and I think it's probably a really good time for those of you considering what you want out of your career to take stock and make some decisions. You might want to try asking yourself the following five questions to start the year:
- What did I achieve in my career last year? (give yourself a pat on the back).
- What would I really like to achieve in the next year? (push yourself).
- How can I achieve that where I am now? (planning for it).
- What is the long term goal that achieving this will support? (big dreams).
- How can I achieve my long term goal where I am now? (more planning)
The best thing about planning like this is it will help you keep a weather report on whether or not your current employer is helping you achieve your dreams. If it becomes increasingly difficult to plan to achieve what you want where you are, then you need to start considering new places to work. Don't be overly keen to move though, the ability to creatively develop your job in any workplace can give you some very valuable skills as well. You also need to factor in some other important points that may be just as valuable as you getting the chance to achieve your goals. Good examples of that would be, the quality of mentors you have around you, and also the growth prospects of the company you are with. Both these factors can sometimes out weigh your goals because of the huge opportunities they can provide.
With all this in mind, rest assured you've got plenty of opportunities out there as companies look to increase staff, according to the latest Hudson survey of over 1700 employers. So reflect, take stock, and plan.
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