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In this article London creative recruitment specialists, Source look at how to enjoy a dynamic career and avoid the risk of getting bored.
Are you suffering from the career blues? Find out how you can enjoy a more dynamic career and increase your development opportunities.
Are you happy in your job? Are you climbing the career ladder in the way that you’d hoped? If the answer is yes, congratulations. However, most surveys reveal that between one third and one half of the UK working population are unhappy at work.
Some of this is bound to be due to the worsening of terms and conditions during the recession. But I think a good portion of dissatisfaction comes from a mismatch between career aspiration and reality. Sometimes the grass isn’t always greener elsewhere. Occasionally, promised opportunities vanish. Career management sometimes doesn’t go to plan and you need to adapt if you want to take advantage of enjoyable work opportunities.
Enjoying a Dynamic Career
Here are some suggestions for maintaining a dynamic career. They won’t be suitable for everyone but I hope that they’ll inspire you to take action if your career is starting to feel a little lacklustre.
Develop intellectually.
If the company you work for has a freeze on training opportunities, the internet provides many low cost ways to develop your understanding and technical skills. By embracing the idea that you can leverage your own strategy to further your knowledge (and, by extension, career options), you remove your dependence upon employers to provide work routes for you.
Work for yourself.
Check your LinkedIn profile. How many marketers, writers, recruiters, media experts and consultants in your contact group have set up their own businesses in the last few years? Yes, some of them will have done so because there are fewer opportunities in the jobs market. But many will tell you that they have been able to undertake work that they didn’t dream that they could have achieved with their last employer.
Gain a specialism.
What if you enjoy 20% of your work but hate the rest? Specialising in that 20% could increase your job satisfaction and enhance your career prospects in one fell stroke. I’ve known HR Managers who became reward specialists and web designers who became social media experts. They all reported better opportunities, prospects and salaries.
Keep your goals open – but do have them.
People who set long term (1 – 2 year) career goals can become disillusioned if they don’t meet them. Don’t set yourself up to fail. First of all, make sure that the targets are within yourcontrol to achieve. Secondly, bring in short term (for example, 3 month) goals that are less demanding but will nevertheless help you to achieve your overall career ambitions. Examples include attending five networking events, mastering some new IT skills and attending a webinar on a particular subject.
Make friends with HR.
Ambition isn’t enough on its own to develop your dynamic career. If you’re in the right company but need to create a development route, make contact with someone in HR and find out how others have progressed. Ask them to give you first notice of any secondment or coaching opportunities that arise and inside information on the managers who are more likely to give your career aspirations a sympathetic hearing.
Be optimistic.
Celebrate your successes. Acknowledge that your mistakes have made you a better worker – and move on. Doubt and pessimism kills off anyone’s ability to enjoy a dynamic career and take the chances that are sometimes needed, whether that’s accepting a promotion, career change, moving to a new company or shifting to a different function.
Top image from Imgembed.
This piece is cross-posted from Source—a London based recruitment agency specializing in advertising and creative roles.