Moving on in 2019?

Is next year the year when you will be in career transition?  Have the circumstances of your current role changed so significantly that you will have to move on in the near future?  Are the avenues to further career advancement in your current organisation becoming blocked off?  Do you just need and want a fresh career challenge? 

As the year draws to a close, these are questions that often come to the surface in our thinking. As we all slide into a more reflective mode over the holiday period, we have the opportunity to reassess where our careers are headed and get our heads around the sometimes daunting prospect of securing a new role. And for some of us this can be very daunting i.e.

• It may be ages since we were active in the jobs market and we are simply just out of touch about how things now work.

• We may not have attended a job interview of any significance for a number of years and are feeling decidedly rusty about coming up against the tough scrutiny of a full on recruitment process and challenging interview questions. 

• If we are working internationally as an expatriate away from our home base any decision to move on might be heavily constrained by the practical considerations and impact upon our partners, families and friends. 

• We may be very unsure about just how attractive and relevant our experiences, skills and achievements might be in today’s very fluid jobs market.  Do we still have currency? 

So the upcoming holiday period is definitely a time to take stock and make some important decisions but it is also time to: 

• Network like crazy - new career opportunities very often emerge from informal network contacts as much as from formal applications.  Spend your more reflective time asking who in your network might be of most use to you in opening new doors in the New Year. 

• What do you want, what do you really want?  Focus sharply on the criteria that are the most important to you in evaluating new roles and opportunities.  Do not settle for second best.  Individuals with clarity and focus invariably are the most successful at career transition.

• Value yourself - take a realistic and appreciative look at yourself and ask; What are my stand-out features?  What do people really value about me? What clear value can I be to others based on what I know or feedback I have received?

• Seek help - all the career transition challenges ahead can best be addressed by reaching out to others who are well placed to support and coach you along the journey.  At Brosna we specialise in helping talented individuals to manage their career transition and, we find it is at the back end of the old year and the beginning of the new, that we invariably receive the most referrals.  Seeking help with career transition is not a sign of weakness, but a definite sign of strength, as smart career hopefuls seek lots of help to turn them into job winners. 

So if you are personally facing career transition in 2019 then do invest the right amount of time in yourself to focus, connect, seek help and plan so that you hit the ground running in the New Year.

If Brosna Career Consulting can help in any way with your career transition journey, then in the first instance please contact us at info@brosna-consulting.com to arrange a confidential discussion.