Being able to achieve our ultimate goals in life often relies on our ability to earn a living while performing work that is meaningful to us. That’s why taking the time to assess the health of your career is just as important as having regular checkups to create the life that you want. It’s easy to tell when your health has gone off track, but without conscious attention, your career could be off track and you probably wouldn’t know. Well, not until something dramatic happens.
How healthy is your career?
A career health check is essentially a career audit. Many professionals don’t think about their job and the position they ultimately want unless they are forced to, such as a layoff. Yet, auditing your career on a regular basis will help you to better determine and control your career advancements and marketability.
As part of your review, take some time to investigate the top skills and background that managers and talent experts expect for your current position, as well as the career level and industry that you ultimately wish to attain.
Tip: If you have gaps in your skill set or experience, consider taking professional development courses, such as leadership training and executive coaching, to help you stay current in your field and improve your employment prospects.
Benefits of a Career Health Check
An opportunity to rediscover yourself.
When you take the time to review your past career performance it will help you to identify your personal strengths and weaknesses. This means you’ll work out where you need to focus your efforts to improve your performance as well as increase your opportunities for recognition, advancement and growth. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses gives you control over the choices you make.
Reassess your goals
A career health check can help you zero in on your true goals. A career coach can act as a sounding board and guide to help you map out the steps that you need to take to advance your career to the next level. Sometimes it’s the questions we’ve not thought of that give us the best insight into what we really want to be doing.
Uncover blocks
Perhaps most importantly, a career health check can help you discover your personal blocks, and how you might be holding yourself back from challenges and other opportunities to grow. In these situations, a coach can give you just the firm push that you need to step outside of your comfort zone!
With their guidance, you can learn how to recognise and knock down those artificial boundaries that you’ve put up. Many of them are defence mechanisms designed to protect you but in fact, they are only limiting you and stopping you creating the life and career that you want, by design!
Check in with a Career Professional
Self-evaluating performance in an objective, unbiased manner is notoriously difficult. It can also be hard to determine the exact skills that you need for a specific career if you wish to change fields and enter one where you have little practical experience. This is where the expertise of a career coach, mentor, or other talent specialists can be invaluable.
Is Your Career Thriving?
Do you know the status of your current career health? Is your employment pulse strong and vibrant, or, are you in critical condition and barely hanging on?
Why not breathe new life into your career, today?
