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Career News Blog Archives
Career News Blog posts insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domain of the career facet of life. Career News Blog: Career-Planning News 1 Career Planning for Baby Boomers -- Faster Career Advancement: August 28, 2007 by Anna D. Banks
Career experts now agree that the best possible time to consider a new job or career is while you are comfortably settled in your old job, but feeling dissatisfied. If you begin to feel unchallenged, if you think your skills are not being optimally used in your current field, consider a new one, before you quit the current job. In your current position, consider whether you are likely to be up for a promotion to the next level, and if that will be the best option for you. If there isn’t much chance of career advancement where you now work, the best idea might be to look for your next job elsewhere. At any age, and certainly when you are a mature worker, it is always a good idea to take active control of your professional future. Only you can make sure that you progress on the career path you wish to follow. There are some basic rules, some steps you can follow to get started: Career News Blog: Career Planning News 1 (Continued) 1. Sit down and have a face-to-face and direct conversation with your current boss about your future in the organization. Make it clear that you want your job and your performance to match with the goals of the organization. Share clearly what you see as the ideal growth pattern for you within the company and figure out if that is likely to be achieved. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 1 (Continued) 2. Ask for more work, a larger role. Volunteer to help out in other departments or teams than the ones you are currently on. Or, alternatively, ask for more responsibilities. This can increase your value within the company. Also, asking for more, and extra, work shows your interest in and desire to help your department as well as the company. It can also highlight your role in and your value to the organization. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 1 (Continued) 3. Volunteer yourself for any possible boards. If your career plan includes doing something larger than and beyond what your role is in your present position, be proactive in seeking out any possible opportunities to volunteer for advisory boards. This will allow you to build up a reputation as a person who is passionate about his/her work and dedicated to the particular industry. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 1 (Continued) 4. Sharpen and hone all your people skills. A set of strong interpersonal skills is an essential and crucial part of gaining the respect of both your boss and your coworkers. It will also be useful in attracting the notice of any outside influencers who may be able to open up new avenues of opportunity for you. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 1 (Continued) 5. Be a friendly and outgoing and listen carefully to other people, and spend some time practicing, to acquire a set of clear and effective communication skills. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 1 (Continued) 6. Innovate. Always try to think outside the box. Put your skills, experience and personal business acumen to work. Always keep on the lookout for effective, creative solutions to all the problems you, or your organization face. This will make you, an in turn your boss look good to those higher up the ladder. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 1 (Continued) 7. Finding a mentor can be crucial. Develop your mentoring relationships, whether inside or outside the company. A number of recent studies now show that the candidate’s mentor, who is in a higher position in the company, influences 80% of promotions. Mentors are great as an aid to advancement, but also, they can be good sources of information and career guidance in general. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 2 Career Planning for Baby Boomers -- Transferring Skills to a New Field: 3rd August 2007 by by Anna D. Banks
If you are not satisfied with your job and this dissatisfaction is the result of a career downfall or mismatch, you can improve your current job conditions. If you aren’t being challenged enough by your tasks, if you want to try your hand at something new, after years and years in one field, or if you simply want a change before entering the next phase of your life, it might be time to switch jobs. Spend more time in researching and exploring the job that you want and any related skills that you have. If your current job and its required skill set do not include the ones you like, dissatisfaction is only to be expected. If you aren’t able to use your preferred skills regularly, on a daily basis in your job, you might feel what is called a vocational void. After taking into consideration your preferred skill areas, if at all you find a major mismatch then you might have to explore other career options. Sometimes, it might also be a choice arising from a change in mid-life, or post retirement. Here are a few things you might want to do. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 2 (Continued) • Try to identify and develop your preferred skills and values • Research your local job market to see what career options and job descriptions are good for your skill sets. • After identifying suitable career options, you can narrow it down and focus on a single area. • If necessary, get additional training. • Create a timetable to plan your progress as you move on in your job search. • Develop a plan of action for your short-term income while you explore careers. Stay put at your current job or keep looking for temp work can be good short-term alternatives until you are settled in something else • Career counseling is a good option. A counselor will help you identify your skills, and interests. A counselor will help you sell your current skills and abilities into your new field, in creative ways. • Consult with people who are working in other interesting fields. Get suggestions and advice from people who are actually working in the particular field that you are interested in to know what the field is all about. • Volunteer as a way to ‘test’ the fields. This will give you good knowledge and insight and will build a vast network for you by identifying and demonstrating your commitment and skills. Career News Blog: Career Planning News 2 (Continued) Corporate downsizing, industries being retrenched, reducing middle management, part-timers, consultants, and the widespread use of contingency workers have created new workplace and market realities. Such drastic changes have made a lasting impact on workers, but the older job seekers have to deal with age-related matters as well. Job seekers, who are over 50, can surpass all this provided they have a better understanding of the changing trends in today’s corporate offices and how this will affect their job search. So, it is advisable to come up with a strategy that is based on knowledge, skills and abilities, objectives and goals, and experience. Explore other employment options and nontraditional jobs that requiring different work patterns and arrangements. Look at temporary, short, medium or long duration opportunities where you can be creative, and tap into other interests. Consider part-time, temporary work for a former employer or a company with established hiring pools for retirees. Career News Blog Comment: In fact, career choices are many, and our career planning depends on our career outlook; which, in turn, is formed by a combination of many psychological impressions on it. The higher we climb on the ladder of success on our career path, the more fulfilled we feel in life. Still there lies an emptiness inside hidden below the surface somewhere that keeps pricking us hard in our consciousness above, without ever telling us what the prick is for. I invite you to subscribe to my E-zine titled Life Coach, free of charge. This E-zine publishes insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. A not-to-be-missed opportunity! Subscribe to it here: I also invite you to subscribe to my Life Blog - no need to provide your e-mail address here. This RSS feed keeps you informed about new developments taking place on this site. It also harbors 25 journal bloglets posting insightful comments on the latest international news that render us taken-aback in the domains of various facets of life. In order to subscribe to the blog, right-click on the orange RSS button (see buttons up to the left) and then paste the URL into your RSS reader. Or click on add to My Yahoo! button or My MSN or Add To Google button if you keep a personalized home page there. If you are not sure what RSS or blogging is all about, click on What's an RSS Feed? here:
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