career obstacles and career management
DESCRIPTION
As an employee, you only want to get better and better at what you do. This is because the fulfillment of your dreams and your career success basically depend on how you improve as an individual and an employee.TRANSCRIPT
Cosmic Coaching Centre http://cosmiccoachingcentre.com Page 1
Cosmic Coaching Centre Corporate & Individual Career Solutions for Mid-Level Professionals & Executives
Cosmic Coaching Centre http://cosmiccoachingcentre.com Page 2
Once you feel the need for a change in your life, you
then have this strong
urge to make these
changes and face
whatever outcome comes
with it. But then again,
this just can’t be that
easy, thanks to all the
common obstacles along the way. This is what may
also happen if you are thinking of changing careers.
For those who are thinking of becoming self
employed, you need to be ready to face the many
challenges that should come to you. But one thing
that may surprise you also is the fact that aside from
the external obstacles you would be facing, the more
difficult ones to overcome are those within you.
You don’t think you are ready. If being self
employed wasn’t part of the career paths that you
created earlier in your life, you would naturally feel
hesitant to make a change. This is particularly true
for those who have had some sort of achievement in
their careers. Plus, if you don’t have a degree in the
industry you are entering, feeling less confident is
understandable.
What you can do is learn gradually. Take some time
to learn something about the career you are about to
start. Ask those who have the knowledge and
experience related to this field. There are some short
courses or training programs that you may get also
that will equip you with the basic skills you need.
The outcomes are so uncertain. You will be
wondering if you’ve made the right decision or not.
This need for security is innate to all of us. But at
some point, you have to accept the fact that there is
nothing guaranteed in life. We all should take risks
and be ready to face whatever the outcome is. As long
as we do what needs to be done at the highest level
possible, satisfaction will be ours regardless of the
results.
You are still not certain about what you want. As
any life coach would put it, you need to listen to the
voice from within. It is not enough that you spend so
much of your time trying to fulfill other people’s
expectations. Explore all the possibilities, meet
different kinds of people, travel several places, and
even do volunteering activities. Through these, you
will have an idea of where you will be happy.
Remember that it is important that what you are
doing is in line with your values and what can make
you happy.
Creating a career action plan is vital to developing a
clear and strong vision for one’s future, at least
professionally speaking.
Using this plan, you will
find it easier to figure out
what steps you should
take to ensure that your
vision will come into
reality. Don’t worry if
you still cannot consider yourself a success in any
way. The truth is that this form of planning for your
career is aimed at guiding you whether you are still
looking for your first job, or you have decided to have
a career change.
OBJECTIVE
A career action plan should enable you to determine
how you are going to achieve all your goals and
Cosmic Coaching Centre http://cosmiccoachingcentre.com Page 3
objectives in your career. What this type of planning
will do is help you in assessing your priorities and
interests so that you will not have a hard time
focusing on the vital parts of your own career. Also,
you will never have to share your career action plans
with anyone, not even your future employers. It is
you who need to see it as often as possible, so that
you can keep track of your progress. It is also
through this plan of yours that you will be able to
identify your career pathways.
FEATURES
There is no specific or special way you should create
your career action plan. It actually may have just a
couple of short paragraphs, or you may also go as
much as writing a few pages. What’s important is that
it covers all of the factors and aspects related to your
pursuit of your goals in your career.
Basically, a career action plan would include: specific
action steps plus a probable timetable for
accomplishing the goals; factors and aspects in your
own life that you think will either support or go
against your career goals; the likely hurdles you will
face and need to overcome; and the names of people
who you believe will be able to assist and guide you
towards the achievement of such goals.
BENEFITS
There are so many good reasons you would want to
devise a career action plan and act according to it.
First of all, this kind of planning will help you define a
very clear and structured strategy that you can use
whether you are in the stage of career transition or
you are simply aiming for advancement in your
career. Whatever it is, this plan will help you move
and take the necessary steps towards a very
rewarding career.
Learning how to control and manage your own
career is a must. This
means that you should be
able to identify what your
core values are, your
personal interests, and
what skills you have so that
you may determine also
what career opportunities
can excite you the most.
When it comes to the skills every worker has to
possess, there are several different types actually. As
you go on with your career, you will acquire a variety
of skills through the training and experiences you
acquire. Thus, before you start looking for the most
appropriate career and job to fit you, it is
recommended that you undergo some free career
assessments just to make sure you know what skills
you can apply in a certain job.
Identifying Your Best Skills
As you try to explore the opportunities offered by
various companies, you should first know what exact
skills are required. In order to assess which areas you
are really good at or which skills are your strongest,
you may try:
• using various career assessment tools online,
doing some assessment exercises, etc.
• asking your colleagues, family and friends
about what they think you are really good at.
• Seeking assistance from a career coach.
Cosmic Coaching Centre http://cosmiccoachingcentre.com Page 4
What Transferable Skills Do You Have?
Identifying your transferable skills is just as
important as knowing your best skills. Your
transferable skills are valuable in any kind of job or
industry. By knowing about it, you can broaden your
selection of the possible work opportunities where
you may put such skills into use.
What to Keep in Mind about Skills
1. Your skills will be the basis of employers in
determining whether you can do the job well or not.
You must be really good at a particular area. But
remember that having multiple skills in just the same
area will not automatically make you more desirable.
2. You should not hesitate to vary your skills. With
determination, you can definitely enhance your
present skills and even acquire new skill sets. All you
need is experience and enough practice.
3. Don’t be afraid to discover that you have
weaknesses. We all have our own weaknesses and
there is nothing we can do about this fact. What we
can do instead is try to address such weaknesses and
try to turn them into strengths.
4. There are skills that you don’t need to have. To
acquire new skills, you will need to invest. So before
you spend any amount of money to join any
mentoring programs perhaps, be sure that it is
worth your time, energy, and money.
As an employee, you only want to get better and
better at what you do. This is because the fulfillment
of your dreams and your career success basically
depend on how you improve as an individual and an
employee. Thus, you have to constantly search for
ways you may further
and acquire more skills.
Through performance
reviews, you get to know
which areas you still
need to improve on. But
how are you going to
handle a difficult or
negative performance review?
Performance reviews are dreaded by most of us.
Nevertheless, they could also a rewarding experience
if they are conducted on a regular basis. This way,
even managers or supervisors will have an easier
time dealing with assessment reports.
Tips for Making Performance Reviews a Valuable
Process
1. Talk to your manager and ask if he or she could
give you a list of what your objectives should be,
which are directly connected to specific corporate
goals. Then take a look at the objectives and connect
them to certain tasks that you will be the one to
perform. You should then turn this list into a
spreadsheet so that it will be easier for you to
prioritize tasks. This is another way of career
advancement targeting.
2. Ideally, you would want to regularly meet with
your manager to have an objectives review. But to do
this, you must keep the spreadsheet up-to-date. If
possible, you would also want to schedule a weekly
meeting in which you may talk about all the
workplace issues that need the attention of the
management.
3. After every meeting, be sure to incorporate all the
discussed details into your spreadsheet. Don’t forget
to give you manager a copy of the revised
spreadsheet.
4. When it is time for your own performance review,
ask your manager how things are going. Give him or
her a sign that you don’t mind them being direct to
Cosmic Coaching Centre http://cosmiccoachingcentre.com Page 5
the point. If not everything you hear is good, keep
your composure and continue to listen. Then calmly
ask your manager what steps you should take to fix
and improve things.
5. Always consider everything an opportunity to
learn. Even as an employee, you should not stop
learning. Your workplace may have skills training or
continuing education programs that you can actively
join. Never take criticisms against your boss. You
need to know where you perform poorly so that you
could turn things around in no time. This is one basic
ingredient of career advancement.