Fast-track your career growth

 

Who does not want to move ahead in one’s career? The fact that everybody does is the reason why the workplace is so competitive. But everybody cannot win – some will rise to the top and some will not; and some will grow faster than others.

How can you demonstrate forward motion? How can that forward motion be fast-tracked? There is only one method that will boost your chances of career success and attaining professional objectives – you need make yourself stand out from the rest by enlarging your skillsets.  Here is how you can do that:

· Don’t pretend to be a know-all: If you brag around and try to portray that you know everything, you will not be appreciated. The world is in a state of flux and you can never have all the experience and expertise. And if you pretend that you know everything, others will understand that you are either grossly ill-informed or unnecessarily headstrong. None of these impressions will help you move ahead.

· Don’t have a rigid approach: While constancy is a good attribute, inflexibility is not. You may constantly perform well but fail to adapt to changing circumstances or altered parameters; this manifests rigidity. In other words, you do not harbour an open mind. You need to convey that you are open to ideas and that you are on the lookout for new methods to add value to the company.

· Don’t let your skills rust: Notwithstanding that your charter of responsibilities could be congenially dissimilar, you, like anybody else fall into configurations and schedules at your workplace. The fact is that as a matter of routine, all of us utilise only a segment of our capabilities and dexterities. Skills left unapplied or unutilised gradually wither away, as a result of which, we tend to be more narrowly confined to our present role. This kind of a degeneration needs to be precluded. You have to emerge sounder and firmer with your skills to be a better-informed person; and this can be achieved by letting all your skills remain fresh

· Remain committed to professional advancement: You simply cannot predict tomorrow. You could be well-entrenched in your job today and feeling confident about it. But you never know for certain what can happen a month’s time from now. To overcome this uncertainty, you need to maintain yourself in top form so that you can address any adversity with all the might at your command. All organisations seek people who are tenacious and display will to persist against all odds. You need to be obligated to unceasing professional advancement. In fact, this aspect should be dovetailed in your professional development plan so that you able to institute some factors around whatever you seek to attain.

· Be stirred & experimental: If you have to maintain your professional zeal, you will need to keep that spark alive in your mind. Your mental stirring has to be of a high order; and nobody but you is responsible for it. It is a known phenomenon that over a period of time, the best of jobs tend to become humdrum. Disengagement and detachment sets in after some time has elapsed. To overcome tedium and monotony, you have to throw yourself to new tests and trials. This necessitates having an experimental approach and trying out new things; and shedding all predispositions to adhere to old things. You need to stimulate your mind while doing any work so that you delight in it.  

· Be steadfast towards professional success: All employers seek to determine if you are an even collaborator in your own success. If they find that you are, they will make available the required wherewithal for your growth and advancement. You are bound to be taken deeply if your management knows the significance that your career holds out to you. Essentially, you should not hold yourself back when it comes to making all your career   aspirations an actuality. And towards that, if it comes to making any sacrifice, you should not be found wanting in your efforts and spirit alike. You will thus be viewed as an organisational asset and your company will go all-out to keep you motivated so that both you and your company can grow simultaneously.

· Don’t be tired of working: Unless you work and make efforts to apply your knowledge on ground, its possession is of no avail. In addition, you must also train others; this will help you to come into limelight and establish your credentials as a leader. 

If you want to get ahead in your career, you must always imagine yourself in a dynamic mode. Any form of latency will lead to an unnecessary depletion of your mental power. Your mind has to perennially stay exposed, occupied and enthused. While this could be very trying, you will have to dream beyond your job. You must endeavour to be an initiator and not just an executor.

Create your marque during job changeovers

“Never tread lightly. Leave a deep impression wherever you go.”

-        K. Rafferty

Getting a job and keeping it is a selfless task and it requires a lot of effort. As time passes and our needs change, we must leave our job for another one that will help us improve, either economically or professionally. You will find yourself moving out from one company to another.

Leaving a work place is often a sad and awkward situation, because we were used to that work and people we worked with will no longer be with us.  And bidding adios to a company where you have made friends and spent your valuable time can prove to be sentimental, thrilling or nail-biting experiences. Whatever be the causative factor for leaving a company, you need to do so with the same polish and obligation that you demonstrated at the time of joining.

Your allegiance, devotion and steadfastness are all commitments that you make to your marque when you start having ideas about leaving a company. You could be leaving for better avenues elsewhere or on account of some unfortunate development, the time to leave is one when you must enhance your image and impression that you want to carry on after you have left.

You must exercise control over your behaviour, activities and comportment; and responses, rejoinders and retorts. To be able to do that, you have to formulate a plan that can facilitate an achievement of an upbeat and enduring impact. The following aspects should be your focal points in your efforts to manage your marque when you are in the process of leaving a company:  

·  Reinforce bonds & networks: You would have built strong associations. You need to bid them farewell; doing so will reinforce your relationships and make certain that they keep going even if you are not on the scene. You should consider your last couple of days in the company as a monumental opportunity for bonding where presence-while is crucial.  You must go around and bid adios to people individually. Your tête-à-têtes will obviously depend on the nature of relationship that you shared, however, you must deal with them with due regard and consideration. You should keep in mind that final impacts are as significant as initial ones; and if you leave on a positive and cordial note, the relationships will stand you and your career in good stead in the years to come.    

· Reduce your gratefulness to words: In the last few days of your stay, you must compile a list of colleagues with whom you worked closely or had recurring exchanges. A hand-written message to each of them saying how you enjoyed your association and how grateful you feel for it will go a long way in you being remembered. To some of your colleagues, a short email on similar lines is an ideal instrument to convey your thankfulness. You need to be beholden and unpretentious in such communications. It will be prudent to make available your address and telephone number to facilitate initiatives by your friends to remain in touch with you.  Remember that courtesies of a small and trivial character are the ones which strike deepest; they generate immense goodwill and which you will put away like preserves for utilisation during need subsequently. They say that a thankful person is most fully human and it is this quality that is always reminisced.

· Wrap up professionally: When you leave the precincts of your company, it goes without saying that you would like to feel uplifted and all set for your next job. Therefore, it is necessary that you wrap up all your work in a professional manner. This will necessarily entail concluding all outstanding issues with your boss and the management; and ensuring that all external agencies and individuals with whom you dealt in your official capacity are introduced to your successor. You may also like to save some files that you may require subsequently, but subject to organisational ethics. It is important to leave your work-station clutter-free and that includes clearing your computer of all unwanted files; leaving drawers neat and tidy; and the surroundings clean. Even on the last day, you should display the same sense of responsibility that you displayed on your first day.  

The characteristic of a great man is his power to leave a lasting impression on people he has been associated with. We all take different career paths, but no matter where we go, we take a little of each other everywhere and also leave a little behind. That ‘little’ that you leave behind is actually colossal terms of a lasting impression. Your priority should be precisely that.

Justifying job changeovers

Today, a single job is not a lifelong pursuit. Statistics indicate that most people switch jobs every four or five years and this periodicity is gradually being reduced. With an increased focus on self-employment and contract working, companies are reconciled to the fact that there will be attrition.

The phenomena of jumping jobs has thus come to stay. And there is apparently nothing wrong about it, provided it is done for the correct reasons and there are no violations of ethics involved. What all should you should keep in mind, if at all you need to do job hopping?

What is that you must do? Issues that you should invariably ensure before leaving your job for another are:

· Don’t lose sight of your objectives: You could serve in a job for a year or five years. It is important that while taking any step for a job changeover, that move per se should draw you nearer to your prime aim. It goes without saying that achievement of your ultimate objective calls for splitting it into smaller, realistic aims.

· Assess your emotive conditions before changing: You need to be unambiguous about the purpose of your changeover and not let your sentiments come in the way of your decision. If you are under any stress or strain, pend your decision to leave.

· Go for better prospects: A job changeover is justifiable if it has the prospects for individual and professional advancements. You must go ahead with a job change if you can clutch an opportunity to shoulder higher responsibilities, attain vertical growth and acquire in-demand, vendible expertise.  

· Join for the ‘value complement ’: You need to find out maximum about various companies that you are eager to join and make your motive of value complement known to them. It is essential that you explicate to them that an organisation which is well-established and flourishing is what inspires you and that it is your earnest desire to have a long-term association with it.

· Make your contact base robust: Your networking efforts are the most effective job hunting tool at your disposal. Hence, you must go all out to develop and reinforce your bonds and associations – both personal and professional. You may not realise it, but a positive and favourable remark by anyone who you quote as a reference can go miles in capturing an excellent job opportunity.

What are various aspects that you need to guard against when doing job-hopping? Besides leaving on a cordial note, it is important that you exercise due caution towards some pertinent aspects. You should focus your efforts and energy on the following “Don’ts”:

·  Don’t job-hop without demonstrating performance & growth: It is necessary that before you switch a job, you should have contributed usefully to it. Any move sans demonstrated performance will send wrong messages and create wrong impressions.

· Don’t leave incomplete assignments behind: Leaving behind unfinished work will project you as inefficient and manifest your inability to cope with change. And if that happens to be a rule rather than an exception, you may not get a job that you are wishing for.

· Don’t think that life at your new job will be a bed of roses: You will have to start from scratch at your new job. The work that you do and the results that you accomplish will be a subject of intense watch. And this will entail building new bonds and going through an absolutely new process of learning.

· Don’t attempt to conceal facts: There are some aspects about your life and career that you should not cover up. When you attempt to hide why you left a company (you could have been fired), remember that the facts will come out some day or the other. 

· Don’t forget to find similar ideas & patterns: While any gap in your career will raise eyebrows, the fundamental necessity is to give a factual and convincing account of your career journey. During interactions and interviews, you should begin by explaining what your career dares and defies are; and then dwell on various ideas and patterns that are common to all your experiences. An objective recount of your skills that went to make success happen should also be appropriately dovetailed. It is also essential that you talk about your keenness to be a continual learner and how this will facilitate achieving whatever you have set out for in your career and life.

Your frequent job changeovers will speak in your resume. To counter any adverse conclusions being drawn, you need to emphasise on your experience in various companies that you have worked in and how you made a difference. You will have good reasons to justify your job-hopping ventures; in case situations arise, you will have to find convincing answers for your moves.

Be at the helm of your career track

If you talk to people out to get a job, you will hear the buzzwords, “My career is jammed” or “I think my career has reached a road block” or words to that effect.

The implications of the above remarks could be many. It is likely that the organisation in which a person is serving is good alright, but he or she is unable to effect a career advancement at a desired pace. Alternatively, a person could be performing the same role for a long time and is unable to graduate to higher responsibilities. It is also possible that there are many who have been rewarded with promotions and raises, but unfortunately the person in question is being repeatedly looked over.

In the light of the above, the writing on the wall is clear. Whatever or wherever you may be at present, you need to make more investments in your career. In respect of large majority of us who are not exerting abundantly and not making ample investments, this may be a seemingly and understandably undemanding proposition. You may feel that that you are toiling relentlessly or have some expectations from your organisation because of which you cannot offer plausible reasons for your inability in this context.

The above notwithstanding, if you are willing to intensify your efforts to improve yourself, there is wherewithal readily available that can be of immense help to you. But the single most important method is to get at the wheels of your career and step out of your virtual world’s   relaxation and security to experiment with some new methods.

There are four action fields that you need to take more seriously and they are:

· Being responsible & answerable to yourself: You will have to alter your attitude and outlook so that you do not get stuck at work. In this context, the need to have a well-defined objective is inescapable – an objective not detailing the position that you aspire to be in three, five or ten years from now; and the methods to attain them. You need to be clear about the immediate next position that you aim to clutch. Once you identify and define an immediate objective, you should formulate a line of action starting from your present position to attain that. Should you have any disparities and inequalities in your plan, they ought to be the issues that you must focus on. You should always remember that it is you and you alone who is responsible for your career advancement and no one else will ever be concerned about it.

· Getting to know how others regard you: The need to be aware about how others view you is extremely important. As humans, we have a tendency to be self-centred and which can cause monumental problems in our dealings. It is only others who can tell us of our errors in the way we think and that helps us to gain focus. Getting an honest opinion from others is indeed difficult, but there are established methods that you can effect. Consequently, you will gain incredible perceptions that will facilitate boosting your career instantaneously and concurrently.

· Creating a strategic support base: This may appear to be challenging because it calls for significant reflection, devotion of time and efforts for sustenance. A strategic support base is distinct from having a mentor, though the role of mentors is also very important in your career. You need to meet people, exchange cards and schmoose in the organisation that you are working in. This can be done in various ways, contingent upon your desired interaction technique. Affecting your networking well does not imply behaving in a servile or obsequious manner or being pretentious; it is also not about using situations or relationships between people for your own advantage. Networking is a fundamental career strategy and you will miss out tremendously on your prospects if you fail to adopt it.

· Employ systems to gain elevations: With the competitive environment that prevails today, getting promotions are a difficult affair. However, the question that needs serious contemplation is why others are rising up and you are not. To be able to get an elevation, you ought to be brooding, purposeful and professional vis-à-vis your career objectives. It may call for going through and comprehending the promotion philosophy of your set-up, the qualitative requirements of the next senior position and vital proficiencies associated with it. Interaction with the administrative department can help as also perusing information given on your company’s website. You should also be cognizant to the manner in which your immediate senior is substantiating your promotion to the management; it is important that you demonstrate to everybody that you are the most suitable candidate.

It is you and you alone who has to invest in yourself to bring about a transformation. Taking personal accountability will give you complete control of your destiny. After all, it is your life and your career. You are responsible for it. What for are you then waiting?

Why is a job eluding you?

The job market could be difficult or easy, but getting a new employment opportunity, like always is an unnerving test. And when the economy is slated downwards like what it happens to be today, finding a job has its own array of typical impediments and challenges. Most people out job hunting will find, much to their chagrin that an employment in keeping with their particular qualifications and experience will come only after they have been overlooked for several posts that they applied for. That is a hard fact of any job search effort today. 

Though it is fact that getting into a job can be an awe-inspiring experience, most job seekers are unable to take advantage of various stages of the recruiting procedure to boost their prospects of getting selected. They unremittingly undergo various phases perfunctorily. No serious contemplation is done on where they are faltering. On the contrary, people tend to suppose that the reason why a job eludes them is something beyond their direct direction; reasons commonly cited are far too many candidates for a single job, a lackadaisical stance by the recruiter or hiring manager and a pre-arrived decision to hire someone from within the organisation. Evidently, all these are alibis to liberate themselves of any shortcomings that may be there in them. 

The issue is one that calls for introspection to discern what a candidate would be doing to deter potential hirers from selecting anybody. If you too happen to be one amongst the many who are unable to get an employment, remember that there will undoubtedly be several influences over which you will not be exercising any direct sway. However, there are definitely some prime situations to visualise and plan for to make certain that you yourself are not the very hurdle in your own employment prospects.

What is it that you may be indulging in and which is discouraging potential hirers from selecting you? You need to reflect on the following four questions:

· Is your resume complete? Job aspirants do not appreciate that wool once dyed cannot be restored its original whiteness. A resume is one document that creates a first-sight impression. While drafting their resumes, people knowingly or inadvertently leave gaps pertaining to their otherwise important work experience; even the format of the resume leaves much to be desired with several grammatical and spelling mistakes. You should pay special attention to all these aspects and ensure that your resume is in top-notch form before you forward your application for an advertised or open post.

· Are you over or underqualified for the job being applied for? There is nothing wrong in applying for a job for which you may not possess all the desired qualitative requirements; after all, given your aptitude, you can always come up to the desired standards. Likewise, applying for a job when you possess more than the stipulated qualifications is also alright. However, if you are repeatedly applying for jobs when you are not meeting the set qualifications or are over-qualified for them, you may not get a response at all. You should restrain yourself from applying to such positions and concentrate your efforts on those that correspond to what you are best-suited for.

· Is your online image agreeable? Several job aspirants are taken by shock when they get to know that potential companies and businesses carry out extensive searches on the internet to discern their suitability before even an interview letter is sent. Scanning social media sites to find out additional details about you are part of background screening efforts resorted to by most organisations. How does your online image speak about you? If there is something that can be viewed as negative or blemishing, you must focus on affecting rectifications and improvements. Seeking assistance of professional in this context can be of great help too.        

· Are you rigid & excessively entreating during the interview? While again any attempt to emphatically discuss the terms of your engagement may not be out of order in the interview, but being overly rigid and entreating can prove to be ruinous for your application. In other words, if the company that you seek a job in at any time gets a feeler that there are other good aspirants, they will definitely go in for them. You will be left out of the race. 

Remember that one important key to success is self-confidence and an important key to self-confidence is preparation. And success will not come to you; you will have to go for it. You cannot cross the ocean by just standing on the shore and gawking at the blue expanse.

Be on show at work to boost your job security

There are many men and women who often question the need to increase their visibility at work. They believe that their work would manifest their efficacy and image. The fact is that everybody who matters in the hierarchy of your company may not always be cognizant of, leave aside being responsive to your endeavours. So, the important question is, “How can you think of moving up and ahead if your presence is not felt?” And keeping difficult job market conditions in mind, the question “How do you expect you to cling to your job if you are not noticed?” is equally weighty.

You simply cannot afford to shroud your brightness under a creel. Today, making your presence felt at work is more imperative than ever before. You can do so through several means and let your seniors and higher management know about what you are doing. You may not realise it, but even a short, timely communication enumerating any fact modestly can do wonders to your image. You could begin by identifying any single opportunity to endorse yourself at work. This may not be a demanding effort or a belittling one as perhaps you may think. It may call for taking some risk; but to be candid, if you do nothing to endorse yourself, you are taking the most perilous risk.

Do you seek to make your presence felt at your workplace? Do you seek to improve your relationships with people who matter in your organisation? Here is how you can do so:

· Volunteer to take on assignments not being accepted by others: There will be several assignments that are otherwise important, but find few takers. You must opt for them. Such projects will undoubtedly be difficult but simultaneously also have the potential to impact productivity and profits. When you willingly undertake them your distinguishability is registered; and when you complete it successfully, it further gets a boost. Even if you are unable to acquit yourself well, an impression of your alacrity and tenacity will be conveyed.  

· Show eagerness to take on new projects: You should always display readiness to be involved in new ventures or steer new concepts. There will be elements of risk attached to such projects; however, you will find that your very involvement in them offers you newer prospects to prove that there is indeed something practicable in them and which will bestow upon you appreciation.

· Ensure value addition to projects: You must scout around for chances and openings where you make useful contributions to any effort or even a collaboration. It is all about doing your job well and going a step further to ensure that it is done so. You will thus come in contact with many people who matter in your organisational hierarchy. 

· Look for tasks outside your assigned charter: You may be working in a designated team or group, but if you undertake projects outside it, you will get to be noticed. You could also work on projects that are diverse or even outside your own company; this will bring renown and appreciation. You will carve a name for yourself.

· Have your boss’ boss kept in loop: An effective way to make your presence felt is to keep your boss’ boss up-to-date about various significant issues that you are engaged in, successes achieved by you and the positive effect created by you in the vertical you are working in. Your boss could make a mention about you; and this will generate an upbeat opinion about you. The environment will get to observe you and realise the significance of you as an individual and your contributions.

· Participate in prominent & prestigious activities: If you participate in high-profile tasks, you will be spoken about frequently by the higher management of your company. Your involvement in such efforts will be great opportunities to give a boost to your image within your company.

· Keep company with influential & credible staff: You need to identify high-flyers and attend events like meetings and brainstorming sessions where their participation is there. The more time you spend in their presence, you will develop better acquaintance with them; they will take note of your substance and importance to the organisation. 

The bottom line of your efforts should be to work for a cause and not for applause. That implies striving to not make your presence noticed, but to make your absence felt. You will make your presence felt in the true sense if you make a difference; you will have to break status quos. And when you make your presence felt, your job security is assured.

Getting on to a career path

When you decide to set out on a career path, you also set professional objectives for yourself and develop an action plan for achieving them. In other words, you formulate a scheme to get to your desired place or position. An important component of the process of choosing a career path is introspection to truthfully evaluate your inclinations, legerdemain and capabilities. As you move along in your career journey, some features of your career path may alter either due to changed preferences or situations. However, if you have a larger professional aim to guide you, you will be able to make crucial judgements with precision and intelligibility.

Selecting a career is perhaps the most significant resolution of your life. It could be prompted by various factors like giving wings to your passions, trailing an all-time fantasy or getting into a parental or family pursuit. Though much is contingent on how vibrant and definite is your career path, careful planning could cause you get into a lifetime employment.

There are several works that call for special qualifications, the acquisition of which can be a long drawn-out process. If you are clear about your career path, you can fruitfully focus on your training and education. A comprehension of the needs of the path that you select to follow will offer you time and scope for preparation for the career that you seek. There are several factors that impact various facets of your life and career alike:

· Career Planning: A career path is actually a long journey and not a singular conclusion. All careers have indicators available en route; it is essential that you comprehend the chronological steps of the   career path that you decide to walk on; this will make you adept at gaining familiarity with know-how and moving ahead gradually and progressively.

· Eventual objectives: When you embark upon a career path, you locate yourself at a pedestal from where you can visualise your future objectives. This facilitates knowing about various appointments that you aspire to hold and the remuneration that you are seeking, besides making attempts to enlarge your contact base. If you have aims and objectives, you will stay fixated on them instead of switching jobs meaninglessly.

· Domestic concerns: The profession you elect to be in can be an imposition by itself in terms of your place of residence and even time of settling down in matrimony or starting a family. If you choose your career path carefully, you will be able to make significant decisions of your life without much hassles. Work will always be hectic, demanding and nerve-wracking. To that extent, striking a satisfactory balance between it and your life is essential; in fact, such balance helps in reducing work-related strain. 

So, how do you go about choosing a career path? Here is what you should do:

· Study & scrutinise your preferences: Mulling over your interests is the maiden step of career selection. This also entails analysing your ingenuity and interests. The career path that you set your foot on should be the one that goes with your inclinations, disposition and concerns.

· Concentrate on your occupation quest: Having familiarised yourself with your interests, you should begin your quest for a suitable work in those fields. It would largely depend on what your interests are and where they lie. You need to next look exhaustively into various choices and opportunities available to you based on the path that you have decided to trudge on.

· Gauge your readiness: After you have generally decided on a particular career that inevitably has to be in consonance with your interests, you must ascertain what qualifications are essential to pursue it. Depending upon career to career, the qualitative requirements can vary. But whatever, they may be, you will have to work your way to acquire them. How prepared are you? This is a vital question that will have to be deliberated upon and planning done for acquisition of skill-sets and other qualifications. 

· Discover jobs relevant to your selected career: Having decided upon your career line, you will now have to explore job possibilities in it. Today, the internet is an excellent medium for searching jobs that correspond to your selected career. You will also have to view across various job options to know what they entail and what they offer in terms of remuneration. Informational interviews and internship will stand you in good stead.

If you decide on a particular career path based on your research, it is necessary that you also decide to get your hands on the appropriate training and education for jobs that are there in that field. That is what planning is all about; you have to bring your future into the present so that you can do something today about getting your dream job.

Effecting an appropriate career choice

A large majority of us are well-poised to make a career choice when we are rather young, but a decision arrived at could be bereft of consideration with regard to its long-term suitability. Selecting a job and selecting are career are two different things, with the latter entailing much detailed research and serious deliberations. Choosing a career is actually choosing something that will provide us a desired way of life. The forgoing notwithstanding, quite a few young boys and girls get influenced and swayed into exercising an option without being clear about their inclinations and what they intend to do and achieve.

A school or college does not teach you much about life skills, but then life is nothing but a continual learning experience. That is why quite a few successful people take a break to discern at ease various facets that makes them twinkle and bring in feelings of contentment and accomplishment. Like them, here is what you should do:

·  Look for an extended range in career choices: Rather than attempting to narrow down your choices, you will stand to gain if you have maximum of them as related to your selected occupation, work or arena of proficiency. In doing so, you will achieve flexibility of mind and approach as also ground to move about in in subsequent years when possibly you or your job are in a state of flux.  To illustrate the point, suppose if you want to become a botanist, you could also undergo a course in camerawork so that you can record your observation or findings on film. If you keep your list of options open, it may thrust additional learning endeavours on you but in the process, you will acquire suppleness and springiness; and the long-term advantages that will accrue will stand you in good stead.  

· Come forward in a cherished career on an honorary basis: You cannot know for sure whether a career is your cup of tea or not unless you experience it first-hand. You cannot judge things that you have been in. You need to simply chuck yourself in to the reality that is work and go and live through it. This will be a greater possibility if you work for some time on honorary basis; and a still greater one if the employer comprehends and appreciates your drives and resolution. In order to emerge victorious, you will have to deal with the work assigned to you adequately and acceptably, always ever-willing to shoulder additional responsibilities. More importantly, the contact base that you will be able to establish for yourself will be invaluable and in comparable.       

·  Discuss with people already in your preferred career: All conversations are an exchange of knowledge, particularly when the other person happens to have experience. You need to talk to people who are already working in your chosen career. Perhaps seeking to know if they are satisfied continuing with it after so many years or specific facets of work that give them pleasure will provide you good discernment if it is your cup of tea or not, In addition, you must also seek to find out various associated hitches and shortcomings; and whether the routine allows for a good balance of work and life so that you can consider all issues holistically and pragmatically.

·  Pay heed to others but decide independently:  People will give you advice and be your well-wishers. But remember that what they feel or opine may not be truly apt as they are not you; it is you who has to determine the suitability. You also need not get perturbed by people who make recommendations or suggestions based not on practical experience but on scuttlebutt. If you do your own research well and concurrently make allowances for what others have to say, you can arrive at more sound decisions. It is essential that you do honest contemplation and most importantly adhere to your principles.

To find a career to which you are adapted by nature, and then to work hard at it, is about as near to a formula for success and happiness as the world provides. One of the fortunate aspects of this formula is that, granted the right career has been found, the hard work takes care of itself. Then hard work is not hard work at all. But to reach that stage, you have to plan. Remember that good plans shape good decisions. That's why good planning helps to make obscure dreams come true.