Get going with your career planning

Career planning helps you to achieve your aspirations pertaining to what you would like to do in your working life. You are thus better poised to direct your efforts on what you should do when thinking about a new career. Evidently, career planning will also facilitate your career advancement in the line that you are currently in.

Planning needs time and meticulous deliberation. You need to reflect on what you ought to do both at present and as a follow-up and additional skills that you need to master or qualifications that you need to acquire. But any plan that you make will always be subject to alteration and modification simply because line is not likely to follow a sure expected course. Therefore, you must make allowances for such changes that can relate to job market ups and downs; precedence accorded by organisations to various issues; globalisation trends and resultant competition; and preferred job skills. Needless to state, but very significant is the pint that all such changes can seriously impact the shape and contours of your current and future employment.  

 The best advice may be to embrace a positive, flexible, forward-looking attitude.  Be prepared for the next job, whatever and wherever that may be. Downsizing, layoffs, and gaps between projects can transform into positive growth, new opportunities, and expanding skills if flexibility is part of your career plan. 

To know the start-point of your career path may be a difficult task. Career planning helps you in this context and hence is an important activity. You get to make a blueprint for your actions to discern your objectives and acquire requisite knowhow.

When you do career planning, you achieve several things, notable being:

· You are able to make knowledgeable selections.

· A perfect match between you and your selected role is reached.

· Attainment of desired standing, contentment, respect, financial stability and your other life goals is facilitated.

· Your employment prospects are boosted.

· You are able to display flexibility to adjust to varied work imperatives.

Besides the above, you stand better poised to fulfil various organisational hopes and thus position yourself firmly in the employment market. However, to achieve the foregoing, you will have to exhibit a high degree of motivation, knowledge, responsiveness and professionalism.

The process of career planning is an unending one. In order to discern the point from where you can begin, you can divide it into four major stages as under:

· Valuation & re-evaluation: You need to find out by asking yourself questions on the skills you possess and how can you vouch for them. In addition, you should also know what serves to inspire you. Is it social standing, money, career success, societal issues or social service? There could be a horde of other factors that can have a bearing on your career planning. While you own state of health, financial state and domestic obligations can be important, issues like official curbs and an absence knowledge about of prevalent job market conditions are also significant. You need to keep all of them in mind.

· Inquiries & investigative studies: You need to conduct research and find out more about different job roles, industries and companies. Having identified them, you should ascertain what are the access roads and prerequisites; prospects for growth obtainable; struggles and races involved; pay structures; and ensuing and future tendencies. You could also meet people in different pursuits and determine more about their work and companies, including how they got into the careers that they are in.

· Setting objectives: After mulling over your skills, proclivities and precedence to various factors as also having studied the prospects, you need to assess all the information collected so that you can set the bearing on your compass. It will be essential to evaluate various job functions and identify which goes best with you and whether you are qualified for it or not. All these action will help you to discern the possible path that you can adopt, but does not necessarily signify a career decision. The objectives that identify could be precise or even broad-based. Nevertheless, you would have pinpointed a position from where you can take A continual evaluation thereafter will help you discover if you set realistic objectives. It is always better to split your objectives into smaller sub-objectives and set deadlines for their attainment.

· Getting into an action mode: This implies taking initiative to move ahead and entails discerning different opportunities and preconditions to make use of them. The foregoing means identifying openings, submitting applications and preparing to succeed in the selection process.

It should be remembered that you need to evaluate and re-examine whatever has transpired in each of the above phases. The exercise will become more fruitful on account of the experience that you undergo and the perception that you gain post facto. You will thus be in a better position to fine-tune your career plan or even alter your strategy altogether. You may decide to go in for another course of action or make a radical alteration to your objectives. But the important point is to get going with your career planning.  

Web-browsing protocol at workplace

If you have a computer with internet facility at your workplace, you may be tempted to use it for unofficial purposes. The facility has been provided to make your work easier and not for personal use. Quite a few people misuse it for personal browsing, sending emails and chatting. You may otherwise be a conscientious employee, but a misuse is a misuse.

Cyber-slacking, characteristically explained as the use of internet and mobile technology during work hours for personal purposes is a cause for increased worrying by organizations due to the likelihood of revenues plummeting. You may not realise it, but misuse of the inter facility definitely encumbers your productivity. You may also not know that in most organisations, a check on internet usage is maintained and the same is linked with your productivity.

There were times when viruses from external unknowns were the main anxiety on business network devices. Today, with personal internet use at work at an all-time high, many IT administrators say internet misuse is the greatest threat to an organization's network system than outside sources like hackers. Construing that as an alarm signal, most organisations have formulated written policies on internet usage. Some companies utilize software that keeps track of websites that are visited by their employees. Often, employees do not know get to that their cyberspace activities are being traced until it is too late to institute change. Imagine how embarrassing it would be if you got caught.

Research conducted has indicated that various types of personal websites people visit most at work are news, social media, online shopping, entertainment, sports and travel sites. Regrettably, most visits are time-wasting endeavours.

To preclude getting into trouble, you must adhere to the laid down protocol. Some guidelines in this context are:

· Sending personal messages: Do your folks at home like you to carry work from office? If they do not, do you think your company will appreciate if you engage yourself in personal work in the office? You must desist from sending personal emails while at work. You should never carry the load of your domestic or personal life to your workplace. If you do, you will never be able to do justice to your work.

· Online shopping & payment of bills: While these may be important, you need to indulge in them after working hours only. It happens like this. When you surf the net, you find something appealing and then you start browsing aimlessly. And before you realise it, you would have wasted a couple of hours of your precious time that should have been utilised for official work.

· Games and downloads: Most organisations either ban or block gaming and other sites that enable downloads with the intended objective of preventing employees squandering their time. There is always hostility towards such policies, but then do you go to office to work or for whiling away your time? Remember that you could be distracting others who are conscientious workers.

· Social Networking Sites: Facebook or LinkedIn are quite popular sites that are used by everybody. Because these sites connect people, men and women become obsessive with their use. It is ethically incorrect to be logging on to them during office hours. If you happen to have your boss as a friend on these sights, he or she will come to know from your posts that you have been visiting the site during office timings. Would they be impressed or will they form a wrong impression about you? You can judge for yourself.

· Miscellaneous: There are a horde of other things that you should not do. Visiting pornographic sites is an offence in our country and also against all moral and other workplace ethics. If you chat on instant messenger services, surf for job openings and read e-books at office, you indulge in time theft. In fact, browsing the internet for any reason other than official work is an act of misdemeanour that can cost you dearly.

Rather than violating norms and rules, you can peruse online literature and sites that help you in performing your work better. The best thing to do is to place yourself in your employer’s shoes and weigh the circumstances accordingly. You must behave as if your boss is watching every move you make. You should remain focused on your work and maintain productivity. You can even put the time that you would have spent browsing the internet to gainful use by conversing with co-workers and make face time instead. While a limited internet usage may be tolerable, but you need to use your judgement carefully and take necessary precautions accordingly.

Significance of a career development plan

You may be just about to start a career or have been into one for a couple of years. Whatever be it, it is crucial to have a career development plan. As it is, your career journey will have its ups and downs, however, sans a plan, the ups and downs will become very arduous. Under ideal circumstances, there should be somebody to show you the way right from day-one.

Your career development plan is similar to any itinerary that you make when going on a holiday. You will have an embarking station and a destination with a number of objectives strewn in between to be attained. In essence, this implies picking a job, applying for it, getting selected for it and moving ahead thereafter.

It needs to be appreciated that your career path will change with the passage of time. And it is not necessary that just because you drafted a plan, you will have to adhere to it all through and through you career. A career development plan is intended to help you have a relatively clear impression of where you want to be in your career and help you tide over difficult stretches of your career journey.

The world is witnessing a state of flux and hence it is understandable that sticking to a plan is not feasible. Your career plan will be subjected to change and that will call for flexibility to adapt to altered situations. The foregoing notwithstanding, the need to have a career development plant cannot be dispensed with; you may perhaps go for professional guidance for its origination. However, you can do it yourself, provided there is no ambiguity in your mind about what you seek and the method to go about it. The bottom line of course is that your career development plan has to be one that you can follow. It has to be meaningful for you as an individual. 

Career planning is a critical step in your life and inescapable for achieving success. You simply cannot jump over it. Every individual has his or her own particular objectives; and your career development plan facilitates their attainment. However, a significant part of the planning process comprises developing specific career goals and charting out a route for achieving them. To do that, you must know what matters to you. In case you are not very clear about what you aspire for, there is nothing wrong in taking help from a career counsellor. You will be able to discern your fortes and establish how they connect with the creation of a successful career. Knowing your fortes is essential before you plan the next move, which happens to be setting objectives.

When you set objectives, you need to reflect on various factors. Are you simply in a job and not yet decided about your career? In your job, what is that puts you off the maximum? If you are already in a career, what is about it that you like? These questions are a part of a jigsaw that you should be adept at to create a concordant picture. You will have to persist with your contemplations to discover more about you so that you can identify your poise, fervour and meaning. It should be remembered that sans identification of your passions and aims, you are likely to go off-track and land up in a job that is not cut out for you. To preclude career mismatches, a career development plan is unavoidable.

All things considered, the importance of a career development plan cannot be undermined. It will inevitably be focussed towards you and what goes in to make a person that you are. Hence, finding a work-life balance is both a prerequisite and an entitlement. You need to enmesh your zeal, purpose and individual realisation in your career.  It is only then that you will attain a level of satisfaction that people fancy. You have to superintend your career if you want your dreams to materialise.

Career development planning implies laying the future of your career in front of you today so that you can start doing something about it immediately. There will always be some costs and risks to the action that you take, but they would be far less than the long-term perils associated with zero planning. Your planning will help you shape good career decisions and make even feeble dreams become reality. That is why they say that failing to plan is planning to fail.

When you prepare well, the prospects of poor performance are obviated. In case you do not plan the development of your career, you will have to subsist with just your wishes and hopes. But if you do, the sky will be the limit. Eventually, it is your resolution, zeal, action, commitment and tenacity that will bring you success in your career.

Lateral career growth paths

There are generally two methods by which the growth of any individual can be judged. The first one is when a person enlarges his or her domain familiarity in broad terms. There is no detailed increase of knowledge, but the image of being a person who knows a little about a lot is bettered. However, such a person is not a specialist and his or her views and estimations are not worth much. In sharp contrast to the foregoing, there are those who acquire knowledge about a particular field. Characteristically, such persons are specialists. A person can make progress by simply broadening one’s horizon or by becoming a specialist in any field of activity. You could choose any of these paths either of your own accord or otherwise. While it would all depend on the circumstances prevailing then, there are several inside and outside features that influence them.

Lateral career moves are unconventional and unusual career routes that most people are not at ease with. Even human resources personnel always bewail it. They manifest a change of work line but sans any increase in responsibilities, status, salary and perks. The reason why people do this could be varied. While some people remain wherever they are, others attain greater success in their new fields. Employees have to acquire new skills to acquit themselves well in their new functions. Distinct from a lateral move is a lateral promotion. This takes place during an economic slowdowns when organisations offer increased responsibilities and senior designations but sans a corresponding salary structure. Such arrangements are evidently very demanding since acquisition of new skills to take on increased responsibilities cannot be dispensed with. Lateral moves and lateral promotion are both win-win situations for employers and employees alike.

 Lateral career moves and promotions have a couple of hidden benefits. Because you shoulder new responsibilities, your scope of employability increases and when you perform well, you get appreciated. There are many people who have magnificent capabilities that do not get accentuated in normal course. A profile change does the trick. Many people get afflicted with infirmities that render them incapable in their roles. A lateral movement to a different profile helps them to continue with employment. However, lateral moves can prove to be thorny affairs for some, particularly when they are thrust upon them. Apprehensions plague them, more so when they are aware of the problems they are likely to face or additional efforts they would be required to make in their new roles.

But there are other distinct advantages that follow a lateral move. You tend to gain on two counts. Firstly, you widen your horizon. No vertical in an organisation can function in a watertight compartment. A lateral move facilitates a comprehensive impression of all issues and also growth of a compassionate outlook towards various tasks. Know-how gathered prompts sensible pronouncements and increases the capability to resolve intricate problems. You get to pick up new skills, new experiences and new business knowledge; and you get to work with new people. Lateral moves will generally lead to a continually rewarding career experience including acquiring comprehensive perspectives that are essential for leadership roles. The second advantage is that you are better poised to engage drawbacks. We tend to accentuate our strengths only. In the conventional mode, an individual rises using his or her proficiency with weak spots invariably remaining veiled. When you have to prove yourself in new roles post lateral moves, your actions uphold your weaknesses.

How should you then decide whether a lateral move is good for you or not? You first need to evaluate if the advancement course is in harmony with your eventual career objectives. If the conclusion is positive, then the growth prospects is a lateral move are apt. But that would necessitate formulating a fresh line of action that perhaps may incorporate a re-look at what you want to attain and how can you pitch best to do that.

For a large majority of people in the corporate world, it is deep-seated in their thinking that climbing up the ladder is the direction of choice as well as a sign of success. However, in today's work environment, that simply is no longer the case. While most people, for reasons of stability and secure growth do not accept lateral moves, the venturesome lot takes recourse to them and is willing to face uncertainties and the perils associated with them.

Success has no made-to-measure or made-to-fit track. A lateral move may make sense for you and your career, but before you make that final decision, be sure to do your research and make an informed decision. Whatever path you adopt, you will have to reckon and use your capabilities to the hilt. 

Focal points for career advancement

In practically all companies, professionals out to make their career receive quite a few advices and counsels related to general performance and meeting targets, etc. Such feedbacks are based on everyday mentions by your seniors, colleagues and subordinates, besides straight reports. There is also the annual exercise of performance review. The truth however, is that such feedbacks offer only marginal benefit to people because they are invariably pertinent to your performance in your current role.

In order to boost your career advancement, it is necessary that you reflect on certain pertinent issues because   clarifications related to them are generally elusive in most companies. First and foremost, you should have a clear idea about various elements and dynamics that regulate the rise of people to the senior level. In the context of such factors, what is the general perception about you? It is also essential that you should know specific capabilities and capacities that are required to be exhibited by you to facilitate your move up. And last but not the least, what is the modus operandi required to be adopted to move through the company’s intractable coppice to have things done at higher levels?

To be able to evoke suitable remarks vis-à-vis the above, you must get to know the reasons why such issues are not talked about candidly in companies. In addition, the persons who should be approached for them and the methodology of following whatever is told are other issues that you ought to focus on knowing. It is not that organisations do nothing about these. Quite a few companies do notify competency models in some form or the other like external perceptions, client specific attention, group effort and camaraderie. While their benefits are not discounted, their applicability is to varying management planes. Their very believability is lost when people who lack spelt-out skills get promoted.

In the light of the above, you ought to interact with decision-makers to discern the influences matter when promotions are to be affected. You can do so with the acquiescence of your boss and interact with as many people as possible, preferably senior functionaries who may have a role to play in your promotion whenever it falls due. You should endeavour to find out what specific skills were crucial in helping them to move up. Amongst various things, you will surely be told about the ability to bring out improvement to working procedures or the need to plan for team achievements. Your aim in such an exercise should be to watch out for initiatives associated with such capabilities like dealing with uncertainties or poising against opposition. The common premises that you get to hear should be registered but also make a note of aspects that are not spoken about as they often happen to be unconventional skills that also matter, directly or indirectly.

The next step is the toughest. You need to be proactive in soliciting feedback on your standing vis-à-vis the benchmarks for promotion to senior positions. You may ask questions alright, but the answers could be unpleasant and you should be prepared for such eventualities. Most people, including the senior lot are ill at ease offering such advice. This is largely because they are apprehensive of demotivating anybody who is aspiring and unwilling to go down. Therefore, you must have an open mind while asking questions, soliciting reactions and accepting whatever is told. An outlook that stands for learning how to go about to advance in your career should be made visible, rather than a desire to get it straightaway.

The most important of all feedback should be sought at the end. And that pertains to actions that should be taken by you to inspire trust in your capabilities to acquit well in higher responsibilities. If in case the concerned person has been candid, he would be able to dwell upon the capabilities that you need without fail to demonstrate your suitability to your seniors.

You need to dispel all apprehensions that promotions are also a part of company politics. What you should be clear about is how decisions related to them are taken and who all really calls the shots. Having good relationships with them will matter in you getting endorsed. Such aspects will never be discussed in open forums, however, if you enjoy an association of trust with a senior appointment holder, he or she can definitely enlighten you on the subject. You must remember that a senior will never appreciate getting quoted and hence you must maintain utmost confidentiality about the advice that you receive.

There is no point running away from the truth that as people rise in an organisation, the number of prospects for further promotions get reduced. But if you are clear about various factors and qualities that lead to promotions at higher levels, how you are pitched apropos them and the best method to go about, you will stand out from the crowd. And once that happens, the road ahead will be clear.

Be a genial workplace personality

At your workplace, do you have people who are rude and brusque towards you? Or are they just indifferent and stony? In all probability, you will have some such colleagues. This largely because of the fact that in any atmosphere that necessitates inter-dependence to do things, there are bound to be antipathies and hence strains. And more so when you spend over forty hours every week in the company of your co-workers who hail from different backgrounds, possess diverse abilities, harbour dissimilar outlooks and have divergent interests. While jointly they may make a company strong, the fact is that they can also be a cradle of disagreement.

No workplace has similar dynamics. For example, in certain organisations, people who have joined recently may feel that they are being tried out and assessed rather severely. Such feelings would be pre-eminent in companies that have gone through restructuring and downsizing as new employees tend to be viewed as a vulnerability for old ones or possibly low-cost alternates to their previous co-workers. If you lack interpersonal abilities, do not understand organisational culture, fail to display flexibility of approach or are unable to prognosticate difficult situations, you could be one who is not appreciated. However, despite the foregoing, you will always attempt to pull along well with your colleagues and others; and keep them in good humour.

Personal associations are different from upbeat working relationships. You can always maintain the latter even if the former are lacking. Nobody can work in a compartmentalised atmosphere and hence people will need to bank upon others to accomplish their tasks well. Camaraderie and working in groups are issues that generally comprise the gamut of annual appraisals. Hence if you err even on a single occasion, all your efforts over the months will go waste. It is not essential that you indulge in off-hours socialisation with your office co-workers, but you definitely need to spare time and efforts to have a word of praise for their contributions. You must try to go all out to build affable nine to five affiliations.

You need not out of the way to butter up your colleagues or lionize them with unmerited praises. But you surely need to treat everybody with civility, reverence and amiability. This will help you in the creation of a working atmosphere where everybody works with a positive disposition. You cannot make useful contributions at a workplace that you begrudge or in the midst of people who you loathe.

Do you seek to get your co-workers on your side? Do you want them to be appreciative of you? Some tips that will help you are:

· Know your colleagues: When you make efforts in this regard, you may hit upon common interests. Spending time together during recesses will stand you in good stead and also help expand your networking.

· Lend your ears: You have to listen to what others have to say to make them feel valued and appreciated. Their appreciation will lead to you getting appreciated.

· Be open & warm: If you deal with others in a friendly manner, they will do so likewise. And doing that will generate respect for you and in the process appreciation too.

· Engage everybody constructively: You must deal with everybody fairly and productively, even if someone does not gel with you. Do not ever attempt to ignore or bypass anyone.

· Shun bigmouth inclinations: You must avoid chin wag at all costs and refrain from making any negative comments about anybody. On the contrary, go all out to commend colleagues during tête-à-têtes with others.

· Be indebted: You must be appreciative of others for their assistance, even if they are obliged to do so. Remember that compliments cost you nothing but offer great returns.

· Display flexibility: Your own efforts should not be rigid; you can alter your methodology keeping in view who the person with whom you are dealing is. Your understanding of others will help you deal with them.

· Render assistance: This will portray an image of concern for others. But you must guard against any tendency to talk about it or highlight it when things get done. Helping others should come as a habit.

· Take disapproval kindly: You need to take all censure and criticism in good spirit. Rather than adopting a hostile attitude and justify your stand, you should express gratitude for the input ad promise that you will consider it seriously.

· Swim with the current: You must do this to foster mutual respect and appreciation. Whatever be the established conventions, be a part of them to boost your own popularity.

Being appreciated in the workplace implies affronting less people, but without compromising on your work and organisational interests. When you are appreciated, your colleagues will offer to help you more and genuinely pull for you. These are significant qualities to have in any relationship, but in the work environment it can signify overall job contentment.

Move ahead in your career & life

You cannot rate each day by the harvest you reap. You ought to evaluate it by the seeds you plant. And unless you undertake more than what you possibly can do, you will never be able to do all that you can. The foregoing notwithstanding, all life, including your career is an experiment. You cannot be too fearful and woozy about your actions. If you want to be successful in your career, you need to connect dots in your own way. Therefore, you must gear yourself accordingly to deal with complexities and uncertainties.

You may set objectives and be clear about them. But in case you fail to plan your move to the next position, then all this about setting objectives is hypothetical because you harboured no plan to achieve them. It is essential that you deliberate on major steps so that you visualise things in their correct perspective. You should pledge to go much beyond from where you are today.

Courage is the power to let go of the familiar. If it becomes evident that you will not be able to attain your objectives, rather than adjusting the objectives, you must adjust your actions. None of the successful people were born into success they but did things differently. How can you emulate them?

·  Create and follow astute objectives: Your objectives have to be objective. And that implies that they should be explicit and quantifiable, in that you should be able to gauge their progress, not deviate from your course and enjoy the elation upon their accomplishment. They should also be time-bound so that you remain focussed on them and are prompted to grow and complement them.     

·  Take action resolutely and promptly: Most people do not survive to become the success story that the dream about because of their failure to act. Your development happens when you know what brings about a change in your life. You need to be perennially in a dynamic mode Remember that your success hinges on your resolution to get riveted to the process of chasing your dreams and objectives.  

·  Concentrate on productivity and not mere involvement: You may remain preoccupied all twenty four hours of the day, but yet deliver very little. You need to work not hard, but smart. Let not the number of hours that you work misguide you. You simply cannot keep running in circles and making mistakes, instead of progressing. You can do better by slowing down and doing one thing at a time.

·  Make reasonable & plausible decisions: You should avoid impulsive actions. Though gut feelings are effective in some short-lived circumstances, but more often than not, any decision prompted by excitements can make you go off-track. Let not your intelligence be outdone by your emotions. “Look before you leap” is the axiom that should be remembered.

·  Don’t fall into the trap of perfection: The lure of perfection is great, but it has the risk of getting bogged down. Inability to achieve perfection can make you resentful and dissatisfied. You must take bold decisions, learn from their outcomes and keep moving likewise.

·  Step out of your comfort zone: If you stick around in your comfort zone, your progress and success will be subdued. You need to be ready to grab opportunities to make advances in your life. And for that, you have to shed your easy approach to life and everything else.

·  Let things remain modest: You should avoid having far too many choices at your disposal. In case you do not, muddle will invariably plague you and as a result, you will be at a loss to act. You must keep all things uncomplicated and undemanding to the maximum extent possible.

·  Concentrate on step-by-step improvements: Don’t you eat your meal one bite at a time? The same idea is valid in achieving your objectives. You must endeavour to make small positive changes so that your enthusiasm does not fade away. And as your strong points become stronger, you can obviously take on bigger dares.

·  Take stock of your progress: You need to occasionally take a break and evaluate your progress. This will help you to discern potential opportunities and what you need to do to clutch them. You will be able to fine modify, polish up and perfect your actions.

·  Remain upbeat: You must focus on the optimistic side of everything, even mistakes that you commit so that you can institute remedial action. Never ever allow pessimism disrupt you.

·  Keep right company: You must partner with people on the same wavelength as you and who are reassuring. Remember that you are a sort of an aggregate of your company. You must avoid associations with negative people for evident reasons.

·  Maintain a work-life balance: You should never allow your work to devour you. It is essential that you balance various elements of your life well; focussing excessively on one and ignoring others can be devastating in the long run.

Do not limit your thinking about success in any way because you can go as far as your mind lets you. Your own determination to succeed is more important than any other issue. Your future is contingent on what you do today. Do not simply dream of success; you must wake up and work hard at it. Remember that every reward is preceded by labour. 

Did you make a spot-on career choice?

"The minute you begin to do what you want to do, it's a different kind of life."

 - R. Buckminster Fuller

Most people spend more of their waking lives working than doing anything else. Therefore, the decisions you make about your work life are very important. Your choices are bound to impact not only yourself, but others close to you as well.

Did you make a spot-on career choice? The question is seemingly simple but responding to it can be a very gruelling effort. Your career journey will have its ups and downs. There will be plenty of occasions when you will detest your job and likewise, numerous junctures when you will perhaps feel that there could not have been a better job. Your mood and spirits will ebb and flow; and you will find distinguishing times when you are in the dumps from a frustrating job and wonder if you are on a proper career path.

How will you be able to know that you have selected a correct career path? And when will that be? You need to respond to the following questions honestly:

· Has it been too much of a deviation? While at school, everybody dreams of becoming something. As you grow up, most of those dreams fade away as if they were just fantasies. But it could also be possible that your original ideas are just a stone’s throw away. Suppose you had a childhood dream of becoming an army officer. It would indeed be superb if you become one. But if you join the air force, you would have still made a career in the armed forces. You would not have made a major conciliation. Now contrast this example with another. Suppose you wanted to become a doctor, but at the time of taking an entrance test to a medical college, felt that the academic pressure would be very intense. So you became a pharmacist. Now that was a monumental give and take endeavour of your life.

· Are your spirits high? You will have to delve within yourself and find out if you are really content. Thereafter, imagine yourself and your position after three or five years. Now, if you are convinced that you will be happy then and that extra efforts on your part to reach the position aspired for are really worth it, you are presently at the correct position. But if you have any qualms, then perhaps you may go for a switchover. However, in a large number of cases, it is also the workplace atmosphere that makes you feel unhappy. There could be colleagues indulging in backbiting, differences with your boss, monotony at work and lack of adequate growth prospects. If that be so, then a job change is what is required.

· What is the way out if you detest your job? Well, what can be the way out? You may be receiving good remuneration with excellent perks, but yet you are not pleased and satisfied. You may feel otherwise secure in your job, but that is of absolutely no meaning because you do not enjoy doing whatever you are doing. Changing your job or your career is indeed a terrifying venture, but it only such an undertaking that makes the world move. It is all about being face to face with dares and defies; and if you do not challenge yourself, your life would become uninteresting. Initial difficulties will be there, but when you start moving in the direction of your dreams, the returns will be infinite.

·  How can you switch over to a different career? The decision to change your career should never be based on impulse. Notwithstanding that you do not like the job that you may be in, yet you have to continue with it with some extra inspiration. This is to prepare yourself for the change and various teething troubles associated with it. You must have enough savings to see you through because changing a career may start with a period of unemployment. As a thumb rule, about ten times your current income should be in your bank. And when that happens, you should start drafting a new resume. You could take up an honorary assignment to gain experience or subscribe to a course of instruction to add on to your qualifications. But it should be remembered that underestimating or under-representing yourself will amount to a blunder that perhaps you did in the past. Your focus should be on the reward and if you happen to make a correct choice, your fervour and enthusiasm will take care of everything.  

Seeking a career or quitting a job for another is a turning point in anybody’s life. Since no person can succeed in a line of endeavour which he or she does not like, your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it. The best portent of a man's success in his profession is that he thinks it the finest in the world. And remember that the past is not your potential; you can elect to unshackle your future anytime. So, what are you waiting for?