Hold the reins of your career to be successful

Many people, at some stage or the other of their careers, start suffering from a feeling that they got into a wrong career. They are plagued with such feelings to such an extent that they keep reflecting on alternatives available to them. It is thus essential to know the suitability and appropriateness of the job that you are in. Additionally, you should also be aware of other options available to you, solely because your career advancement stands halted if you do not know where precisely you stand today. If you know where you stand, you will be able to focus on required issues so that you can move ahead in your career. The foregoing thus, highlights the significance of proper career management to be successful.

If you happen to be at a stage of your career where a crucial decision is necessary because it will have far-reaching consequences, you need to query yourself on some issues. The responses that you make will facilitate sound career decisions. To be able to see things in the correct perspective and not let important things escape your attention, interaction with others will help. Five questions that certainly need to be asked are:

• What are your USPs that you are projecting? This question is important if you are engaged in a job search. You should know your strengths so that you can make useful contributions in the organisation that you gain employment with. Your fortes could well be your knacks and aptitude too besides tour comprehension of the role that you will be required to play. However, it is your name that is very important because everything that you do and achieve will be tagged to it.  Your contact base is equally important to because that manifests your likes, preferences and influence. It will be difficult to draw inferences alone and hence, you should talk things out to arrive at proper conclusions about yourself.
• What is your operating methodology? Knowing yourself is essential to conclude on the best working environment and the most suitable role for you. You could well be taking up any job, but you should know what your personality is like and the outlook you harbour towards your work. If you have a tendency to maintain a very strong focus on your work, an advisory or consultancy role may not suit you. You should not forget that the way you function is in full public view and therefore, you should not shy away from seeking advice from others. 
• What are your career aspirations? If you seek to be successful in your career, you must have in place a plan. You should identify spheres in which you want to do well. Different aspects that should be your focus for the intended objective should be dovetailed in your strategy. Any attitude of over-confidence and arrogance will be detrimental to your career interests; and should be shunned. Your disposition should be dictated by a practical approach and which will help you move forward in your career. Issues like salary and curating an impact at your workplace should be a priority too and accordingly included in some form or the other in your plan.
• How do you plan to go about in putting your plan into motion? The likelihood of your plan failing cannot be discounted and that highlights the need to have alternative plans too. You could decide to stay put in the same job and work hard or seek a lateral transfer to prove your worth. You may even decide to go in for a career change or become an entrepreneur. It is important that you keep all such possibilities in mind. This will help you to take a call on the matter when the time comes, if at all it comes. However, whenever you decide to seek a change, you must do appropriate research to discern where precisely you stand before going in for it.
• What should be your initiatives to attain your goals? These could be discerned best if you jot down various actions that you think will stand you in good stead. Some actions could well be writing your resume afresh, widen your networking and improving upon your skill-sets by attending training courses in consultation with your immediate boss. You may come out with several plans and actions, however, you must reduce all of them to writing and then set a deadline for their accomplishment.

The need to have clear-cut career objectives is important to have a smooth career journey.  As you move ahead, you will keep gaining practical experience in your profession and also have varied exposure to learning and development activities. However, the point of significance is that you should work hard all along and hold the reins of your career.